A quite surreal experience last night as my wife and I went to the carol concert at St. Martins in the fields. I have never seen so many Santas in one place - all having great fun and all up to no good, because they could get away with it. Many were sitting on the lions at Trafalgar square and what amused me most was the fact the police could do nothing. How can you try and arrest a Santa when he or she will instantly merge with thousands of others when pursued? It was great to watch and to see so many people enjoying themselves.

In the interval however, we popped out for a coffee and the sight was somewhat different. By that stage Santa was either lolling around drunk, leaning against a wall with a fag in his mouth and his hands in his pockets, or being sick. There were lots of broken beer bottles to be seen and some of the worst Santas reminded me of the Santa scene in 'Trading Places'. It was a joy to watch, especially from a completely sober perspective knowing that I wouldn't be suffering the agonies of a massive festive hangover the next day or worrying what pictures might materialise on social media Sunday morning! I love Christmas!

I was chairing a dinner last night and the meal included an allowance of a third of a bottle of wine for all present. As neither I or a couple of others drink this meant the allowance went up to about half a bottle each for the others. Half way through the meal there was a bit of a rumpus. It turned out that all the red wine had gone and that most had been snaffled by the diners on one side of the room. One of the guests on the other side of the room decided to buy another bottle and paid £25 for the privilege. But instead of giving the bottle to him, the waiter put in on the middle of the table and by the time the bottle had been passed down to the buyer it was empty! This caused a huge commotion and I could see that a number of the diners were getting quite desperate for another drink, and this despite the fact most of them had been drinking beers and spirits before the dinner started. I looked on with contented amusement through my glass of water, grateful that I am no longer driven by an alcohol habit that clouds and obscures enjoyment of life for what it is. I will never miss those days!

It's great that someone is at last supporting what I have proven - that type 2 diabetes can be reformed and got rid of!
I had been diagnosed with this awful disease but within a few months of quitting alcohol all the symptoms had gone. I can now put this down to having lost so much weight. Alcohol is so jam packed with calories that even though I ate more and started having some sweet foods when I quit I still lost over two stones in a couple of months. Quit alcohol, lose weight (and feel fantastic because of it) and kick this terrible disease out of your life. If you know someone with diabetes please share this. It is important people realise you can get rid of it - forever!   

I had missed the article on not giving your elderly relatives booze for Christmas which seemed to do the rounds in the press last month. Reasonable advice of course, but just holding back on buying someone booze if they are drinking too much is by no means enough. The article also suggests you should be giving them your time and I agree - this is far more relevant. I no longer consider myself as being in the old and vulnerable category, but I could easily be if I was still drinking and still alive (the latter being unlikely.) I drank at home and I did get comfort from drink, or at least I thought I did. It is easy to drink to that stage where you don't worry about any aches and pains, your money and other worries seem to disappear and the stresses of Christmas especially seem to go on hold for a while. But of course the relief is only temporary. The next day everything comes back with a vengeance, and the temptation is to drink more to escape once again. But when you are old the effects of that downward spiral are greatly enhanced. That is where severe illness, depression and ultimately death result.
So if you have an elderly relative who is drinking too much, don't buy them booze as usual. Instead, plan to talk to them about their drinking, why they are drinking, and give them some of your time. If you are a drinker and you are on your own for most of Christmas, drink will see like your best friend. How sad is that!