Brother Can You Spare a Vicodin ...

I used to drink ... a lot. No, never bad enough to have an intervention or anything that extreme ... but I'll admit that in my early 20's, I had a very high tolerance to tequilla. Strawberry margaritas were my absolute favorite ... but just about anything would do in a pinch.

To put this in perspective for you, there used to be this hip bar downtown that had comedy on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. They were popular with my group because of their Thursday "Dollar Shot" nights. Each Thursday, there would be five specialty shots listed on a chalk board ... all for one dollar a piece. Purple Hooter ... Kamakaze ... Sweet Tarts ... Mud Slide ... you name it and they'd sell it.

So, every Thursday night, my friends and I would go down to the bar. Each of us would lay down $5 and get one of each specialty shots. We'd pick out our favorites of that week and then get the receipes from the bartender and write them down on whatever piece of paper or napkin we could find.

The next day, we'd drive to the liquor shop, crumpled napkins in hand, and pick up the ingredients for our weekend fun. We'd go home and proceed to make pitchers of these shots. Everybody loved our weekend parties ... we always had new drinks to try ... good music ... it was a lot of fun.

Well, that was many, many years ago. I don't drink anymore ... don't party ... I live a very, very quiet life. So what's the problem?

Tuesday, I started having kidney issues again ... my urine looked like raspberry tea (I know ... way too much information!) ... and I had terrible pain on my left side.

See, this was pretty common way back in the day ... because back then, I knew I had a kidney disease ... but I drank anyway. Don't ask me why ... my father claimed I was trying to kill myself ... but I think it had something to do with how great it felt to be with the "in" crowd ... hell, to be the leader of the "in" crowd.

But I'm not that person any more ... I lead a quiet life, no drinking, no partying ... why, all of a sudden, did my kidneys decide to malfunction? The doctors (for what little they know) seem to think I ruptured a cyst. [sigh] So, I sit here, aching ... taking pain medication and antibiotics ... and wishing desparately for a strawberry margarita.

But there's booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on

Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville