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Archive for the ‘Issues’ Category

A selection of cups and mugs designed to quench the thirstiest of thirsts.

A selection of cups and mugs designed to quench the thirstiest of thirsts.

How big is too big? And how many cups of coffee, tea and water are too many? What if there is no such thing as “too big” or “too many?”

At work, only a fool allows himself or herself to be overcome with thirst. Only a gigantic selection of juices and drinks will keep even a model employee operating at 100 percent for 8 to 10 hours.

I’ve chosen a variety of cups and containers to keep my whistle permanently wet. From a half-gallon jug of coffee to a smaller mug that keeps me pumped full of herbal tea on sick days, I’m taken care of.

When I need a cold sip of water to cool my hot bod, I have a logo-engraved sippy cup that keeps my agua chilly and my thirst quenched.

Whenever I want to pull off that “too busy to talk” look, I duck out and grab a to-go cup from one of the many coffee shops sprouting up across Chattanooga. I then refill this throughout the day with the sludge they serve at work, therby appearing as if I just came back from a very, very, very important meeting.

Best of all, at any given time, any one of these cups could safely contain up to 100 percent whiskey.

What are your work drink secrets?

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Kansas Liquor Laws Need Modernization.

Jim Puff is a Kansas entrepreneur. He has been in the grocery store business for 43 years, and owns a convenience store, a cafe, a catering company and a grocery store in Alma, Kansas.

Unfortunately, in order to invest in his businesses and provide jobs for his employees, Jim must battle Kansas liquor laws. While some of Kansas’ neighboring states permit grocery stores to sell full-strength beer, his stores must make do with reduced alcohol content beer, or 3.2% beer.

Right now, Kansas grocery stores may not sell full-strength beer. Consumers wishing to buy full-strength beer must go to a different store that is only able to sell strong beer, wine and spirits – no food items.

Ridiculous. Tennessee has a similar statute that prevents stores that are not full-on liquor stores from selling wine and spirits, although I must give lawmakers kudos for being willing to sell booze on Sunday.

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The gym is one place you should never, ever drink, unless you are sneaky. 

The gym is one place you should never, ever drink, unless you are sneaky.

It would be nice if we lived in an enlightened society that allowed open alcohol consumption at McDonalds, in state parks, at NCAA football games and in government buildings, among other places.

But taxpaying citizens who want to sip on a 40 oz Icehouse while waiting in line for stamps at the Post Office are out of luck.

There must be a way for freedom-loving Americans to enjoy a beverage of their choice in a way that harms no one.

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The Super Bowl is about a lot more than the Super Bowl. More than anything, it's about drinking.

UPDATED – 2-7-11: The Packers beat the Steelers. Bookmark this post for next year.

The Super Bowl – the media tells us that it’s the biggest sports contest of the year, an event featuring the best athletes in the world in a battle of wills to the death, winner take all.

But with a pre-game show starting shortly after church that includes untold hours of celebrity worship, reminiscences, cooking, product placements and quite a bit of non-football related material, let’s be honest: watching the Super Bowl is only about football inasmuch as attending a public school is about learning. That is, tangentially.

The Super Bowl is really about is organized drinking, if it’s about anything.

Whether it takes place in a bar, in a house or on the tailgate of Ricky Bobby’s Ford F-150, adults young and old will gather together, let bygones be bygones, and watch a bunch of armor-wearing neanderthals hit the bejeezus out of each other for a few hours.

In nearly every case, this will be accompanied by an orgy of adult-beverage consumption, the likes of which the world will not see again until St. Patrick’s day.

So what’s the proper procedure? What’s appropriate to drink, and what’s inappropriate? How much should you drink? Is your house appropriate to host a party? If so, how much alcohol will you need to buy?

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The Chattanooga Times Free Press has an opinion article which posits that alcohol should have calorie counts. Check out the full Times editorial here, or read it below:

It’s Super Bowl week, a time when even individuals who generally care little about pro football — or other sports, for that matter — prepare to watch Sunday’s pro football championship game. For many, the game is the top sports event of the year. Others claim they care only about the commercials, or that they watch because the event has become a major social event. Some frankly admit it is a good excuse to eat and drink. If the latter is the case, be warned. Mindless consumption of typical Super Bowl fare can pack on the pounds.

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The city could shut down dozens of local businesses at the end of 2012, including the Station House restaurant at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, if owners do not install costly sprinkler systems, according to a new code the City Council is considering. The rule change, backed by Chattanooga Fire Marshal James Whitmire, requires that existing sports bars, restaurants with live entertainment, dance halls, discotheques, nightclubs and “assembly occupancies with festival seating” install sprinkler systems.

Full disclosure: I originally wrote this story several weeks ago, but it affects bars and booze in the Chattanooga area, so I’ve reposted it here. Enjoy!

Read full story at the Chattanooga Times Free Press

The cost is $2 to $12 per square foot, or an average of $50,000 to $70,000 per business with an occupancy over 100, officials say. The City Council on Tuesday night deferred action on the code for two weeks to allow the city attorney’s office time to set a definition of “nightclubs” affected by the ordinance.

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