While I was working on the election, getting down to the nubbin on about a daily basis, frequently spending the weekends in service of the Job and less frequently sleeping under my desk, my substance use ticked upward. Coffee in the morning has been an addiction for years, but became a more dire necessity of late, and a constant throughout the day. Alcohol and marijuana were a regular, if not always daily, way of scaling down stress and lightening up after hours.

Now, I don't have any compunctions against these chemicals. I've known them all for at least a couple years, and I find them benevolent and positive additions to my life in most cases. However, there was a bit of a grind going on. It wasn't even so much the level of intake -- not really astounding by anyone's standards -- but rather the routine nature of the thing. Fun was often (thank god) a side-effect, but not the primary intended consequence. It was more like maintenance. Clock-punching Boring.

Since the new year, things have been slowly dialing back. The concept of "tolerance" has re-asserted itself. While clearly I can handle myself in a state of inebriation at this point, it's a bit of a shock to have three beers and be fumbling with my pool stick. How quickly the body returns to homeostasis. Chemical virginity reclaimed. Huzzah. I'm a relatively cheap date again.