This will be another somewhat truncated weekly diary, as I swore off alcohol off for the duration of my wife Deborah’s trip to the Caribbean or a birthday cruise with a girlfriend.

Tuesday, January 16^th: A visit to the dentist. When I told him I would not be drinking alcohol while my wife was away, he produced two cans of a product called Neustadt Springs Brewery Hop’d Spring Water – sparkling water infused with the flavour of hops. It was delicious and refreshing. It costs $2.50 a can.

For someone who is used to having wine with dinner every night, this was something of a cultural shock to the system. The concept of Dry January is not in my vocabulary, so I had to weather an alcohol-free storm. On January 17^th, I attended a directors’ meeting of Grapes for Humanity Canada, and while my fellow directors enjoyed three different wines and then Champagne to toast our out-going President, Doris Miculan-Bradley, and welcome our new President, Helen Hatzis, I had a mere sniff of the bubbly.

Felt virtuous but glum – an experiment not to be repeated.