Drinking

Carol Midgeley in The Times quotes Kingsley Amis on pre-lunch behaviour. Amis said that the most depressing words in the English Language are "Shall we go straight in?" She agreed. So do I.
She goes on to comment on David Cameron's pre-lunch drinking. She says that she now has at least one thing in common with him: they both like beer as a pre-lunch drink.
I used to when I was younger; now that I'm old I prefer a sherry. Beer fills you up too much I find. As the Germans say "It's a food".
And she disapproved of drinking wine before a meal (she approves of it with a meal). I don't. For one thing, if there's no sherry available or it's too dear in a restaurant then wine suits me fine. Again, sometimes if you order a meal first and the wine second, the wine might not arrive in time for the meal - I have known it come after the meal has finished. So I always order the wine as soon as I sit down at the table, before even looking at the menu; then I order the meal after the wine has arrived so that I can have a glass before dining and a few while dining.
I always order house red wine. It's usually quite good and, of course, reasonably priced - only about twice that amount you'd pay in the supermarket!
I once ordered the state-owned wine producer's cheap stuff in Malta. I had a hangover for days afterwards. I think it retailed at about 50p a litre. It made me give up on the idealism of socialism and become a capitalist. Sort of.