what does a transient (bum) need with two bottles of rubbing alchohol?

[hypoman]

I worked in a state hospital for awhile. We would always get in some homeless people that the state picked up because they were a danger to themselves or others. They would drink cologne, alcohol, hand sanitizers, eat deoderant, toothpaste, anything that they thought would give any sort of high. Some even learned to make hooch outta hand sanitizer, which by the way looked disgusting and smelled like urine.

 

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[TheHarleyMan2]

Well this is kind of off topic, but back when I was in the Gulf War, me and a couple of my team mates would have grain alchohol poured into Isoprophil alchohol bottles, sealed and ship it to us and we would take our freeze dried fruit from the MRE's and take the grain alchohol, (once we had enough for 4-5 gallons), and pour it in a 5 gallon water jug with the crumbled up freeze dried fruit and let it soak for a couple of days..........................."Oh we had some good times on down time!" Only our Team knew about it other than our "conection" back home here in the states. We used to hear other people from other units griping because they were not allowed to have any beer or alchohol. 4 gallons would last between 14 of us for 1 week during down time each night. Of course we did prevent from getting drunk just in case the wrong person came around.

 

[spartacus53]

This is all too easy.. He had 2 bottles in case one broke

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

At the store the other day, and one of 'them' bought two bottles of rubbing alcohol and one bottle of Mad Dog 20/20. I couldn't understand what for... (you can't drink the stuff). Maybe stove fuel?

Were they out of Sterno?

 

[Monty]

A "transient" to the PD here means a person that has no permanent address. Monty

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Well this is kind of off topic, but back when I was in the Gulf War, me and a couple of my team mates would have grain alchohol poured into Isoprophil alchohol bottles, sealed and ship it to us and we would take our freeze dried fruit from the MRE's and take the grain alchohol, (once we had enough for 4-5 gallons), and pour it in a 5 gallon water jug with the crumbled up freeze dried fruit and let it soak for a couple of days..........................."Oh we had some good times on down time!" Only our Team knew about it other than our "conection" back home here in the states. We used to hear other people from other units griping because they were not allowed to have any beer or alchohol. 4 gallons would last between 14 of us for 1 week during down time each night. Of course we did prevent from getting drunk just in case the wrong person came around.

We had our girlfriends or wives send us mouthwash bottles with peppermint schnapps, then with a blow dryer shrink-wrap the plastic back to its original shape.
I will Never drink peppermint schnapps again.
Your way sounds a lot better.
Carl

 

[Produce Guy]

I be live they call it BUM-RUM,and yes they do drink rubbing alcohol,we use to have a guy that would come into are store and buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a packet of koolaid and mix it in and drink it down.We even saw him drinking Sterno one time.

 

[ShootTheMoon]

Ok ... he already bought alcohol, the drinkable kind.
Rubbing alcohol is highly flammable, when I go camping (I know) I buy it, because it's cheaper than lighter fluid and I use it to start my fires. It's an art, because some people can't get it to light SAFELY.
Just douse your logs, let it soak for a minute (it evaporates quickly), light it and poof blue flame and it gets hot quickly!
It also burns off any harmful chemicals quickly versus lighter fluid, in case you wanted to roast hot dogs or marshmallows. I also like to think of it as killing any germs, etc that can affect the smoke or flames for cooking. Hey, it's a thought. I DO NOT suggest you try to light yourself on fire. I am simply saying this is how I do it sometimes and NOT saying you should!
Isopropyl alcohol is usually 80-99% pure alcohol, so it burns.
Maybe he needed a fire? And not to drink, since he already had the bottle of booze.
I don't think stove fuel, because it would get highly pressurized in the heat with no air and go BOOM!

They also use rubbing alcoholic to make moonshine.

 

[ShootTheMoon]

At the store the other day, and one of 'them' bought two bottles of rubbing alcohol and one bottle of Mad Dog 20/20. I couldn't understand what for... (you can't drink the stuff). Maybe stove fuel?

Did any one ask the obvious.....was he really a "transient" or "bum"?
Might be a diligent working man, looking rough from a day of labor.
Or did he shamble in from the weeds or from under an overpass and smelled worse than a septic tank?

I have seen persons that look like the epitome of a homeless person, but they have more money than I do!
I remember a movie of a rich man, maybe an Eddie Murphy movie of the guy who acted like he had no legs selling watches on a rug....only to be a rich crook. Ok I saw this in 2 movies. Haha. One with a Chinese character and then anther maybe with Will Smith. Some people only act like degenerates to get your money.

 

[Mighty AP]

I had a friend of a friend who 15 years ago was standing at a freeway onramp in So Cal with a sign that read "Homeless, please help.......God Bless you". He claimed to be making a couple hundred bucks a day. After a while he got his girlfriend & newborn baby to stand out there with him & he claimed he made close to $500 a day.......until they were arrested for child endangerment!

 

[spartacus53]

I had a friend of a friend who 15 years ago was standing at a freeway onramp in So Cal with a sign that read "Homeless, please help.......God Bless you". He claimed to be making a couple hundred bucks a day. After a while he got his girlfriend & newborn baby to stand out there with him & he claimed he made close to $500 a day.......until they were arrested for child endangerment!

Yes indeed, but I have cleaned up my act since then

 

[wayne_sa]

I knew some good old boys from Campbell's Creek, WV who used to cut rubbing alcohol w/ grape juice. They called it "purple jesus"

 

[bigfish31]

Maybe they used it to clean needles.

 

[mikeofaustin]

At the store the other day, and one of 'them' bought two bottles of rubbing alcohol and one bottle of Mad Dog 20/20. I couldn't understand what for... (you can't drink the stuff). Maybe stove fuel?

Did any one ask the obvious.....was he really a "transient" or "bum"?
Might be a diligent working man, looking rough from a day of labor.
Or did he shamble in from the weeds or from under an overpass and smelled worse than a septic tank?

I have seen persons that look like the epitome of a homeless person, but they have more money than I do!
I remember a movie of a rich man, maybe an Eddie Murphy movie of the guy who acted like he had no legs selling watches on a rug....only to be a rich crook. Ok I saw this in 2 movies. Haha. One with a Chinese character and then anther maybe with Will Smith. Some people only act like degenerates to get your money.

Yep, I know what your saying... But, this was a person that I saw many times in situations around the hood that told me he was 'one of those' people. So yes, he was living outside in the woods.

Actually, after I posted this, I later found out that he lived in a dog house (a small iglo) in the woods. I was riding my enduro when I stumbled upon his camp. So, if my theories weren't initially correct, they were correct by that alone.