[Still trying to smile, Ed thinks for a moment on how much he wants to say. All the booze has loosened up the sharing center in his brain a bit. Normally he puts up a really good front, but in the last few years, that had been getting harder and harder to do.]

I, um... Yeah, just too much to drink, I guess. I have a lot of problems back home, as I'm sure we all do. None that are the impending end of the world, though. But... you're used to this? [Time to deflect a little.]