Making friends without alcohol? It's possible. The secret to meaningful adult connections.

It takes time, hobbies, community involvement, through work. Good luck. If you like doing things

with your hands like wood or metalwork or fabrics, if you like electronics or programming, then hacker

or maker spaces are great. They usually have themed events and classes,

as well as social events. That's where I made my current friends when I moved to a new city.

I found a winning tactic is to borrow tools and then actually give them back? Nah, I've got to

consider you a top-tier friend before I'm lending you any tools. A neighbor borrowed one of my cordless drills and actually gave it back. However, I won't lend him any more tools. Why? He thought the drill was too dirty, so he cleaned it. In a dishwasher. First of all, yes, he washed it with the battery in, so the battery vented. That's probably the only reason why he admitted to such unconventional cleaning methods.

He had to come clean.

He offered to buy me a replacement drill, but I've asked for a cash value instead.

Bought myself a set of replacement bearings, a new battery pack, and then blasted a chuck with rust inhibitor,

and now I have a like new drill, plus quite a bit of spare change, and a neighbor that always

cleans his gardening tools in a dishwasher. Related, I drink a frick ton and I don't have many

friends at all. Do you have a basement? It's easier to keep your friends if you lock them in one.

If you see someone doing something you do or like to do or are curious, hit him with a compliment and then with a follow-up question. Met some of my best friends because I liked the colon they were wearing. Update, yes, I meant cologne. Yep, that was an error. I'm not myself today. Well, I tried it before you corrected your mistake and now I'm in a gay relationship, so thanks a lot.

Have you considered joining a cult? You make more money as a leader, but you have more fun as a follower. Join clubs, meetups, activities, hobbies, work, volunteer, go online or simply go out

and socialize during the day or early evenings. Groups like meetup.com have a lot of planned events that are open to anyone.

My own volunteer organization, Toastmasters, also does a lot of online meetups at the moment.

But Meetup itself has anything from sports to special interest groups to crafts. Really, anything.

Yeah, my old flatmate, who was new in town and didn't feel like he had a ton of time for socialising,

used some sort of meetup organisation and he met loads of friends and his eventual partner

through it, although you shouldn't just go to one expecting the latter thing to happen.

The closest I've gotten to making new friends is through, first, my kid's sports,

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