Dan Freeman is a retired computer consultant with a mission: To visit 1000 bars in a single year.

The 60-year-old began his journey on January 1, 2005, and since then has managed to hit the halfway mark, visiting his 500th bar, The Gate in Brooklyn.

Freeman insists there was no grand plan in his quest, he simply wants to see how many bars he can visit in one year. He keeps track of his visits by writing them down on a small, white pad or recipe cards. He also chronicals vists on his blog, http://www.thousandbars.blogspot.com/

There are rules he has set for himself: He never counts the same bar twice and each establishment must have an actual bar where he can sit and order a drink. A cocktail during dinner does not count.

His wife, Yum Chin, assures Freeman has been very reponsible in his bar-hopping, usually only having one drink at each place. The most excessive behavior she can remember? A Mexican vacation where he visited 12 bars in 12 hours.

Because he walks from bar to bar, Freeman says he has actually lost three pounds since January.

His goal is to reach the 1000 mark at a midtown Manhattan bar for his 61st birthday, on December 4.