I've thought about it a little more and I think the thing that bothers me about this article is not necessarily the steps that he chose or the fact that he isn't doing AA, but that he seems to believe that he has arrived at a destination instead of being on a journey that isn't over yet. Indeed, that will never end.
2 1/2 years is not such a long time. It's when you think you've beat it that you set the groundwork for failure.
When I first hit one month, my friend said he wanted to get me a gift to congratulate me. I told him I don't get anything for a measly month. Maybe after a year, that's an accomplishment. After ten years, maybe I'll stop thinking about alcohol so much. But it won't be after I'm dead and gone that one could truly judge if I've effectively controlled my relationship with alcohol.
So that was a bit off topic, but I will say at least the 1000 dollar pen sounds pretty nice!