Grizz - that was hardly a rant! I completely understand what you are going through. I am told by my ABF that he can't be an A because he only drinks beer. He also sometimes drinks hard alcohol and mostly hides it when he does. You can smell the alcohol on him a mile away. He also uses the, "I only drank 3 beers" line but won't admit that the bottles he drinks which are generally 32 oz. of beer are more like 3 beers a piece. And after those 3 bottles most of the time he will go back to the liquor store for more.
So, yeah, I get it completely. The thing is they are really just lying to themselves. My ABF has been going a day without drinking, I think to prove he isn't an A, but by day two he is definitely at the store right after work and making up for it double time. I have had my talk with him that he must get help or I am leaving when the lease is up. I will follow through this time. And he MUST actually get help because if he doesn't realize he actually has a problem, it will repeat itself over and over and over.