drinkstoomuch

On day 3 and spent the day trying to keep my mind occupied with other things. In the past, having a few days off of work meant extra boozing as it meant it didn't matter how hungover I got or how late I woke up. So I felt I needed to stay busy to keep the beast at bay.

Finally got around to taking out the trash and dealing with my 'recycling cupboard'. This is the one above the fridge where the empties go. I collect them there until the cupboard is full and then pack them up and do a late night dumpster run so I can dispose of them discretely. (ugh).

Anyway, it's been one of those monthly slaps in the face that I have simply ignored for years. (and yes, sadly, this took less than 30 days to 'collect') But today, I chose to use it as another piece of ammo in the arsenal to use against the beast. A visual reminder that in my case, one leads to many! Always!.

Thanks again to all of you for being here. (A bit of a conundrum as I really wish none of us were.) I appreciate the support.

-DTM

Carlotta

Congratulations on 3 days.
You definitely made the right decision to quit and also a good one to post this picture on the forum. If down the line your AV starts making you question whether or not you are an alcoholic and if you can drink in moderation, it should be easy for one of us to dig that one up and post it on the thread

EndGameNYC

Hey DTM.

I used to use an app on my iPhone that rendered me invisible while I was trashing my empties.

Hurt my brain when I tried counting the bottles in your pic.

keen2bclean

Congrats on day 3!! I used to throw my wine bottles away with normal trash...saved them up for recycling once and was horrified at the amount of bottles staring back at me! So to aid the lie I got rid as and when I drank them...good idea with the pic tho, certainly hits home.

drinkstoomuch

Thanks again folks.

Carlotta - dig the camus quote. Very true.

EndGame - sadly, I don't think that app's available for android yet. And it hurt my brain, my liver, my synapses, and probably everything else to drink 'em.

Keen - solid as always, thx.

lessgravity

It's something to look forward to = the empty recycle bin - another lovely, simple but so freeing aspect of not picking up anymore.

Fandy

cat food cans and cool whip containers weigh a lot less tan big old bottles that were filled with wine.
i can lift my recycling now with one hand. ( i have a soda stream and britta filter so no extra bottles).

instant

I used to slide the bottles into the recycling - I hated the sound of the clink when it struck other glass-

Good decision to give up- I have not regretted it

FeelingGreat

I used to tip my indoor recycle bin into the outdoor one on bin night and the crashing and clanging of the bottles was so embarrassing. Not any more.

TKS

My recycling is still overflowing after two weeks sober. Thankfully not from the dozens of empty cans and bottles, but paper & cardboard because I have been cleaning out all the crap from rooms, cupboards and storage totes that built up after years of self neglect and hungover free time.

freshstart57

The day I quit drinking my adult daughters took my empties back for refund. They filled forty plastic shopping bags, mostly with 40 oz vodka bottles.

I didn't ask for the money.

ChefUK

so shamefull!

so grateful for no more of that

EndGameNYC

Yeah, hate the clink.

Dr. Bob Smith, a co-founder of AA, had a laundry chute in his bedroom that he used to conceal his empties. He first made certain that there was enough laundry at the bottom of the chute to soften the blow and muffle the sound of his empties hitting the base station. Then, bombs away.

I generally got rid of my empties as soon as they were empty, fearing I'd hide them in plain site, and that my ex would find them and then place them in full view when I came to the next day. This actually happened on at least two occasions.

My planning to hide and get rid of empties; when, where and how much I'd "secretly" drink; and then trying to camouflage my drunkenness was more complicated and more time consuming than the Allied invasion of Normandy.

Carlotta

I recycled around 2/3 am in a neighborhood church's dumpster. It s nice to be able to have a good uninterrupted night of sleep without that alarm going off in the middle of the night LOL

Linnie

Our recycling is picked up bi-weekly and we got a recycling receptacle from the city that is every bit as large as our trash can (huge!) once I was backing out of the driveway when the recycling truck came by and our can was overflowing so much that some wine bottles fell out and broke in the street. I had to sit in the driveway and wait until the workers swept up the broken glass from our overflow (and shoot sideways glances at me). I was so embarrassed!! It was still a year before I decided to get sober. That should definitely have been a wake up call!

Mustdoit

Your photo is brilliant. You were very brand loyal! WELL DONE you have so much to gain. Keep here at SR everyone will support you.

After I quit I put all the bottles into bags and took them to the bottle bank (when there was no one else around) then put them in one by one adding up costs as they shattered.

Its nice not to have to smuggle the overspill from the recycling boxes into carriers to dump later. Only so many parties you can pretend you had!