PJ, you had a life changing experience, something that will never be forgotten, but hopefully fade with time.

When Covid- 19 reared it’s head I saw so many similarities that happened to people with the virus that I had when I had two respiratory arrests in 2018. It brings it all back and one thing I’m eternally grateful is, that I was sober, because I wouldn’t have acted as fast as a drunk and probably not be here now.
I know I’ve said this before but I feel like I was a child when I was drinking and I’ve grown up being sober. :)

Nice pic PJ. I’m sure all the exercise will do you good.

All the best with your upcoming medical assessments, Mags. Being without electricity is a real drag that we in South Africa have become somewhat used to. One upside of the lockdown is that it eased the grid demand and we haven’t had a single outage for months. If it happens often, consider getting a standby power supply to at least keep your WiFi going for a while. They are small and not terribly expensive.

Kaily, it’s good to hear that you got a good night’s rest and didn’t accidentally clobber the magpie. I heard they like shiny things so thinking it was a burglar might not have been that far fetched. I hope the shelter can help the injured pigeon. I once found a beautiful but injured racing pigeon in my garden and with the ring number traced the owner who collected the bird a day or two later. He was sure a vet could help with its injured wing.

Stay strong Willow. I don’t have bad cravings, but that doesn’t stop the AV from making its appearance every now and then. I’m grateful for the few days that have been accumulated and don’t want to screw up now.

BIM, I’m sure those guys didn’t really think you were going to steal their stricken plane, although I’ve heard that those thorny bushes don’t intimidate you much, at least not when they are in fruit :).

Happy Monday, friends.
I just read al the posts I missed since Thursday. Whew. Lots of good stuff. Congrats on making it through the weekend sober, Captain and Willow! That sounds very challenging this early on, Willow.

Fish and chips - yes, please. I cannot eat fried foods like I used to be able to. My stomach doesn't do well. But every once in a while I make an exception for fried fish. And if I could find good hushpuppies up here in the north I would make an exception for those, too. Yum. I also really like boiled peanuts, not everyone does. My mom used to make them when we lived in Florida. It's really hard to find raw peanuts up here, too, so we have not had them in a vey long time. The next time my mom goes to Florida for a trip I'm going to beg her to bring back some raw peanuts so I can make them.

I tried to stay away from the internet over the 3-day weekend. I was partly successful. It helps my stress level to see less news and less of the online bickering. I was hoping to get a lot of projects done around my house but was limited because it is very hot here lately. I was only able to be outside for about a half hour at a time. There's no relief in sight.

My poor dog was sent around the bend because of all the fireworks over the past several days. There were so many on Saturday night in my neighborhood that the air outside was thick with smoke. There were not very many last night, thankfully. He had what I assume was a panic attack last night and I was up a lot with him as he whined and panted and paced all around the house. He's still very anxious this morning. I give him CBD every day because he does tend to be anxious, but this was something I have never seen in him. Usually if he is scared of loud noises he finds a small space to hide in and is ok in a short while. Poor thing. I think he's getting worse with the anxiety as he gets older.

right, I can't wait till the blackberries are plump! Three more weeks! I should get all the blackberries this year since people don't want the cooties.


Mags and Kaily, :oops: I thought of a lot of ways peoples' heads might try to guess the ending, but not that the eagles collided with a toy airplane! For reference, the eagles' nest is 80 feet up a tree and these "pilots" couldn't even keep control of the plane 50 feet away, and definitely no higher than 20 feet high! A few days previous I was watching the eagle adult watch the plane and all I could think was he/she was likely thinking, "Kids. Flying isn't THAT hard."

I have learned not to tell the sad stories on here...so you can trust me not to do that. If there are animals involved, I won't tell you the (many) awful stories, just the happy ones. :) I don't need to drag you all into sadness.

In other news, I got some great videos sent to me by one of the volunteers at the zoo. She spent a couple days near and around the gorillas, so I feel better knowing they are thriving and appear to be happier to interact with humans now that they had an opportunity to be bored without us. Or something.

Here, from the blog:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bVowp_I7s...gorillas-6.jpg
Kitoko with mom, Uzumma. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo.

awwwww. What a sweet picture.

Bim, Kitoko’s so cute! :)

I hope your dog is ok Marty. I used to put a thunder jacket on one of my cats I had because she was terrified of fireworks. All the other ones I’ve had don’t seem too bothered. Glad you got some rest from the internet at the weekend. :)

Yeah, my cat who used to never care about the fireworks is much more stressed about them now that she's older. I made a cave for her like I did when the construction project was going on, but she didn't really settle until they were over. Poor things. I hope MLDDog feels better.

His name is Chauncey (not my choice, he came to me already named and too old to change it). He is still very distressed. :(
I bought and tried a thunder jacket on him once. He nearly bit me. He has a few spots on him that he doesn't like being touched. I believe he was hit or kicked before he was rescued. No one really knows for sure.

Maybe they both have PTSD. I know the eight months of construction really affected me negatively and I still have residual stress about noises after that. I can only imagine what it was like for a cat who was stuck here 24/7 and didn't know what was going on. I left the house for most of the really loud days. I feel bad about that.

Is that a sad animal story? I already broke my promise. *sigh*

Maybe it is PTSD. It's not that sad, because they have loving owners and we are doing our best for them.

Good luck with your upcoming appointments Mags.

Willow, I was a serial relapser and didn't get sober until I was 54 In joining SR you have got serious about recovery much earlier than I managed to do so you have nothing to be embarrassed about and a lot to feel good abou.

It is a much better system, we were supposed to have been fully metric by 1980 here. Meh.

We tried switching to metric here in the states - I seem to recall maybe the early 70's? There was a big push for it. I remember learning it in school and realizing it was a much superior system. It didn't take, for whatever reason.

I just looked it up. 1975 was when we tried to switch. I could read articles about why we did not switch, but I seem to remember it was a sort of a political thing and I don't want to go down that rabbit hole right now.

I, and most in my specific profession, use US conventional measurement systems (feet, pounds/tons, and acres), but scales that are in tenths of inches, or tenths and hundreths of feet, instead of 1/16th and so forth. It drives my construction friends crazy when they use one of my scales, and they really can't understand why my tape only has 10 inches in a foot or 10 1/16ths in an inch. (LOL). Of course I keep one of those tapes around also. :lmao

You’ve lost me straight away Cityboy:)

I am going about 100k down South to a postcard coastal town with a few friends- for walking and stuff.
I leave at 0900, but my brain insisted I get up at 0430, so I can pack all sorts of useless crap I will not use. The 'just in case' items.
There will be pictures.
Remember folks- the best time to post, is when you do not want to.
I have to go now and see what else I NEED to pack.

Maybe a 50,000 piece jigsaw- because I loathe jigsaws, so I will need that.

hahaha, PJ.

Have fun! I always over-pack.

Settling in for what promises to be a hot week here in my area. High temperatures from now until next Sunday are forecast to be between 109F/43C and 116F/47C every day this week. Good thing my air conditioning is working! I remember how horrible it was to deal with this heat when I was drinking and/or withdrawing :a136:

Morning Weekenders

DesertDawg, glad you’ve got Aircon. Keep cool.:)

PJ, you crack me up! :laughing: enjoy your days away. Looking forward to your pics.

I can’t stop sneezing, blumming hay fever! :tapping

Be safe. xx

Thanks everyone for the support :grouphug:

Looking forward to the pics PJ :)

Mags I’m changing my toolbox around. I did have N/A wine but realised that wasn’t a great idea. Now I’ve hidden some cranberry juice (hidden from the glutinous family members who guzzle juice so that when I really need some it’s all gone). I decided I needed to hide some. Makes a change from hiding wine and empties lol.
Plus I’m having a constant stock of flavored yogurts in the fridge. Dairy seems to be a good deterrent to the AV. I’m seeing a counsellor on a regular basis, and I’m making time for SR every day. Without fail.

Winding up 2 weeks sober today :)