Mags1

Good Morning Weekenders

RAL congratulations on 4 weeks good work!

Peke, pleased you got out for a ride.

Robbie, pleased you got sober. I can relate but in a different way. Pleased your mum is doing ok. She sounds like a trooper!

I shudder thinking about my boozy days as some of my memories come back. Never want to go back there. Never will go back there. I used to go round different shops to buy booze trying to put on an image that I was a normal drinker. I knew then I drank too much but had no inclination to do anything about it. I thought I had it under control! The Addiction sure lied to me and at that time I wanted to believe it.


Have a good sober day. Shout out if you want to.

Love to all. xxxx

least

Finished my laundry and put it all away. Still feeling crummy, took a zofran an hour ago to quell the nausea before I took my meds.

Steely, Billie is truly my soulmate, best friend, and snuggle buddy. Even when I sleep late in the day, she almost always stays beside me to comfort me. Sometimes I go to bed just so we can snuggle together.

I knew Alex Haley's phrase - Find the good and praise it. - before RustyZipper and CarolD suggested practicing gratitude to shore up my sobriety and improve my life in general. But it's the same sentiment. It can make or break someone's day depending how you treat them, and seeing a big smile on someone's face when you've complimented them is such a good feeling. I like to praise workers by telling their boss how good they are, which always makes the boss happy to hear how their workers are doing. Most customers only give complaints, not compliments, so bosses are always surprised and glad to hear something good.

Peke, glad you had a good ride. I used to ride my 10 speed bike a lot when I was younger. One day I rode it all around the NE corner of our county, 65 miles total. I remember too, tho, how mad I would get at some drivers who treated bike riders badly. I've had trash thrown at me from cars going past. One time, riding in town, I got the last laugh. I was coming out of an alley, turning left onto the street. A car idling in the street yelled at me for riding on the street, yelled loudly that I should ride on the sidewalk, not the street with the cars!! And while he was leaning out his window yelling at me, his car rolled up and hit the car in front of him!!! I yelled at him, "who doesn't belong on the street??'

RAL

Morning all

Thanks mags 😀

Hope you feel better soon least.

I was a ' go round as many different shops as you can to pretend you've not got a problem' kind of drinker. Then I moved to a rural area where there is only 1 shop. Oh I'm.having a party tonight . Sure the shopkeeper knew full well they were all for me. Glad to have those days in the past.

saoutchik

Morning 'kenders, booze was (and is) available 24/7 so I didn't have to do stuff like PJ and Robbie described, I did use a variety of outlets though to diffuse the embarrassment.

Hodd - there is an inland village in Norfolk named Sandton Downham that got buried in a sandstorm back in 1688. It is in the middle of a coniferous forest now - one of those ugly, Forestry Commission ones full of fast growing conifers. I think it was a desert back in dinosaur times or something.

Hodd

Hi DD, I don’t do conspiracy theories, but I reckon many governments want us all to drink, the more the better. First of all there’s the tax generated. Then of course come the health concerns which can of course (said sarcastically) be addressed by pharmaceuticals - these exist to make money. Finally, and this is very dark thinking, old people are an expensive bunch to look after. They get all those pensions and proportionally more health care. If they pop off, say, ten years earlier, that’s a lot of money saved.

It’s not a nice thought, but it could explain why alcohol is so ridiculously cheap. The UK government guidelines talk about weekly units (confusing) of alcohol, but they don’t even mention it might be worth considering not drinking at all. People who continue to be heavy drinkers are being cheated I feel.

oh and a new guy started at work. In his uni days, he worked part-time at a small supermarket and told the (familiar) tale of regular customers coming two or three times a day to buy wine. It’s shocking to think anyone can end up like that.

Steely

I’ve read the Alex Haley phrase in your signature previously least and quoted it back to you. I’ve always liked it. A good way to live.

I also know Billie is your soulmate. Don’t think I’ve known anyone that has loved their doggie as much as you least. Billie is lucky, too.

RunnerF

Pledging for today. Day 602.

Alpine

Peke, glad you were able to get out for a ride
Mags, I had my rotation too of where I would go to have the illusion that I was a "normal" drinker. I am sure they knew. I for the most part would buy smaller bottles thinking this is the last time..nope..sigh. Glad those days are over

Steely

Oh yeah, the buy smaller bottles, only one six pack illusion.

In reality all this meant was a return trip to the bottle shop once the first six pack, the smaller bottle had been consumed.

Off to the races, again.

Paula Yates, Michael Hutchence’s wife used to do it too. Used to buy those fancy miniatures as part of the con. 😞

Pekelover2

Least, that story made me cringe!! How awful. Ppl were so aggressive. Wow. 😞
Thanks Alpine..so happy that you got out for a canoe paddle (in the road to summer post). I haven’t been in a canoe since I was a kid. And back then I was one of three in it. It must be a lot to navigate.
Morning Mags!
I can’t wait until August for our vacation. Having this kind of highlight gives you a little energy to keep on going.
Aly…hope you’re doing okay.

Zencat

I didn't have to dash to the bottle shop in the morning for my hooch fix, I could call the dope dude or dudetts delivery service (family and friends too) 24/7/365. Many times I lost my alcohol money with a coke/meth purchase before the stores open. Pluss I was plugged into the mental health treatment with all the comorbid narcotic pill poppers, I could hit them up for a fix if I was desperate. I was always desperate.

In a NA meeting I heard someone say " if you put as much energy into getting and using dope as you do with your recovery work you will get and stay clean".

For Those In The USA



Every thing is above board.

In my society the alcoholics are the tiny minority that gets overlooked when making alcohol policy. The vast majority of voters have no alcohol related problems. So forget government intervention on the drinking parties that might be hosted by politicians during the high alert days of covid in the first place. Big Alcohol here in the states thrive like most big business here by GREED. No need for lobbyist in DC to keep the drinks flowing. What! Cut government sales tax income by hampering booze sales, that's un American I can hear them saying on Capital Hill.

Up at my usual weird all different hours during the day and night. I'll be taking a nap so it all evens out with no real sleep routine.

Good to be sober and free of cruddy ole booze and dope.

Pekelover2

Wow Zen…”In a NA meeting I heard someone say " if you put as much energy into getting and using dope as you do with your recovery work you will get and stay clean".
What a powerful sentiment. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Hi RAL, Steely and Runner.
Ugh…couldn’t sleep last night.

DeplorableDog

Day 327 ODAAT

Hodd

I’m quite sure there are excellent counsellors out there, but the one I had to see (to tick a box) told me she tells her patients to drink smaller bottles - wow, never thought of that ☹️

But that was my “trick” in my final months. I’d got to the gym until 9pm and go to the store for some food and, of course, wine. Now if I’d bought a whole bottle, I’d drink it all. So I bought two smaller bottles which equated to two thirds of a normal bottle. The first one I’d drink in my car (yes!) in around 20 seconds! The seconds I’d have at home at a slightly slower pace, but we’re talking five minutes. That’d be it for the day, but I’d be craving like crazy until bedtime! That’s not sustainable for anyone. It did, however, serve a small purpose in that quitting was probably that tiny bit easier as I’d “tapered” for a few months. However, I reckon that sort of “tapering” ends up going the other way for most drinkers. For alcoholics, small bottles don’t make any difference 🙁

RAL

Counsellor sounds like someone who doesnt understand addiction. Oh just stop after 1 or 2 drinks. Yes right. Oh really. I never thought of that one. 😱

Hope everyone has had a great holiday weekend. See you all next weekend

DeplorableDog

I tried buying smaller bottles. That just meant I bought more bottles.

Zencat

Edit: I'll be taking a nap so it all evens out without the real need for a normal sleep routine
...and I'm up again Boing!

Happy Memorial Day Fellow Americans.

Hodd

Wasn’t really a people person. I had to go to that counselling session to tick a box which is ironically all the counsellor seemed to do as well. That meeting was near my house and the local store, and seeing as it was 6pm, I went in the store to buy wine - such was the effect of the counseling. I imagined a “comedy moment” if the counsellor saw me in the queue clutching my bottle of plonk.

On a serious note, I realised that counsellor would be zero help, and it dawned on me that only I could stop myself drinking - which I did 2 months later 👍

venuscat

Geez Hodd, drink smaller bottles? Is she kidding?
I hope she isn't still working with people with substance issues.

Hodd

^ I’m sure she had other strategies. Maybe smokers got told to smoke shorter cigarettes or something. The whole session consisted of ticking boxes. The fact I bought wine two minutes after the meeting ended says it all. I’m sure good counsellors exist, but I definitely got the short straw with that one. But as I say, it gave the clear message that only I could stop myself drinking.