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I had a wonderful weekend trip in the North Carolina mountains this past weekend. Some details of the trip are here. On the way home, a friend that's new to the program saw an ABC store (Alcoholic Beverage Control - hard liquor is only sold in these state-run stores in NC, except for by the drink in bars and restaurants.) and made a comment that he'd heard someone say, "ABC, A Bad Choice." I had not heard that one. I thought for a moment and suggested taking it a bit further, "ABCD - Another Bottle Closer to Death." That fits my story.

My contribution is here. Be gentle.

OK, every holiday is a drunk's favorite holiday, but this is one made just for the drunks. No, not St. Patrick's Day, though that's definitely up there on the list. I'm talking about the end of Daylight Savings Time. I just heard a reminder about it on the radio. It's this weekend on Saturday night / Sunday morning. (It's still Saturday night if you're still up...) It totally sucked when, in the Spring, we lost an hour (A WHOLE HOUR!) of drinking time at the bar and it would actually close an hour early because no one could drink after what felt like 1:00 a.m., but because of the time change it was technically 2:00 a.m. Ahhhh... But that travesty was always forgiven in the Fall when we got that hour back and it actually gave us an extra hour to drink at the bar. What purely delightful magic for it to be 2:00 a.m. and the clock gets turned back to 1:00 a.m. A cheer would go up from the crowd and the drinking continued with increased fervor, for it was truly a drunk's holiday. (OK, maybe there was no cheer from the crowd, but I know I was not the only drunk that cheered!) Anyway, times have changed and that's no longer a holiday for this recovering alcoholic.

I do still like getting that hour back.

There's a new post at www.imstayingsober.com, my password-protected blog where I write things I don't want those directly in my life to read. If you want to visit it, please email me and I'll likely send you the credentials.

I see spots!

Just received via email:

THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Innovative
2. Preliminary
3. Proliferation
4. Cinnamon

THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Specificity
2. British Constitution
3. Passive-aggressive disorder

THINGS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Nope, no more beer for me.
2. Good evening, officer. Isn't it lovely out tonight?
3. Oh, I couldn't. No one wants to hear me sing.
4. Sorry, but you're not really my type.
5. Thanks, but I don't want to have sex.

Check out the posts at the half-nAAked Thursday blog.

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day. Last night, at a gay AA meeting, the discussion was greatly about telling people of our alcoholism, another kind of "coming out." It was something I rather enjoyed and several people shared their experiences.

I shared that nowadays, my telling people I'm alcoholic is much like my telling I'm gay. It's a non-issue. I rarely make it a point to tell someone I'm gay and I rarely try to hide it. I simply am what I am. If you ask me directly, I'll answer you honestly. It's the same with my alcoholism. Pretty much anyone that I feel needs to know about it already does. Still, there is that occasional person that I am drawn (almost compelled) to bring further into my life. There was such an occasion several months ago, where a conversation with a fellow employee was getting very honest and open, spiritual almost. I chose to disclose to her my alcoholism, but did so privately by closing her office door. Our resulting conversation was very special and our relationship has grown because of it. It reminds me of another friend I met years ago. She, too, was a fellow employee and we were working together on a special project on a Saturday. We went to lunch and our conversation became intimate. I came out to her as a gay man and friendship grew immensely. That friendship was for a season (a reason, a season, a lifetime) and I'm glad we had it.

It's interesting just how alike these two acts of coming out are. More so, I find that (as I have truly learned in meetings and the before/after meetings) the more we share, the more we relate to one another. Another friend, John, has tagged me with pondering and disclosing five personal idiosyncrasies. In reading his list, I related to four of his five, strongly to one. These are things about him (as he puts it), "that you probably wouldn't know unless I told you." His telling made it possible for us to relate to each other even more.

Coming out is truly the best way to connect with someone. After all, coming out is really just letting someone in. I want to always be aware of opportunities where coming out to someone about something can foster a new friendship or strengthen an existing one.

Today, I am thankful for willingness to share.

It's half-nAAked Thursday. My contribution is here.

Here's a link to a video a friend emailed me yesterday. While Earth people probably find it a bit funny, I (and I imagine many others in recovery) get to enjoy it on a whole other level.

Thanks, Peggy!

Clicky

Why is it so easy for me to believe the bad parts of me are the real me and the good parts are not?

I keep on trying to simplify my life and in each turn it seems to get more complex. I want time to do the things in life I need to do. Some of them are, oh I dunno... MY FREAKING PROGRAM! How's about being able to exercise? Sleep, what's that? The only way I know to get more time is to make my living in less time. To do that means I have to make more money per hour to work less hours. I have my full-time job of 16 years and I have my small business. Working them both is taking away so much time. The small business is the way out, but...

But, I'm afraid.