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Just another Surly alcoholic checking in. Safe, sane and sober.

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  • BearSchlong
    BearSchlong

    My dad died tonight. Had a massive heart attack while on the way home from Church's Chicken. Single car accident, he flipped the SUV. I was on the way to his house and saw the ambulance driving to th

  • Wilcox Cummingtonite
    Wilcox Cummingtonite

    Checking in. Just celebrated my 2nd birthday about a month ago. So happens to be an easy date to remember since it’s actually on my half birthday which is quite fitting. It also is the day after I r

  • Celery Man
    Celery Man

    Welp, yesterday was 1,250 days sober for me.  Today is 1,251.  I don't talk about it much because it's a bit of a cliche and generally frowned upon (relationships in early sobriety), but I fell in lov

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You can be and do anything that you want to. You can overcome anything. Do not lose faith when you stray from the path. Just start back on the path again. This is one of the most inspirational threads on the shag (or whatever this is called now). 

 

Good luck, God bless, and have faith.

Creeping up on 2 years for me.

Had a great day yesterday on my boat because of my job with my friends and my wife that all would be nonexistent if I was still drinking.  Stay strong brothers and sisters.

Very grateful.

Whew! Still sober. By the grace of a loving God that showed me mercy not Justice, I haven't found it necessary to take a drink or drug since January 21, 2011.

Edited by BearSchlong

Just wanted to stop by and say to keep up the good fight. As the ex of an alcoholic, I’ve followed this (well the old one) thread for years. I just read the spouse thread today. I pray that one day he makes the choice to live. (But that is out of my control and none of my business) ;)

Glad to have made it through another day without drinking-and to have found this forum, this thread, and you like minded souls.  Trudging the road of happy destiny one day at a time with a host of friends makes this journey all the more worthwhile.

Just left a Sunday night meeting.

I have begun to enjoy these meetings and find myself looking forward to them, instead of having to be drug to them.

Day 33.

They get boring, they always do, but look for other purposes for them.

Hang in there, my man.  Put down your rock.

11 minutes ago, TtomTerrific said:

Just left a Sunday night meeting.

I have begun to enjoy these meetings and find myself looking forward to them, instead of having to be drug to them.

Day 33.

Belated congrats on 30 days! Regarding meetings, you made the jump faster than I did. I found myself needing to go initially, then having to go. Eventually, I made it to wanting to go at around 6 months.

 

well, to be fair, I have been on a , ahem, "extended vacation"....so, these have been rather intensive and 6 months worth of meetings have easily been crammed into those thirty days.

Edited by TtomTerrific

Ah that's right - welcome back buddy.   For me, I felt like I had a pretty strong foundation after a similar vacation, but holy shit a couple of times a week I had to hold on for dear life.  Keep holding on, stay busy.

Did changing message boards cure anyone's alcoholism? I still feel the same. I guess I'll join the roll call. 

This is the only thread I was sure would make it over.  I've relied on this thread and the spouses one for the last 3 years and they've been a lifesaver in helping me figure out the monster I was dealing with.

On a side note, I see bear kept his name.  Thought for sure he was going to change it but I think it was a good idea to keep it- too much street cred with that name in the area of alcoholism to change it know.  Now where is twice?  

9 hours ago, TtomTerrific said:

well, to be fair, I have been on a , ahem, "extended vacation"....so, these have been rather intensive and 6 months worth of meetings have easily been crammed into those thirty days.

I remember your post just before you went in. I too had to check in somewhere last fall for a short but very effective soberification. (Still going).

Some of your older posts in the alcoholic thread are so similar to my own experiences it is downright spooky. I remember reading a post so specific that for a brief moment, before I looked at the user name, I thought I'd written it and forgotten. I'm rooting for you really fucking hard because it's like rooting for myself.

I'm glad to see that this thread made it over quickly. I check it every day even though I'm not an alcoholic. Two of my golf buddies are in AA and I get a much clearer idea of what they have been through and what they are facing by reading this. Hopefully it enables me to be a better friend. Carry on.

 

 

  • Author

Hope is what this thread gave me and I hope I can pass that along to the alcoholic out there who is still suffering.

... to comfort, than to be comforted - to understand, than to be understood.... it is by self-forgetting that one finds...

23 hours ago, TtomTerrific said:

well, to be fair, I have been on a , ahem, "extended vacation"....so, these have been rather intensive and 6 months worth of meetings have easily been crammed into those thirty days.

Buddy, it's all about consistency and just doing the same thing over and over. I'm still going to our Wednesday night men's meeting, still making bad coffee, and I can lip synch the old timers stories cause I've heard them a thousand times. Ah but my problems keep getting higher class all the times.

  • Author

Attractive wimmenz in the meetings tests my program. My first instinct is to treat 'em like I would if I met them in a bar. FML. Praise Jesus! :(

One of my favorite meetings, I started attending because of the eye candy, ends up it is, in my opinion one of the strongest meetings in my area. 30 to 40 people every Monday night, some people with lots of time. Really good stuff.

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One thing about 13th stepping - the odds are good, but the goods are odd.

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  • Author

We had 2 college girls show up last night, they were "auditing" (?) our meeting as part of their health professional coursework. Open meeting so whatever. It seemed a bit odd as I don't think I've ever seen that before but probably not a bad idea at all. They were not ugly.

Common thing at my home group.  Kinda like Jane Goodall and her notepad hanging with a group of gorillas.

  • Author

Definitely wanted to lean over their shoulders and check out their notes. Probably sketches of dickbutt.

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Continuing the conversation from the other board because fuck Kerwin Morgan, my home group just doesn't seem to get a lot of noobs so there's not a lot of opportunities to sponsor. There's a group in town that has 4 meetings a day and seems to be the location of choice for people looking for a solution. I know several old timers who go there just to scout the fish. I'm at the point where it's time for me to up my game and get into the sponsor role but much like getting to a meeting posed a problem 2 years ago getting my ass to this other place is going to be a challenge. Believe me, if they were serving liquor there and it was the only place in town I would have been there so no doubt I can figure this out too. xD

what is your home group?  If you don't mind me asking.  I have been given the opportunity to see many of the groups that I wouldn't normally see and I gotta tell you....the recovery community in Austin is vibrant and healthy, to say the very least.  A LOT of good sobriety is happening all around.  I went to the Cherry Creek group and picked up a sponsor there...I LOVE it there and never thought that I would ever walk into a building in that part of town and find such good people.

The Westlake Group, the Northland Group and the Serenity Group in Lakeway will probably be my circuit, but I have been known to show up at a Heroin Anonymous meeting at the Club 101 (I have never done heroin, but that is just lucky, not by design) and vaped my ass off and really had some good recovery happening around me in there.

You never know with this, but I love trying to find out. 

what is your home group?  If you don't mind me asking.  I have been given the opportunity to see many of the groups that I wouldn't normally see and I gotta tell you....the recovery community in Austin is vibrant and healthy, to say the very least.  A LOT of good sobriety is happening all around.  I went to the Cherry Creek group and picked up a sponsor there...I LOVE it there and never thought that I would ever walk into a building in that part of town and find such good people.

The Westlake Group, the Northland Group and the Serenity Group in Lakeway will probably be my circuit, but I have been known to show up at a Heroin Anonymous meeting at the Club 101 (I have never done heroin, but that is just lucky, not by design) and vaped my ass off and really had some good recovery happening around me in there.

You never know with this, but I love trying to find out. 

You finally discovered what I've been telling you for years and it warms my heart.

 

Next time you're at Northland in the evening look for a guy with silver hair named David B. His gal is named Sherry, she's a sweetheart. He may be wearing a Baylor golf shirt. Introduce yourself and tell him that you know me. Same for Sam W. (Bald guy) And Charles C.(older guy). And Marcus, Obie, not sure if they go to Westlake or whatever but those are my Austin guys that go to the lake shore conference every year.

 

Id tell you to look for Augustus but he done gone and moved to arryzona.

 

 

 

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Ball & Chain
Social Distortion

Well it's been ten years, and a thousand tears
And look at the mess I'm in
A broken nose and a broken heart,
An empty bottle of gin
Well I sit and I pray
In my broken down Chevrolet
While I'm singin' to myself
There's got to be another way

Take away, take away
Take away this ball and chain
I'm lonely and I'm tired
And I can't take any more pain
Take away, take away
Never to return again
Take away, take away
Take away this ball and chain

Well I've searched and I've searched
To find the perfect life-
A brand new car and a brand new suit
I even got me a little wife
But wherever I have gone
I was sure to find myself there
You can run all your life
But not go anywhere

Take away, take away
Take away this ball and chain
I'm lonely and I'm tired
And I can't take any more pain
Take away, take away
Never to return again
Take away, take away
Take away this ball and chain

Well I'll pass the bar on the way
To my dingy hotel room
I spent all my money
Been drinkin' since a half past noon
I'll wake there in the mornin'
Or maybe in the county jail
Times are hard getting harder
I'm born to lose and destined to fail

Take away, take away
Take away this ball and chain
I'm lonely and I'm tired
And I can't take any more pain
Take away, take away
Never to return again
Take away, take away
Take away this ball and chain

Guzzled a lotta beer jamming to social d. 

Was a few years before I could listen to them again. 

Edited by TwiceHorn

  • Author

I was messing around last night googling up tunes from when I was a kid and ran across a video to a song I had not heard in 40+ years. When I was a kid I just thought it was a cool tune and the lyrics didn't have much meaning. Then I did a little more googling on the guy who wrote/played the song and found out that he's been sober for some years now and doing good things in his community (Fort Worth). Flat circles and shit.

 

 

On 3/31/2018 at 11:39 AM, El Diablo said:

I was messing around last night googling up tunes from when I was a kid and ran across a video to a song I had not heard in 40+ years. When I was a kid I just thought it was a cool tune and the lyrics didn't have much meaning. Then I did a little more googling on the guy who wrote/played the song and found out that he's been sober for some years now and doing good things in his community (Fort Worth). Flat circles and shit.

 

 

John got sober at the Glass House.  Haven't seen him in several years but am glad to know he is still trudging the road to happy destiny.  My favorite song he does is Louisiana Cockfight. 

I love the Glass House. Their Sunday evening literature was my third meeting ever, but too far.

  • Author
16 minutes ago, panthercityhorn said:

John got sober at the Glass House.  Haven't seen him in several years but am glad to know he is still trudging the road to happy destiny.  My favorite song he does is Louisiana Cockfight. 

He was a minor celebrity once upon a time, he wrote a number of songs for the Fort Worth band "Bloodrock". Their biggest hit was a creepy ass tune called "D.O.A.". He toured with Alice Cooper and I think it was after that tour that he got his shit together, apparently life on the road with Alice was bad for his health. Here's a blurb on the album they were promoting at the time, 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Forces_(Alice_Cooper_album)

Special Forces is the first of three albums which Alice refers to as his "blackout" albums, followed by Zipper Catches Skin, and DaDa, as he has no recollection of recording them, due to substance abuse.

I can't say for sure that John got sober and stayed sober after that but I saw an interview where he said that at the end of the tour EVERYBODY that had been on the road "took some time off". 

 

I was in maybe 6th grade when that was getting airplay. It was all kinds of spooky, lol. 

5 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

He was a minor celebrity once upon a time, he wrote a number of songs for the Fort Worth band "Bloodrock". Their biggest hit was a creepy ass tune called "D.O.A.". He toured with Alice Cooper and I think it was after that tour that he got his shit together, apparently life on the road with Alice was bad for his health. Here's a blurb on the album they were promoting at the time, 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Forces_(Alice_Cooper_album)

 

 

I can't say for sure that John got sober and stayed sober after that but I saw an interview where he said that at the end of the tour EVERYBODY that had been on the road "took some time off". 

 

I was in maybe 6th grade when that was getting airplay. It was all kinds of spooky, lol. 

My freshman year in college-bought this album and got to know the players.  My best drinking buddy died in a rollover accident in '96, and was a friend of the drummer, Lee Pickens.  Always thought it ironic that this song and end of his life had a connection.

40 minutes ago, JohnnyRage said:

I love the Glass House. Their Sunday evening literature was my third meeting ever, but too far.

Are you still in FW?

Garland, near Bass Pro. Home group is Big Book of Rockwall,  but the late meetings that I attend are probably becoming too group therapy.

If we're posting music, I got one for y'all. This is my #1 all time song when it comes to capturing the suicidal madness and quest for oblivion I had when my drinking was at its worst. I was hurtling toward the earth at terminal velocity and my response was to just drink harder and faster. The lyrics are spot on and I love everything about the arrangement, especially the "flat tire" drum beat and the guitar accompanying the vocal melody. When he starts screaming "to where the morning don't come" at the end I get chills every time.

"I should have died a hundred thousand times..."

Bump cause I'm grateful to be sober.

 

Spent 4 hours straight yesterday hearing a 5th step, then went to a speaker meeting.

 

Was at a meeting the other day and heard something simple but profound. "Procrastination is just another manifestation of control"

  • Author
18 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Bump cause I'm grateful to be sober.

 

Spent 4 hours straight yesterday hearing a 5th step, then went to a speaker meeting.

 

Was at a meeting the other day and heard something simple but profound. "Procrastination is just another manifestation of control"

We're discussing the 10th step the other night and one of our guys says "I always thought I was a nurturing sort. Turns out that's just my way of controlling." 

Just another manifestation.

Just want to chip in that it’s absolutely wonderful to hear/read that everyone is doing well.

Keep up the good fight!!

\,,/

"Wear the world like a loose garment"

I have to remember to do this every day or I hold on too tight and get all stressed out.

Fuck yeah. Still sober and this site is up and running. New job started and it was a perfect time for a break.  Nice to be back and see you all posting.  Less than 90 days and the pink cloud has burst already, but fuck if I’m not grateful.  Happy days. 

  • Author

Seems like it's conference "season", we've had announcements for 8 or so for the last month. Gathering of Eagles in Dallas, Texas State Conference, Man to Man in Brownwood, Arkansas State Conference, Austin's 5th Conference and a couple others I'm not remembering.

What's on your schedule this summer?

Checking in. Had to change my user name cause I forgot my password as panthercityhorn.  Still trudging the road to happy destiny.

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