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Would bratwurst boiled in beer then seated on a grill trigger someone?  Boiling removes the alcohol, but the beer flavor is quite present.

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  • BearSchlong
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    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

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    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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Hopefully every now and again you guys allow me to post some Youtube testimonials. I'm blown away by how many famous people are sober and you wouldn't even know.

This is a high bottom guy. You may remember him from one of the first Road Rules Seasons on MTV. His last bender story in New York is pretty hilarious and can be fround on the Joe Rogan podcast or on Ari Shaffir's 'This Is Not Happening'. He's a comedian now and I would highly recommend his Netflix special from a couple of years ago.

 

 

I don't worry about something that's beer battered or involves alcohol in the preparation so much, but something like tiramisu I can taste it strongly and don't want to ingest this substance over which I am powerless.  Bread pudding is another one like that.

Yeah the shirt is not something worth getting bent out of shape about at all, but I do think it reflects a lack of understanding, and a (non malicious) conception that people in recovery aren't "around".

11 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

I don't worry about something that's beer battered or involves alcohol in the preparation so much, but something like tiramisu I can taste it strongly and don't want to ingest this substance over which I am powerless.  Bread pudding is another one like that.

Yeah the shirt is not something worth getting bent out of shape about at all, but I do think it reflects a lack of understanding, and a (non malicious) conception that people in recovery aren't "around".

Same.  Nothing sauced with alcohol.

I went two months this year “beer free”! My chips-n-salsa and beer “beer gut” was getting in the way of my golf swing! Let alone, the waist size exceeding the length on my pants.
Today, playing golf I had a couple beers, in order to help my golf game, but all I did was crave more beers - golf be damned! I’m glad I made it home, but all I want is more beers, so I think I’m borderline alcoholic, because right now only binge drinking solves the day.
If I can quit “cold turkey”, just thinking about by exceeding weight/health, I don’t think I’m in the boat of needing help/counseling?
What says Surley?

Well, I'm an alcoholic, and I often went weeks or months without drinking, mainly to keep "her" off my ass. I was never an everyday drinker, but like you I experienced the phenomenon of craving, i.e. the more i drink the thirstier i get.

 

I suggest going to a few AA meetings and just listening. If you hear your story, then keep going. If not, then stop going and just try to moderate or control your drinking.

 

Also, can't wait to get to my home group tonight and report on what happened at the casino yesterday.

 

I stay away from chili made by people who dump beer in it. Sometimes it doesn't cook off enough.

Thanks Bear Schlong, I’ll try and keep control of the situation, but I’m leaning towards alcoholic state.
I plan on going to a meeting soon. It’s in my family, so I need to go soon.

Hell no, just “water weight”. Actually I ate more sweets and had food cravings being “sober” than I did while drinking. (Mainly beer on tap).

9 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I'm amazed you could detect alcohol in that.  I've kinda thought those were a bit dangerous because I've found the alcohol completely imperceptible in them.  It would be really easy for children, or people avoiding alcohol to consume them and not realize they were alcoholic until too late.

It was instantaneous.

My brain acted like the Prodigal Son has just burst into the room like the Kool Aid man.

1 hour ago, Ptown said:

Alcohol gets converted to sugar in your body, thats were the sugar cravings come from. 

Tehnically untrue.  However, alcohols and sugars are metabolized somewhat similarly, particularly their effect on blood sugar.  Remove alcohol from the diet and yeah, you are going to crave sugar.

15 hours ago, Augustus said:

It was instantaneous.

My brain acted like the Prodigal Son has just burst into the room like the Kool Aid man.

Same thing happened to me when I accidentally drank some mimosa. Small drink and felt it hard and immediate. 

I've also had to stop drinking kambucha as that has a tiny bit of alcohol and a boozy aftertaste.

I have yet to have an "accidental slip". I can only imagine what the taste of it would do. The smell was what always got me, back when I would try to quit on my own (without being in or working a program). Like I'd host BYOB/L poker night, and would be fine not drinking, and then would go to pour out drinks and just the wafting alcohol up from the sink would be enough to start thinking about whether I really needed to not drink. 

My accidental slips in my dreams are enough for me.  It's a weird feeling to be relieved in your dreams (to be drinking again), and be relieved when you awake, that it was just a dream.  Perhaps "relieved" is not the right term for the former scenario.

Yup. I need to give that a listen.

Ok, here's how I know I'm an addict.

I quit smoking circa 2000. Replaced Marlboro lights with Levi Garrett. I can't stand dipping but I loved chewing tobacco. So after a few years I just started chewing nicorette. Fast forward to jan 2019. Still on the gum, lozenges, and finally quit with the patch. So I was 100% nicotine free for about 3 weeks.

My wife doesn't smoke much, about 3 packs a year. Usually when on vacation with the gals where she gets over served like an amateur, the fuckin normie. When I met her she was a smoker and by the 3rd date she had quit and I asked her why she wasn't smoking and she said "oh, well, you dont smoke so I thought it was kind of a nasty habit anyway so I just quit." Just like that.

Anyway, at the casino Friday and Saturday we split a pack of Marlboro ultra lights. About 8 on friday night and then 2 on saturday morning. Its Tuesday and I'm craving nicotine.

Mental obsession and all. Oh, it'll be different this time. Hahahahaha.

Nicotine is so hard to quit. I've got the brain of a chronic addict.

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15 hours ago, ernest_t_bass said:

My accidental slips in my dreams are enough for me.  It's a weird feeling to be relieved in your dreams (to be drinking again), and be relieved when you awake, that it was just a dream.  Perhaps "relieved" is not the right term for the former scenario.

You still getting those? IIRC, you're well over a year now, right? I'm only about 10 months, but mine have tapered off quite a bit. Still every now and then, but it was a few times a week for a while. 

15 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Yup. I need to give that a listen.

Ok, here's how I know I'm an addict.

I quit smoking circa 2000. Replaced Marlboro lights with Levi Garrett. I can't stand dipping but I loved chewing tobacco. So after a few years I just started chewing nicorette. Fast forward to jan 2019. Still on the gum, lozenges, and finally quit with the patch. So I was 100% nicotine free for about 3 weeks.

My wife doesn't smoke much, about 3 packs a year. Usually when on vacation with the gals where she gets over served like an amateur, the fuckin normie. When I met her she was a smoker and by the 3rd date she had quit and I asked her why she wasn't smoking and she said "oh, well, you dont smoke so I thought it was kind of a nasty habit anyway so I just quit." Just like that.

Anyway, at the casino Friday and Saturday we split a pack of Marlboro ultra lights. About 8 on friday night and then 2 on saturday morning. Its Tuesday and I'm craving nicotine.

Mental obsession and all. Oh, it'll be different this time. Hahahahaha.

Nicotine is so hard to quit. I've got the brain of a chronic addict.

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How do you figure you were 100% nicotine free still chewing nicotine gum and lozenges? Or am I not reading that correctly? 

5 minutes ago, BBQ2Bayou said:

You still getting those? IIRC, you're well over a year now, right? I'm only about 10 months, but mine have tapered off quite a bit. Still every now and then, but it was a few times a week for a while. 

I've been sober for 21 years and I still get them.

6 minutes ago, BBQ2Bayou said:

You still getting those? IIRC, you're well over a year now, right? I'm only about 10 months, but mine have tapered off quite a bit. Still every now and then, but it was a few times a week for a while. 

We're littermates, I have about the same length. I still get the dreams at about the same frequency I did 5-10 months ago, but they've changed. Before they were full relapse dreams. Now generally I've accidentally had a single beer (meaning the dream begins after I've already consumed a beer off camera) and I have to decide whether or not I'm going to come clean and start my sobriety count over. 

14 minutes ago, BBQ2Bayou said:

How do you figure you were 100% nicotine free still chewing nicotine gum and lozenges? Or am I not reading that correctly? 

I was nicotine free for about 3 weeks starting in Jan/Feb 2019.  Apologies for lack of clarity.

49 minutes ago, BBQ2Bayou said:

You still getting those? IIRC, you're well over a year now, right? I'm only about 10 months, but mine have tapered off quite a bit. Still every now and then, but it was a few times a week for a while. 

Every now and then I'll have a very realistic dream where I'm picking through some craft beers in a store, and enjoying the taste of one. And then another.  And then another 12 or so.

April 27 will be 4 years.

Edited by ernest_t_bass

53 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

We're littermates, I have about the same length. I still get the dreams at about the same frequency I did 5-10 months ago, but they've changed. Before they were full relapse dreams. Now generally I've accidentally had a single beer (meaning the dream begins after I've already consumed a beer off camera) and I have to decide whether or not I'm going to come clean and start my sobriety count over. 

I get the exact same dream and I'm 2.5 years in.  I don't dream actually drinking it but I know I did and I have major guilt.  I'll then wake up and have to convince myself that it was just a dream.  When I first got sober it was that I relapsed on coke but now it's just the booze.  I've tried to pinpoint some trigger that might have made them happen but got nothing other than the brain is tricky.

Edited by Sparky

I still have full-blown fuck up dreams.  Shitfaced, consequences, the whole banana.  They tend to start with me being shitfaced for some reason, not the way I got like that.

1 hour ago, ernest_t_bass said:

Every now and then I'll have a very realistic dream where I'm picking through some craft beers in a store, and enjoying the taste of one. And then another.  And then another 12 or so.

April 27 will be 4 years.

Haha, shit. Shows how much my concept of time was off when I was drinking. I still read this thread everyday when I was drinking because I knew I needed help. I remember your post perfectly when you reached a year and I also remember you posting when you quit, it just seemed to me like that post was 15 or 16 months ago.  

Bear, got ya. The reason I asked is because I gave up cigarettes when I stopped drinking and didn't use anything, but I still get strong cravings everyday. 

 

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I've been sober for 21 years and I still get them.

For me waking up the next day is like a shootout scene in a movie where a guy gets shot at a dozen times and then checks himself to make sure he didn't get shot.  When I wake up I am completely convinced that I threw away years of sobriety, got shitfaced, and drove naked through town, just like my dream.  I have to reassure myself that that really didn't happen, and usually it's by acknowledging that I'm not hungover.  

PSA- Charles C. From Northland died a few days ago. Very classy guy, a strong member of AA whom I got to know through the lakeside conference in Brownwood.@Augustus knew him too, I'm sure. He's at that meeting in the sky now.

 

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3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I still have full-blown fuck up dreams.  Shitfaced, consequences, the whole banana.  They tend to start with me being shitfaced for some reason, not the way I got like that.

I had a drinking dream for the first time in ages the other night.  Vivid as hell.  I was in a casino playing poker and I beat a guy with a quad against his full house.  He lost his shit, then calmed down.  The waitress brought him two beers and he handed me one to apologize for his outburst.  I felt bad and took it.  After one sip, I said to myself, well, I might as well finish it off and proceeded to get fucked up all over the casino.  Then I went to bed in the hotel feeling worse about myself than should be humanly possible.  Then I woke up in real life.

I don't dwell on those types of things.  It's just a dream.  The important thing is that I'm closing in on 6 years sober and there's no way in hell I would've taken that beer in real life.

7 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

PSA- Charles C. From Northland died a few days ago. Very classy guy, a strong member of AA whom I got to know through the lakeside conference in Brownwood. Augustus knew him too, I'm sure. He's at that meeting in the sky now.

 

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Was this Charles with the very strong drawl??

Maybe so, 76 years old, balding on top, mustache. I guess living in Texas I dont really notice the drawl.

 

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13 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

  When I wake up I am completely convinced that I threw away years of sobriety, got shitfaced, and drove naked through town, just like my dream.  

the great thing is, you don't have to drink today-- you can drive naked through town without alcohol

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15 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Maybe so, 76 years old, balding on top, mustache. I guess living in Texas I dont really notice the drawl.

 

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You would think after a few years of sobriety a guy would learn to turn off his tapa sig. ;) 

Had to reinstall tapa and forgot to turn it off. Actually did it right after posting that yesterday.

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2 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Had to reinstall tapa and forgot to turn it off. Actually did it right after posting that yesterday.

Just one of the many benefits of sober living - following thru on good intentions!

20 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

PSA- Charles C. From Northland died a few days ago. Very classy guy, a strong member of AA whom I got to know through the lakeside conference in Brownwood.@Augustus knew him too, I'm sure. He's at that meeting in the sky now.

 

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He was the first person I met and shook hands with at Northland when I straggled in back in October 2011.  Shared a lot with him.  

Edited by Augustus

20 hours ago, TexArcher said:

Was this Charles with the very strong drawl??

Yes.  Good God it was 100% McGregor, TX

Charles had a short fuse when it came to profanity in AA meetings.  Occasionally he'd lose his restraint and go on something of a rant about it during a meeting.

I don't how many of us over the years would deliberately insert a "fuck" into our comments, followed by an elbow-in-the-ribs "Sorry, Charles" before continuing.

Edited by Augustus

48 minutes ago, Augustus said:

Yes.  Good God it was 100% McGregor, TX

Damn.  I did not know him well, but chatted with him a few times before meetings.

All this talk of drinking dreams has found it's way into my subconscious.  Twice this week I've had resentment dreams and it's not been pretty.  I can handle the occasional drinking dream as I know it's just a fleeting thing that happens.  I believe that my higher power can/has restored me to sanity and my desire to drink is gone. What I don't understand is why even though I've done a 4th step on some issues, they keep popping up in dreams.  These are the things that led to my relapse and the things in real life that lead to depression, bad thoughts....eventually fuck it, hopelessness, then drinking.  The first one I worked through quickly in my morning meditation two days ago.  The one last night has stuck with me all day because I'm still feeling the financial pain from it in my daily life.  

I am learning that joyous, happy, and free are just for alcohol and the rest is going to be a fight.  "Life ain't fair and the world is mean."  I am grateful I'm not in that pit of hopelessness anymore, but damn I hate that my brain reminds me at times of how I got there.  My biggest issue in sobriety is not my daily life, which is pretty chill.  It is my reaction to what the world throws at me when I'm minding my own damn business.  

Thank you for giving me a place to put this to "paper".  No matter how good I'm doing, my fear and lack of trusting the world will sneak up on me.  Sometimes in the form of dreams.  I feel better, but damn if I know for sure I belong here.  Thank God my side of the street is clean and I don't have to drink today.  Much love.  

  • 2 weeks later...

So grateful to wake up this morning feeling somewhat refreshed versus that other pain that leads me further down the road.

It was a good news, bad news day for me and the missus.  Good news-our nephew was in town from DC and went to a meeting this morning with us to pick up his 30 day chip.  He shared from the heart and many of us who have lived without alcohol for several years were reminded of our first 30 days.  The bad news, he is here to see his mom come home from the hospital for hospice.  And she died this afternoon.  He called and we are going to hit up several meetings this next few days.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 King James Version (KJV)

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

  • Popular Post

Today is 30 days for me. It has been a long 30 days. I am thankful of the support and can’t say enough how helpful the meetings can be when having a hard time. I even started reading the big book. Not yet ready for a sponsor but so happy to be another day sober. 

I had a lot of negative perceptions of AA until I went to meetings. I’d highly suggest anyone even considering it just go and listen a few times  

 

Edited by tucker

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation. —Herbert Spencer 

Pch, let him know there are people he does not know, may never know, that are praying for him and his family.
Despite the heavy loss, he is walking towards freedom.

Good on you PCH. Sending positive vibes your way.

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