It's Friday and the weekend is nigh! Time to have me a whiskey breakfast and a cocaine lunch! Well, maybe not but it does sound like a hell of a way to start a weekend...
A month from today will be the 11 year anniversary of my last drink of alcohol. Holy hell, I didn't think I'd live this long. I've been listening to a lot of TK & The Holy Know-Nothings and The Last Knife Fighter lately and it's had me reflecting on what I call the bad old days.
Addiction is a mean critter. Actually, fuck that word. I feel like it is inherently pejorative and loaded as hell. Same with being 'in recovery', like you're permanently sick and damaged. Fuck that, I retired. Alcohol and all the other intoxicants out there have got to be Mother Nature's best and sickest practical joke. Here, have something you will really like. Surprise! You're really NOT going to like the consequences of enjoying it.
I'm not one for doing things by half measures, and drinking was no exception. If a little bit is good, more is better, right? When my drinking got to where I was averaging a quart of liquor a day I began to suspect there might be an issue... At that point my breakfast usually was just 6-8 shots of vodka, with a splash of orange juice if I was being fancy.
That may sound like a lot but it was what it took to make me feel 'normal', withdrawals are a stone cold bastard. Take the worst hangover you've ever had and make it last a week and you'll be getting close to the feeling. To make it even more torturous, you know the entire time you're going through it that you can make it all stop, albeit briefly, if you just have one more drink.
Quitting was so easy that I started doing it regularly. You don't realize how much alcohol is entwined in everyday life and culture until you start trying to avoid. Holy hell, it is everywhere! Apparently most of adult 'recreation' boils down to getting drunk and doing things.
I used to think I missed drinking. Nah. I missed the idealized notions I had of drinking. Too bad it only took attempting every possible way I could think of to achieve them and coming up short to realize that...
It always weirds me out when I tell people I haven't drank in x amount of time and they congratulate me. I know the people saying that most likely mean well but not drinking is all the reward and congratulations I need. For sure y'all wouldn't be looking at any photos of mine if it wasn't for that.
That's a bourbon, double, on the rocksThat's enough of a #fridayfreewrite for this week. Y'all have a good weekend and drink one for me!
I won't congratulate you, I'll just say:
HAPPY TEN YEAR AND ELEVEN MONTH ANNIVERSARY!
Hopefully that doesn't weird you out.
I used to drink a shit ton. Then something shifted and I realized that I really don't like the feeling of being drunk, that constant lurch forward with this elixir-induced go-get-em attitude that otherwise wasn't me. I guess I got old, I dunno. I'm really glad I didn't have to go through withdrawals, though. That sounds like hell.
I got so caught up in reading that I forgot to look at your pictures. I'm sure they're awesome. I'll go back and appreciate them now.
Thanks.
Lol, I didn't give it enough time for anything to shift. Time elapsed from first drink to first visit to rehab: about two years. Alcohol turned my go-get-em into don't-give-a-flying-fuck (as in standing on the roof, drunk on shine chucking beer bottles at passing police cruisers) , and that just don't end well.
In re:withdrawals, 0 stars, I do not recommend. Granted the memory of going through those is a major encouragement for not drinking.
I just turned 7 years in August. Not too many days in between the ones I really miss it. I can still taste it. Like when I get shitty mail or my back hurts. Or it's raining. Or I'm stuck in traffic in the rain and my neck hurts. Or I can't sleep. Or wake up..
Congratulations Jethro.
Same to you, sir! I mean I still miss it, particularly bourbon, but not in the sense that it makes want to have it again. More nostalgia and less craving I suppose. It also 'helps' that the accelerated pace I went at made for less time to build up those associations.
Thanks man, I really appreciate that.
I'm a retired bourbon connoisseur myself sir.
Cheers!
hi @coloneljethro, it's a great feat what you have done. I won't congratulate you if it won't mean anything but I would say those photos are gorgeous. Congrats to that 😊
Howdy @laviesm! Thank you. It's not that it won't mean anything, it just makes me a bit uncomfortable.
Thank you, and thanks for dropping by!
I get ya, I'm a functioning alcoholic to an extent, mostly because staying off my drugs of choice requires some kind of substitute, sometimes months on end it's coffee, by the gallon. Other times booze. Someday I may be able to split away from any crutches but for now I'll take the small victories.
Withdrawl is a motherfucker man, I won't offer some bullshit congratulations but will say, cocaine for lunch is awesome, sadly I'm sticking with a grilled cheese today
I feel ya, I tried to pull that off many times but the functioning part usually went to shit pretty quick. I just put on my third pot of coffee, so that should give you some idea where I'm at these days.
I would ask 'is there a bad time for cocaine?' Having watched a couple guys do blow off the phone in the jail dorm, I'm pretty sure that's it...
Now that you mention it, a grilled cheese habit doesn't sound half bad. Thanks for dropping by!
The grilled cheese habit is my personal favorite, only my arteries suffer rather than Liver, Kidneys, and Lungs.
That's sadly alright. Small victories of course.
I'll take any victories I can get! I hope to eventually win a few more but for now one baby step at a time.
I'll Smoke to that!
Sup dude? How's my flask in a box? You better pencil something down that way in case you vanish without a trace I won't feel like I'm stealing it when I show up.
Aye on the purple queen today myself, No worries I already let the boss and the lad know. You'll never be stuck on collection. It's still happily in it's box waiting for you. I'm pinmappled to the max so I'm easy to find 👍
Small victories or Little Victories?
DOPE!!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
My record for staying on the wagon is 3 months. Sobriety is hard, nice work dude.
!PIZZA
3 months was about the longest I could manage at a time for a long while. Thanks!
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