Two Years ago Today...

[Mike Teacher]

I stopped Booze. Two years without a single fucking drink.

I first must apologize to all the drinkers for letting them down. I was a great drinker; a fun drunk; even more obnoxious, if that's possible. So; seriously, please continue drinking. This isn't any anti-booze thing. Just something I let go off to lose some weight, and it just stuck.

No. By please continue drinking, I mean right NOW; so what if it's 9 in the morning? Seemed a fine time to start back in the day...

And two years of no booze, I think, gives me the right to stop censoring myself and so yes I celebrated with some shibby last night and it was great. For all the cognitive dissonance; your problem not mine. I'm out of the classroom since 1998, that's enough time. I'm 40. I wanna have a smoke. Fuck anyone who doesn't like it.

That's it. Nothing else. Resume party.

I do miss the fun of booze at a party when you have that nice buzz; I don't miss the benders with chainsaw hangovers.

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[reeshy]

Congrats Mike,
I know what you went through(I'm in the same boat!!) No meetings for this kid though...too self-rightous for me but hey...whatever floats your boat...I just don't drink anymore....

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[center] I CAN'T GIVE IT AWAY ON 7TH AVENUE!!
Thanks to Monsterone!

[ADF]

Man, this vodka martini taste great for breakfast! I went with three olives and made it dirty.. you know, because it's breakfast.

Congrats on staying relatively sober, Mike.

<center><img src = "http://thereisnogod.faithweb.com/images/samurai2.gif"><br>I'm so glad the cheat is not dead.</center>

[DreamWeaver]

Congrats Mike! That's great. I went to my first meeting the other day to check it out. It was very inspiring. Do I need to quit? YES. Do I want to quit? Not sure yet.

One day at a time!!!!!!!! COngratulations!!!!!!!!!!

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[East Side Dave]

I went to a meeting the other night, too! But some wizard spilt JD all over me! Never I says never will I go to another Drunken Dungeons and Dragons Meeting ever again I says!!! Congrats, though!!

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[keithy_19]

Congrats sir.

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[Mike Teacher]

did i mention meetings? [looking up at original; ok my mistake. I thought I had mentioned them]

Anyway; regarding meetings: I think i went to two; and was iffy the first one, and got turned off on the second.

What I disliked was the AA philosophy that we are helpless against this disease, or however they put it. It may be a disease for some, but here's one data point that was simply drinking a lot and decided to stop. Was I addicted? Well, how could I *not* be if I was drinking a lot. Thing is; it wasn't difficult. I was never a big booze person anyway. I was drinking, mostly, out of sheer boredon after leaving teaching. Miss the students; don't miss the NEA vs. Admin bullshit.

[Edit: Was did amaze me at the meetings was how badly off some people were. People who were really struggling; and people who were trying to piece shattered lives, marriages, and families togther, so for that; I say, Any Port in a Storm. I saw how utterly lucky I was, how the wisps of fate hadn't lead me down addictions I heard described which still raise hairs on the neck.]

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This message was edited by Mike Teacher on 3-20-04 @ 2:14 PM

[SatCam]

Anything that takes TWELVE STEPS isnt worth doing!!

Wait, that's a simpsons joke that has no context to this thread... nevermind

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[A.J.]

Well done Sir.

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A Skidmark production.

Red Sox Nation

[ADF]

I say, Any Port in a Storm.


Freudian slip?

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<center><img src = "http://thereisnogod.faithweb.com/images/samurai2.gif"><br>I'm so glad the cheat is not dead.</center>

[Mike Teacher]

Wow that's one of the Wino's drinks of choice; as those Ports are pretty up there with the ethanol content; dont know if I've ever had that; only wine kick I ever had was some Italian Reds; valpolicellas and a couple of others, tasty.

Maybe I should have a drink to celebrate. :eg:

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[Yerdaddy]

Congrats, Mike. I went to two AA meetings and didn't go back for the same reasons you didn't. But thanks to the criminal justice system I found a meeting without the structure and the spirutality of regular AA meetings and I got started on my 7 years sober with them.

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[reeshy]

thanks to the criminal justice system


Where were you?? In Oz????

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[center] I CAN'T GIVE IT AWAY ON 7TH AVENUE!!
Thanks to Monsterone!

[Yerdaddy]

Where were you?? In Oz????

Jealous???


like I have to ask

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[FUNKMAN]

Two Years ago Today...


Sgt Pepper taught the band to play...



it's all i got

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sig by #1 Monster

[sr71blackbird]

I too was having a problem and its been a year for me. I was buying scotch and would polish off a bottle in 3 days. Id get home from work and pour me a tall glass with ice and Id keep the bottle in the freezer. It was an expensive habit, both financially, calorically, and emotionally. I was doing that for over a two year period and I just quit it cold turkey. Ive been hooked on cigarettes too and also quit them the same way after smoking for 15 years. Havent had one of them in a decade. I get a craving once in a while and had a friend who used chewing tobacco and I tried that for a while too. Im pretty free of any bad habits, but I wont lie and say its easy to stop something that becomes habitual, especially when your body gets hooked on the substance. I just kind of told myself that other people have quit heroine and cocaine and other hard core drugs, and if I am going to be judgemental, I better get myself off of this. I feel good knowing I overcame something that I was addicted to.

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[FUNKMAN]

okay, i got a little more....

Congrats! When i was a teenager i woul drink til i got fucked up, which included joints too. Pissed on the stereo twice, my friends living room wall, and took a couple beatens from Pop that i don't remember. But thank goodness i got beyond that. I like my glass or two of wine a few times a week and my 'black and reds' guinness with sams cherry wheat 'once in a while'

If i can grow some good weed with my tomatas then i'll light one up(very rare 2 a year maybe) and i get the '6month itchy nose' once in awhile

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[billyio]

I used to be a big drinker in my early 20s,but too many toilet hugs later,I decided finally to end that nonsense. I'll still have a drink every once in awhile,but,probably once or twice a year at most. I don't miss it.



See Ya!

[Mike Teacher]

Spoke with the Doc yesterday; he took a bunch of blood last week.

Total Cholesterol: 74. not a missprint. Seventy Four

Triglycerides: 101.

My resting BP at visit: 90/60

and i eat McDonalds 4 times a week, and smoke a pack of Boros a day. Burp.

Bumpy Bumperton signing off:

http://members.aol.com/miketeachr/diet

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[scorpion]

Congrats Mike.

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Now I'm starvin

[Freakshow]

No. By please continue drinking, I mean right NOW; so what if it's 9 in the morning? Seemed a fine time to start back in the day...

You crack me up mizzle.

Frank Grimes: And earlier today, I saw him asleep inside a radiation suit. Can you imagine that he, he was hanging from a coat hook.
Lenny: He had three beers at lunch. That would make anybody sleepy.


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[Reephdweller]

i eat McDonalds 4 times a week, and smoke a pack of Boros a day. Burp.


That's great Mike.

What are you getting at McDonalds? Is it the same thing, or different things...salads..etc?

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[wilee]

No. By please continue drinking, I mean right NOW; so what if it's 9 in the morning? Seemed a fine time to start back in the day...
Hey, it's always noon somewhere...

A few relatives on my father's side passed away when I was younger and my mother attributed it to alcohol. She was always after my father to stop drinking, which from my point of view he never drank too much. He would go through a case of beer in a week at home, and would have 4 or 5 in a night when he went out on weekends. He finally respected her wishes and is now drinking non-alcoholic beer when he does drink.

I've proven to myself in the past that I can stop drinking when I want. I don't drink to excess or stupor when I go out. Hell, I have given up booze for 6 months a couple of years back. I look at drinking as a social device. Some might use it as a crutch. Some people can handle alcohol and some can't. Those that can't have it destroy their relationships and lives. There are those that are borderline (the ones with the beer muscles, of which a couple of my friends were known for) and the ones that can handle it and just feel good about having that buzz going.

I agree with the guys who talk about the AA meetings. I went to one as part of a school project some time back and I couldn't believe how depressing it was. I don't blame other people for how my life turned out, it's all my doing. I don't need someone telling me "it's not your fault" when it most definitely is.

Mike, I applaud you for your making a choice and sticking with it. If you find you're better off for it, that's great. I'll help pick up your slack :p





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[Mike Teacher]

I eat the Big Mac Meal.

The Whole Big Mac; about half the fries, about 2 inches off the top of the soda, then chuck the remainder.

The past was: A Big Mac, A filt-O-Fish with Extra Tartar Sauce [some of these looked like someone literally Dipped in the stuff]; and super-size fries and super size coke, and two apple pies, and there wouldnt be a scrap left, soda gone, chewing on the ice cubes...

I also do some fasting, but I dont aim for it, but if after 18 hours I havent eaten, sometimes I just say screw it and do 24. I could NOT do this if told. It just happens. Something happened to my appetite; I dont know what, and the cholesterol numbers are 90% genetic; some just get lucky, there are people who can eat nothing but celery and have a 200+ cholesterol and high BP.

And most important, and difficult of all, is getting my ass out of bed, away from the computer, and out the door. I could live indoors. Literally. I love solitude. I love being alone. I actually feel guilty; why the fuck is it wrong that I like to spend time with myself? I mean after the batching...

But I can't. I have to literally force myself out that door. I started literally walking the length of my driveway over and over; there was a time where after 20 minutes of this my back would be in excruciating pain, and I'd be sweating. From walking.

I call up friends and say get ready coz im on the way with my glove and get your ass outside, and i'd MUCH rather sit here, but I gotta do it. I think part of the damage people are doing to themselves in modern society is related to us being indoors in these artificial environments all the time.

Fluorescent lights, all the EMF from computers, radios, faxes, all the pollutants re-filtered; ya know Joe vs The Volcano stuff. I dont think its healthy, and I could live that way.

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[Lumber]

Congrats Mike!I`m coming up on 3 yrs. and I`m not a meeting guy either. Life is good is`nt it?

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[JPMNICK]

And most important, and difficult of all, is getting my ass out of bed, away from the computer, and out the door. I could live indoors. Literally. I love solitude. I love being alone. I actually feel guilty; why the fuck is it wrong that I like to spend time with myself?


Mike -

For the last 3 or 4 years I have felt the exact same way. The weekend comes, and I could literally stay inside from Friday when I get home from work until Monday morning when I leave for work again. To me, it feels so normal. Granted, most of the time on the weekends I go out for dinner or to bars with all my friends. But sometimes, I just stay home the entire time and love it. I NEVER get bored. Between reading the paper, sports center, the internet and all the stuff to read on there (not to mention porn, this website, side projects (building robots and computers), and reading books I coudl literally never leave this apartment and be fine. I have 2 older uncles. One who is single and one with 2 kids. Everyone always asks me about the single uncle like they are so sad "How is he?" "Is he doing ok". I always answer, "just because he never got married does not mean he is a weirdo". He is a very happy guy, as is the uncle with kids. I think it is def. a personal prefrence, and I hate when people look down on a single person in there 40's or 50's like they did something wrong.


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[Mike Teacher]

Life is good is`nt it?


It really really is. Absolutely. We take so much for granted.

I wasnt going to post this, or I was going to post this in the confessional, or maybe I posted it and cant remember...

Anyway I was cutting my lawn last week and burst into tears. Something that had been eating at me finally had its way:

Long story short. My mother gets her second knee replaced in July, by the same doctor who did the first, Dr. Tozzi. You get to know the guy a bit, hes operating on you 60-ish year old mom, ya know? We'd talk medical stuff while he was examining my Mom and she keeps yelling at me to shut up coz I keep asking Qs about what does that mean and what does that do; hes a young guy for a doc with family.

Anyway; Hell on earth landed visited him in February. He watched his daughter die. The accident is described in the link, and i'll tell you now, its a depressing fucking story. They rolled the van off her; his wife and other kids, and him.

I know this because he got up in front of over 1,000 people who flooded the memorial and told them all 'I want you to know what happened to my daughter.' And he did it, because he had to.

I went to see him the other day with my Mom, and I couldnt look him in the eye. I made an excuse not to. He told my Mom even more, and gave her a mass card, and thanked her for this and that. Mom, being a lifelong RN has dealt with this. She asked what he does. He say he can at least work, operate, save lives. Mom told him to go scream. He described that was exactly what he does; he goes to the beach and screams. His wife and other kids, they arent dealing very well.

I would have taught this girl had the circumstances been a bit different.

So yes, life is great.

Story Here (http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,909435,00.html)

Memorial Service (http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,912463,00.html)

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[T.D_Jakes]

So yes, life is great.


Yes, indeed, glory be to all you children of God!

Life is a gift meant to be celebrated and celebrated it will be come this June in Atlanta, Georgia at "MEGA FEST"!


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This message was edited by T.D_Jakes on 6-8-04 @ 8:04 PM

[stavers]

quitters never win and winners never quit.