af day Thursday 7 March

[treetops]

Well hi there Abbers - getting towards sunset here and another busy and demanding day for you know who - and I bet lots of you guys also. I don't think I have many jokes in my bones at the moment as I spent an hour late this afternoon talking to my friend who lost her husband a few weeks ago - the one who suddenly died. There is an 18 year old son too. Anyway I just did what a friend would - I think it helped that I have been through quite a bit of grief of loved ones...
meaning SF - that we are your buddies, your mates, your sober soul-sisters and bros and we have been through what you are going through - wanting to quit, quitting, then at some point drinking - listening to the evil one (the come hither voice beckoning us to the booze) - when what we know and what we really want is to tell that voice to f...k off, because that desire to drink was killed a long time ago...it ain't working no more, everyone here on this forum knows that - whether or not they quit today, a few weeks or months or years ago.
And you just pick up my girl and get on with your life without AL - as you said and as Blondie reaffirmed (I think it was B.) you are trying to give up AL. Don't turn away and we are not here to judge, we are here to support and help. OK how we help and the words we choose to convey this may vary but we are united in being your friends...

Meanwhile how is the illness roster? Mick - op news? Kuya - dog recovery? Cat - back pain? PPQP - cold gone away (my cough has gone due to drugs - antibiotics - rarely go near the things but this was a last straw) Lavande - are you under the weather too? SL - are you well? You might need to do some practice scenarios for how you will deal with your trip back home.

Blondie - don't get too stressed with travelling...reminds me of all the things I have to do before my trip to the UK! Its much easier to do long haul flights sober than drunk. Drunk travellers forget things and get really really stressed.Sober measn you can remove one of those 'really's' from the equation.

Don't you shout 'fire' though - it means the real thing in Oz.

Det - no uber-stressing there either please - although your friend's situation sounds major

How are you Patrice and Shelby? You OK CanToo?

Well thats me for now folks - will do a bit of work and then some relax time.
Have a great evening/morning/afternoon...

[Mick]

af day Thursday 7 March

mornin all..well downhill road to the weekend now..how are you all?As I look I can see tt is on line now ..do you never sleep?
Pouring with rain over here today ..so give the spud planting today a miss.. will go swimming later
Tea and coffee anyone?
Bang on 12 st now even with me little blowout the other day!!

Evening tt how are you ?another busy day done and dusted? Yep you have got it right with SF..you just put it more eloquently than me!!.That was a nice thing to do for your friend too


Morning Shelby ..and how are you today? glad this thread is helping you a wee bit ..now get that positive attitude ..you can do it girl!!!theres no might here..you can

Morning Det....chill matey..youre doing well so dont go near that sympathy bottle!!!ok so your roommate got bounced on drugs charges..his call..cant see how that will affect you in law enforcement ...not unless your laws are drastically biased they cant touch you just cos you know the guy, so stay cool man you are doing so well :good:

Hiya Cat..hope you are feeling a little better today.Well as you can read my experience yesterday at the docs was second to none!!!Ive to stop taking one set of tablets for a month..see if it reduces the aches and pains..fingers crossed it will .The doc was one of those what I would call old fashioned guys,who just doesnt dole out tablets for nothing, so it was worth the bs!!!

Morning SL....hope all goes well for you today..fingers crossed for you..when you say home ..wheres that?Im guessing Jockland..where tho?

Morning Lav..you ok today? Yep got to have an op...got to go and get an assessment now see where to stick me on the waiting list!!!Give you a shout when a need a nurse!!!You got off lightly then if grandson was sleeping all day didnt you? ny plans for today once you have had this coffee made by my own fair hands :H have a good one

Morning ppqp...how are you today? ditched the cold yet?Impressed with your computer skills getting those pics on to the thread yesterday!

Evening Kuya..and how are you? hows the bite?Take it your summery nights have now been consigned to the memory box?oh well.Hows everything else going?Are the other issues getting untangled? hopefully so.

Hiya blondie..wish I had have thought of that at the docs..that would have pissed her off....literally!!!!how is you today?hope all is good.

Hi SF..well left your posts till last..I have read them several times now ..so will reply..at the risk of upsetting/offending which I seem to do at times on here,this is only my opinion now.......
As everyone says I think it would be a mistake for you to bin it now and leave the thread,but you need to examine where it is going wrong...forget the sink hole, forget the will always be like this and the failing..that is all irrelevant ..you need to drag yourself out of that thought train.
I had a moment like that yesterday even after 8 months where I thought mm remember that beer ..great times I had tasted nice etc..in the end it was a straight no put it down and carried on.
Thats what you need to do ..NO means No at all costs to start with
Re-examine your plans and strategy..if you havent got one then make one..you cant expect to win without a plan
What if I feel like I need a drink
What if I am socialising and get offered a drink
What do I do when I go shopping and feel like buying booze
What can I do instead of drinking
What if my friends offer me a drink..what do I do

Write it all down..do anything so that you can see your progress..On my computer still I have got thoughts and scribblings from when I first stopped al...reading them I think now wtf was that all about? immaterial it helped

these are some of the questions you should be asking yourself and putting answers to
this thread is about people trying to be totally committed..and thats where you need to ask yourself..am I prepared to do this? If you can answer hand on heart being totally honest with yourself then there is no reason why you cant,so if thats the case lets walk it and not talk it...you only fail when you quit trying
As for friendship...every single person on this thread wants to help you..there is nothing I would like to see more than you saying well thats it ..Not only do I not need it..I dont want it!!!
Just as a matter of interest ..whats your husbands take in all of this? what does he think?
So lets go then...climb out of that sinkhole and lets move on...................from all of your friends on this thread :l:l

Right folks time to go..................take care



Bill and Sam, two elderly friends, met in the park every day to Feed the pigeons, watch the squirrels and discuss world problems. One day Bill didn’t show up. Sam didn’t think much about it and figured maybe he had a cold or something. But after Bill hadn’t shown up for a week or so, Sam really got worried. However, since the only time they ever got together was at the park, Sam didn’t know where Bill lived, so he was unable to find out what had happened to him.
A month had passed, and Sam figured he had seen the last of Bill, but one day, Sam approached the park and, lo and behold, there sat Bill! Sam was very excited and happy to see him and told him so. Then he asked, “For crying out loud Bill, what in the world happened to you?”
Bill replied, “I have been in jail.”
“Jail?” cried Sam. “What in the world for?”
“Well,” Bill said, “you know Sue, that cute little blonde Waitress at the coffee shop where I sometimes go?”
“Yeah,” said Sam, “I remember her. What about her?”
“Well, one day she filed rape charges against me; and, at 89 years old, I was so proud that when I got into court, I pled guilty.
… The judge gave me 30 days for perjury.


Evidence That This World Is Full Of Complete Idiots

Stupid Counterfeiter
Police in Wichita, Kansas, arrested a 22-year-old man at an airport hotel after he tried to pass two (counterfeit) $16 bills.

Here, Hold This
A man in Johannesburg, South Africa, shot his 49-year-old friend in the face, seriously wounding him, while the two practiced shooting beer cans off each other’s head.

Now Watch This
A company trying to continue its five-year perfect safety record showed its workers a film aimed at encouraging the use of safety goggles on the job. According to Industrial Machinery News, the film’s depiction of gory industrial accidents was so graphic that twenty-five workers suffered minor injuries in their rush to leave the screening room. Thirteen others fainted, and one man required seven stitches after he cut his head falling off a chair while watching the film.

No Nukes, Ya Hear?
The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.

All Aboard
A bus carrying five passengers was hit by a car in St. Louis, but by the time police arrived on the scene, fourteen pedestrians had boarded the bus and had begun to complain of whiplash injuries and back pain.

My Book!!!
Swedish business consultant Ulf af Trolle labored 13 years on a book about Swedish economic solutions. He took the 250-page manuscript to be copied, only to have it reduced to 50,000 strips of paper in seconds when a worker confused the copier with the shredder.

Escaped Convict />A convict broke out of jail in Washington DC, then a few days later accompanied his girlfriend to her trial for robbery. At lunch, he went out for a sandwich. She needed to see him, and thus had him paged. Police officers recognized his name and arrested him as he returned to the courthouse in a car he had stolen over the lunch hour.

Lie Detector
Police in Radnor, Pennsylvania, interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message “He’s lying” was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn’t telling the truth. Believing the “lie detector” was working, the suspect confessed.

Intoxicated Robber
When two service station attendants in Ionia, Michigan, refused to hand over the cash to an intoxicated robber, the man threatened to call the police. They still refused, so the robber called the police and was arrested.

Tired of Walking
A Los Angeles man who later said he was “tired of walking,” stole a steamroller and led police on a 5 mph chase until an officer stepped aboard and brought the vehicle to a stop.

oldy but true?

A Japanese doctor says, “Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him out looking for work in six weeks.”
A German doctor says, “That is nothing. We can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him out looking for work in four weeks.
A British doctor says, “In my country medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have both of them out looking for work in two weeks.”
The American doctor, not to be outdone, interjected, “You guys are way behind. We are about to take a woman with no brains, put her in the White House, and then half the country will be out looking for work.


FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.
PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk they think you need.
BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need.
FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.
PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbours help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.
RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.
CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.
DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.
PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.
REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.
BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.
PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.
ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.


, I was talking to this little girl Catherine, the daughter of some friends, and she said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats were standing there with us – and I asked Catherine – “If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?”
Catherine replied – “I would give houses to all the homeless people.”
“Wow – what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine.” I told her, “You don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that, you can come over to my house and clean up the entire dog poop in my back yard and I will pay you $5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new house.”
Catherine (who was about 4) thought that over for a second, while her mom looked at me seething, and Catherine replied, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can just pay him the $5 dollars?”
And I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party”.

[blondie]

af day Thursday 7 March

Mick;1473840 wrote:
Pouring with rain over here today ..so give the spud planting today a miss.. will go swimming later.

In your garden??!! :H Wish we had some more rain.

Evening TT - sorry about your friend and son. It's not so much the travelling that stresses me - more who we're going to visit Though I haven't flown since being af and all the free drinks was a biggie. Anyway,IF we go, it's months off, so not thinking about it now.

Hi to everyone. Think I've caught all your sicknesses; just got out of bed to get another lemsip. Just a sore throat & head and feel queasy.

So night to everyone and see you on POETS day.
bye

[kuya]

af day Thursday 7 March

MAE Abbers,

Hi to you TT, sorry you had such a hard day for you with your friend's family, tis too sad for the boy, 18 is such a dangerous age for young men IMO.

Hi Mick.....you OK? When is the op? I am fine, arm just stiff now, took the sutures out today.
Still swimming but tonight the pool was 26 C cos it is still warm during the day

Hiya Blondie.....hope you dodge the cold, I have only had a slight sore throat since I quit so I feel lucky. In fact the whanua has been healthy this last year which is great.

SF......hope you're feeling better, please remember to ask for help when you need it.

Det....watch your stress levels, you are not superman

Hi to all to come, PPQ and cantoo......you know where I live

[Lavande]

af day Thursday 7 March

Good morning Abbers,

Granny Lav checking in with a sore throat & a massive headache unfortunately
My immune system finally gave in to all the kiddie germs ~ swell.

Greetings TT, Mick, blondie & kuya!
I hope everyone is in for a great AF Thursday. I'm taking it easy this morning, need all my energy for watchin kids this evening

[porqoui]

af day Thursday 7 March

MAE ALL....

TT...thanks for the kickoff and yup the cold is on the mend. Bit of a cough left (self inflicted every time I light up a fag)
I'm sure your friend was grateful for your support and I'm sure you were grateful to be there AF for her.

Mick...thanks for the coffee and cold almost ditched...see post above. Keep us posted on the op triage and enjoy the garden swim. :H

Blondie...get yourself into bed and snuggle up. Just for the record it was Mick's ManFlu you got not everyone elses ails.

KY...got a rough idea where you live. Could you give me the lat/long so I can check you out on google maps? :H

Lav...take care and speedy recovery. I'd blame it on Mick but that might be pushing it.
Here's a little something to help with the kid watching tonight...



Have a great AF Thursday all and all to come...PPQP

[scottish lass]

af day Thursday 7 March

Morning all - think I had a good meeting at lawyers - got the ex to meet there and think my lawyer will be able to get me off hook to have to pay him alimony - if not, I can't afford it, so that will be interesting!
Mick, home is now England, home is where my parents are and they live in the midlands now.
Blondie and Lav, this bug seems to be going thru everyone here - hope you lay low and don't post your germs :H TT - I am well, and aiming to stay that way.
TT - yes, I did post my fears re my trip here purposefully as part of my plan to strengthen my AF muscles!
SF - got your reply on yesterdays thread - I agree this is an abs thread, but that is what I want - I need to be here as I have a need to see that there is life without AL, and the kind folks here prove that daily. I have felt as if I should not be here when I find I have chosen to drink again, but then someone (can't recall who to give credit) posted that this is our own journey, and we should be able to be selfish and make those choices to help ourselves - I hope I don't get voted off this island (or sinkhole) as I KNOW it helps me. I am doing the very best by a long way in my quest to achieve abstainance, and I do credit my daily posting here, and the quiet (though sometimes strong) encouragement that I recieve.
Hi KY and PPQ! - the weekend will soon be here, and I am not on call this weekend - YAHOO!

[porqoui]

af day Thursday 7 March

SL...can you give me your lawyers name please? Still struggling with mine but will rant on the 100 days or the *&&*^)%* thread later.

You just keep strengthening those muscles...you're doing great. SF...pay attention

YAHOO - OMG - Instantly thought of the Calgary Stampede. Biggest 10 day drunk fest on the planet, IMHO....:H PPQP

[shelbysmiles]

af day Thursday 7 March

Afternoon Abbers!

PPQ-Again-hilarious pic!

SF-You've been given some good advice. I don't think packing up and leaving will do you any good. I love Kuya's suggestion of shouting fire. Put this behind you and think of what you can do different next time.

Det-Remember to take care of yourself as well.

Lav-Hope you are feeling better soon!

Hi there TT, Mick, Blondie, Kuya, SL!

Oh Lawd-I've started this new protein shake called Visalus. Basically it is a very expensive powder that you mix with Almond milk to replace a meal (or two). My tummy is all WTF? We are not tolerating this very well

[Catbuddy]

af day Thursday 7 March

Mae, all.

Wow, what a sick ward we have! :l :l to everyone under the weather! I took care of a sick colleague today, too. I think she has that awful flu you guys have been describing. I take Vit C, B complex and Zinc every day for sugar/AL cravings defense, and I think my immune system is benefiting from it.

Back and shoulder pain, terrible. Sucks. Enough said.

SunFlower, only when you quit trying have you failed beyond our support. So stay here. Where else do you find friends who truly know the despair? But you can stop. You decide not to drink. Own that power. And that responsibility. :h

Mick, hope the operations is minor and seamless.

Budding relationship going well. I love the quirks of fate. It may be only the Americans get how funny this is, and it does play to stereotypes, but.....I'm a liberal environmentalist dating a tea-party, NRA council member. Det, I think you two would be birds of a feather.

Cat

[Determinator]

af day Thursday 7 March

thanks gang but I blew it. drank on top of antabuse and made myself insanely ill. dealing with that now. I wish I could eat but I can't even hold down water. will keep trying. thanks all for the support. one good thing perhaps is that my friend will need a ride to AA meetings so I'll join him at them.

take care,

[porqoui]

af day Thursday 7 March

Det...first time I've seen a post where someone actually drank on AB. Was wondering if "insanely ill" would happen and you just answered my question.

Hope it doesn't last too long :l but I bet a lot of AB users will take heed!

Looking at the Positive you may actually hear something at the AA meetings that will help you with your journey. Not sure how you feel about AA but keep an open mind.

Give Dx an extra big hug and take extra care of yourself....:h PPQP

[porqoui]

af day Thursday 7 March

Catbuddy;1474164 wrote: It may be only the Americans get how funny this is, and it does play to stereotypes, but.....I'm a liberal environmentalist dating a tea-party, NRA council member.

:H :H :H

[Lavande]

af day Thursday 7 March

PQ. thanks for post the redneck baby chair picture earlier! Sure cpuld have used one or two of them this evening :H

Cat, so glad to hear life is going well for you

Det, I can't even imagine......
Maybe you should get some medical help to prevent dehydration. Please take care of yourself, OK?