|
Post by SteveO on Oct 10, 2006 9:49:09 GMT -5
KOOK, I respectfully, disagree with that ....
Bill has sponsors all around him...
He has to choose the one that is best for him and is Rooted in this Program...
Bill I suggest you get the Big Book and The 12 and 12 Book and read them.....
it is all about Change...and Change is Good
people are supposed to offer only their Experience, strength and Hope.... Follow the Big Book of A.A.
after all it was taken from the Bible and put in terms even I can understand...
Even I have a Sponsor and I also Sponsor others and Chair Meetings along with being involved with the structure of the fellowship
This keeps me out of Self I'm giving back what was so freely given to me...
Peace~ Steve O a friend of Bil W.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2006 10:03:03 GMT -5
Great thoughts Steve-O. See, this is how it works. Reading that will keep me good for the day.
|
|
|
Post by t-bob on Oct 10, 2006 10:51:55 GMT -5
An AA chat room for this group might be well attended.
|
|
|
Post by billhammond on Oct 10, 2006 10:55:49 GMT -5
That is a great idea. Cribbs can set it up, and then we can get him to join AA!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Cribbs on Oct 10, 2006 10:57:14 GMT -5
No, way! AA is for quitters!
(Seriously, I am proud of you. My day is coming, I am sure!)
|
|
|
Post by billhammond on Oct 10, 2006 10:58:11 GMT -5
Think of us as PROFESSIONAL quitters, though!
Chicks love us, too, as we are so, you know... vulnerable and stuff and besides, we ARE NOT DRUNK!
|
|
|
Post by SteveO on Oct 10, 2006 10:58:38 GMT -5
No, way! AA is for quitters! (Seriously, I am proud of you. My day is coming, I am sure!) Sooner than YOU think......
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2006 11:09:29 GMT -5
Bill--I just saw this and want to add my support. It takes guts to admit a problem and even more to do something. I've heard nothing but good stuff about AA--I wish you well!
|
|
|
Post by Cribbs on Oct 10, 2006 11:16:33 GMT -5
I have avoided this thread, because I always feel like I can't get my point across well to others when discussing it.
I drink beer. When I drink beer, I can either drink a lot, or a small bit. I drink whiskey, but nowhere near as often as beer. I enjoy a Jack and 7 on occassion, usually having a cigar at a friends house, or a cold night at the hunting camp around a fire.
I generally make a conscious decision on how much I want to consume. Some nights, when I have friends at the house, a big fire built, and nothing to do the next morning and no reason to be in bed early, I will choose to sit up all night, play guitar, cut up, tell stories and jokes, and get drunk. Never puking drunk, or falling down drunk, I just drink until I know my limit, then I will pour the last beer out, or finish it if it's just a swig, and then get a big dip of Copenhagen. And I won't drink anymore that night, no matter how much other people do.
Several factors influence my cutoff limit. Did I eat earlier? Am I dehydrated? What's my environment? Am I driving? Am I driving other people? Am I at a safe place? Those all have something to do with it.
Now, that said, sometimes I just don't want to drink. I have about a case of beer in my cooler right now, on ice, left over from Saturday night. I worked outside most of the night last night, and never once wanted a beer. I reached in that cooler several times, and pulled out a bottle of water on two different occasions, and a Diet Sprite the other times.
Sometimes, I will go 5 or 6 days without a beer. And I may get hammered that Saturday night, and won't drink again until the following weekend.
The problem is, when you explain this to some people (I have friends that are this way) they start pounding me with "You're making excuses! You're defending your actions!". So, I try to avoid saying "I don't have a problem", because that's their cue to tell you that's the first symptom.
I know about alcoholism. I mean, I have serious knowledge of it. I have had 2 uncles die from it, basically. Both of them had cirrhosis (sp?). Another uncle that is still alive has it. He still, to this day, can not go 24 hours without getting drunk. He is drunk -- and I mean shitfaced -- by 8:30 AM. He goes home, goes to bed, wakes up at 4 or so in the afternoon, and does it again. It has been so bad, that some years back, he entered a program, and they put him on some kind of medication, and told him, point blank when he was sober, that if you drink alcohol with this medicine in your system, YOU WILL DIE. No if's, and's, or but's about it.
What's he do? Stays sober for a couple months, to everyone's surprise. And then, one night, at home alone, the demons caught up to him. Some friends stopped by to visit and had a cooler of beer and a couple bottles of Black Velvet, I think it was. Well, they left to go somewhere else for a few minutes, probably to score some weed, and when they got back, Uncle Carl had emptied one bottle of BV, and numerous other beers. He was unconscious at the back of the truck, passed out in an ant bed, and being bitten all over.
He spent a week in the hospital, and lived. Afterwards, he was asked if it was worth it. To let everyone down. To let himself down, to almost friggin' kill himself, and all he could say was, "Yes, it was worth it".
I can't imagine having to fight that fight, so if I ever feel like that is where I am heading, I will just give it up altogether. I enjoy it because I enjoy the taste of it. I do enjoy the buzz of it, and I sometimes partake in the overconsumption of it, by my own choice. But it's not worth throwing my life away for it.
Now snuff, that's another story. *THAT*, I am hopelessly addicted to.
|
|
|
Post by Cribbs on Oct 10, 2006 11:22:32 GMT -5
Forgot to mention, that it takes a strong man to admit they have a problem, and a stronger man to do something about it. Bill, I hope if I ever think I have a problem, I am strong enough to do what you did. It's a testament of MORAL FIBER.
|
|
|
Post by billhammond on Oct 10, 2006 11:26:09 GMT -5
Cribbs -- Thanks for the honest account. I think you are walking a thin line, but I think you are in pretty good control, too, so that is clearly in your favor.
One thing I would point out is that in those situations where -- because we know we won't have to drive or do anything other than party and crash -- that SHIT CAN HAPPEN. Like maybe there will be the sort of emergency where you are the only one on hand to drive, or maybe you will get an important phone call (a relative is dying, come quick) or someone will need your best possible help, or ....... and you won't be able to do that well because you are incapacitated ....
My problem is not that I get shitfaced or wake up in the morning craving booze or the high it provides. My problem is that if I pop open a beer or pour a glass of wine after work, I almost never stop popping or pouring until it's gone or it's bedtime, like six hours later. Same thing at guitar gatherings, and at Swannanoa, once the beer tent opened each evening. I was in line.
But if I don't have that first one, no biggie. So my attention from here on is focused on not having that first one ever again.
|
|
|
Post by Cribbs on Oct 10, 2006 11:30:18 GMT -5
That's cool, I totally understand where ya coming from. Sometimes I am that way, but to be honest, most times, I can come in from outside, pour an ice cold beer, and have one or two, and then I'm done. I do most of my best creative work at night, and I know if I drink suds all night, my work won't be good and I will get nothing done. As much as I like having fun, I am seriously scared of underachievement and nonproductivity. I mean, terrified. It bores me.
I also understand about things coming up too. I have been in those situations, and it's no fun. I think we all walk a tight line in life at some point or another, we just gotta make sure we keep good balance.
So, you thought about Copenhagen? You talk about driving the women wild, Barb would LOVE IT!
|
|
|
Post by Tim Alexander (fmrly. Camalex) on Oct 10, 2006 11:44:27 GMT -5
Bill -- My mother is an self-denied alcoholic who must place a brown paper bag around the wine bottle to hide her intake. So for many years, I have known the pain of dulled senses, lost conversations and reversed intoxicated logic. She started just as you describe, a little wine before dinner, then with dinner, then after dinner, then into the evening, and it goes on. By stopping the progression of this illness at any stage is a monumental step -- good for you.
But bringing it back to why we all gather here on an acoustic guitar forum -- I am very excited for you from a musical standpoint. If you are able to capture the time, energy and creativity dulled by your limited/repeated use of alcohol, I think you can expect a lifetime of incredible music ahead of you. You know what I think of you as a guitar player -- you are the real deal Bill -- and I am behind you all the way and applaud you for the decision you've made. You've got one smart partner in Barbara and obviously a relationship with her that has survived these very difficult conversations. You have great kids and a great life ahead of you. And you have friends on this board who care about you a lot.
You're a lucky man Bill Hammond and don't you forget it. /luv ya man/
|
|
|
Post by billhammond on Oct 10, 2006 11:45:12 GMT -5
"So, you thought about Copenhagen? You talk about driving the women wild, Barb would LOVE IT!"
Derriel -- I really can't afford it, but based on the strength of your recommendation, I just booked two seats to Denmark for Barb and me.
THIS HAD BETTER BE GOOD, Bubba.
|
|
|
Post by billhammond on Oct 10, 2006 11:52:20 GMT -5
Bill -- My mother is an self-denied alcoholic who must place a brown paper bag around the wine bottle to hide her intake. So for many years, I have known the pain of dulled senses, lost conversations and reversed intoxicated logic. She started just as you describe, a little wine before dinner, then with dinner, then after dinner, then into the evening, and it goes on. By stopping the progression of this illness at any stage is a monumental step -- good for you. But bringing it back to why we all gather here on an acoustic guitar forum -- I am very excited for you from a musical standpoint. If you are able to capture the time, energy and creativity dulled by your limited/repeated use of alcohol, I think you can expect a lifetime of incredible music ahead of you. You know what I think of you as a guitar player -- you are the real deal Bill -- and I am behind you all the way and applaud you for the decision you've made. You've got one smart partner in Barbara and obviously a relationship with her that has survived these very difficult conversations. You have great kids and a great life ahead of you. And you have friends on this board who care about you a lot. You're a lucky man Bill Hammond and don't you forget it. /luv ya man/ Tim -- A brazilion thank-yous. I am a lucky man, and I know it, and we all are lucky here to have this great reservoir of support and goodwill. I can't be certain that staying sober will improve my music, but it sure can't hurt. I might start hearing the little mistakes a little better, though!
|
|
|
Post by Tim Alexander (fmrly. Camalex) on Oct 10, 2006 11:55:57 GMT -5
Little mistakes should be repeated over and over -- and then they become compositions. (PS -- that was my intro for giving voice on Saturday night).
|
|
|
Post by Cribbs on Oct 10, 2006 12:08:08 GMT -5
Bill, I promise y'all will love Denmark! The girls all have rock-hard bodies!
|
|