Party on!

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Party on!

2nd November 2005

posted in The Proprietor |

Beth’s taking me out to the Tornado Club tonight to celebrate twenty years of abstinence from drugs and alcohol. I’ll probably drop in my tracks from elevated cholesterol levels.

Maybe she’ll buy me a Jack Daniels. Double. On the rocks. Probably not though.

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There are currently 11 responses to “Party on!”

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1 On November 2nd, 2024, the head lemur said:
20 years WOW

congrats
2 On November 2nd, 2024, Tamar said:
Celebration indeed. The more I get to know you, the more of a groupie I become. I appreciate your sharing this, Frank
3 On November 2nd, 2024, pat said:
Congratulations! Twenty years is really something to celebrate.
4 On November 2nd, 2024, fp said:
Thank you for your kind remarks, friends. We’re back from the Tornado Club, one of those places where the beef is prime and the bread fresh baked. A “relish tray” accompanies the bread… in this case not a tray at all but a skewer of cherry tomatoes, cucumber chunklets, a radish and olive or two, carrot sticks, celery, all arranged like a bouquet in a large glass with crushed ice. Green salads, potatos, three inch thick beef tenderloin… we brought half of the entrees home and if the dog so much as barks the phrase “doggie bag,” she’ll learn about euphemisms in no uncertain terms.

So, twenty years without a drink and not even a t-shirt, but we did have a fine night on the town!
5 On November 2nd, 2024, Bruce said:
Glad to hear it, Frank. Rock on.
6 On November 3rd, 2024, Peter (the other) said:
Keep comin’ back! A very big congratulations, and it sounds like a pretty darn good way to celebrate as well (I say, fasting for my physical tommorow!).
7 On November 3rd, 2024, Winston said:
There must have been strong motivations to kick the habits 20 years ago. Congratulations on your resolve and will power. But you know, I think the Jack must be good for you. I’ve been down to Lynchburg and through the distillery more than once (it’s only an hour south of Nashville), and all the people there are somewhere between lean and skinny, and seem to be about 110 years old. Must be the Black Jack.
8 On November 3rd, 2024, fp said:
Winston, those people in Lynchburg are 25 years old, six or eight years out of high school where they all weighed about 180 and played football.

And funny thing about willpower… it’s the biggest obstacle to behavior change in my opinion. For me, it didn’t take willpower to quit drinking, it took a large dose of acceptance.

(incidentally, yesterday was the 19th anniversary of letting go of my tobacco habit)
9 On November 3rd, 2024, bmo said:
when are you going to give up sex?
10 On November 4th, 2024, memer said:
Well congrats anyway, Frank. We’ll call it a feat of acceptance, then – hell, it’s a feat of some kind else there’d be no point in celebrating, yes? I’m hoping that after 20 years, it’s easier isn’t it – do those old needs/desires atrophy after a time?
11 On November 4th, 2024, fp said:
I think the first six or eight years are the hardest. Hell, I was still fumbling for a cigarette in stress situations five years after I quit cold turkey.

Here is the US we’re still a drinking culture, though. Sometimes it’s painful for me to hang out with people who are drinking. Not so much because I want a drink, as because they’re getting loaded and I’m not and I can’t follow the turns of conversation. On the other hand, it’s amazing how lucky I get at the card table as the hours pass….

Short answer, yes. The cravings go away. Sometimes they return in a dream and I’ll know I’m processing some kind of stress thing.

Doesn’t take willpower to quit, but it takes a mindful commitment to stay quit, I guess.