Saturday, October 31, 2009

Saturday before the time changes

That time of year again. Brisk. Peaceful. Calming.

A busy Friday then not being able to sleep (over did it a bit Friday) and here it is early Saturday morning. Fixed some hot "russian tea", and going to go back to bed maybe till noon. Winter is coming.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Oh the storys from yesteryear

Catching Up

Friday Morning. A full 7 days has completed since waking up with this virus. Feel much better though still have plenty of coughing up the white stuff, so not exerting much. Looks like I'll be on target to be non contagious and physically well enough to help out Monday and a bit Tuesday and maybe Wednesday as Pops and Ma get this massive fund raiser "store" set up and operated and taken back down...proceeds going to help fund the little medical outreach center to provide medical care for those that have nothing. Sometimes those two stay so busy doing stuff for people I get tired just imagining that much activity.

Camper Trailer living has proved to be very positive. One critical factor for both morale and hygiene in such small quarters is cleanliness and order. I'm still a long ways from having it pass a boot camp inspection...but with the improvement in my health the past few days I've proportionaltely increased efforts to restore. Meaning, the last two days I've washed and washed and washed..dishes, blankets, sheets, clothes, mirrors, sinks, counter tops, vacuumed the floor and have a few mud spots to take my scrub brush to on the carpet after all the running in and out in the mud fixing the break in the waterline inside.

Today waking up at 530 but it was still dark, I slept another couple hours off and on till finally getting up...saw that brother K had tried to chat a few times during the night..sent a reply..and surprisingly got one back..sucker was still awake!! But he was just on his way to bed. My only advice to him was "best off getting to bed while the woman is still in it". Anyhow...WHO AM I to give HIM marriage advice. (Yeah those who know my track record would find that hysterical).

Alot planned for the day. Hope to get to most of it. Throw the shampoo and soap into a plastic store sack, grab a towel, walk up to the showers, enjoy a nice hot shower on this brisk morning. Maybe get out the hair clippers and thin my moustache a bit..getting woolier than my head. Thinking about a haircut but not sure yet what to do with my hair this time...may go ahead and get a good clean up around the sides and back. Then I got some friends that need some help on a floor repair, so maybe head by the cave and pick up some tools and run knock that out. May get my old laptop while at the cave and take the hard drive out and hook to my usb attached enclosure that lets you plug in a notebook drive laptop. Transfer that over to this computer in a folder all its own.

Got some really good beans to reheat for first meal. Contrary to all modern day wisdom and knowledge...my diet works best if I don't eat a thing during the first 4-6 hours..feel the hunger...let the stomach contract...thats the idea. Now back to the beans...this time instead of just cutting up a couple pieces of bacon and throwing them into the pot to simmer the 3 hours with the beans...this time I "browned" the little bacon pieces in the skillet, lightly searing them on both sides...then dumped them bacon grease and all into the bean pot. Made a difference!For a couple cups of dry beans I also add about a third a stick of real butter, and close to a table spoon of salt, and a teaspon or two of fresh black pepper and stir it now and again half way thru the cooking. Cover with a lid that is vented. Yep that bacon trick improved it a BUNCH...gave the beans a hint of bacon flavor.

That will be my first meal, reheat that.
Other meal today, probably make some rice, stir in some drained mixed vegetables during the last 5 min of the rice simmer, then when it is all done, and finished its 5 min. covered cool down...Stir in a small can of tuna...and kick back, maybe watch a movie and eat it out of the pan.

This RV park has land all the way to the highway, it would be the ideal spot for a very very cool miniature golf course and this entire county virtually does not have one that is open and ready for business.

Still have alot to sort through and get done in here, and LG will be gone trick or treating and staying over with her friend, so ..here's to a productive weekend..let us hope :)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Saturday...Virus.

First symptom: yesterday morning woke up with a sore throat and a tremendous amount of drainage making its way unrestricted down my throat. Fever, chills. Nose ran most of the day but the biggest part of it was backwards adding to the sore throat.

Could not get to sleep until somewhere around 5am this morning. Tired of laying in bed. Not as much fever so far today, but eyes feel like they are kind of dried out on the backside..how "eyes" feel in a bad head cold. Some periodic sneezing. Sometime during the night hours extreme brain pain (most people would probably call that a bad headache but not having much experience with headaches in my life it just struck me as "brain pain"....especially if I exerted any energy, even trying to stand up.)

Several types of virus are running wild in this town, I'm hopeful this is like the one little LG brought home from school...a couple days and i start feeling better, but will develop into a nasty cough...no coughing so far for me yet. That is just fine too, the battle with double pneumonia about 6 months back was rough enough.

So, visiting is "off the list" for today...this thing seems pretty highly contagious if it captured me and my immune system and overall health is great. Don't know how the day is going to go, will have to make a run to the pharmacist in a while for my monthly meds but other than that I plan on puttering around this place just enough to keep me fed. My eyes aren't enjoying television...so will probably rig the audible books through the 8 speaker system I connect them to and try to "read" that way.

My audible book collection is pretty awesome...so if someone out there with the same in printed text is losing their eyesight over the next few years...we may need to get in touch and make a trade.

Think it is looking like a great day out the window. Plan to have a great day resting. Many trails I've walked in life didn't permit me to rest when I felt like this...but my current one does, so I'll enjoy it. Be well. Enjoy your weekends.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Love this day so far !

Sunday of this week the busy day of interaction ended with about 3 and half hours of driving and going home and then getting to relax and let go and enjoy the solitude...but between completely-realistic 3d nightmares about dumb stuff this last time, the story played out with the convict who had wronged me was allowed a furrough and he drove himself to prison in his immaculately kept, brand new condition, 1971 short bed Ford...he had even left it that early-seventies green.

But even as I glared at him walk up and immediately be handcuffed and shackled and the walk begins around to the entry gate. His prison term was quite a few years but I still felt unavenged..so noticing he had left his keys and all "contraban" in the truck and had not locked the door. The slot where the key goes the "ignition" was a push button...you held it in the starter turned...but in line to exit I realized somehow I had stolen the wrong truck this was a high up in the correction facilities guards. And they are going to recognize their coworkers truck. I'm going end up in prison trying to get my vengeance. Waking up from that in complete darkness that wasn't the cell I had gone to sleep in...was disorienting, and as it came to me that "all that" was a dream, a nightmare. My day of water leaks etcetera began and continued into the next day.

I've been so intense on restoring my ability to do some online work, overcome the water disaster, get the house back together again and clean, loving this computer, that the one thing I really want to do, since I worked through the night getting this system started as far as set up and usable. But I'm going to stop for awhile, maybe the day, because I'm tired. And it is ok to be tired. It is simply how a person truly feels.

That water leak kind of "shook me", I had only the basic idea where the lines were.

I'm glad it isn't pouring down right now like it was on my drive back from the city last night over that computer. Then chose the wrong path, heavy road construction probably close to an hour extra to the trip home. That was some heavy rain in the dark on not well marked roads with some traffic trying to go 65 but there were hydroplane spots at 55. I just let them go right on by. But few did because this was some heavy rain.

Ok its all unloaded, I'm going to restg awhile...lol.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A thousand dollars a crack

Life has been very, very tough this week on people I know. Though mine hasn't been a bed of roses, by comparison my few complaints would seem so lame...but that is why you find them in this blog instead of the Times magazine. Besides, even though you are reading this, it is primarily a historic marker for my ownself or an update to family.

What is today anyhow !! Wednesday. Monday the water line from the hot water heater started leaking and the floor got wet. It was a simple matter of cutting off the water, tightening the nut on the CTS/PEX elbow screwed onto the outlet. Water back on and all was well until later that day and the problem was back, but stronger. Cut the water off and go to bed.

Tuesday morning...new priorities...repair water line. Go to hardware store, buy a union connector to connect that PEX line to a much easier to work with CVPC plastic line for hot water. Then a couple more fittings and some glue...$20 spent and a third of the day later the water line is fixed again but this time the culprit (crack in an elbow) is replaced. Turn the water on and come meandering back into the house.

High pressure jet streams of water going in multiple directions...quick run for the shut off, and return to assess damage and begin damage control. That stream of water went far, even reached my laptop computer that was turned on and on the little table on the bed. In fact there seemed to be a dedicated stream apportioned just to it...because it was extremely wet, and extremely "brokeded" (quote from "the longest yard" with Adam Sandler).

The carpet was soaked but even now that is gradually drying up with a combination of a ceramic heater and a fan blowing over it and warming it up to dry the deeper wetness. The laptop...which was my connection with income, and the world..was inconsolable. The water was cut off. I woke into the day after an entire night of nightmares so real that I actually wished one of them was just a nightmare but somehow "knew" it sadly was not...when I did wake up..I was confused as to where I was. (This is new to me only a couple nights lately have I ever had "serious" nightmares") First priority of the day today Fix the leak and recover from the damage.

Yet unable to be both at the leak site that I thought was repaired and at the outside water shut off at the same time so it was time to call Pops. Poor guy waited outside the gate till someone coming in carded in. "Why didn't you call me?" I asked, more than glad to have gone and keyed the gate open..."We tried, a couple times". Glancing at my phone, sure enough, multiple missed calls. "Ahhh dang it..that ringer doesn't work either!" (I've been trying to get a ringer that I can hear "most" of the time by changing frequencies of tones selected...another problem that I "thought" was fixed).

Anyhow he was able to see quickly that it was coming out of that fancy union that I had installed (that joins PEX or CTS with regular CPVC hot/cold plastic pipe). "That was a $6 connection piece!", "Well, it doesn't work". A study of it revealed that maybe the piece of pipe I had cut to go between it and the elbow wasn't long enough to fully seat in the compression union coupling. Back to the store.

After reworking it and putting a piece in that was just about one inch longer, the connection seated good and here came the test...YES!! Connection held!! Water problem fixed...now to start on the damage control.

That flooded floor. Set ceramic heater on the carpet and set a fan at the other end of the big wet spot. Pops heads home with my gratitude for being there to identify the source and for going with me to the hardware store..he even bought the parts this time. All of a sudden the floor started getting SUPER SOAKED coming from the bathroom. I ran in to discover that while the water was shut off I had left the sink faucet on...and somehow, though it hasn't happened before, the stopper in the sink had floated or fallen closed and maybe 10 gallons of water had overflowed the sink and joined the wet spot. Sheesh#@$% ! Quickly solved. A full-hearing person would have heard that water running in the sink, there are some distinct disadvantages here!!

Finally everything getting back to order but now out of work with no working computer. Go to staples...no more laptops...too hard to work on. Didn't find anything within my budget which was either part of the $150 left on my overdraft limit or they sold it to me on payments. They advised it is a couple weeks till credit approval is made. My older brother calls me to tell me Craigs list shows a guy has one for sale an hour and half away in mint condition for $140. Desktop, but no LCD monitor, but a really good 19" CRT monitor, was just formatted and windows xp pro put back on it and all drivers downloaded. "mint condition".

It was an hour and a half, timed it perfectly, walked inside, visited with the guy, totally checked out the computer, it starts pouring down rain but I don't hear it. He gets a big trash bag for carrying the monitor to the car because of the rain. "Ahhh..wasn't raining a bit" I exclaimed with relief. "It's pouring down hard now though, can't you hear that?" came his bewildered reply. Uggh, "no". Anyhow got it all to the car, headed to Best Buy to clean out the rest of my overdraft and the rest of my pocket cash to buy a wi fi usb connector.


So though it is "officially" Thursday. This is my Wednesday night post. The wet portion of the floor is getting smaller. The bed above the water lines is reassembled. I'm able to get back to work online! All the challenges and disruptions so far this week have basically been handled and though I'll be delayed a while with the loss of data and programs on the old work-laptop...guess it is a matter of keeping on keeping on until all the obstacles are overcome and the job is done.

One little crack in an old plastic elbow... .

Monday, October 19, 2009

An affordable boss

To succeed in any endeavor a good "bossman" is needed who knows what you need to be doing and how to do it and tells ya what you need to do next. I have hired a new bossman for my projects and I aint having to pay him a thing. So my ebook may be partially scrapped right now as I sell my 2 major competitors books from my websites and draw commission. Though in my spare time while the boss aint looking I still want to quickly finish and publish mine and "affiliate market" IT alongside my competitors. LOL.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

"WOO HOO!"

Hands clenched and thrust up in excitement "woo hoo!" jetting out from your smiling mouth. What would that take? You owe it to yourself to take minutes or hours or sessions to make your list or even find your few...things that would break you out of your wearisome labors and burdens and pains and responsibilities and conflicts and even for an hour have you doing a little jig and shouting out "woo hoo!" like a kid that just got told "get in the car I'm taking you to six flags". What would that take?

Wow...bet you didn't know your brain was clamped down that tight, makes it hard to even grasp doesn't it. Figure out a few woo hoo's.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Shower in the dark

Good morning :)
Short quick post since I'm headed out the door to pick up Little biscuit. Sleep patterns haven't formed a pattern yet, so it feels like the irregularity (new to me) leaves me both tired and rested at the same time. Curious feeling to be sure.

Walked up to the camp shower this morning. Opening the door, the lights are off as usual since seldom is there ever anybody in there. The Men's shower room is what long ago would have been called a two-Holer since it has two toilets enclosed in stalls and two separate showers. Thus far in my experience nobody else has been in there so it is nice to have such a big convenience facility totally to my self.

After adjusting the water temperature and setting the shampoo bottle in the usual corner and the soap box in the other corner, I went ahead and just turned out the lights. A peaceful experience indeed to shower in complete blindness, with hot water on a cold morning. It was completely pitch black dark.

By the time my hair was washed though, things were different...I could vaguely see the sink through the frosted shower door and could definitely see the light above and below the entry door. By the time the shower was complete it felt like there was a 4 watt night light on. My eyes had "adjusted" to the darkness.

Interesting experience. Reminded me of when I was welding 12 hour shifts at Lufkin Industries making Oil pumping units in a very loud factory. When the shift was over and I fired up my Suzuki motorcycle if it were not for the tach I wouldn't know it was running. The ride home was silent. The shower when I got home was silent, I couldn't hear the water at all. Now THAT was an odd experience but peaceful.

Strange how when we shut off a sense or two, a small touch of sensory deprivation, the world becomes even more peaceful and smaller somehow. Anyhow, Definitely need to be on the road now so have a great day one and all...and next time you get a chance to shower in complete darkness...it is a cool experience! :)

Monday, October 12, 2009

Underground House


Here it is just barely past midnight so the start of Tuesday has arrived. Looks like the next 5 hours or so may be productive time, trying to complete a more comprehensive and a bit more in depth research for my next squidoo lens...at this point this will either make number 6 or 7 or 8...can't remember at the moment. I do plan on getting at least 50 more out there over the next two months in addition to finishing the book...so don't think me poor, lonely and bored. LOL. I'm just underfunded, living a quiet life, staying very busy...doing projects that are enjoyable though sometimes tedious.

Each article I learn a bit more that helps simplify the publication and very very gradually learning a bit more how to maximize the potential income from each article. That part will be my "tweaking" after I get the articles out there. There are some interesting "smart" ways to go about the article subjects selected...that part I'm leaving mostly up to my editor to decide for me and help me have a list to choose one of my interest.

My little tree monkey in the picture isn't feeling too good, low grade fever past couple days, she may be getting into the doctor today and since school is out Thursday and Friday anyhow...I'm hoping she'll just park it over here in her comfortable bed or on the couch and spend the rest of the week getting well.

That picture and the following one of her cutting firewood (and yes she followed the safety instructions very very conscientiously and cut several good size logs for the campfire), are from our campout about a month or so ago...guess it was in August..wow time flies. Anyhow...Good morning to you and may your day be enjoyed.


Friday, October 09, 2009

Friday, your day my night

It is almost 5am...and still raining. I'll make a run for the hot showers as soon as it breaks, and call it a day. Got that one article researched and published on Squidoo...This one I've kind of worked the title and key words that had "good numbers" according to K so it will be an enjoyable experiment. Already started on a new one, plus still putting in time on the book. So with no external time structure I seem to have ended up on the night shift. Always did like working night shift. Good morning to most of you, Goodnight from me.

Monday, October 05, 2009

The day after

So tired, but so much to do. Been a busy week end ! But busy with such that makes us call life "good". Wash all the dishes and get them put away. Hang up her coat, put up her toothbrush, put away the "fire bowl" into "her" cabinets. Take out the trash. Clean the counters and the stove

. Had very few things to get done today business wise, but giving myself the day off because when I think about it...It feels like I need it.

Then remembered I had a 930 "soft" appt. to meet with my ear doc because my repaired left hearing aid was in. Got there about 10:30 and waited close to 45 minutes. He's the kindest man, very tall and lean and compassionate. Seems like they are functioning well so I head for the phone place to pay my pay in advance cool phone plan, but they only take cash I gotta call this 3 digit number and give them my card number over the phone to set the payments up that way instead of cash. Wow, the world is so different than when I walked the streets as a boy.

The night was short, think it was 5am when the pillow pulled me with a tractor beam. And 10 when I got up...and it was a gradual waking to the productivity demands of the day.
I see this or that and it reminds me of what she said or did involving the item and I'm "reliving" the weekend.

How I wish every parent could treasure this experience, at least twice a month you have one on one time with each child. whether it is playing games or driving or laughing together, sharing a movie, but part or most of it should be "talking" to "understand/meet/learn" your child and who they are becoming. Our time is devoted to each other. The urgents that "must be done" are just done together.

It was a good time, a very good time spent with my kid. But today, being a bit old, I paid with pain and tiredness and business...but it was worth it and always will be.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Conditioning for the "Empty Nest"

The house is full of her presence, the days were full of "her"... ...then a couple hours later: I return to the very same house, open the door, but she is gone.


I see the very same "toys" and jackets scattered, the tv is still on "her" channel, the dishes kind of piled up because like in a race the last part of the lap you "sprint". Not wasting minutes doing dishes when they can be done after she's gone.

But as I look at the plates and utensils it reminds me of how the past two days have been spent: outdoor propane grilling together,(today even in a cold drizzle with our coats on we roasted hot dogs), her unopened pine cones (that she had me pick from a tree in the wal-mart parking lot) for her "experiment" laying on the table, her small antique "colonial" knife in its holster there by the cones, (It was a personal "treasure"/"keepsake" of mine I bought at a garage sale off an old timer...but gave it to her, my youngest, my last child)...but she has to keep it here, in a specific drawer...it can never go to her "other" home because it would get lost and it would be forbidden there.

I see the pottery bowl full of burned matches. She loves to light those kitchen stick matches and watch them burn down as far as they will...so I got that " 10 inch? pie-plate-shaped" clay planter base and keep it here on the table when she is here and hand her a big box of matches but limit her to 20-30 each weekend. Today she kept lighting this candle I have, which has some kind of problem right now because it puts up about a 4 inch flame and sets off the smoke detector. She would laugh and blow it out and the smoke detector would soon quit.

She talked me out of involving her in her second domino game, but she won't next time. We only play a couple hands or so, and don't keep score, just trying to get the thinking in her head and the quick adding and considering of alternative possibles... personally I think teaching domino playing to my 8 year old is not only appropriate..but a responsibility, considering how advanced her mind is.

The pink toothbrush still on the bathroom counter, her bed still sloppily made, but made (just trying to get the habit down first...we'll work on neatness as we go along).

But her "presence", her "vibrancy" ...is noticeably absent. The house is quiet, except for that noise coming from that cartoon channel, I can't make out the words it is just noise. I miss her. Our beds are across the isle thru the camper from each other, often one of us turns over and our eyes meet. We smile. We sleep in peace. She is 100% comfortable here.



There is no boredom she is busy constantly...experimenting, watching a favorite cartoon, playing UNO, or checkers, or helping cook a meal, or out walking in the grass exploring. She even helped me gather blocks to correct the slope of the rv sewer line...and learned what it was, how it worked, and why the slope was important.

She has an extremely good mother so I am completely at peace about her while she is away...but I miss her. And I already look forward to her next visit. So while raising kids joint custody is nightmarish in many ways...it has two major blessings: It gives me entire days each month to primarily focus on spending time visiting with and living alongside my child. And it gives the "empty nest" sinking feeling I get every time I "return her" and then come back and walk back in the door and she is not here. Hopefully this will make the "empty nest" syndrome much more bearable. Who knows maybe my grandkids won't be banned from seeing me by then. (No, I didn't ban them, I'm just kind of disowned as a father), and LG will visit often and I may be needing to get a smaller camper to enjoy my hermitude. :) (Wonder why spell-check underlined that, I'm pretty sure the dictionary wouldn't "get" it. I right clicked the red line and selected "add to dictionary").

But I feel for people going thru the empty-nest syndrome. In a small way, I get to go through that often...and I think it helps me keep my perspective of how vital this time together is. Wish I would have had that with my oldest ones....ahhh, another advantage/curse of being older, all the things you wish you would have done different with your youngens. (had to add that to the dictionary too- though the concept of "I'd have done different" is a common thought as we age).

All lessons and morale of the story aside. It has been another wonderful weekend with my daughter and I loved every minute of it.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

i'm told it's morning

We stayed up till about 2 a.m. watching movies and playing UNO, so when my internal clock woke me at 5am my external brain said..not yet. A couple hours later, hearing little biscuit stirring around I looked across the isle to her bed and saw her looking back at me. We both laughed. I burped at her...timing worked for her cause then she cut loose a toot. "Oh No!" covering my head under the cover in a dramatic exaggerated reaction..which busted her out in laughter.

We're both hungry but she suggested we move our Park walk up to "before" we eat breakfast. Laughing, I asked her "aren't you hungry?". "Yeah, but I'd be hungry after the walk anyway so this way when I eat I'll be really really wanting it". Dang!! Doesn't take a DNA test to tell that genetic match was made out of part me. Thought I was only one that thought that way...found hunger churnings can be a positive thing. Well, sure alot of adults agree that it is prime eating when it is preceded by genuine hunger...but this kid is only EIGHT.

Anyhow, think the sterner "Dad!" tone is coming if I postpone our walk any longer. Hope it is a GOOD MORNING for all. LOL.

Friday, October 02, 2009

Friday Evening

Little Blondie has already gone shopping with me, and we had chimichanga and hot dog for supper. She beat me at two games of UNO already...but the checkers are coming out soon! She's all set to watch this tv movie so I get a free minute since the dishes are all caught up...and its one of those disney shows that just grate my brain..LOL.

Her looks are subtly changing, as if her 8th birthday just became a launching post.

Worked a little on getting the slope right on the RV sewer connection. Improved, but I'm going to have to get a few more shims. She didn't think it was a good idea to mess with that hose once she understood what it was. LOL...I wasn't real fond of it myself.

Sun is going down but I'll probably try to at least stay awake till the movie is over, seems the whole world is on a different shift than me. Think I'd prefer sleeping from 6pm till 2am.

Early Friday Morning in October

Too dark still to see the weather but nicely nippy out. Today is set up to be a great day. The long awaited culmination of paperwork and effort towards filing VA happens today. Then since little Grace Kelly is out of school for parent-teacher conferences I should be picking her up at 1pm for a great weekend. She may win the checker match this time...for an 8 year old, she plays a really challenging game ! It is day 2 of my 60 day beer challenge, doesn't look like it is going to be a problem unless somewhere down the road I just forget. Day one I only missed it "for breakfast" and "with supper". But not so much "with supper" because I had pancakes and the sweet syrup kind of doesn't go well with a glass of beer anyway.

Saw that I missed 3 calls from my older brother last night, hate when that happens...sometimes it seems we're on different schedules, I think I'm getting up about the time he's going to sleep...LOL should I call him back NOW? Only if I wanted to talk to an answering machine. Oh, for those more this generation that would be "voice mailbox".

Filled out this big long credit application just in case I won the camper I bid on on ebay...put in the amount I wanted to finance at the bottom and it popped up a note that they don't loan less than 7500...uggh...why didn't they do that before!!!
That is way more than I'm bidding...about double! Doubt they would loan that much and I'm sure I don't want to owe that much...LOL. Hit the x in the corner.

Guess I had better get around and get my day started. Hope all is well for all of you.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

60 days Beer Challenge

Many sayings have been written about beer: "breakfast of champions" and and array of others. Personally I just "like" beer like people "like" sodas. If I were to drink one or two a day of the low percentage beer it seems to do my digestive system good and keeps my stomach settled. (Even my last couple years of high school I was prescribed Elixir donnatol or something sounding like that..a tranquilizer..to take daily for my stomach).

However, since I've been getting complaints here and there (parental, spousal) I've decided to make the sacrifice and check myself into my own self induced rehab. As a means of testing to see if I'm "addicted" to beer and able to manage just one or two a day...I'm taking Papa G's challenge he gave me...go 60 days without any. Sounds reasonable to me...I know I could go 60 days without soda, in fact that is less than the usual time spread between cokes for me. Now I'm not adopting a teetotaler attitude because I do believe it to be a tasty and beneficial drink, but only if it can be on my terms not an addiction craving.

The last big outbreak with M-80 her "reasoning" for rage included at least in part, according to her, was she thought I had had a bit too much and she was scared, angry and in protection mode to prevent any alcohol clouded driving or parenting. While my driving and parenting were without influence...after some time thinking I've been able to "convict" myself of my contribution to the problem and have made my commitment to 60 days alcohol free.

Do I personally think I have a "drinking problem" ? No. But what would my answer be to that if I did? the same I would bet. So test it out Mr. Ger...if there is no problem then 60 days won't be much of a challenge. But since I had a beer with my supper last night...today will be day one. I can't really call it day one of sobriety because it is very rare that I pass the "legally intoxicated" point...but it is day one of my Beer challenge.