another interesting read ...

If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on the right side of your mouth.

If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on the left side of your mouth.

To make half a kilo of honey, bees must collect nectar from over 2 million individual flowers

Heroin is the brand name of morphine once marketed by 'Bayer'.

Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!

People in nudist colonies play volleyball more than any other sport ..

Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined.

Astronauts can't belch - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.

Ancient Roman, Chinese and German societies often used urine as mouthwash.

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. In the Renaissance era, it was fashion to shave them off!

Because of the speed at which Earth moves around the Sun, it is impossible for a solar eclipse to last more than 7 minutes and 58 seconds.

The night of January 20 is "Saint Agnes's Eve", which is regarded as a time when a young woman dreams of her future husband.

Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros ..

It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!

Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years .

Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end .

If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

Each year 2,000,000 smokers either quit smoking or die of tobacco-related diseases.

Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals

Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.

The song, Auld Lang Syne, is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year.

Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent

Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn't smoke unless it's heated above 450 ? F

The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean

The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man

Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density

The University of Alaska spans four time zones

The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.

In ancient Greece , tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.

Warner Communications paid $28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

A comet's tail always points away from the sun

The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent

Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, that is why it is found in some medicines.

The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.

If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.

When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight

In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed

Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside

Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams

The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year

The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust

Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters

Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy

Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down

Everything weighs one percent less at the equator

For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off

The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.

And last but not least:

In 2012, December has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays. This apparently happens once every 823 years!

This is called 'money bags'. So send this on to 5 and money will arrive in 5 days.

Based on Chinese Feng Shui, the one who does not pass this on will have money troubles for the rest of the year.

An interesting read

I don't know if any of this is true or not, but it's an interesting read.  Someone sent it to me.

Facts about the 1500’s:

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:
 * * * * * *
 Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
 * * * * * *
 Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children-last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying,  “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”
 * * * * * *
 Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.  It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
 Hence the saying “It’s raining cats and dogs.”
 * * * * * *
 There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.
 * * * * * *
 The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.  Hence the saying “dirt poor.”
 * * * * * *
 The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing.  As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a “thresh hold.”
 * * * * * *
 In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot.  They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold,  peas porridge in the pot nine days old.”
 * * * * * *
 Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.  When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man “could bring home the bacon. “They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and “chew the
 fat.”
 * * * * * *
 Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
 * * * * * *
 Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or “upper crust.”
 * * * * * *
 Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family

would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of  holding a “wake.”
 * * * * * *
 England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a “bone-house” and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside

and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night  (the “graveyard shift”) to listen for the bell; thus,  someone could be “saved by the bell” or was considered a “dead ringer.”
 * * * * * *

progress

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for baby steps.  I've been taking them all my life.  They have gotten me to this place I'm at today.  I plan to continue taking them, one day at a time.

that I am entirely ready to let go of all many of the things that keep me from being of service to others

that I have made progress in my personal goal of not taking things personally 

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.

T.S. Eliot

On awakening ...

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for sobriety and recovery -- the easier, softer way

for some awareness on my part that I just need to keep reminding myself that everything will happen just the way it's supposed to happen.  I have to do the next right thing (certainly not the next wrong thing) and trust in the process.  FYI - I am specifically referring to re-entering the job market at age 58 and trying to find a new career.  

for all the people who wished me well and congrats on 9 years sober.  I hope I'm around next year to do it again.

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

Will Rogers

78,908 hours

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for my Higher Power, without which I would never have become sober and hence, would not be sober today

that I've been sober for 3289 days continuously

for everything else

The most difficult thing I have ever had to do is follow the guidance I prayed for.

-  Albert Schweitzer 

I speak the truth ......

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that IT happened 9 years ago.  Today.  It was a Thursday.

I was sitting in an A.A. meeting, one I had been attending for 3 months.  It started at 12:15pm and ended one hour later.  During the past few weeks, I had been attending more regularly, probably 3 or 4 days each week.  

A few days before (Sunday) I had experienced a low point in my life.  My drinking had (once again, for the umpteenth time) gotten the best of me.  My behavior had deteriorated so much that I hated myself.

But I degress.

I can't tell you what the meeting was about because I probably heard very little of it.  I was crying and otherwise bemoaning the person I had become.  But here is what happened .........

At exactly 1:00pm (I know this because I glanced at my watch for some reason) I became aware of a power from above me.  I can only describe it as what being hit by a lightning bolt must feel like.  At this moment, I knew, instinctively, that the obsession to continue drinking was gone.  Poof!  It was gone.   There was no mistaking that feeling.  It lasted just a second or two and I may have smiled.

I asked my friend Don, who was sitting next to me, if we could go have a coffee after the meeting.  Of course, he said yes.

A bit later, at coffee with Don, I told him what had happened.  I think his reply was that "you got it, Dave."

We soon parted and I went home.  During the course of the rest of that day, I was ecstatic.  I had a couple or three drinks, just because that's what I had always done.  But I didn't need them.  And I din't want to get drunk.  At 11:30pm, I opened a beer from the fridge and told myself that this would be the last beer I would ever have.

And it was.

It took me 33 years of hard drinking and many hundreds of blackouts to get to this point.  I regret none of it. 

Not one time since September 4, 2003 have I even had a thought about having a drink or wanting to get drunk or to smoke a joint.  I love my sober life and am willing to do whatever it takes to maintain it.  

Thanks for reading.

It is only those who never do anything who never make mistakes.

A. Favre

Not Laboring

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the results I get from practicing the concept of restraint of tongue and pen (and keyboard)

that 9 years ago today I was experiencing the feeling(s) that I needed to feel in order to surrender my 33 years of drinking.  This would go on another day.

Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last.

Publilius Syrus

Rewards

The Four Agreements

The Four Agreements
from the Toltec Teachings of Don Miguel Ruiz


1. Be Impeccable with your Word.
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself- or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment. It will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.  Under any circumstance simply do your best - and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Everything we do is based on agreements we have made - agreements with ourselves - agreements with other people - agreements with God - agreements with life.

But the most important agreements are the ones we make with ourselves. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are — how to behave - what is possible - and what is impossible.

going there

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that today marks the 9th anniversary of my last drunk.  Not to be confused with my last drink.  That came a few days later.  But 9 years ago, my behavior had deteriorated to the point of hanging out (daily) in sordid places.  I cared for no one besides myself, even though I was ostensibly in a relationship.  My selfishness told me it was OK to cheat on him all I wanted or needed to.  I thought that I was suffering from a mental breakdown for the past 3 months and it seemed to be getting worse.  I was crying uncontrollably every day, often with tears flowing into a pint of beer or into my rum & coke.  I rarely wanted to eat and often when I did eat, I would vomit soon after.  My only friends were those I knew at "my" bar and they probably didn't want to interact with me any more than necessary.  I usually isolated when there, which averaged 10-12 hours per day.  

Yes, 9 years ago today, I had reached something I can now look at and call -- incomprehensible demoralization.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

- The Buddha

nothing unique here

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I am just a drunk.  I could have been a drug addict but I stopped using narcotics as a teenager because I actually realized how dangerous they were and that I liked them too much.  I tried cocaine a few times as an adult but never even got a buzz.  I have yet to try any of the new, designer drugs.  

that I'm just an ordinary drunk.  I don't have to point out when sharing in a meeting that I'm a real alcoholic.  

that I don't need to be popular.  But I'll admit that I like to be liked.

Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness ... letting go of the past, and correcting our misperceptions.

- Gerald Jampolsky

The leak

downspout

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I'm changing (again) and I have no idea why.  I'm 58 years old, why do I have to keep changing?  Of course, in some ways, I'm probably about 25 years old emotionally.  This may be the biggest negative consequence of my 33 years of drinking.  When I started drinking, I stopped developing emotionally.

that there are a few issues about which I'm very passionate, but I don't write about them here.  One of those is presently happening in my life and it's quite disturbing.  I'm in a position to make a difference and fully intend to do so.  Uncomfortable?  Yes.  Necessary for me to do?  Yes.

I'm also grateful for the people in my life who have fallen by the wayside.  I'm talking about those who have just disappeared (not by dying).  They are some of my greatest teachers.

for the advanced technology that allows weather forecasters to give us ample warning (usually) about hurricanes.  It will get better as time marches on.

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.

- George S. Patton

Step 4

The path of Tropical Storm Isaac a few days ago.

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for a meeting discussion about the fourth step.  So important in recovery.  I am of the opinion that a thorough fourth step should only be necessary once.  After that, it seems like step ten should be sufficient to handle life as it occurs.  If some things were left off, fine, go back and do another fourth step, but that just means the first one wasn't complete, for whatever reason.  I know there's a lot of different feelings on this.  Care to comment?

that I'm sober today and doing pretty well.  Thank you.

Since you are the one who has to live with your choices, be sure they are your own.

- Alan Cohen

Today, I am choosing to ...

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I have so many good choices to make today; nine years ago my choices were pretty much limited to when to stop drinking coffee in the morning and switch to beer.  That point generally occurred about 7am - 9am.
Then, I had to decide when to switch to rum/coke.

that I choose every day to ask my Higher Power for the guidance to be the person I am supposed to be -- just for today.  I often stray from this goal, but I have the knowledge and practice of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to guide me through my imperfections.

that this Friday night is the anniversary of my last full-fledged drunk.  My sobriety date won't be until 5 days later.
I'm stubborn.  LOL

One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleven Hints for Life

1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return.
But what is more painful is to love someone and never
find the courage to let that person know how you feel.

2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who
means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was
never meant to be and you just have to let go.

3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a
porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away
feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose
it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been
missing until it arrives.

5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an
hour to like someone, and a day to love someone-but it
takes a lifetime to forget someone.

6. Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth,
even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you
smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day
seem bright.

7. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go,
be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and
one chance to do all the things you want to do.

8. Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it
hurts you, it probably hurts the person too.

9. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck
a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may
heal and bless.

10. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
of everything they just make the most of everything that comes
along their way.

11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with
a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone
around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die,
you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Dear Dr. Ruth,

Have a lovely day. If you so choose ........

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for the chances I will be offered today and that it's my choice as to how to react to them

that I will celebrate another sobriety birthday in about 12 days.  I'm thinking back on what it was like 9 years ago.  Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.......

that I intend to write a bit here about those last days of drinking.  I don't regret them because they were just part of my life journey that has brought me to this point.

"The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet."

~~ Mark Twain

I know it's not spelled right. Jeeeeez!

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for a reminder yesterday that although I no longer think about drinking, my thinking can often be unmanageable.  Say that 5 times.

that I'm still willing to write this little list 5 days/week.  It really challenges me sometimes as I rarely have a clue what I'm going to write until I type it.

that I shall now go forth unto the day, doing the best I can do and being the best I can be.  Hopefully.

"Keep away from small people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

~~ Mark Twain

happy hump day

Cadillac fins from 1956, 1954 and 1955

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

for unity and fellowship in recovery

that there's a lot of things I can't do alone (see above)

that I actually like hearing the little stories of my friends who come back after a relapse; there is wisdom in their words

that I have never lost my passion for baseball, even this season which is the worst in the 51-year history of the Houston Astros

"To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with."

~~ Mark Twain

off to a good start

mid-50's Buick and a Super Constellation

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that it felt good to be back on a job that actually pays some $$$$; I got laid off in November 2002 and have not had a money-paying job since.  I'm not making much and this gig won't last very long, but it's a start.  I was apprehensive about my ability to multi-task, since I think that by the time I hit my alcoholic bottom (incomprehensible demoralization) in 2003, it seems like I can only focus on one thing at a time.  However, my partner reminded me over the weekend that he watched me last year as I co-chaired the Houston Roundup, a 3-day convention for 300 people.

that I still attended my 2 regualar AA meetings yesterday and met with a sponsee

for the relief I get when practicing Step 3

"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen."

~~ Mark Twain