So I decided to cut back on my drinking.

[Jimmy Coonan]

It’s going to kill me some day. I’ve been getting blackout drunk too often, it’s making me do dumb shit and put myself in situations where I could easily get hurt--robbed or arrested or beat up or killed. Last Friday, a friend of mine says he’s going to a party in Albany, which is a half hour drive from where I live. It’s in a two-family place, most of the action’s upstairs but a few people are hanging out on the porch or downstairs. I spent more time downstairs, but the guy on the lower level had to leave for work at around seven in the morning and goes to sleep around four. I'm not really tight with him, so he says I'll have to leave when he goes to work, which is understandable. It’s four, I’m chilling on his couch alone watching TV. He doesn’t have cable I remember, which annoyed me at the time, since most of the shows worth watching at four in the morning are on cable. I’m pretty hammered and I’m in a talkative mood, so I go upstairs to see what’s going on there. There’s only four people left, and they’re all laying on the couches and chairs trying to sleep.

I say something, and after a few seconds of me talking to myself they tell me to shut the fuck up and either go to sleep or go away. I check to see if they have cable up there, they start screaming at me, so I leave, stealing a half-full 18-pack of Bud Light that's next to the door on the way out. Might've been a 12; I think it was one of the longer fridge cases those, and those are 18s. I think I went back downstairs at this point and may have passed out on the couch or something. I have a feeling I was downstairs, on the couch with a beer in hand nodding off, but I don't specifically remember waking up and leaving again.

Next thing I know, it’s daylight and I’m walking down the street with the case of beer, which is down to five probably; it's not as heavy as before. You're know when you're an alcoholic when you can estimate the weight of an 18-pack that precisely even when you're incoherently plastered. I'm real drunk so I figure I'll grab a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I see an old man, had a white moustache and beard, a brown coat and some kind of headgear. Irish accent too. I say what's up, and we sit down on the stoop of an abandoned house. I crack another beer right there, broad daylight, and give him one too. I have some drugs pre-bagged in my socks for sale by the way, and not weed. I’ve also got a decent amount of cash. If a cop rolled up and wanted to be a dick, he could have arrested us on open container and I’d also get caught for felony possession with intent. We were sitting there for a long time, we had a long conversation. Don’t remember much, just that his mom was from the same county in Ireland as mine and he used to live on Grand Ave in Schenectady.

Next thing, I’m somewhere else. He’s yelling at me, “I’ll call the cops!!!! I’ll call the cops!!!!! You’re threatening me!!!!” I start yelling back, “I’m not threatening you, I didn’t try to hurt you or nothing.” We’re yelling, and a minute later a woman who might have been wearing some kind of uniform is standing there. Not a cop, I got the impression she was hotel security or staff at wherever we were. The old guy says, “this man is being violent.” I deny it vigorously, and tell whoever the fuck it was that I didn’t do anything and wasn’t trying to be violent. I think me and the old man had a misunderstanding of some sort, but I don’t know about what. She doesn’t seem to care, but just wants me out, and I leave wherever the hell I am to avoid any more trouble…

Next thing I know woken up in my car, parked in a place where it wasn’t parked last night. I drove somewhere at some point, but only made it a few blocks. It’s two in the afternoon. At least I parked well, I wasn’t in the middle of the road or blocking a driveway or something that could’ve got me in trouble. But anyone could have reached in and robbed me, that shit happens a lot in that part of Albany and the car was unlocked. I lost so much time, and I don’t know where I was or what I was doing. If a bunch of little things had gone different, if I’d gotten into a fight and they called the cops or if I was driving shitty when I was blacked out and they stopped me or I got in an accident or something, I’d been in jail for felony possession facing several years instead of typing this. Or if that didn’t happen, I could be injured, or someone could’ve beat me up and robbed me. Maybe it has happened, there have been a few times where I wake up and I’m bruised up like I got in a fight and I blacked out on several hours the night before.

Earlier today, I was talking a friend of mine and he said he talked to some girl we know earlier that day, and she saw me the night before. Apparently the guy with the white moustache was homeless, and I was too drunk to be coherent, I didn’t recognize her.

So no more binge drinking for me. Blackouts are kind of risky.

[Paranoid Android]

Yeah, drinkings no good.

[higherthanamile]

Originally Posted by lillarry518

It’s going to kill me some day. I’ve been getting blackout drunk too often, it’s making me do dumb shit and put myself in situations where I could easily get hurt--robbed or arrested or beat up or killed. Last Friday, a friend of mine says he’s going to a party in Albany, which is a half hour drive from where I live. It’s in a two-family place, most of the action’s upstairs but a few people are hanging out on the porch or downstairs. I spent more time downstairs, but the guy on the lower level had to leave for work at around seven in the morning and goes to sleep around four. I'm not really tight with him, so he says I'll have to leave when he goes to work, which is understandable. It’s four, I’m chilling on his couch alone watching TV. He doesn’t have cable I remember, which annoyed me at the time, since most of the shows worth watching at four in the morning are on cable. I’m pretty hammered and I’m in a talkative mood, so I go upstairs to see what’s going on there. There’s only four people left, and they’re all laying on the couches and chairs trying to sleep.

I say something, and after a few seconds of me talking to myself they tell me to shut the fuck up and either go to sleep or go away. I check to see if they have cable up there, they start screaming at me, so I leave, stealing a half-full 18-pack of Bud Light that's next to the door on the way out. Might've been a 12; I think it was one of the longer fridge cases those, and those are 18s. I think I went back downstairs at this point and may have passed out on the couch or something. I have a feeling I was downstairs, on the couch with a beer in hand nodding off, but I don't specifically remember waking up and leaving again.

Next thing I know, it’s daylight and I’m walking down the street with the case of beer, which is down to five probably; it's not as heavy as before. You're know when you're an alcoholic when you can estimate the weight of an 18-pack that precisely even when you're incoherently plastered. I'm real drunk so I figure I'll grab a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I see an old man, had a white moustache and beard, a brown coat and some kind of headgear. Irish accent too. I say what's up, and we sit down on the stoop of an abandoned house. I crack another beer right there, broad daylight, and give him one too. I have some drugs pre-bagged in my socks for sale by the way, and not weed. I’ve also got a decent amount of cash. If a cop rolled up and wanted to be a dick, he could have arrested us on open container and I’d also get caught for felony possession with intent. We were sitting there for a long time, we had a long conversation. Don’t remember much, just that his mom was from the same county in Ireland as mine and he used to live on Grand Ave in Schenectady.

Next thing, I’m somewhere else. He’s yelling at me, “I’ll call the cops!!!! I’ll call the cops!!!!! You’re threatening me!!!!” I start yelling back, “I’m not threatening you, I didn’t try to hurt you or nothing.” We’re yelling, and a minute later a woman who might have been wearing some kind of uniform is standing there. Not a cop, I got the impression she was hotel security or staff at wherever we were. The old guy says, “this man is being violent.” I deny it vigorously, and tell whoever the fuck it was that I didn’t do anything and wasn’t trying to be violent. I think me and the old man had a misunderstanding of some sort, but I don’t know about what. She doesn’t seem to care, but just wants me out, and I leave wherever the hell I am to avoid any more trouble…

Next thing I know woken up in my car, parked in a place where it wasn’t parked last night. I drove somewhere at some point, but only made it a few blocks. It’s two in the afternoon. At least I parked well, I wasn’t in the middle of the road or blocking a driveway or something that could’ve got me in trouble. But anyone could have reached in and robbed me, that shit happens a lot in that part of Albany and the car was unlocked. I lost so much time, and I don’t know where I was or what I was doing. If a bunch of little things had gone different, if I’d gotten into a fight and they called the cops or if I was driving shitty when I was blacked out and they stopped me or I got in an accident or something, I’d been in jail for felony possession facing several years instead of typing this. Or if that didn’t happen, I could be injured, or someone could’ve beat me up and robbed me. Maybe it has happened, there have been a few times where I wake up and I’m bruised up like I got in a fight and I blacked out on several hours the night before.

Earlier today, I was talking a friend of mine and he said he talked to some girl we know earlier that day, and she saw me the night before. Apparently the guy with the white moustache was homeless, and I was too drunk to be coherent, I didn’t recognize her.

So no more binge drinking for me. Blackouts are kind of risky.

The bottle has had it's way with you. It's time to walk away for awhile at the least.

And hey, if you're binge drinking every time you drink, it's likely that you are going to continue to do that, even if you believe you're only going to have a couple.

I would STRONGLY suggest you avoid those you tend to drink at all with, for awhile. Just call them and tell them that you have to cool off and they may not see you for a few months. Nothing personal, you just want to put the bottle down. Heavy drinkers like to hang with those that drink, and you don't want to put yourself into a position with them like that if you feel the way it sounds as though you do.

Good luck on you, my friend...

HTAM

[AfroHorse]

good luck man, a lot of people here will be behind you

im interested to know though, why did you go to these peoples houses and just watch tv heh?

anyway, good luck..

[Jimmy Coonan]

Originally Posted by AfroHorse

good luck man, a lot of people here will be behind you

im interested to know though, why did you go to these peoples houses and just watch tv heh?

anyway, good luck..

Thanks. If I just happened a few times I wouldn't be worried about it, but I black out or do dumb shit when I'm drinking all the time, I spend half my week hungover and feeling like shit.

I didn't go there to just watch TV, there was a party going on. But then it broke up, and I was far away from where I lived with nowhere to sleep and no ride home, and my cellphone wasn't working at the time, so I was kind of stranded. The guy downstairs said I could crash on his couch for a couple hours, but I was drunk and felt like talking so I went to bother the people upstairs for a bit.

[wiseco]

I get drunk maybe once a wek.


Alcohol is one of my least fav drugs.

[Rubix]

damn, seriously, great read.

[Jimmy Coonan]

Originally Posted by higherthanamile

The bottle has had it's way with you. It's time to walk away for awhile at the least.

And hey, if you're binge drinking every time you drink, it's likely that you are going to continue to do that, even if you believe you're only going to have a couple.

I would STRONGLY suggest you avoid those you tend to drink at all with, for awhile. Just call them and tell them that you have to cool off and they may not see you for a few months. Nothing personal, you just want to put the bottle down. Heavy drinkers like to hang with those that drink, and you don't want to put yourself into a position with them like that if you feel the way it sounds as though you do.

Good luck on you, my friend...

HTAM

Yeah, I know, it's good advice, it's so hard to follow through though, since all I do with most of my friends is drink. Even if we're not getting crazy drunk, you always have a few beers when you're chilling with someone, I have trouble imagining being sociable without it. And it's difficult to avoid them because I don't have many other friends, I have a lot of friends and they all drinks heavily. I feel bad avoiding them, they're people I've known for years and I care about them and they care about me. My family drinks pretty heavy too, as I type this there are four people in the house and only one doesn't have a drink in her hand.

[AlteredStateGrl]

Well, glad you lived this long!

Hang in there and let us know how it goes.

[DeafTones]

Originally Posted by potvinpothead

damn, seriously, great read.

Yeah no shit.

Hey good luck with quitting for a bit, I don't drink all that much, but for a while it was every/everyother day for a couple months. Only real obstacle is getting past the first couple weeks or month, again however, good luck. Hope you recover

[Jimmy Coonan]

So far so good. It's been a week since I posted this, only time I've had more than two drinks in a sitting since then was on Sunday night. Was hanging out with a friend, had six beers over like four hours. I woke up with a slight headache after only six, which is probably a good sign that my tolerance is going back down to normal levels. Haven't drank at all most days.

[Jake_Armstrong]

Keep up the good work. All it takes is one drop of Irish blood to make an alcoholic. I should Know!

[SmokeSomeDoja]

good luck man. ive come to the conclusion i need to stop, or at the very least cut back drinking significantly.

Cutting back is an excellent idea. I find myself that cutting back is not enough. In the long run you will go right back to the way you were. You need to stop completely, you need to get into a support program that will teach you how to cope. I know what you mean when you say black out...I've woken up and not remembered how the hell i got to where i was, and wondering what the hell i did.

If you can cut down, good for you, but you and i know the truth, and the truth is....I don't think it can be done.

good luck man.

[Jake_Armstrong]

^ turm breaks it down. You are right, turmaline.

well, i myself quit for over a year. Then one night i was alone and thought i'd have a drink cause i was bored and WHAM! i became the drunken fool i was before i got prego.

i said i would never be that way again...and look what happened.

[Jake_Armstrong]

well... Ive never been pregnant (im male) but other than that, its quite a familliar story.

[Center]

Wow...thats seriously scary man.

Many people have talked to me about black outs but, I just have never been able to have one. Ive drank 25 shots within 1 1/2 hours and been completely faded and never "blacked out". I'm always conscious of myself...

Anyway, ya you need to lay off the booze man. I think you need to literally tell your friends your turning into a drunk and your quitting. Just so someone outside of yourself knows and can give you a little reminder sometimes. Every time you want a drink just grab a glass of water any smoke a few hits out of a pipe or something.

Anyway I read your doing better, just keep it up!