Hello all, I feel like writing tonite so Im going to write about me....and Alcohol,
I come from a small drinking orinentated town on the westcoast of the south Island in NZ,
I started drinking at the young age of around 13yrs old, sneaking mums alcohol out of the house, getting older guys to buy me beer and drinking it down the beach, this was the normal behavior in this town for young ppl,
I was getting served in the Pubs by the time I was 15yrs old, drinking till I was drunk , going home vomiting in my bed, Mum was never to impressed,
I started smoking pot to go with it as it was readily available, along with any presciption pills I could get my hands on,
When I was 17 I moved to Christchurch, a city on the east coast of Nz,
Lots of nite life, party time for Ginge, Pubs where easy enuf to get into if you knew where under agers could get served,
I got a job and my boss was in his 50,s he was giving me pills that where for epilectics(pinkys) I loved them at the time made me lose who I really was,
I once went on a pub crawl at the age of 18, called The Square Mile,
At the time there was 38 hotels in the square mile, we had to have a jug of beer at the first then a 12oz at every other till the last one where we had to drink 2 jugs, Being 18 1 jug should have been plenty, but Oh no I made it to the 35th pub, where I was arrested for underage drinking and returning to licenced premises, locked in a cell for the, mum was not impressed with the late nite call from the Police, I was the youngest in the group, I remember them saying, he can drink for a young fellow and I could,
I spent every nite drinking with my room mate, smoking pot taking pills, acid etc, and still got to work every day, this went on for a few yrs,
Then I moved to Australia, wow I couldnt beleive it beer everywhere, drinking age was 18!!
my sort of place, I continued drinking at all the pubs in the valley and surrounding areas, thinking I was having a great time,
I ended up in Sth Aust where it was laid back more drugs and easy going pubs, I got a good paying job, this was only good at the time so that I could drink more, I was 22 now, drinking 5 bottles of ouzo a week plus lots of beer, I changed from ouzo to JackDaniels because ppl were complaining that I stunk of aniseed,
I done this for a few yrs as well,
One of my close mates from Chch said once to my g/f most guys have a woman in evey port, Ginge knows all the alkys!
I moved on to a few different parts of oz, back to nz etc, always had to be close to a pub,
I ended up back in OZ 1995 where I moved into a rental home, my neighbour was a good guy, we would home brew together making up to 10 dozen large bottles a week, we would bottle it up on sunday mornings, by noon hour I would be passed out as we would start around 6am, our summers are hot and daylight at 4.30am, so this seemed ok to do,
I was now drinking up to 2 dozen beers before I would go to the pub, save some money that way!
I started back on spirits drinking Vodka, again not drinking ..guzzling it down, up to 5 bottles a week, plus beer,
My eyesight was starting to go, my gout was there all the time, But hey I would say"Its not the drink"
My doc said you have to stop drinking, your liver is not good!!
My reaction was yeah right lady, the guy next door drinks as much if not more than me, what about his!
I seen light, I stopped for 6 mths, Zac will remeber this time of my life,
On the very day of 6 mths I said to my g/f Im going to drink today but only Light beers, she agreed that would be ok, It wasnt within a week I was making up for lost time, And it wasnt easy, I was now back on the vodka, jim beam, tequila,
Any thing and everything, also loads of acid around, I would take a day off work, wake up in the morning drop a trip, then wait for a bit, get up and start the party over again,
Again this went on for a few years, but I now knew I had a bit of a problem, But always thought Im not as bad as the dude I drink with,
I tried to stop a few times I could do up to 1 week, then back into it.
My doc was now pissed off with me, Zac had had a few calls from me, but I couldnt string it together to save myself.
I was now spending up to 500 bucks week on the piss, pub drinking is expensive, the glasses were small, and 6 bucks each, so 2 at atime was 12 bucks,
I woke up one morning after a 4 day binge feeling a bit sorry for myself and my bank account!
I dont know what it was but I thought to myself, Ginge you f***in idiot what are you doing!!
I went to my doc, who is a great lady, she suggested a resident place where I could go, but as I was a fuel tanker driver I didnt want work to know that I was this f***ed up, so she sent me to the hospitalD/A dept, where I had a phsycoligist talk to me, she was a good lady to, she put me on naltrexone and campral, with that ..Zac, My friend VW Girl, Loinel this site I was able to get my s*** together, I am now 22 mths sober,
My life has opened up, the days are clearer, I have never been a happy person, I found it hard to smile, I am now marrying the girl I love, she makes me smile,she makes me happy ,I love her....
I just wish I seen the light earlier,
Thanks Zac , VW, Lionel, and all of my other very good friends on this site,
Take Care Ginge
Ginge,
OMG, thank you for sharing your story with all of us, sharing your experience, strength and hope...you've grown so much since I first "met" you...thank you for being my friend; we both sure had a lot of ups and downs since we got sober, haven't we? But, remember when it was sometimes just you, me and Lionel on this board...and we would post to each other and remind each other that we don't drink no matter what! Thanks for being the stand up man that you are and again, for being my dear friend! I sent you an email message tonight.
Geri
OMG, thank you for sharing your story with all of us, sharing your experience, strength and hope...you've grown so much since I first "met" you...thank you for being my friend; we both sure had a lot of ups and downs since we got sober, haven't we? But, remember when it was sometimes just you, me and Lionel on this board...and we would post to each other and remind each other that we don't drink no matter what! Thanks for being the stand up man that you are and again, for being my dear friend! I sent you an email message tonight.
Geri
Hey Ginge
Good on ya buddy remember that all the talking and learning is just as good for Me and for that i am grateful to have you as a friend, who understands the good and bad.
Thanks Ginge
Light and love Zac
Good on ya buddy remember that all the talking and learning is just as good for Me and for that i am grateful to have you as a friend, who understands the good and bad.
Thanks Ginge
Light and love Zac
Thanks for sharing that Ginge - that's awesome. You rock buddy.
For the first time in my life I want to be sober more than I want to drink! That's the difference for me this time.
For the first time in my life I want to be sober more than I want to drink! That's the difference for me this time.
Hey guys, that was a very very short version of my story, I really couldnt put it all up there, Zac bet you can relate to what I wrote ay bud,
Geri yes me u an Loinel were it for sometime, and I will never forget the strenght you guys gave me, Thanks all
Ginge from LAX
Geri yes me u an Loinel were it for sometime, and I will never forget the strenght you guys gave me, Thanks all
Ginge from LAX
Wow!
Thank you for sharing your experience, strength and hope.
Its great finally hearing your story!
C
Thank you for sharing your experience, strength and hope.
Its great finally hearing your story!
C
Hey Ginge,
Thanks for sharing your story, sounds like it was a long road for you, as with many of us here, and it's such a blessing you've found your way out. I too started drinking around the age of 13, my parents were big drinkers, so there was always a good supply of beer, and hard liquor around, I would drink some of their hard liquor and then refill it with water!!! they never said anything, so I often wonder if they ever knew???
8 days without a drink, starting over again, went to a meeting, but will probably check out another one. There is a program called Smart Recovery that I'm going to check out tonight. Let ya know how it was..
Take care,
love,
LD (Liz)
Thanks for sharing your story, sounds like it was a long road for you, as with many of us here, and it's such a blessing you've found your way out. I too started drinking around the age of 13, my parents were big drinkers, so there was always a good supply of beer, and hard liquor around, I would drink some of their hard liquor and then refill it with water!!! they never said anything, so I often wonder if they ever knew???
8 days without a drink, starting over again, went to a meeting, but will probably check out another one. There is a program called Smart Recovery that I'm going to check out tonight. Let ya know how it was..
Take care,
love,
LD (Liz)
Hi all my freinds out there,
A quick update on my story, I am now 2 years 3 months and 14 days sober,
I am now married to Canadian girl, I am happy, But it hasnt been easy, I have had rough times in recent mths,
But did not pick up, came close oh my I came close!!
Take care people
Ginge
A quick update on my story, I am now 2 years 3 months and 14 days sober,
I am now married to Canadian girl, I am happy, But it hasnt been easy, I have had rough times in recent mths,
But did not pick up, came close oh my I came close!!
Take care people
Ginge
So glad you are doing well Ginge, you know my story too...and boy, when the crap hit the fan with my daughter last year....well, it's a miracle that I didn't pick up either....but we can all help each other, that's what we do....thank goodness we are all not in the barrell at the same time!
Gidday Ginge
Keep checking in buddy as you have a lot to offer, everyone reading these posts
Light and love zac
Keep checking in buddy as you have a lot to offer, everyone reading these posts
Light and love zac
Ginge, Thanks for sharing your ESH. Wow, how I can relate. Better yet, Wow how I can relate being sober is much better then being all drunked/drugged up. Hope your trip home was a safe one. Thanks again for delievering all our supplies & goodies to us. Your much appreciated on the road and here on the board.
Take Care, Chris
Take Care, Chris
