-> This is good to hear.  While for me, it is not a substitute for
-> live meetings, it sure does do the job when I can't get to one.
Me too.
-> Congrats on the 11 months!  The first year was so exciting for me,
-> I learned so MUCH and just grew and grew.  The changes that I went
-> through were so profound and I was on a pink cloud for a really
-> long time.
I was on the opposite of a pink cloud most of the first two years.
The man I'd been in a relationship with off and on for 11 years died,
my dad had two near-fatal heart attacks, Mom got very ill, I came down
with the disabling illness I still have, and a psychotic neighbor
terrorized me for months and eventually tried twice to kill me.
I was broke, terrified, overwhelmed, and desperate to be sober.  My car
didn't run when I first hit the Program, so I did my 90 in 90 on the
bus, mostly across gang turf. I was pretty much hungry-broke a lot of
that time, too, and grateful for the coffee and doughnuts at meetings.
The next-door neighbors in my apartment building were toluene-sniffers,
so even when my heat wasn't cut off for nonpayment, I often had to shut
the heat vents and sleep in my coat so as not to get high off their
fumes.
And looking back, I think it was all that desperation that kept me
sober.  I don't know if I could've survived a real longterm pink
cloud; I'm one of those alkies who sometimes needs a gun to h/er head
to learn stuff. :) I knew I had to find a way to survive, and I also
knew alcohol was the one thing that could really, permanently stop me.
I'm still sick, Mom is still very ill, and living on Social Security is
certainly not Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, but a lot of things
have improved drastically...I'm warm, I'm in a somewhat safer
neighborhood, I have wheels (funky ones, but wheels ), the Disabled
Citizens' Computer Center and others make it possible for me to be
online, and there's enough for dinner tonight.  None of that....not one
scrap of it...would be true if I were still drinking.
-> Me too.  But I fear that more and more people are leaving Fido and
-> going to the Internet.  I've attended a few of the chat meetings
-> on the net but prefer these message bases to the chat rooms.
Me too (tried 'em during one of those AOL free trials).  Freenets
like Fido and Wildnet and PODS are just SO much more civilized than
the Internet.  I'm hoping we'll get some of the leavers back after
they've had their fill of snotty 16-year-old spammers and
stupid ads. 
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.11 
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