Rick F.'s Page

Just got back from voting in today's special election in our congressional district. Went in, gave name and address, got ballot, marked same, deposited same in ballot box, collected my "I Voted" sticker. Fellow minding the ballot box said that showing my sticker at the Roundup Saloon, a local watering hole, would get me a free beer. I grinned, remarked that it was an interesting concept...

As of Monday I'm going to be out of the seven-day-a-week, mostly-all-day phase of an outpatient treatment program -- fortunately in a LifeRing-friendly facility. The next phase places far fewer demands on my time, and so I've been thinking in terms of what I could do to avoid what has to be a significant risk of relapse. I've talked about the depression/isolation/alcohol vicious circle I'm vulnerable to when I'm not working in the field I enjoy, and how I'm planning on getting acquainted with th… Continue

On my way back from the hardware store a couple of hours ago -- I needed to replace a leaking pressure relief valve on the water heater -- I found myself behind a nice forest-green Cadillac with the 32-valve Northstar engine.

Its rear license plate frame read "DETOX IS A SOBERING EXPERIENCE."

Thursday I shared my personal history at a meeting -- not, incidentally, LifeRing. I began by saying, up front, that because I spent about eight years, owing to childhood illness, not being able to do anything particularly well but read, that is what I did -- and that, in consequence, my "natve language" is closer to written English than the spoken vernacular. I explained that this was just the way it is, and nobody should infer that I was trying to high-hat anybody.

That story covered a lot of… Continue