Anonymous & Recovering Biker & Sober Harley Rider

Pittsburgh PA

2008-07-04T05:47:00.002-06:00

I have only been to Pittsburgh one time that I recall, and that was in a blizzard.

Now I am there over the 4th of July, which is a really big deal what with their 250th birthday and all.

I don't know if this is a really really friendly town, or if the infusion of 10,000 or so program people attending the Al-Anon International makes the whole place kind of friendly.

My wife and I ran into a couple from MT last night on the street, she knew her from meetings in Great Falls, I knew them both from growing up there. Small world.

Well, gotta get moving. Keep on stepping.

Good to be back in the mid week

2008-06-30T21:42:00.002-06:00

I spent the weekend teaching a motorcycle class, so I had no chance at meetings. Went to my early morning one this morning, good meeting. I chair tomorrow, as well as open up and make coffee. Hmmm, maybe Service Work as a topic?

I'll have to pray on that, don't want my ego and pride to come into play.

Maybe serenity, that's what I enjoy these days.

"Gotcha" Day

2008-06-27T07:57:00.002-06:00

dAAve said that this term needs some clarificaiton.

I don't think my daughter coined the term, because it appears to be in use by many. But what she uses it for, is to designate the day that she "got" her daughter. In this case, June 26th 2007 was the day they "got" their daughter in China.

So my sweet grandaughter (seen here stuffing her face with smores) was gotcha just a year ago.

Thusday morning gratitude.

2008-06-26T08:33:00.004-06:00

Today I am grateful for:

Thursday step meetings.
The Traditions
8 fellow alcoholics who met me at Gilpin County HALT on Sunday night
Fall River Group in Estes Park
Finding and fixing the propane leak in the RV (Recovery Van)
Both 1 year and 19 years of sobriety at the meeting this morning
My mom is getting some interest in her house
Getting to spend some time in service yesterday
Being able to celebrate "Gotcha" Day
Being able to celebrate my son-in-law's birthday
Being able to celebrate my daughter's birthday
Knowing that it's just another day in Paradise

Sunday Morning

2008-06-22T07:15:00.002-06:00

We are taking off for a few days to "shake out the bugs" in the RV. Just going up to the foothills, but will have our grandaughter up for Smores... ;-)

Haven't made the early morning meeting in a couple of days, but will get to a nooner before we leave town, and hope to go tonight in one of the small mountain towns. I always enjoy those meetings.

Today I am kind of pensive.

Thinking about life and that ever elusive "Serene and Useful Existance" that is written about in the 12 and 12, step 12.

The third step prayer says it all. I'm glad my home group closes with it.

Another Day in Paradise

2008-06-19T16:55:00.002-06:00

One of the names on the Yellow banana used to say that.

He was right. Any day that I can let God direct me is a day in Paradise.

What the heck is the yellow banana?

We have for a long time had a tradition of bananas at the early morning meeting. Apparently, one time a few years ago, my sponsor complained that the bananas were green. Someone said, well just keep coming back till they ripen up. Shortly after that, Banana Jim brought in a banana stand and a bunch of green plastic bananas. It got to be that if you wanted to keep coming back, you wrote your name on the green bananas, and promised to keep coming back till they ripened.

This past year, we had quite a few members who passed away, and it struck me that they no longer have to wait for the bananas to ripen, so I got a yellow one, and we wrote their names on it.

It's a good reminder that this is a lifelong program.

Tuesday Big Book Study

2008-06-17T08:31:00.002-06:00

Got myself up and atem this morning and went to the Tuesday Big Book Study. Glad I did, as usual.

We read about 6 pages of "More about Alcoholism".

Good stuff and good shares. We are an insane lot, and I fit right in.

Glad I don't have to live that way anymore. Today I can repair the back deck, without a beer or the the thought of getting blasted this afternoon as soon as I finish. Thank God.

Top 12 gratitudes this Father's Day

2008-06-15T10:23:00.002-06:00

Today I am Grateful because:

I had a loving father.
It's also my belly button birthday.
I lived to see it.
My wife of almost 35 years still loves me.
My kids all want to see me today.
My daughter made raspberry, riccotta, oatmeal biscuits for breakfast.
I get to chair a meeting with lots of friends.
It's another gorgeous day in Colorado.
My horoscope says to plan a trip today, and I already did that.
I talked with my sponsor, he's still crazy, but that's a good thing.
It works if you work it.
Life truly is good.

Hot Saturday

2008-06-14T16:19:00.002-06:00

I know you Texans out there won't agree, but it is 90 degrees with 8% humidity. Not fit for Man nor Beast. Yes that's right 8 (eight) percent humidity....

Was going to go to the Parker Men's Meeting this morning, but opted for getting the yardwork done before it got too hot. It is a good meeting, roughly 80 to 100 guys.

Mom sent me some Home Depot dollars for my belly button birthday, so I went and bought tools. Love them tools.

All and all a quiet day, we will go to downtown Littleton tonight to get some street vendor food. Then I get to chair tomorrow at my noon meeting. It is my belly button birthday and fathers day all rolled into one.

More about that tomorrow..

A quiet friday

2008-06-13T20:04:00.002-06:00

Had a good day today, got the RV (Recovery Van) out and gassed it up in anticipation of a short camping trip. We are going to try something new, traveling about 50 miles from home and staying 3 nights. Will take the motorcycles and use them to run around. Speaking of that, I need to check out the AA meetings in that area.

Went to the 1 pm meeting in old Littleton, always nice to see lots and lots of double digit sobriety. Just off the top of my head, the estimated sobriety in the room was 30 years, 50, unknown, 25, 3, 25, 17, me at 3, 20, 30, and 25 years.

Love that group..

Well I better go check out the AA meetings in the mountains.

Thursday is Ball Game Day!

2008-06-12T09:55:00.001-06:00

Going out to see the Rockies play today, forecast is sun, slight breeze favoring fly balls to right field, and a good time with good friends.

Just Keeping Up with things

2008-06-11T19:58:00.002-06:00

Spent this afternoon at the Denver central Office taking calls. Always a good thing..... Had an interesting discussion with a guy wanting to start a "Christian" AA meeting.

I am afraid I was not too encouraging.

His arguement: If there are Gay meetings, then there should be Christian meetings where he can talk freely about his faith, the bible, the need to accept Jesus as savior, how Jesus can help him and others stay sober.

My arguement: I have gone to Gay AA meetings, never was told that I had to be Gay to get sober.

I feel sorry for the guy in a way, because he believes he has to evangelize as a part of his faith, and to share his experience, strength and hope he has to share Jesus. I really really really wanted to get into a discussion about God but since I was occupying a chair at the AA Central Office, I kept it to our singleness of purpose and that AA neither endorses nor opposes any cause.

I have tried not to let my personal beliefs taint this post. My AA belief is that the traditions help keep us from tearing apart.

Mike

Open the doors

2008-06-10T05:37:00.003-06:00

I signed up this morning to make coffee and open the doors to the meeting room, so I need to head out. It takes about 45 minutes to get the room ready, and the meeting starts at 6:45. Of course a few guys show up at 6:15 to have coffee and visit.

I guess today I will be the "hand of AA".

Gotta get my boots on and go..

Later.. Mike

Blog Topics

2008-06-09T05:47:00.002-06:00

This little reminder to myself is a short list of things I need to blog about.

1. Doc, my sponsee that died suddenly on Easter Sunday... I learned a lot from working with him..
2. Rich, a long time friend who also died rather quickly at the end of May.
3. Eight days in the saddle with the guys.
4. Meeting dynamics. What it means to me.
5. Summertime committments - what is really important and what just fills the hours..

With that, I have a few minutes before my morning meeting, so I will see what's new in the rest of blogland.....

Shame on Me

2008-06-08T10:32:00.002-06:00

So three people, Jeanne, David, and the jolly large man have all told me I haven't been posting like I should.

Duh! It's been months.

I am still here, still sober, and still working the program. That's the good news.

Bad News.... I have a hard time keeping up with the blogging. But when I do, I get rewards. Ok, so with that knowledge I will see what comes of it.

So what's new? I just got back from an 8 day motorcycle ride with seven other folks in recovery. We hit meetings in Dillon, CO, Steamboat Springs, CO, Lava Hot Springs ID, Jackson, WY, West Yellowstone, MT, Casper WY, and had a fireside podium call up at Flaming Gorge, UT.

1800 miles, and not that many resentments....

Praise the fellowship.

Home and hard at it...

2008-03-06T17:23:00.002-07:00

We made it home on Tuesday, just in the nick of time re the weather, it was snowing for about 25 miles over the pass in I-70 and got worse, never better.

Made it to a couple of meetings today and am now handling calls for the Central Office tonight.

After two weeks on the road, I need some service work and some meetings.

Quiet Time

2008-03-01T09:37:00.002-07:00

We are in San Fran today, visiting and playing tourist. Don't know what is next, but the weather might dictate our next few days.... It's nice here and going to snow in Colorado.

Went to a 30 minute meditation meeting this morning.

3rd Step Prayer
30 minutes of silence
3rd Step Prayer

Just what I needed. It's hard to make it all about me when I can't speak.

Now I need to manuver the Recovery Van back to Aunt Mary's house on the hill.

More Later.. Stay Serene out there.

Mike

The vanishing blogger

2008-02-28T17:28:00.002-07:00

Last I blogged, we were in Arizona, new we are in Central California, on our way to San Francisco.

A quick dozen gratitude list.

1. Having tire chains to get to the big trees in Sequoia
2. A meeting in Laughlin on Gratitude.
3. The hot tub at this RV park in Jackson, CA
4. Blue skies and sunshine all this week.
5. "Surviving" visiting relatives.
6. "Planning to survive" visiting more relatives.
7. Wifi
8. Al-anon in small towns
9. Knowing I can go to a Gay meeting in the Castro District this weekend, and it's not a big deal thanks to some great guys in Houston - you know who you are....
10. 128,000 miles and counting on the Recovery Van
11. A sponsor, sponsee and just plain old friends back home...
12. Sobriety, real and emotional

Rain and Snow is Arizona

2008-02-22T07:41:00.002-07:00

We got to the Arizona border yesterday and it was snowing. Go figure.

I just checked the road report through Flagstaff, snow, slush and possible ice.

Oh, well. There's a 7 pm meeting at the casino in Laughlin, so I will just take my time and plan to be there sometime this afternoon.

Gotta go get myself ready...

On the road again....

2008-02-19T19:20:00.002-07:00

Well, not everything went as planned, but we are on the road.

When I hooked up the water for the first time since last November, the water pump wouldn't shut off. (It's supposed to when the lines reach pressure.) Next thing you know there was water running out the side door and puddling in the step. (It's not supposed to do that.)

An hour or two of investigation and I believe the problem is the water heater. I think the cause is me. Did you read that? Me, an alcoholic taking responsibility for a screw up. I am convinced that I didn't adequately drain things last fall, and guess what? Frozen water is bigger than thawed water, and I'll bet you I have a crack in my hot water heater.

I bypassed it with some jury rigged plumbing and we are operating without hot water. Oh well, we have a stove and can heat water in a teapot. Will have to use the KOA shower, but it's roomier anyway.

It looks like a new hot water heater will be anywhere from $300 to $500 and will take a little doing to install, but if we don't get it done on the road, I;ll do it at home.

Enough about me.

I need to take some time to visit those blogger buddies.

Sponsorship...

2008-02-18T08:37:00.002-07:00

Today was the third monday of the month, hence the topic was automatically sponsorship. Generally a topic that turns off me, and from appearances, many of the others in the room. Nonetheless, it is usually a good reminder of what I can do to stay sober.

WORK WITH ANOTHER ALCOHOLIC....

So, I keep coming back. to the meetings, to my blog, and to my sponsor.

We leave tomorrow for a couple of weeks in the Recovery Van. I have scoped out some meetings, so I know where I need to be.

More Later.

Home again

2008-02-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

Got home last night, drove for an hour and 1/2 to get home from the airport. Snowing like mad, made the small meeting this morning as it was nasty out there.

Nice to catch up with the home group, although I did enjoy the meetings in Brooklyn, NYC...

(I stand corrected dAAve and Jeanne) ;-)

Life is good, and had a good trip....

New York City, the Big Apple

2008-02-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, so as I type, I am not in NYC, but actually Brooklyn.

We went to NY tonight for dinner with son and girlfriend. Tomorrow we are going to Young Frankenstein and then dinner.

I am hoping I can awake in time to hit the 7:30 am meeting about 1/2 mile away.

In the meantime, stay sober out there.

Rants...

2008-01-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

I guess I better go clean up some of the rants on my last post.

Had a good meeting this morning, Tradition One, plus birthday celebrations, but no birthday folks showed up. About 15 people, 6 degrees out, a few inches of new snow, guess that kept folks away.

But one of the Mikes shared that we could celebrate the birthday of the group, cause tradition one is about unity....

Good thought..

Isolationism

2008-01-29T09:09:00.001-07:00

I have a sponsee who is on the verge of cutting himself off from the fellowshiip entirely.

He's been having ongoing health problems and just prefers to isolate.

I chatted with him briefly and told him to let people reach out. I hope to see him at a meeting today, he said he would try to come. If not, I'll call him afterwards.

I can learn from my advice. I tend to lock myself away alone. Can't do that and stay sane.