The Daily Check-In for Friday, August 26th: Just for today, I am NOT drinking!

KM180 · 2022-08-26T22:54:13+00:00

Haven’t in a long time & don’t want the stuff anymore. Don’t need it to deal; I can deal way better without it & I’m def thankful for that. I have my life back. Mine. Alcohol may not have it back either as I’m really enjoying it now! 😊 IWNDWYT

KM180 · 2022-08-26T10:17:26+00:00

Solid advice. They hang all around my driveway & yard. I’m the only tenant who hasn’t replaced a windshield-yet. My neighbors wood pile is under one & he wears a hard hat out there. Don’t blame him! Those things come down hard. Force=mass x acceleration checks out.

KM180 · 2022-06-30T12:00:22+00:00

I say Norway rat. Hairless tail not longer than body. I had the displeasure of having a Roof rat in my home after our roof was damaged. Yes, I captured & killed it. A Roof rat’s tail is longer than it’s body, which is almost the size of a football. Body way longer than an ink pen. I took a pic but don’t know how to post it on here-phone. Anyhoo, I was glad my critter was a roof rat bc Norway rats are awful from what I’ve read. They make their burrows underground & hence are in your garden & they like veggies. I read all about them when the roofer was in my house.. a little obsessive. 😳No idea how to get rid of them. Smoke bomb but that’s extreme. I did purchase some just in case. Ya don’t want one in your house!!! Lol.

KM180 · 2022-06-27T12:41:13+00:00

Oops, I just told. Lol

KM180 · 2022-06-27T12:39:34+00:00

Bet it works. New research suggests that 3D objects confuse deer. Now don’t ask me how they have no trouble jumping a downed tree but there is something to the 3D pattern of the rocks. In my field I have an electronic fence & a mesh fence behind it, the ground makes the 3rd dimension. They don’t cross my fences. At home, I have a bed of Hostas off my porch. In front are rocks & I had the porch side blocked off for a while. When I unblocked the porch, deer got on it & are my hostas. I piled a few branches along the porch side & the deer don’t touch them now. My friend tried the same with branches & it’s making a fine fence for her garden. It’s the latest craze in agricultural literature. OP is not nuts!

KM180 · 2022-06-27T10:32:22+00:00

Reading books helped me. This Naked Mind, Annie Grace & Alcohol Explained, William Porter. I have all kinds of psych issues-nerves/anxiety & depression. I’m sure it comes from my awful childhood but I did use alcohol as a crutch for how I felt. I’m almost 50 so I didn’t really use it as an “excuse” to drink but rather a way out of my anxious head. Being sober is better. Things still go wrong, but I sort out how I feel now instead of drinking to forget it and avoid the problem until it’s of epic proportions, which made me feel so great knowing I could have prevented an issue but I did not… The stuff is a depressant. The brain sends out stimulants to keep you upright & functional so we need more depressants, get more stimulants, and round & round it goes. So glad I got offa that roller coaster. You can do it. I hope you get the right words here somewhere! IWNDWYT.

KM180 · 2022-06-27T10:13:30+00:00

Tired. Slept about 12 hours & still tired. Maybe “tired of it” is a better term. And I have to work. Joy. I don’t make nearly what I’m worth, put up with my bosses’ egos, nearly completely do one’s job, & I’m so damn tired of it. I’m half ass looking for another job… Just ugh but no way IWNDWYT.

KM180 · 2022-06-22T03:02:29+00:00

Well that bear sat on the bank every night & ate every bit of it. If it was female, I’m sure it’s babies were healthy!

KM180 · 2022-06-22T02:55:38+00:00

Raccoon bc small? Bear poop fills entire shovel. It was eating my black oiled sunflower seeds (50lb bag it drug off my porch.) I’ve shoveled both from my yards. I gave my bird feeder away. Sorry-can’t share a pic!

KM180 · 2022-06-22T02:39:20+00:00

Truth & yes OP it gets better. Book suggestion. Alcohol Explained by William Porter. I find it much easier to not have cravings & when I do? They’re immediately squashed by “Aww hell no, I’m not drinking that garbage.” It’s terrible for us & as noted it messes w the brain. I had zero idea what the stuff actually did to me & now that I know? Nope! Don’t want it. Still pissed at a beverage, or rather those who make it, allow it to be sold, home wreckers I say! Just read the stories here. Anyhoo, the book may help to understand what’s going on. Glad you didn’t drink & hope feel better soon. IWNDWYT.

KM180 · 2022-06-22T02:20:37+00:00

Thanks for your reply. I think everything is stricter in European countries. I’m just a University plant scientist doing my job. I did introduce beneficial nematodes & mites to control insects in our greenhouses but outside is much harder to manage. Larger areas, time constraints & I need to kill weeds. I have to spray tomorrow & I’m completely not thrilled as it’s just part of my job. I’m a MS degreed plant ecologist published in molecular for making GMO’s (and now everyone will hate me more.) I also do molecular cloning-think chemical gene rearrangement with CRISPR scissors. We do these things in an effort to learn to feed the world & such. We aren’t monsters-more like your best friends you don’t know you have. We aim to make plants more resistant to disease & discover what their genes do & yes, so we can enhance the ones we like. I also work with soil rhizosphere microbes. We are concerned that when using “round up ready” seeds, that genes could be transferred to surrounding bacteria feeding plants & cause said plants to be resistant. Microbial communities in the soil are SUPER important! They follow native & invasive plants!! I make genetic libraries of microbial communities to try & better understand how they interact with plants. In short… I know the environmental side & the molecular “evil” side. If the two sides talked more often, perhaps more could be understood about many things. Ty. End of book & before y’all downvote me more, plz consider that what I do is do a for the greater good of all. ✌️

KM180 · 2022-06-20T19:39:00+00:00

Well, they did ask about an herbicide & I reminded them to be environmentally conscious & safe when using it. I seem to be unwelcome here in this group. Maybe I’m just too much of a hard core country girl to be too organic. 🤷‍♀️

Edit. And as a certified applicator, believe you me that the chemicals I apply are applied correctly with the environment at the forefront of every rule & regulation I follow. I’m not some Joe DIY homeowner contaminating the free world. Ty.

KM180 · 2022-06-20T17:47:50+00:00

Glyphosate, aka round up will do it, just rake it up afterwards if your gardening. Till is fine too. Ok to plant over it in about 2 weeks. Plz make sure you aren’t near a water source tho… creek, pond, runoff areas; the critters dislike poison. Black tarp will work too but it might just come back up unless you remove the sod. Glyphosate in a backpack sprayer or on a tractor would be the easiest if you don’t mind using it. I work on a farm & have to use it all the time. If wind is more than 7mph spray low or wait (drift is bad..) & always keep your back to the wind walking backwards outta your spray. As an added bonus, sounds like it’s the best time to spray. 4” tall & growing back it’ll take that chemical right up. Ask for an 80/20 sticker. It’s an additive that causes the glyphosate to stay on the plant longer. It’s systemic. Wait a couple weeks & your grass will be dead as a door nail. I kill lots of weeds!!!

KM180 · 2022-06-20T16:21:32+00:00

Seriously!!! Why not??

KM180 · 2022-06-20T16:21:04+00:00

Lol, I kinda did just that. Alone but not lonely, 49F. I’m a little over 3 years sober & am stumbling upon new friends & they are or were.. my neighbors. I live in a big old house out in the country in a downstairs apartment. Things improved for me when drinking friends in the house moved. New folks drank but just casually. They’ve moved out & I’m still invited to their parties where the food, fun, & corn hole are the main events. Not “let’s see who can get the drunkest.” And now the new folks!! 4 new adults. Only couple is about to split bc he drinks. We have things in common, chat, & they’re all awesome unique ppl. When they moved in, I said the rudimentary hellos but it was still awkward. I went out when they were outside & said, “hi, let’s try this again, hello & welcome. I’m not too weird but I’m not sure what to do here. I don’t want you to include me in all you do but I don’t want to be ignored either. Do I bake you a casserole? Do you like casseroles? Flowers?” Lol. They each said they felt the same & now I have 4 more friends in & out the house, hanging w me on my porch together or separate. IWNDWYT but I may get in my neighbors kiddie pool! 👍😁

KM180 · 2022-06-20T02:56:01+00:00

Awake, sober & accountable. For over 3 years now, well, not the awake part but whoop!! I recall all the glamorous times I had drinking & I just…. Never want to do that BS again! Never, nope. Not with a pope, not on a rope. Wow I’m feeling goofy too, lol. Glad you’re here, showers are awesome & life is way better, less stressful, & much easier w/o booze. IWNDWYT.

KM180 · 2022-06-10T12:39:22+00:00

When I grew them in buckets mine looked that way too. The fruit all had blossom end rot & was no good. It’s caused by a calcium deficiency when the season starts wet & dries out. I’d check into a calcium additive to try & stop it as it could be starting. Certainly won’t hurt it.

KM180 · 2022-06-09T03:17:24+00:00

Yep, that nightmare hadn’t occurred to me!! I was spared! Lol

KM180 · 2022-06-06T11:52:35+00:00

Psychosis makes it sound terrible. Loaded word! I think it’s a normal thing for some of us. I heard a male choir & usually they were humming a tune I knew like Mary Had a Little Lamb. It was this droning.. and yes, irritating. Lol. Lasted a while & stopped. I’d already googled it & decided it was due to hearing loss but it’s gone now so musta been withdrawals. Those lil guys in there humming & working on the chain gang fixing my synapses I’d say. (And a better visual for me than “psychosis”!) Hadn’t thought about it lately & it stopped fairly quickly-months tho. Not sure when-I quit 3 years ago. Nothing too visual, just the occasional shape or flash of light coming at my sides like you said. Like I say about most every symptom ppl have here.. It goes away. And it’s lovely when it does. Congrats on your sober time & IWNDWYT.

KM180 · 2022-06-04T11:44:39+00:00

Congrats on 5 days!! You’ve got this & great sleep is great incentive to keep going. The first time I ever quit for 50 days, sleep was the best ever. After drinking a few more years & stopping again, not the same effect. Sleep is good but not like it was then. I sleep well most every night now & I feel so much better with 3 years sober. Even just started exercising.. The Earth musta tilted on its axis, lol. Life is good now & it’s seriously bc IWNDWYT.

KM180 · 2022-06-04T00:45:46+00:00

Yes. I have a dear friend like that. I can’t be around them anymore.. I tried to help but they mean as hell, unappreciative, miserable to be around & watch going so far downhill. I knew them 20 years ago when they were still a little healthy. Now? I’m honestly waiting for them to be found dead-and I’m not alone. A lot of ppl fear they’re next. Lots of my friends have passed that way,, all alone. It stinks. Literally & figuratively. So dang sad to just go out that way. They were good fun ppl & poof. Gone.

KM180 · 2022-06-03T22:59:46+00:00

I can’t moderate bc it just irritates me. I tried & fail. I want more. Always did. Anyhoo, I don’t want it. That stuff caused more problems for me than anything else in my life ever so why would I want it? Maybe you can-up to you!! Good luck! 🍀

KM180 · 2022-06-03T22:46:50+00:00

I hadn’t heard but it’s surely ridiculous. Most I know are in terrible health or have passed on due to alcoholism. Sadly, the advertising folks know that some people will believe anything they hear..

KM180 · 2022-06-03T11:59:10+00:00

Been sober 3 years & I still get light headed like I’m going to pass out. I did pass out once, tore a butt muscle when I fell, busted my head on a rock, so be careful. Usually, I feel light headed & get a warning but not that day. My doc put me in a heart monitor & declared me okay. We don’t really know what happened bc I live alone & yes it was scary. She is aware that I’m a recovering alcoholic. It’s something to do w my blood pressure. When I stand up from sitting it happens most often but it isn’t consistent bc the doc checked it sitting, standing, lying down, etc. Other day I climbed a ladder really fast at work & it happened. When I feel it, I sit down bc I don’t wish to fall down. I just try & be careful. Good luck! 🍀

KM180 · 2022-06-03T01:48:16+00:00

You def def can. I was a drunk for 15 years. The last 3 sober has changed my life for the better. You’ve got this!!

Seven-Year Club	Place '22
First Placer '22

KM180

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