Basil

Kinda wishing some dipshit idiot didn’t bother to throw a fucking strike with the bases juiced, full count and tied in the 8th. This irks me.

What kind of dumbshit asshole walks in the go ahead run in the 8th? Jesus fucking Christ.

Well, sure, I’m not going to quit w/o talking to my doc. He originally wanted me on it for a minimum of three months. Last time I saw him I said I wanted to keep on it because everything was going well and getting better. So I kept up with it. Now I’m starting to thinks about trying to get off all drugs and have been wondering what eliminating Wellbutrin may do to my day-to-day brain chemistry. I’ve already been phased off blood pressure meds and naltrexone with my docs approval and direction. Wellbutrin is all that is left.

I have been wondering about this for a while now. I was put on 100 mg Wellbutrin ER 2x/day the same day I was put on Librium, the same day I quit drinking at he beginning of last December. I was only on the librium 8-9 days. I have never before been prescribed any mood altering drugs besides an occasional, as-needed xanax (mostly flying, I fucking hate flying) and have no idea what the Wellbutrin is doing for me. I'm doing fine on the drinking front and have been thinking about ditching the Wellbutrin, but at the same time I've got a good thing going and do not want to mess that up. What happens when you go of them? All I can relate to is drunk every night me and sober with Wellbutrin me.

Her crazy persona is an act. She’s very smart.

Amazingly, those appear to be Euro-rednecks.

UConn has some Charles Barkley Victoria’s no secret cheerleaders.

I spent some time in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama the last couple of years and it's fat people all over the place. Just an eye opening number of fat families. Fat parents with fat kids and fat grandparents in scooters and wheelchairs.

I just had a donut for lunch.

Less than 20 years ago there were crack houses in the Washington corridor.

I wonder if you are statistically "safer" carrying a gun in public or wearing a football helmet whenever you get in a car.

I own six guns and have never carried. My wife hhhhhaaaaates, and I mean hates, guns and made me send them to my parents' house when we got married. I had no issue with that as, despite living in Housotn, I figure I'm much more likely to accidently shoot one of my balls off than actually need it - which has proven true for over twenty years. Plus, I'm not scared of my own shadow.

Where is the “boring” sound effect for the throw overs?

Ah, that’s because a lot of former fats around here were just being lazy fats so they assume that getting lazy will I work for all fats.

At 46, I just went under 200 lbs for the first time since law school. Similar formula. Quit drinking, started eating a little bit better. Went from 233 to 198 since January 1. My app says just quitting drinking has resulted in a net loss of 91,575 calories this year.

Could have, but not for me (although I did have a temp one for a couple of months between surgeries). My butt function is 95% of what it was before cancer. The biggest reason is I skipped radiation as part of a clinical trial called PROSPECT. Radiation fries your insides and can have life-long side effects. Second reason is that the tumor was high enough that they didn’t have to excise the lowest parts, where they surgically reconnect your plumbing. Without those lower parts, it’s a permanent bag.

1. Didn't even feel the need to note its the "University of Texas MDAndeson Cancer Center." 2. Hope your wife has gotten or is getting better. I spent a lot of time playing cancer at MDAnderson. Great docs and technology. They cured me. 3. I never noticed anything aggy in the medical center. Therefore I conclude whatever it is is not noteworthy.

Well I had pretty serious butt cancer and that’s not something you walk away from with any dignity intact. I’ve been sober 90-something days and that’s all I’m focused on right now. I’m making token strides in eating habits and exercise, and I’m on Wellbutrin and naltrexone, but it’s working for me and that’s all I’m really concerned about right now. No drinking, no desire to drink - oh, and one more thing, weight loss. I’ve gone from 232 to 205. Once I’m at 185-90 and am further away from being a drunk, I’ll turn my attention to balanced nutrition, exercise, dropping the meds and quitting the Skoal. But for now I’m content and getting better day-by-day.

I remember hopping into a car with two Mexican dudes and a friend to score some blow in Matamoras spring break in the late 90s. It occurred to be at some point when we were in some other dude's house in Matamoras that this was probably not the best idea but I was drunk as hell and the blow was pretty damn good. The two Mexican dudes came back to SPI with us and we were still going at dawn.

I'm not who you were asking but I'm going to pretend I was and kinda answer you question and otherwise say what I want. I have been on BP meds for years - November it was Losartan 100 and amlodipine 10, which is a lot. I had also ballooned up to 230 pounds at 6'0". Since I quit drinking in December my BP has been dropping and I check about 2x/day because I'm dropping BP meds bit by bit and still getting hypotension. Your BP does vary a lot. I've been 105/75 in the morning and 88/58 in midafternoon. Swings like that are not super uncommon. I also have had insomnia issues that were magically cured by drinking way to much every night. I went to an addiction specialist - himself sober for 12+ years now - and he prescribed by Trazodone, which can be used off-label as an insomnia medicine. It doesn't work like alcohol, benzos or ambien and is non-habit forming. It doesn't get you a buzz but knocks my butt out when I take it. It works so well I usually halve the pill. It can make it a little bit more difficult to wake up in the morning but doesn't come with a hangover or whatever you would get if you took and bunch of benzos the night before. Once out of bed, I have a cup of coffee and am up and ready to go.

Thanks - that's certainly one of the main concerns bouncing through my head. Like all of us, I've heard and read dozens of stories of folks relapsing after significant sober periods, often time measured in years. And I wonder what changes in their heads to make them do that? And then I wonder how prevalent these relapses are in the population of recovering alcoholics. I wonder if I have something like just waiting in the future for the right conditions to suddenly grow. And then I wonder if I drank one night would I even relapse, in the sense of again losing my control over alcohol. These types of questions confirm my hypothesis that I don't know shit.

Bruin, I'm glad you're doing well after such a big surgery. That's just kick ass. Well, don't want to sound like a dick or nothin', but, ah... it says on your chart that you're fucked up. Ah, you talk like a fag, and your shit's all retarded. What I'd do, is just like... like... you know, like, you know what I mean, like...

Thanks for the insight. I appreciate it as I’m still trying to figure out where I stand with my drink problem. I typed out two longer responses but deleted them because I find the messaging on this subject a bit difficult. At this point, I don’t want to drink, am not tempted to drink, don’t have triggers, do not need to “take it day by day” or need to utilize a number list because I’m having some sort of drink-related meltdown. My stress level is down from a constant 9 to a 1-2 and that alone is well worth giving up booze. I realize I may relapse, fall into old drinking habits and be miserable again. I’ve certainly read and heard many such stories. So for now I’m just going to keep on being sober and keep on trying to figure things out. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

Yeah, I had pre-surgery chemo and my pre-surgery CT showed 85-90% reduction. I had a total mesorectal resection, which means they chopped out 90% of my rectum and some other gobledygook including 45 lymph nodes. Path report came back completely clean - I was cancer free and remaining treatment was cancelled.

I'm only 80-something days in and have heard this repeated at meeting but is it necessarily true? I can't find any underlying cause or condition to my drinking. I just like being a little bit drunk every night. I enjoyed the last night I drank before saying adios on December 2.