After spending the past two months in rehab for alcohol and heroine I'm glad to say I'm out. One reason is I can ride my Lightning now as soon as the weather clears up. It was kind of a teaser, the rehab center was located in Florida and the weather was excellent, perfect riding weather. Then, I get back to shit hole bumfuk Nebraska and what do I get? Snow and ice, the two things sportbikes don't work well in. I suppose it gives me time to give the bike a proper cleaning, shine all the shiny parts, change the oil, do some mods, etc...
I will say that I will NEVER do drugs again. 1, They're obviously bad for you. And 2, I won't do them because knowing what rehab is like is enough to deter me from them. I did try to quit smoking while I was in it but once them shakes started the only thing that sounded good was a good smoke. I might make that my next years resolution. All in all, it has been a life changing event. I do thank my family tons, they supported me all the way. And in a sense I do thank my Buell/BMC since the thought of finally getting to ride it again was like reuniting with a lost dog. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed there isn't another stupid snowstorm again, but knowing Nebraska , it'll pull another stunt.
good for you Phil! Stay clean clean and enjoy life! Motorcycle riding is far better than drugs or alcohol for enjoying the short time we humans have here on earth. Make every day count!
and yes I know about the winter weather, I live between Milwaukee and Chicago. I haven't seen any motorcycles on the road in weeks!
congrats on your success, I hope that you will enjoy a healthy and better life, perhaps in time prevent some one else from choosing the path of drugs and alcohol
spring is comming you have the time for the clean up
Awesome, congratulations. Speaking as an addictive personality...try as hard as you can to stay clean. And...find new addictions. Less harmful ones. I've found it is possible to substitute.
Just look at the 5 Buells in my garage. Now THAT'S an addiction, LOL.
Seriously - good luck. It'll be tough as hell, but worth every second.
Very good Phil, Starting bad,stopping good. I got my Uly after staying clean for 15 years. Now even the pain killers from the dentist makes me sick. I have no desire to go back, I only choose to remember the bad.
congrats on the new life. just don't mess up and if you ever need to talk to someone, the #'s in the bran section. went through alcohol back when i was in the navy. i figured it was either that or take a chance at a captains mass for a little incident at the hotel we lived in while the ship was in drydock in baltimore. anyhow been there done that. good luck and hope you get to ride soon.
Good job. You should feel great pride in doing something that so many people -- including some of my close family, all of us having addictive personalities -- cannot find the courage and strength to do. It's not easy and you've done it. Don't let the old friends and old places pull you back down.
Congrats and, the next day without ice, take the bike out for a quick victory lap!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm happy for you even though we have never met. You have resolve and family support. It's a brand new life for you. You are indeed blessed.
We all need to grow and make changes or else we stagnate and waste life's opportunities. You have just made a quantum change. When we stop growing we start dying. Best wishes!
NOTHING in my life could be as tough as kicking a real addiction - let alone TWO.
Your body and brain will thank you (sounds like they already ARE)
It took an arrest for me back in my 20s with court-ordered counseling to stop me from getting in any deeper. (but that was the late 1960s before Hollywood thought drugs were stylish)
Hang in their!! Life gets even better! You know what you have to do to stay clean, just keep at it. My sickness is motorcycles and thats all i need. Been clean and sober for sometime. Feel free to PM if you need to talk.
Congrats on taking the big step...hang in there...the best thing for you right now is to abandon all contact with former friends and your old hangouts...turn your back on it and don't look back....thats how I beat my alcohol addiction many years ago.
Good for you. And WOW, coming out here to testify about it. Excellent. That takes guts. About your struggle: been there, done that, still working on it, but it's a lot easier now looking back. I wouldn't say that I regretted any of it, but I don't need to go back ever again. + a million for family, friends, and nature. I think silence is the greatest deterrent to overcome. Keep your story alive...
I'm glad you beat it! I've had to see a few people i grew up with planted in the ground do to that filthy drug. Now keep fighting and change your screen name (New man New Name).
Take it one day at a time bro. I have a close friend who went through exactly what you did. It sucks but your gonna feel a million times better. He tried to quit the smokes at the same time as the drugs and booze as well. He couldn't because he needed that fix to keep his mind off the worser evil. He only smokes on occasion now.
Thanks everyone for the support, it really is a boost to know I can turn to people who have the same passion for something (Buells) for support. Speaking of which, I did get to ride the beast around the block a few times, I spent an hour and a half chipping the 4 inches of ice off the bottom of my driveway so I could get out safely. Except I forgot to tell someone to plug in the battery tender so I went to start it and it barely turned over, then when it started it sounded like my snowblower and poured out black smoke. It died a few times but once it got warm it ran decent except the idle would sort of get low in the RPMs and die. Either way, I got to ride it for a bit.
I did get called by some old buds today but never answered then iggied their numbers. My parents even took my name out of the phonebook. That might sound extremely reclusive but since I grew up here everyone I know brings up memories of the drugged days. Even music I listened to when I was doing smack is un-appealing. I am however grateful that my dog doesn't remind me of them since I was only kid when we got her. She's 18 years old and still kicking, has a grade 2 murmur but is otherwise fine.
I've been thinking of joining the Air Force or the Coast Guard, some sort of armed service just to get out of cruddy old Nebraska. But I was born with a Primary Immunodeficency. Basically what that is, is my body doesn't produce white blood cells and anti-bodies to fight off bad shit. I get sick easily, minor infections require anit-biotics, and every other week I get jabbed in the ass with a syringe the size of a small baseball bat and get pumped full of immunoglobulin (IG). IG is a serum of anti-bodies and white blood cells from 500 different donors. The intravenous immunoglobulin, by law, has to contain at least 1000 different donors. The IV's cost around 2 grand a pop. Thankfully insurance covers them, otherwise I would literally have to live in a bubble, if you've ever seen Bubble Boy, I would be that guy if I lived back then.
So under no terms would an armed service accept me, maybe as a paper pusher or desk jockey but I'd never have a chance at anything that gets the adrenaline flowing. At least I still have my old job. Measuring potassium perchlorate oughta be a thousand times easier now since I'm not nodding off in the middle of mixing propellant. And no, you can't go out and buy sodium nitrate and try to make your own fireworks, sodium nitrate goes damp meaning it won't burn nicely and potassium nitrate or perchlorate requires a license unless you're good friends with a Laboratory supplier. I think this job gets my adrenaline flowing, that's why I don't want to get stuck behind a desk.
I'm going to go freeze my ass off and ride for a bit, I love the looks people give me, like "What the hell is that guy doing out in freezing weather with ice on the ground?" Oh well, keeps my mind free, gives me time to think by myself. Can't think too hard though, could hurt myself.
The friend of mine I spoke of in my first post did similar things like you speak of with not talking to certain people. He won't even move back to Lakeland. Hell we were heading to a job. Had to drive from Tampa to Orlando. You run right through Lakeland. He said his mouth started watering because of certain landmarks he saw where he use to use.
As I stated...One day at a time. Ride the hell outta that bike bro...