Best of luck to you, Ketch! I hope this is the life-changing opportunity you've been waiting for.

Kill it out there...

...and stay warm!

-H

You go, Ketch! Steady on and make the most of this great opportunity.

Good luck! Be safe out there!

Hi Ketch

Wow - your life is exciting too! I've missed reading your posts while I've been away. Sorry to hear you are missing Ripley. It was good to come home to our 2 cats for a few days.

I sooo hope this new assignment goes really well for you. Like EL said it sounds like you have the energy of an 18-year-old. Maybe that's why I assumed you were younger than you are!

You go girl. Have fun, give the job your all and try to go easy on the booze. Difficult I know - I've also been pounding it back over the break.

Take care
Cheers
Sticky

Hello to my dear TSM community! I have missed thee!!!

Okay. I must report, and I do so glowingly, that this production job is turning out to be the EXACT kick in the ass that I needed to push my willpower into absolute overdrive! I arrived in Fairbanks Wednesday around noon and 15 minutes after dropping my bags I was hard at work filing, organizing, putting the crew's winter gear in bags and preparing to get this production up and running.

I was sober Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then Friday I was flown to Anchorage to retrieve some camera equipment and had ONE beer while I waited to board my evening flight. I popped 1/2 a Nal and I must tell you, all I got from that single draft beer was a major headache! I remained sober Saturday and will do so again tonight, which is Sunday.

Drinking is over. At least for the next several weeks. I need to keep my head about me. And the job is tiring enough-- as I am working easily up to 10 to 13 hours a day. Add the horror of a hungover me and I will, inevitably and undoubtedly become a useless slug yet again. No way am I going to let alcohol ruin this great opportunity. No f*#king way.

I love it thusfar. I am using all sorts of skills including management and P.R. and if I am like any of these other 20 men with whom I currently work-- one production begets another. And another. And yet another. But I am focusing on just today. This production. This crew.

It is colder than one could ever imagine in Fairbanks. 37 below today. Thankfully I stay mostly in the production office.

Guys, my mind is clear though I am suffering with a minor head cold, developed by going into the extreme cold and then into manufactured heat with the added bonus of having to breathe in grody recycled airplane air in my many travels of late.

Hope you guys are well and that you are winning the battle!

Here is the conclusion that I have reached: When Nal has done its job neurologically (and well it should have given that I am currently in my 11th month), it still took an additional resolve and determination on my part. It is requiring a daily comittment from me to choose to carry on within the boundries (confines?) of sobriety. It is getting ever easier as the thought of getting drunk would simply sabatoge all that I am doing here.

I guess at the end of the day my Golden Rule reads:

.Nal+Al+Patience+Willpower=Regaining Control

So be it,

Ketchikan1

P.S. I will never leave my dog behind ever, ever, ever again!! I miss him terribly!

Oh man, fan-f*#king-TASTIC, WTG!!! Thanks for the wonderful, inspiring update...I feel all warm & fuzzy just reading it (and not just because I'm glad it's not -37° where I live...) That's quite a turn around from your recent posts about high au's...yes, that shows what some reality-inspired willpower can bring to the table! Hmm...maybe I'll try me some o' that...

Everything sounds really, really good, except for not having your doggie...no way to have him with you???

Chrissie

That's awesome, Ketch! It's the will power part I think where we all have to eventually choose. As someone else posted, it may just be it slows the train enough to get off. It's the will power to make that leap we must all evaluate.

Keep us posted of your adventures, it sounds awesome! Keep your head down and make the most of it! Go Ketch!!!

Awwwww Ketch! I'm sooooo happy for you!!!!! You sound great! Happy and alive!

Hello Ketch,

I'm just catching up with your thread. AMAZING! That's all I can say. I'm so happy for you. It sounds like you've turned the corner. There in front of you is a fantastic opportunity and you've taken hold and will not let go! More power to you! And I know how you feel about leaving your dog behind. I haven't been anywhere very far since 2008. I just can't stand the thought of what would happen to my 10 pets. They are very high maintenance and I wouldn't trust just anyone to care for them. Maybe someday I'll get a vacation again.... )

Anyway, I'm very very proud of you! You go girl...

Best

Hi Ketchikan-37,

I knew this job was going to be exactly what you needed. I can picture you scampering around the set dressed up like the younger brother in "A Christmas Story."



Keep racking up those AF days, and soon enough I bet they'll start to feel like the norm. Take that and run with it...and if the crew has a huge blowout once everything is wrapped up...NO JAGER.

Really happy for you.

From an unseasonably warm New England,

-H