Monday, August 6, 2018

Midland, Texas Oil Boom and Sobriety, Is It a Joke

I was thinking of all the people that have moved back to the West Texas town in the Desert call Midland, Texas. Midland is halfway between El Paso and Dallas, Texas, therefore, the name Midland, the halfway point from the cities of DFW to the border of Mexico. Do we have a wide variety or folks? Yes, from the Cartels from El Paso that is making money off the locals with drugs to the bustling city of DFW that brings in Businessmen and women to cash in on the oil boom. To stay sober in a city like Midland is absolutely an incredible feat for anyone. No real entertainment except for the rich who drink away the days and nights and others from areas of the USA that want to cash in on the boom. However with Apartments, if you can find one, start at 1700 a month for a one bedroom. The unemployment rate is like 2.2 percent and people with houses here rent rooms out for 600 to 1200 a month for a room out of their houses. Go to Craigslist if you think I might be wrong and look up housing here plus jobs. There are more jobs than qualified people, so a lot of companies are training you for a position that only exists in the oil field. So beware because this is the third boom I have seen in Midland then it will bust like usual. Then all the people that came here will leave the deserted area of the country. Most are smart this time and bring RV's hooked up to massive pickup trucks for work in the fields. The problem is where to find land to park the RV.

In AA I've noticed people from all over the country filling up rooms at several AA clubs in town. That is good, but the worst thing I think I have noticed is the homeless sleeping in cars, nice cars, cause they can't find a place to spend 1100 a month to sleep in, that is fucking sad. But hey this is where the jobs are and if you are fortunate and have a roof over your head and paying the prices of living here, you really won't make more money due to the expenses you are having to shell out for this move to Midland or maybe some will.

The bars stay full and there are plenty of DWI people in AA trying to get off the charges from excessive drinking in town so I assume the city is making some good money from these alcoholics. So everyone benefits from a boom in Midland and Odessa, Texas. I can hardly blame most people for drinking while they stay in this city, as it is an activity that is popular and pushed by the local beer makers conventions here almost every other few months. That's entertainment, however, I forget to mention we do get top musical acts coming here to play because again the money is here.

There are churches here almost on every other block in the town and I am sure they benefit from all the people that arrive in this town, and God bless them. So if your spiritual or religious there are a few churches to entertain you as well. My advice to someone coming here is to research the options for where you are going to live, put a deposit down, and call today to schedule an Interview, because you will get hired, and some are on the spot interviews and that is why most are unprepared to live here, they are making 40k at Whataburger but no place to sleep. Now that is not an exaggeration, but the truth.

If you are a recovery person from a 12 step addiction, get yourself a home group as soon as you can and maybe make a friend or two, and maybe things will work out just fine. AA people who practice the program usually have a higher power that helps these people perform miracles and these are needed in this town in order to live a sober and good life in Midland, Texas.
Good Luck and God Bless.

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Saying Thank You for Sobriety

I get caught up in myself and I need to remember to say Thank You, to those who have to listen to my bullshit and even read my blog. This blog makes no money, and I never set out to make any money from it. This is just a way I can get matters off my chest and remember what I have done stupid and smart. I have a lot of problems in my sobriety but I am sober. That was my main goal, right. I still dabble in stuff I should keep my nose out of, but I am not perfect and I am interested in the health as Americans are of the age of CBD and Marijuana Legalization. Pretty darn confusing, and maybe it is meant to be this way. I am in my mid-50s and I knew that Marijuana would be legalized when I reached this age, I really did but it seems like our country is split on politics and now states are separate from the Federal government. Just crazy shit like this could make a person want to get loaded. However AA is still around and my feelings towards alcohol are yes, it is there, so fucking what. I do not participate in alcohol drinking and I have my reasons as I am sure you have yours. My life has been better without it, my social life still sucks but maybe that is just me.

I have not written in a while and I am going through another job change, and getting kind of old at that..lol However I am still able to walk and talk and my family loves me, which is what matters. I am sure if you are sober or even a drunk someone loves you very much, hell I love you and I don't even know you, but you're
on my blog so you must care about what is within these notes. So Thank You. Chris

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Stupidity and Sobriety

I have been sober for nine years this May 21st and I also have done a bunch of stupid things in my sobriety. I also witness others in AA that are sober but stupidity seems to follow them as they talk about their experiences. The definition of stupidity is behavior that shows a lack of good sense or judgment.
"I can't believe my own stupidity"

So Who is to judge one's stupidity is it me or you or is there an organization out there that says, "Yes he is the stupid one". He goes sober for 30 days then comes back in and preaches the AA word from the Big Book verbatim without having to open it, then leaves and proceeds to drink again. I have met several of these stupid people. However, this is just my opinion on stupidity. One who says they are practicing the twelve steps with a beer can in his right hand instead of his left hand, therefore limiting his drinking ability.lol

I guess it goes without saying if you read my articles and the stupid things I did. One was trying out CBD from a marijuana Hemp plant could be a cause to call me stupid. I was not thinking and wanted to experiment with CBD as I have anxiety still but on CBD, my anxiety seemed to diminish. I was not smoking pot and I was not ingesting THC as far as I knew and read, that was stupid. Wanting to feel different than I normally do is not a safe way to live in alcoholics anonymous. It can lead me right back to drinking a beer cause that made me feel good also, however, the consequences of alcohol were devastating to me and my family.

Well, I saw a car driver do several stupid things this morning and it brought out the stupidity thoughts I had. Like I said I write this blog to journal my life as I try to progress through the social sobriety lifestyle that I have chosen. I make mistakes but one is I have not had a drop to drink in 9 years. I am no better than the guy who has 24 hours of sobriety but I am smarter than ever on what stupid is. Have a good day. Chris

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Mothers Day Stay Sober Today May 13th 2018

It's Mothers Day and one thing I can do is stay sober 24 hours for my self and my Mother who has put up
 with me and my crap for so long. My mother is still living and age 81 and she is in good spirits and health and looks much younger, however, I can see the age starting to change in her. I am 55 myself, so I am very blessed to have my mom around and living and she is still wanting to love me and be around me. What a woman I can say that no one compares to my mom, and you can probably say the same about your mom. If you drink, just for today try not to drink around your mother, 24 hours, just one day. I know how hard it can be, but it might be a start for you to have eternal life granted back into your soul.

God grants us the serenity to move on with our lives and even when we make mistakes he grants those mistakes and if you ask for forgiveness, that will be granted also. How do I know, because I am a sinner and I make bad choices every day, I try not to make decisions that will blow up in my face, but I do. Then a miracle of some sort comes into my life whether it be a job or a person I love, and that is the reward for asking for forgiveness. Please check this site out,   http://chrchunltd.churchonline.org/

I think you will be surprised at what you find. God Bless the Moms out in the world. Chris

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Alcoholic ? Now How Can I be One if I Don't Drink Anymore

I have a problem with AA. How could I be an alcoholic if I freakin don't drink anymore? Good question I think and I am sure if you are a recovering or recovered alcoholic you had to ask this question to your self. Is it because we call ourselves alcoholics to impress others in AA. I would like to stand up and say "Hello I'm Chris and I am here to learn how to live life without drugs or alcohol, can you help me"?Maybe someone has said this in a meeting. I should because that is why I go to AA meetings and to learn how to live through the Big Book of AA is fine in the 1930s when it was written at least the initial book. I find a lot of biblical information on how I should live in this book, but does it need to be rewritten to the time we are now living in?

I listen to old timers say the same old shit day after day sometimes, and I can tell you what they are doing right now. They are at an AA meeting telling the same old shit again, sometimes three or four times a day at different clubs. I am not mad but AA to myself needs to deal with the present day, not back in the drinking day,cause for some of us, and only a few of us, do not have to drink today nor have even thought about it, but we have thought of what am I to do now that I don't party on a Friday or Saturday night, and I get back the same answers, go to an AA meeting.

I don't know about people in AA, they are strangers at meetings I do not attend regularly, How do you trust these newcomers coming in than going back out then coming back in and so forth. I never give out my address to a sponsee and rarely give my number to a stranger, because if they go back and get drunk, they might call me at 2AM in the morning and I go to bed at 9PM cause I have had it with the day and I get lots of sleep and wake up at 630AM almost every day. This is a habit that I got into just like not drinking or buying beer or pot. I have a habit of not looking at beer and not hanging around and body that smokes dope. I think that is the key to sobriety and it is hard for a guy to not want to go to the bars and have a drink, I can do it but just for so long, then I have to go cause these people are having too much fun and my thinking is or you poor bastard your going to hurt like I use to.I plan to be pretty old when I can't type anymore. God Bless and Have a Good Night. Chris
and wake up drinking like I use to do, .However, that may not be true it is what goes through my head. See, I think people that go to bars go to get fucked up, but I am wrong because I have seen a small percentage have a half beer and leave or keep sitting there talking with that half beer, drink that bitch is what I am thinking. Hurt like your supposes to. I know they are not me and I am glad I am not trying to be them, cause I mess up badly when I drink. Nine years sober this month I have and I have AA and the spirit of my God for this. Sure I have tried a few things that might cut through my sobriety but it was not alcohol, and or drugs. Remeber I write this as a journal of how I feel and not for your pleasure but for mine. Someday I will look back at all the stupid and not so stupid things I have written

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Want Money Come to West Texas Social Sobriety

I am going off the alcohol beating path on this article, The oil prices on the stock market show about 70.00$ per barrel of oil being traded, so this, in turn, means work in Midland and Odessa, Texas and surrounding areas. If you have just sobered up and need to make money and don't mind the oil field, come on down like the rest of the USA. Yes, the cost of living is outrageous but with your 25.00 an hour job you should be ok, that is if you are involved in the oil business. Truck haulers are making 100k a year, not bad for driving a truck I this flat land of dirt and bad traffic. There are, of course, other jobs in the area associated with the oil business as people have to eat so restaurants are doing their fair share of the business. Don't be surprised to wait for about an hour for lunch to get served, there are not enough of the lower paid workers, however, the last boom these burger places were paying attractive 14.00 an hour for workers, so this will happen and is starting to happen right now.
There are a lot more drunks on the road so that should be comforting and the police departments cannot find places for new recruits to live so that has been put on hold in some areas of the county. An AA meeting is like going to a strange place now as newcomers from every city in the USA are here to make the big money.

It cost just as much to live here in Orange County, California now. A studio apartment runs about 900-1000 per month and you would be lucky to nail one of these. The area was pretty well prepared for this new boom to hit as it had built several apartments, but beware what comes up goes down in the oil business, I have witnessed this now three times. The rig count in the oil field is the highest ever recorded for the area and provides for 1/3 of all the oil for the country. This one will last a while because of the new techniques for getting the oil out of the ground. A big sinkhole should happen when this is all down and said, as drilling companies are sucking the oil out and drilling horizontally, and vertically, so they are possibly sucking oil for miles underneath my feet. If you have comments please leave them. God Bless

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Thy Will be Done Social Sobriety

On Page 86 of the Big Book of AA there is a couple of paragraphs in this that say when we go through the day we see where we could help others not be self-centered and such. I read this every morning and then it says on page 89 I think that during the day we should say "Thou will be done", and keep saying this when we no longer have control over a problem or instance where we may be confused as to what we need to be doing during the working day and night. I find this quite useful and have begun using this phrase when I want to lie about something or just want something to go my way. "Thou will be done", Not my will be done..lol. However, it is very easy and comforting when done at the right time, because you know at this point in your day you have done everything in this world to ignore a situation or put something off. When saying this little phrase, I have noticed I seem to turn my car around and take care of something I did not want to or made me pull over and say I am sorry over the phone to someone I might have hurt earlier with my words.

We are not perfect but we seek perfection in our daily life trying to live sober and live life on life's terms. I am striving for perfection at all times and I get let down when things don't go my way. So, therefore, I remember this is my will and not God's will for me. It sometimes hits me later on, but then I make amends to what I have done and said and it is not easy but easier if you just say the phrase Thy will be done. Hopefully, this will help you in dealing with daily bumps and grinds in the road. I know it has helped me, and don't worry telling the truth pisses some people off, but you will feel free and better in the long run. Have a good day. I beg of you to Check out Churchunlimited.com and watch it, Even if you don't like a church you will get a good message

Sobriety and Covid and Living Normal

I have had this blog for ober 8 years and made nothing off of this blog. I write to talk about daily things and living without alcohol and I...