Found: Weapons of Mass Destruction - Alcohol ( Artist: Tim Burke )

Found: Weapons of Mass Destruction - Alcohol ( Artist: Tim Burke )
Originally uploaded by Derek Farr ( DetroitDerek )

So much for the adventure that is bus travel in the good ol' U.S.of A. Now for the wonderful world of alcohol and drug rehabilitation, affectionately known as 'rehab'. I mentioned going to AFR yesterday which is the acronym for A Forever Recovery inpatient rehab center in Battle Creek, Michigan. Most rehabs use AA 12 step exclusively. Many people, myself included are not crazy about AA and don't feel that one size fits all. AFR offers a program called MRT or Moral Reconation Therapy plus five specialized elective tracks: Faith Based, Cognitive Behavioral therapy, Holistic, Indigenous and 12 step Narcotics Anonymous.
MRT was originally used in a correctional facility; it has been studied extensively and has proven very effective at reducing recidivism and relapse. To quote the MRT website," MRT is a process that seeks to raise the moral decision- making strategy of individuals." If you are interested you can check out, www.moral-reconation-therapy.com (and find out what the weird word in the middle means).
Our program started with a 268 question self evaluation inventory. Actually with all the sub questions(a, b, c, etc) it was actually about 1500 questions! They added a dimension to the AA concept, fearless, searching and exhausting. I wrote about 60 pages. It was an invaluable exercise which one I will reread from time to time. We had 16 chapters in the MRT book with written exercises and when we completed those we had to write responses to the 16 steps on the 'freedom ladder'. We then stood in the front of the room and presented those steps aloud to the entire group of about 50. We got questions and challenges from the other clients and the facilitators. We then left the room while the group decided if the step was sincere and complete. If not it had to be rewritten. A few people got REALLY pissed off when their step didn't pass muster. It was intimidating,at least the first time, and usually very humbling. Mostly what I felt was a sincere concern from everyone to help. I felt love and acceptance from this group in a way I almost never had in all my church experiences(which was a lot-another story for other postings perhaps). There were many really moving moments as we poured out our pain and shame, hopes and goals. Tears were shed and wounds were exposed to the healing air. I will never forget this time spent with good, kind, caring people who understood from experience what a hellish prison the obssesion of addiction is for those locked in its grip.

Home again, home again, jiggity jog

Greyhound Bus Advertisment 1954
Originally uploaded by jackie121467

I am back home after a month in rehab and two days and two nights on the bus. First the bus. A meditative experience at times, but definitely not the conveyance if you want to get a decent night's sleep!
I live in South Dakota, middle of the state and I went to a facility in Michigan and I rode the bus, 24 hours there, but, ah, the return trip was somewhat more eventful. Before you ask, I will tell you. To fly from Sioux Falls, SD to Detroit or Kalamazoo costs a thousand bucks-bus costs 300. 'Nuff said
So I am all happy to have finished the program and I get on the bus and I travel all the live long night. In a bizarre rerun in reverse, the Chicago stop was supposed to be an hour layover but was an hour late, just as when I was going to AFR. We finally got to Minneapolis and the driver told us the bus to Sioux Falls was cancelled! The Greyhound supervisor got the word that the busline we were supposed to transfer to (Jefferson Lines, may their name be accursed!) had not only cancelled the ride but refused to provide lodging, food or even taxi fare to get to lodging! Basically they said, sure you paid, but fuck you guys! Several of us who were stranded got together and checked into a rental car; 278 bucks. One of the guys spent a lot of time on the road for his job and had traveler's points for rooms at LaQuinta Inn so he booked rooms and we got a taxi and five of us spent the night in Minneapolis. Steve, the guy I shared a room with, room is really a great guy from Georgia on his way to Rapid City, SD to visit his son and grandkids. He is an iron construction worker and probably on seasonal lay-off. Turns out he had a hell of an addiction to pills, we like the same kind of movies and had quite a lot in common. We watched stand-up comedy and funny movies all evening, ate pizza and actually had a pretty good time. Art, the guy who got us the rooms puts up cell phone towers for a living and climbs towers hundreds of feet high, and he's 46! He was just laid off but anticipates returning to work in a couple of weeks. I sure hope that happens for him. Fernando, a young black dude, was on his way to Mankato MN to stay in a homeless shelter until he finds a job. Dude had 3 bucks left! Cory, another of the guys is a laid off electrician and a hell of a decent guy. Chris, the sole woman is unemployedand returning to Wyoming from Georgia where she went for a funeral. She had seven dollars left. So three older white guys, two younger black guys and a middle aged woman with no front teeth shared, laughed, survived and became friends. How excellent is that?! We got our bus, talked to each other most of the way and exchanged contact info. And here I am.home, sober and feeling peachy.
More about rehab later.

Time to Take Care of Bidnezz

I have not posted regularly for a long time so for anyone who has checked in, sorry. I will be going off to rehab for a month and that's a strange and somewhat frightening adventure. Since I started drinking in mt early teens, it has taken a while to get to this point and it is disappointing to think I can't unhook myself from this without help, but there you have it. I will try to write about this in the future. meantime best wishes and keep warm.

Twins, Brindled Gnu 3

Twins, Brindled Gnu 3
Originally uploaded by Bhubezi-Jake

Happy Gnu Year! Wishing you a productive 2009.

How Much More Trouble Could A Second Dog Be?

The original Theda bara-not a dog at all

Allie wrote a nifty post about her new doggie and so I decided that, like a proud parent, I will also share my story about Doug and Theda. Theda Bara Dog is the black lab lying on the couch and Douglas Fairbanks Dog(all dogs must be named after old movie stars)is the shaggy guy sitting on the floor.




And here is Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Not Doug's dad.

As I was saying. Or was I...? Theda came to live with us when we had three acres in the country in Michigan and expected to live there forever, so a great big lab would be just super!! Hmmm.
When we moved to SD, we had to buy a house because no one here would rent to us with a dog and two cats. When we realized how much time Theda would be alone when we work on weekends, and her with pretty extreme separation anxiety and all, we decided she needed a doggy companion. We had a back yard and spent a bundle getting it fenced in, and after all, how much trouble could a second dog be?
We went to the closest animal shelter, Sioux Falls, 150 miles away, and tried out a few pooches. Too many beautiful doggies for an easy choice, but there always are too many sweet critters in shelters. Anyway, we kept going back to Doug, who was living under the nom de guerre, 'Albert'. He was cute, soft, fuzzy, friendly and he didn't pull on the leash-a big plus since Theda pulls like a plow horse. We took the friendly guy home and he promptly terrified Theda, chasing her around the yard, nipping at her legs and working to establish himself as cock o' the walk, so to speak. Alpha male really. That lasted for maybe 24 hours when Theda realized that she was a good 25 pounds heavier(no fat) and had bone crushing jaw strength compared to Doug's marshmallow crushing jaws. Our incredibly friendly and gentle Theda has been flipping him over and kicking his 50 pound ass ever since. Doug has become her favorite chew toy and for a while we had trouble keeping his collar on as she apparently enjoyed ripping it off his neck. She also gnawed his rabies shot tag to bits. And it was metal.
While there is considerable rivalry for affection at times, with noses thrust roughly in between petting hands and petted heads, they seem to have grown quite attached, even when Theda is not clamped onto Doug's throat.

Oh, how much trouble could a second dog be? Anyone with two large dogs was smirking at me from the beginning. I will just say, Doug has learned to pull on the leash, I picked up at least 15 pounds of crap in the yard Monday, being with Doug has not cured Theda's separation anxiety as made evident by her habit of chewing the siding off our garage. Oh, and Doug, unlike Theda, runs away if we let him off the leash. Cest la vi, its all for love, nec'st pas?


"We HATES dem both" Artemis le Chat

Huh, tagged am I?

As it turns out, Aliie of Allie's Answers has tagged me with a tell seven things meme. Never having done one and since Allie is two of my favorite blogs(she also writes Incidents and Accidents) I shall do this thing.

Here are the rules for ’social-networking’ tag:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Share seven things about yourself - some random, some weird.
Tag seven people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog and/or Twitter.
Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Seven Super Secrets Regarding Me:

1. When I was a kid we used to get fruit from a horse drawn wagon in Chicago.
2. I,too, was a lousy student in high school. I graduated in the bottom 1/4 of my class, but I graduated cum laude from university.
3. I moved from South Dakota to live on a tropical island for two years. Then I moved to Minnesota. Call me a masochist.
4 I have lived in seven different states(but moved back to two of them once more so all told moved to nine states), a US territory and one foreign country. I have never been in the military and I lived in the same state until I was thirty.
5. Since graduating from college I have been a teacher, an ordained minister, a social worker(case manager for folks with developmental disabilities), a counseling supervisor in a domestic violence shelter and I am currently a house parent at a boarding school for Native Americans.
6. My goal for my future is to live on a commune(check out the website of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, www.thefec.org and guess which one I am going to do a membership visit to in July).
7. I was profoundly affected by the Jefferson Airplane's song 'Crown of Creation'; especially the line "Life is change, how it differs from the rocks.."

I am tagging
Young Girl Old Life
Sorghumco
Musings Of A Minor Mennonite
Chicken Blog
Chile Chews
Arduous Blog
Fr.Peters Environmental Notes

Single Wide Thanksgiving

TRAILER PARK CHRISTMAS
Originally uploaded by louisbickett

We are "internal expatriates", though there technically is no such thing. We moved from our home state to South Dakota, which is dramatically different in its geography is not exactly a foreign country. In fact, we are still in the "Midwest" since we live on the east side of the Missouri River. Whoever made these rules deemed that THE WEST, starts west of the river.
Anyway, we are pretty far from family and friends and so are quite a few of the people we work with. A fairly large number of us come from Michigan. One such couple recently moved from their apartment to a single wide trailer with their three year old son. They decided to host all the 'foreigners' for Thanksgiving dinner. About 25 of us all told. In a single wide mobile home(plus their two new puppies and their pet sugar glider from Australia). It was not feasible to drive back to Michigan on our three day break, and we really like the people we work with, so we were delighted to be invited. I made a big pot of curry, to spice up the traditional fare. We had more food than 25 of us could possibly consume, and it was delicious. We were crowded but cozy. Clair and I were regaled with stories from one of our colleagues who has been an anthropological forensics person and doesn't seem to have a serious bone in his head. It was really wonderful fun and one of the best Thanksgivings I have had in years. There are way too many people in America ready to look down their noses at people who live in "trailer parks'. But here we were, having a wonderful time with gracious, generous, intelligent and amusing people. It is always amazing how much joy you can create with a tiny space, some folding tables, food and genuine hospitality. I give thanks for the generosity and kindness of Aaron and Melissa.