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So... I don't like talking about this, really, but I feel like writing it out might help me think about it a bit more clearly, and I'd like to know if anyone with any experience with this sort of thing has any advice. I've mentioned this before, in my first blog entry, so some of you might already know, but I live with my father, who is an alcoholic. Usually, he's fine, as in... he stays off it and everything's hunky dory, but for as long as I've been aware, he's always had relapses too. He'll be okay for a few months or so, then he'll start drinking secretly, and within a few weeks it'll pull him down to the point of not being able to leave the house, go to work, or generally function at all. Once he's hit rock bottom, he'll eventually pull himself back out of it (over the course of about a week) then he'll be okay again, until the cycle inevitably repeats itself. Now like I said, he's been doing this for as long as I've been aware of it, and apparently long before that, and he's always kind of managed to stumble along with it, but never actually find an effective way of dealing with it long term. I think the longest time between relapses was about a year. Lately though, he's been getting worse; as in, like four or five weeks between relapses. Now I'm not certain why this is, but I think he's basically gotten stuck in a total rut with it, where he's not really stopping after he has to pick himself up. He fell during the Christmas holidays, but I thought everything was fine until this Sunday, when it turned out he'd gotten so drunk he couldn't remember what had happened the night before, so now I'm right back in it again. I had to take the day of work today to try and sober him up. Anyway, the point of all this rambling is that I've got to take him into work tomorrow to discuss with his boss (who has been ridiculously supportive in all of this) what to do next. I believe now that he needs serious, professional help, and ideally, a session in rehab, but this would be very inconvenient for everyone, as he'd be out of work for a good few weeks, in all likelihood, so I'm not sure his boss will be willing or able to allow that. The other options would be some kind of support group, or short-session therapy, but he's been very resistant to anything like that. I don't know what to do, honestly, and I've been almost as guilty as him in brushing the whole mess under the carpet for far too long, just because it's more convenient in the short term. But now... I think something has to change, significantly, or he's at risk of finally letting this thing ruin his life entirely. I'm kind of just venting, to a certain degree, but if anyone does have any constructive advice, I'd really appreciate it.
Not that I'm narcissistic enough to be calling myself the Messiah of course, but any excuse for some Python! Ahem. Yes. So anyway, as anyone who's actually reading this will probably already know, I'm now back, after being temporarily banned. Now I'm not going to waffle on too much, because I kind of want to put all this behind me, and I'm sure no-one else is really interested, but I did just want to say a couple of things. First off, I just wanted to say that although there was initially some confusion on my behalf about the ban, I was not, and am not, trying to claim that it was in anyway unjustified; I screwed up, and I accept the consequences of that. The staff have been more than fair with me, so thanks to them for that. Secondly, I want to apologise if anyone was upset or offended by my actions; that was certainly not my intent, but I realise I should have been more thoughtful. I'm not going to go into details, because if you don't already know, then you clearly weren't affected! So no apology for you! Lastly; my time away from this site, time spent on other forums, and coming back have all reminded me what a nice place this is. (it's so colourful!) I'm not being sycophantic, but I like being here, and I hope I can remain here for a long time to come. TL;DR: Got banned, my fault, sorry, glad to be back. x3 Right, that's the end of my pathetic melodrama, so here's Christmas pudding dog, for anyone who bothered reading this.
Trees win. Trees always win. Oh, and I've got a Skype now. It took a while, but I finally chased it down and caught it. So if you wish to throw words at me in a slightly different medium, then look me up. Should be 'darthwill1995'. Aaaaaaaaand Christmas pudding dog.
These are some of my very favourite plants. Perceive them and be peaceful. Placated your passion for perennial photosynthesisers? Perfect. And of course, as always, Christmas pudding dog.
Haha! Bet you weren't expecting that! Don't worry, normal tree service shall resume shortly, but this week it has mostly been hills that have had my eyes. Hills of great height. Hill almost seems to small a word, but they're not quite mountains; is there anything in between? I'm not sure. Anyway, here are some pictures! Pictures of hills! (And some trees have even sneaked into shot!) And that concludes my feature on hills! Christmas Pudding Dog: Fin.
More trees have jumped in front of my camera! Perhaps not as interesting as the last lot of trees, but they still deserve respect! Respect them by ogling them with your eyeballs! That's all for now, but I shall endeavour to explore strange new woods, to seek out new formations and new shapes, to boldly photograph foliage no man has photographed before! ---------- In non-tree-related news, I've started a new apprenticeship, and am not going to be on as much on Tuesday's and Friday's from now on. Please, save your tears 'till I'm gone. Oh, and as always, here's a picture of a dog dressed as a Christmas pudding:
I thought my single blog entry might be getting lonely, so I decided to make him a friend. But what to put in this entry? Hmm... Pictures? People like pictures, right? And trees! Those seem popular! Pictures with trees in them! Here are some Welsh trees: Some nice English trees: And lastly a tree next to a strange circle of stones! That's a lot of trees! So to balance things out, here's a picture of a dog dressed as a Christmas pudding: More tree updates next month!
I don't usually do these things, but I just needed to get this out somewhere, even if no-one reads it, so here goes. So I'm living with my Dad at the moment, which is fine normally, he's a really nice guy and all, the only problem being that he's what I like to refer to as a 'perceptually recovering alcoholic'. What I mean by that is that he's fine when he doesn't drink (duh), but every few months or so he'll slip back into it and eventually end up drinking himself into a helpless stupor for about a week, which is what he's in the process of doing as I type this. Now I'm not a completely heartless bastard, so I obviously try and help him, as does everyone else who cares about him, but I can only do so much, and ultimately only he can break the cycle. Or at least, that's what I've come to believe. (he's been doing this for over 20 years, so I think it's safe to say most solutions to the problem have been tried.) Those are the facts, and now comes the whiny self-centredness; this really upsets me, partly because I have to watch him stumble down that self-destructive path, and partly because I hate what he becomes when he drinks. Now don't get me wrong; he's not abusive or anything, he's just not him. It's kinda hard to explain, but it hits me harder than anything else. It also produces some pretty untenable living conditions; I've had to break in before because he's deadlocked the door and then passed out. Anyway, that's what's going on in Toasterland at the moment, and I guess the point of all this is that I'm not really sure what to do; stay here and try and put the brakes on this thing (which if previous experience is anything to go by may be a hopeless task), or just leave and let it run it's course. If anyone's got any experience dealing with this kinda thing, I'm all ears. I realise this has been a bit heavy, so in the interests of balance, here's a picture of a dog dressed as a Christmas pudding. (I hope it's ok to talk about this kinda stuff here, I guess it could fall into 'depression thread' or maybe even medical advice territory, and if so I apologise.)