Quick Trip Up and Back

Atlantis enticed me with some free play - so I headed up there on Saturday morning for one night.  Wouldn't you know that one night was the ONLY night in a two month window that was sold out - so I (oh, the horror) actually had to pay for a room.  Still got a rock bottom rate and it was worth it.

I checked in and proceeded up to my room - only to open the door and find people in the room!  Yikes.  They said they had been switched around and they were waiting for 'someone to bring them the keys'.  I headed back to check in and went down the elevator with a bellman who said he was on his way to pick up the keys for that room.  (I explained to him what happened when he asked 'how's your day going').

The person at check in upgraded me to the concierge level which was nice.  I could have gone up there for happy hour and/or breakfast this morning but I didn't - still - nice upgrade.  Really nice room; bigger and more amenities.

I had a great time - played with wild abandon yesterday and was down $50 at the end of the night.

I did lose more this morning but I was betting pretty aggressively since I knew I didn't have a lot of time to play.

It was a great trip and I came home with fun money - so that's a good trip in my book.

I didn't have time to drive down to Carson City - we will likely go up there sometime in November to (hopefully) give them the down payment on the lot so they can officially break ground on our house.  We haven't seen the new 'revised' floor plan yet and are chomping at the bit to have all this stuff finalized.

H. is here today - J. picked him up this morning.  He's got a pretty amazing tattoo on his upper arm and the story behind it is a good one.  I really don't mind anymore - as long as what you are permanently inking on your body has some meaning to you, then do what you choose.  It's going to be a full upper arm tattoo when it's completed - still a work in progress.  Happy for him that he has some discretionary income he can use for stuff like this - I did remind him 'hey, you still owe us' and he is paying off the rest of the loan today.

He has been offered a different role in the company he's working for - which is awesome!  Full time WITH the company vs. contracted through an agency.  Fingers crossed it all works out.  He'll have insurance and be making more money - he really wants to get his own apartment as soon as he can.  I keep throttling him back a bit - reminding him how $600 a month is pretty great and is allowing him the 'extra' discretionary income he has.  An apartment negates any discretionary funds - it's all going to go for surviving.

The house they live in had a new resident this past couple weeks - a schizophrenic gentleman who was fine 'as long as he's on his meds'.  J. and I sort of scratched our heads and wondered about the arrangement - this person hadn't been through any New Hope recovery at all - but were placed at the SLE (Sober Living Environment) home.  H. was mildly concerned -

Today, H. told us that the guy disappeared for two full days and a night - didn't tell anyone where he was.  (The home has very specific rules about leaving and returning - it's all documented so everyone knows where people are and when they'll be returning).  The house residents called New Hope and were told to pack up all his stuff and put it in the garage.

The guy showed up and was upset to find out that he'd been booted from the house.  H. said he said 'you mean I'm being kicked out because I've relapsed'?  Um.  YES!  That is what happens to people who use again when they are trying to be and stay sober.

H. explained that it's a community/county program that placed the guy at the SLE - and that New Hope has decided to no longer accept those cases because they've never had one that worked out, ever.  The guy showed up with his bicycle and two shopping carts to pick up his stuff.

Homeless. And totally not understanding the key components of sobriety:  you do not start using again.  If you do, you are NOT sober.  And you can't pretend to be sober when you're not. 

I'm super relieved that NH won't accept those placements anymore - it seems to high of a risk to potentially have newly sober people reside with not sober people pretending to be sober. 

Truth be told, I'm finding it incredibly hard these days to be engaged at work.  I'm still there, still transacting, still whittling away at the never ending list of stuff I'm responsible for.  I'm far from a dead beat - never have been, never will be.  But....I sure can't wait until I don't have to show up there daily.  I'm burned out and ready to move on.  Big time ready. 

We're already through 1/3 of this school year and if the next 8 months go by as quickly, it will be a blink of the eye before I'm done.  We have a massive amount of stuff to take care of before then and we will do it all - one step at a time.  J. makes steady progress and while this weekend, I didn't participate, the garage is still looking better everyday.  Step by step.