Fawlty Showers 2

The Lighter Side of Life-Threatening Illness

Abigail poked her head in my office, something she never did except to complain.

Instead of her usual blouse buttoned at the neck and dress slacks, she wore jeans and a polo shirt. 

Instead of complaining, Abigail said, “I want both of you to promise you won’t walk on eggshells around me when chemo makes me sick.”

Dana got it. “You want us to joke about it like we would anything else.”

“More so,” Abigail said. “The darker the humor the better.”

I gestured at the way she was dressed. “What’s next? Daisy Dukes and a tank top?”

Instead of getting the usual disapproving look, Abigail gave me a smile and a little laugh.

“Maybe,” she said. “Just to see the look on the boss’s face.”

From that day forward Dana and I joked about Abigail’s cancer every chance we got.

 

Today I’ll try to keep my sense of humor no matter what.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

FAWLTY SHOWERS 2

 

Worried

Dana came into my office the next day with the usual box of donuts.  We talked about Abigail, and the merger. 

“I have to admit I’m a little worried,” I said.

Dana nodded, but said, “Whenever I start to worry about something I can’t control, I write a list of all the things I worried about that never happened.”

“Good idea, maybe I could add things to my list that did happen, but I got through.”

Dana looked at the top of my head, squinted, and said, “You could start with getting a really bad haircut.”

I laughed, and threw a piece of donut at her.

Today I’ll make a list of all the things I worried about that didn’t happen.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Anacondas, Idiots, Gratitude

Sitting on the couch later that night, I sent Talmadge a picture of a young man in a giant rodent costume.

‘Thinking about those anacondas in the Everglades,’ I typed.  ‘Got an idea for a side business.’

‘Selling costumes?’ Talmadge wrote.  Eye roll emoji.

‘Picture a Halloween party. Your son-in-law in this costume, drunk by the water’s edge. Hungry snake with poor eyesight swims by…’

Talmadge wrote, ‘We sell people a chance to get rid of the idiots in their lives!’ Laughing emoji.

As we texted back and forth, I laughed, but I also realized how much I was going to miss him. I thought of other people I missed.

“I try to be grateful for the time I got to spend with someone I liked enough to miss,” I said to the dog, “but it’s not always easy.”

 

Today I’ll try to be grateful for the time I got to spend with people I miss.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Spare Any Change?

The next day the earthquake hit.

At the morning staff meeting, Randy announced Fawlty Showers was being merged with a larger agency.

While I was digesting this news at lunch, I noticed a relaxed calm settle over Abigail’s features.

“You seem happy,” I said, thinking she knew something about the merger.

“I have cancer,” Abigail said.  I didn’t know what to say. Being happy about cancer was weird even for Abigail.

That night at our AA meeting, Talmadge told me he was moving to Florida.

“The government tries to hide it,” I said to him, “but an average of ten senior citizens a day are eaten by anacondas. They live in the Everglades and sneak into retirement villages at night.”

On the drive home I reminded myself the status quo was an illusion. Something was always changing, even if the change was too slight for me to notice.

The best I could do was take stock, change what I could, and adapt.  

 

Today I will accept things change and adapt.

 

 Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

Maintain or Regain

I told Dr. Deb cutting the hill was getting harder every year.

“You know they make self-propelled lawnmowers,” Dr. Deb said. 

“I know,” I said.

“Then why don’t you get one?”

“Pushing the mower up the hill keeps me in shape.  Staying in shape is so much easier than getting in shape.

“Unless you die of heatstroke.”

She had a point, but I still thought fitness was just one of many things easier to maintain than to regain.

Sobriety, trust, and love sprang to mind as other things more easily maintained than regained.

 

Today I’ll maintain what’s not easily regained.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Reward System

When I finished cutting the grass I was soaked in sweat. My legs ached from pushing the lawnmower up the steep hill in the backyard.

Cutting the grass was nothing special, just a routine part of living in the suburbs. Still, I thought I deserved a little reward.

I called Dr. Deb who was on her way home from work to ask if she could get me a small shake.

“What’s the occasion?” she asked.

“I cut the grass.”

“In this heat?” She brought me a large chocolate shake and a container of fries covered in chili sauce.

As I ate my fries, I thought about how people, including me, failed to reward themselves for doing something difficult if that something was routine.

 

Today I will reward myself for doing something difficult even if it’s routine.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Angels, Devils, Excuses

My yard looked like something out of a magazine; not Home and Gardens, more like National Geographic. Seeing a lioness chase an antelope across the backyard wouldn’t have surprised me.

The little devil appeared on my left shoulder. “Too hot to cut the grass,” he said.

“I’d think you’d be used to the heat,” I said.

“Hell’s a dry heat. This humidity is what gets you.”

I looked to my right for the angel.  A distant voice said, “I’m in the pool. Not coming out. It’s heaven.”

“Do you need a better excuse?” The little devil asked before disappearing.

The heat felt like half excuse/half good reason not to cut the grass.

“The trouble,” I said to the lawnmower as I pulled the starter cord, “is that using one excuse makes using the next a little easier.”  

 

Today I won’t use excuses.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 

I’ll Be Dammed

Years earlier, after a hard rain, an underground stream had bubbled to the surface on the edge of our property. I couldn’t stop the flow of water any more than I could stop the flow of time.

What I could do was catch a little of both. I had dammed the stream to form a small pond. The water still flowed over the dam, but I’d captured enough to create a quiet place for the frogs, a turtle, and me.

I sat down on the patio swing with Dr. Deb. The swing was our dam. It didn’t stop the flow of time, but served as our quiet pond where we captured a little of the day.

‘Everyone needs a pond of some sort,’ I thought, ‘even if they only spend a few minutes a day there.’

 

“Today I’ll spend some time at my ‘pond.’”

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

Fawlty Showers 2

Fighting the Good Fight          

I didn’t recognize the speaker at first. When I’d met him, he had been at least 50 lbs. heavier and had looked ten years younger. Loose skin hung on his face and arms.

“People say it’s the journey, not the destination,” he said, “for me it’s not the outcome, it’s the fight.”

 

 “Thanks to cancer, I’m bald, and so wrinkled my brother calls me ‘The Asian Raisin,” he said, “but I’m still fighting the good fight.”

Then he said something that made me think. Fighting the good fight was just doing the things that kept the world spinning.

“It may look like I’m just doing the day-to-day, but in a crazy world, I’m fighting for the forces of sanity and stability.”

He told us he fought to keep his kids on the right path, run a business ethically, and not feed the drug trade.     

   

As I was driving home that night, I said to the steering wheel, “I’m gonna fight the good fight. Lead an upright life, set a good example for my grown children, and maybe help some people along the way.”

 

Today I’ll fight the good fight.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

For Example

That night Talmadge and I talked about our plans for Father’s Day.

A pause fell into the conversation. Talmadge said, “The example you set is way important than the words you say.”

I nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

 “The older your kids get, the less time you spend with them.”

“That’s true.”

 “Only so many chances to set a good example,” he added. “I got sober when my son was two. Can’t tell you how grateful I am I didn’t blow those chances, sitting in a bar somewhere.”

We both looked over at The Preacher. When he wasn’t lecturing someone at an AA meeting, he was making money.  He had a son he rarely saw.

 

Today I won’t miss a chance to set a good example.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

That afternoon Katy wanted to run an errand. She asked if she could put Baby Kara in my office.

“I don’t know,” I said, “she did throw up on me.”

Katy laughed. “Well, you brought your face awfully close to hers.”

I smiled, and said I’d be happy to.

Later, Kara started to fuss a little. I picked her up and put her on my shoulder, humming softly. She slept while I watched a training on my laptop.

I remembered when my kids were little.

Sleepless nights, up with a sick child, going to work the next day looking worse than the guy in detox kicking heroin. Toxic waste dump diapers, noses running like sewer lines, brown stains you prayed were chocolate.

Then I recalled the good parts.

Child sleeping on your shoulder. Telling you what they’d learned in school that day. Trying to guess if the drawing they made just for you was a unicorn, a four-legged tank, or an alien.

“Children,” I whispered to Kara, “are the best example of being grateful when the good far outweighs the bad.”

Today I’ll be grateful when the good far outweighs the bad.

  

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Baby Vomit

The next morning, I was feeling energized, still thinking about all the reasons I had to be grateful.  

Instead of throwing on my usual jeans and a pullover shirt, I got up early and ironed a dress shirt and pants. I shaved my four-day stubble and splashed on cologne that had been sitting on my dresser untouched for at least a decade.

When I got to work, Katy was at her desk, Baby Kara awake in her cradle next to Katy’s feet. I looked at Katy who nodded.

“Who’s the cutest?” I said to Kara, picking her up and rubbing noses.

Baby Kara, smiled, cooed, and threw up in my face.

I stood in silence for a moment, holding the baby at arm’s length. I placed her gently back in her cradle. Vomit stained my shirt. I couldn’t smell the cologne anymore.

Katy said, “Oh no!’ and started to laugh. I wiped my face with a tissue from Katy’s desk and started to laugh too.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

 

Today I’ll try to laugh about it, whatever it is.

 

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Granted

When I got home that night, I opened my laptop and read an email telling me someone I knew was homeless because of his addiction.

I thought about his situation, and looked more closely at mine.

Our cat jumped up onto my lap.  I said to him, “People who love me. Air-conditioned house. Food in the refrigerator. A dependable car. Clean clothes. A career. Clean conscience, ...” The list went on.

The cat purred, sharing my gratitude.

“I’m sorry for the guy, but it’s good to be reminded not to take anything for granted.”

Today I’ll take nothing for granted.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Change

I ran into the young man with the mismatched shoes later that day.  He’d decided to go to a halfway house.

“What made you decide to go?” I asked.

“Saw the slogan on the wall,” he said. “If nothing changes, nothing changes.”

“Will this change things with your family? Maybe they’ll see how serious you are about recovery?”

He shrugged. “My family may never change. If things are gonna be different, I gotta change.”

Wise words, I thought. Change almost always begins with ourselves.

 

Today I know change begins with me.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

Misery’s Company

A concerned look crossed the young man’s face. “My family wants to go out for a beer to celebrate me finishing rehab.”

“They have to know that’s a bad idea,” I said.

“Misery loves company. Now that I’ve kicked heroin, they want me to be their drinking buddy.”

“Don’t join that company. You’ve worked so hard. Just don’t.”

“I see what you did there,” he said with a sad smile, “but they’re family.”

I got it. Much easier to go with the flow than to fight the current.

“Have you thought about not going home?” I asked. “Maybe getting an apartment or going to a halfway house?”

He stared at his mismatched shoes, sighed, and said, “I guess I’m gonna really have to work at not being part of their miserable company.”

He trudged off to the social worker’s office to see what was available.

“Sometimes you gotta be a little unhappy at first to avoid being a long-term employee of misery’s company,” I said to myself.

 

Today I won’t join misery’s company.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

Fawlty Showers 2

 

Sweet Caroline

The next day a young man sat on the wall in front of the dorms. I sat down with my cup of coffee and asked him how he was doing.

He smiled. “Worst case, I’m embarrassed today.”

“Not sure what you mean,” I said.

“I’ve done a lot of things I’m ashamed of, all of them tied to my addiction.”

“But nothing since you came here and got sober?”

He nodded.

“So what kind of embarrassing thing do you think you’ll do today?” I asked.

“Look at my feet,” he said. He was wearing shoes from different pairs.  “Got dressed in a hurry.”

“At a training I walked into the men’s room with my mic still on, humming Sweet Caroline. When I got back to the conference room, the whole audience started singing it.”

He laughed, “Now that must have been embarrassing.”

“Embarrassment is like a tiny reminder of what shame feels like, except you can laugh about it.  I try to be grateful for it.”

 

Today I’ll try to be grateful if I do something embarrassing.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 Frizzle Burgers

I got text from a colleague in New York regarding a file he’d sent me. I told him I’d read it when I finished my frizzle burger.

‘What’s a fizzle burger?’ he asked.

“Frizzle,’ I corrected. “Fried chipped ham.’

‘How do you chip a ham?’

Some people’s lack of knowledge astounded me.

‘Slice it so thin you can almost see through it.  It bunches up. You fry it until it’s just slightly burned, add cheddar cheese, burn that a little too, slap it on a bun.’

‘Why would anyone do that?’ he typed. Laughing emoji.

‘Because when you add pickles, mustard, and bell peppers it’s delicious. You should try it.’

Yuck emoji from him.

“He’s missing out on one of life’s simple pleasures,” I said to myself.  I wondered what I might be missing. “Tomorrow I’m going to try something new.”

 

Today I’ll find a new simple pleasure to enjoy.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

Fawlty Showers 2

Grease Fire

“Hey,” the speaker said, “I got one for you. Grease fire, wood fire.”

“I’m listening,” I said.

“You throw a little water on a wood fire and it goes out. Throw water on a grease fire and it spreads.”

“Alcohol is like the water?” I guessed.

He nodded. “My wife has a rough day, drinks a glass of wine, and relaxes.  She’s a wood fire.”

“You have a couple of beers and whatever problems you were having spread.”

“I’m a grease fire,” he said.  

“And the water doesn’t have to be alcohol. It could be anything that’s the wrong way to deal with a problem.”

“Gotta know what kind of fire you’re dealing with, what kind of fire you are.”

 

Today I won’t throw ‘water’ on a ‘grease fire.’

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

 

FAWLTY SHOWERS 2

 

Dogshit and Diamonds

The speaker was a gruff retired marine who’d gone through a rehab that used my workbooks. He recognized me from my picture on the back cover.

“I really liked something you wrote,” he said, shaking my hand.

I beamed as I waited to hear what eloquent pearls of wisdom had touched his heart.

He said, “If you were broke, and you knew there was a big diamond under a pile of dogshit, how many piles would you lift?”

Right. Of all the quotes in all the workbooks, posts, and tweets, this was the one he remembered. And I'd used a more polite term in the workbook. 

I nodded, remembering what that quote was about. “You may have to listen a lot to hear the wisdom you need.”

 

Today I’ll look for the diamond, no matter what it’s under.

 

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

FAWLTY SHOWERS 2

 

Old Dogs

“I wished I’d gotten him sooner,” Epiphany said, bending down to scratch Mojo’s belly.  “I don’t know how much time I’ll have with him.”

“When he goes, will you adopt another old dog, or get a puppy?” I asked.

Epiphany didn’t hesitate. “I’ll get another old dog.” She looked at Talmadge and me and laughed. “I discovered I have a place in my heart for old dogs.”

“And why is that, missy?” Talmadge asked, just a hint of a sneer in his voice.

“Old dogs are low maintenance, high joy.  They don’t demand much, they appreciate what you do for them, which makes you happy.  The world would be a better place if everyone was like an old dog.”

Today I’ll try to be more like an old dog, low maintenance, high joy.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

 Smoking Weed in the Shower

“I like plain donuts because they have less sugar,” I said to Talmadge. “Same reason I drink diet pop.”

Talmadge snorted.

“What’s that expression?” he asked. “’Smoking weed in the shower’?  No candy, no glazed donuts, but three plain ones ‘cause you’re watching your sugar.”

‘Smoking weed in the shower’ described how people fooled themselves, replacing one bad habit with another, not recognizing their addictive personality.

A young man I’d worked with had told me he was done with heroin.  He planned to smoke weed, maybe just on weekends. I warned him someone with an addictive personality might struggle to do anything recreationally.

 He’d drifted into smoking every day, starting in the shower.

Epiphany laughed. “Glad I haven’t replaced my addiction with another one.”

“How many pairs of shoes have you bought since you got sober?” I asked Epiphany.

“Bite him,” she said to Mojo. He wagged his tail and rolled over on his side.

 

Today I won’t ‘smoke weed in the shower.’

 

 Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible

Fawlty Showers 2

Good To See Ya’!

I went to an AA meeting that night. Margaret the Newbie was back from her relapse. I was relieved and happy to see her.

Mojo sat on the floor next to Epiphany. He wagged his tail furiously when he saw me.  

“Good to see you too, buddy,” I said, as I bent down to scratch his ear.

Drunken, self-absorbed Epiphany had annoyed me with her endless chatter. The sober, thoughtful Epiphany who stood up to hug me that night brought a smile to my face.

Talmadge handed me a donut. “I snagged the last plain one for you,” he said. “Though I gotta wonder about someone who likes his donuts without sprinkles, glaze, or icing.”

In a world never short on disagreeable people, it was nice to be surrounded by people I was always glad to see.

 

Today I’ll be grateful for those I’m always glad to see.

 

Fawlty Showers 2 is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

•                     www.greenbriartraining.com  

•                     https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

 

#addictionawareness #dailymessage #inspiration #odaat #recoveryposse #recoveryispossible