Novella

 

Do The Next Right Thing

When I got to work the next day, my code didn’t work on the front entrance.  I went to a side door. My code worked, but the back door to the office suite was locked and I didn’t have that key.

I called building maintenance. They would try to send someone out.

Two hours later I walked into my office.  I looked at my list of deadlines and 2Do’s, and cursed.  

“I am so behind,” I said to my laptop.  

My laptop made a little whirring noise, its way of sighing.

I started worrying about how much I couldn’t get done, but stopped myself.

“Do the Next Right Thing,” I said, quoting an AA slogan.  I didn’t get everything done, but a little of my anxiety melted away with each thing I did.

 

Today I will Do the Next Right Thing.

 

Novella 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

 

Stanley

“How’s that hot wife of yours?” Stanley asked.  “She ever ask about me?”

I laughed. “Never.  Not once. I think you’re in her ‘met you, forget you’ file.”

“Well, does she smile when she sees you?” 

“Sure, why?”

“Then she’s probably seeing you, but fantasizing that it’s me.”

“A 90 year old toothpick in a velour track suit right out of the 70s. You’re every woman’s dream,” I said, smiling. Stanley laughed.

He paused for a moment, then in a serious tone asked, “How you two doin’? You taking care of yourselves? You’re not my age, but you aren’t getting any younger.”

For all his bluster and sarcasm, Stanley was one of those people looking out for other people.  We need more Stanleys, I thought.

 

Today I’ll be grateful for people looking out for other people.

 

Fawlty Showers II 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

•             https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

Fawlty Showers

Whatever Works

Talmadge and Stanley were sitting in the back when I got to the AA meeting that night.  They reminded me of the two old guys in the balcony on the Muppet Show. 

Stanley had retired early from the steel mills, just before they closed. He worked a variety of jobs until social security kicked in. After that he worked under the table into his mid-70s.

Talmadge had been a CPA. He retired on his 67^th birthday, clocking out at 12:17 p.m., precisely the time he was born. 

They met fishing from shore, yelling snarky comments at boaters slowing down in the no wake zone.  Soon they were meeting every Saturday, sharing a cooler of beer, feeding the sandwiches Talmadge’s wife had made to the ducks.

Sometimes the Universe is in sync. Both developed health problems and struggled to quit. Talmadge went to AA first and convinced his friend Stanley to try it.

They were an odd pair, the chubby, black, retired executive and the pale, rail thin, former steelworker. Fishing, drinking, and sarcasm had brought them together, but recovery had cemented their friendship.

“Whatever works,” I said to myself.

 

Today I’ll be grateful for whatever binds us together.

 

Fawlty Showers II 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

•             https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/
 

Fawlty Showers 2

Admitted

“The second word in the first step is admitted,” I said. “I tell people admitting without committing is just shitting yourself.”  Silence. “C’mon, it rhymes!” Eye rolls.

“Okay,” I continued. “Saying you have a problem is technically admitting, but to show you accept your situation you have to commit to change. Examples?”

“You admit you’re an alcoholic and get all the booze out of your house,” a guy named Roger said shaking his head. “Oh, the top-shelf stuff my wife poured down the drain.  I could cry.”

“You admit it’s time to commit. So you sell your motorcycles, put a down payment on a house, propose, and go to rehab when you find out your girlfriend is pregnant,” a young man said.

“You admit you need more exercise,” a thirty-something woman said. “So you adopt a big dog that will shred your couch if he isn’t walked three times a day.”

 

Today I will admit I need to change by committing to that change.

 

Fawlty Showers II 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

•             https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 

Fawlty Showers II 

We

I stayed retired for two months. Randy called and asked if I could do run some groups on a part-time basis.  In three months I was working half-days. Complete retirement had left me restless, never a good thing for someone in recovery.

My first half-day back I led a group on Twelve Step recovery.

I said, “The first word of the first step is ‘we.’  You replace the we – the people, places, and things – of addiction with something better, the ‘we’ of your recovery.”  Anybody think of ways replacing one ‘we’ for another applies to your life?”

“If you feel empty, you better find something other than booze to fill your life,” an older guy said, staring at his shoes. His wife had left him years ago and his kids were moving away.

“Exactly,” I said. “How about other aspects of your life?”

“If you develop diabetes, and you want to eat healthy, you better learn some new recipes,” a woman added.

“If you want to get in shape, you ought to try different kinds of exercise until you find one you like.”

“Women are like buses,” a middle-aged man said, “If one leaves you on the curb, you just catch the next one.”  I made a note to meet with him individually.

Today I will find a healthier ‘we’.

  

Fawlty Showers II 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

•             https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 Fawlty Showers

Hoping All The Dads Have A Happy Fathers Day! 

(M.A.'s father was a bit of a weasel, but that's another story...)

 Fawlty Showers

Too Soon?

On my last day of work a young man knocked on my door. He was thinking of leaving the rehab.

“You’re here,” I said. “You’ve taken the first step. Why would you want to go back?”

“I don’t know,” he said, “is it too soon? I’m only twenty.”

“Tell me why you came here.”

His life was a mess. His parents were raising his four-year-old son. The child’s mother had died of an overdose. He’d spent two years in the college dorms running up his student loans and selling drugs. His attorney was trying to plea down to a misdemeanor, but he was likely to end up convicted of a felony.

“It’s never too soon,” I said.  “It’s not so much change gets harder later on, it’s just there’s more of mess to clean up, less time to enjoy having your house in order.”

 

Today is not too soon to make a change.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

•             https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

Fawlty Showers

It’s Never Too Late

Dana finished her degree. Randy hired her the next day.

“I thought I was a little old to be starting a new career,” Dana said. “I’m glad now I made the switch.”

“You were what, fifty-five, fifty-six, when you started your internship?” I suggested.

Dana punched me and said, “I was forty-two!”

Katy said, “My brother joined the military thinking that was going to be his lifelong career.  He got out in twenty and opened a restaurant. He loves it.”

“My uncle lost his wife when he was forty, remarried at eighty, and died at ninety,” Randy said.  “Claimed the last ten years of his life were the happiest.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Dana said.

Katy put her hand over her heart and smiled. “Touching.”

“Well, he was really rich and  his second wife was 18 when they met,” Randy said. “We don’t know that she poisoned him, but...”

I laughed until coffee came out of my nose.  “Seriously though, you see people all the time getting sober later in life,” I said. “Never met one who regretted it.”

 

Today is not too late to make a change.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

•             https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 

 Fawlty Showers

Out of Sight…

Just then Cuddles showed up, a semi-dead mouse in his mouth. He dropped it at Dana’s feet. The mouse dragged itself away, hiding under the vending machine as Dana, Cuddles, and I watched.

“We really should do something about that mouse,” Dana said. “It might die under there. The whole break room will smell.”

“Good point,” I said. Neither of us moved. Cuddles strolled away, no doubt pleased with himself.

“Stupid cat.”

We finished our lunches. The mouse was out of sight, but likely dying under the vending machine.

“Sometimes the elephant isn’t in the room, he’s hiding in the basement,” I said.

Dana knew what I meant, “It’s easy to ignore hidden problems until something dies, like a business or a relationship. My father literally drank in the basement. My mother ignored it until he died of liver failure.”

I sighed. “Let’s get the mouse.”

“Stupid cat,” Dana said again.

 

Today I won’t ignore the hidden problems.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 Fawlty Showers

Like Sunday Morning

I volunteered to take MA to the vet the next day. My hands and wrists were already shredded, I figured a scratch or two more couldn’t hurt.

The ferret sniffed around the carrier. To my amazement, he walked in and curled up on the towel.

At the vet’s he happily explored the examination room until the doc came in.  The exam was a breeze.

So much in life is hard, often harder than we imagined it would be. I made a list of things that were wonderful and easy. A baby sleeping on your shoulder. A good book or movie. That rare DIY project that turned out just like the YouTube video, with no trips to the ER.

The list went on and on.

 

Today I’ll be grateful for the easy things in life.

Fawlty Showers 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

·         https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 Fawlty Showers

Now or Later

Cuddles fought the vet tooth and claw throughout the whole procedure. When I put him back in the carrier, he gave me a deep wound on my left wrist to match the one he’d given me earlier on my right.

When I got back to Fawlty Showers, Katy saw my bloody hands and told me to sit down in the chair in front of  her desk.

“I’ll get the first aid kit,” she said.

“They’re just scratches,” I said. “I’ll be fine.” Blood dripped from one of the deeper cuts.

“Take care of them now, and you’ll be fine. Let them go, and they might get infected.”

I didn’t think that was likely, but she had a point. Better to take care of a potential problem now than an actual problem later.

Today I’ll deal with potential problems before they become actual problems.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

·         https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 Fawlty Showers

Help

Katy got the carrier out of the closet. I called Dana on the intercom at Katy’s desk.

“Katy has a job for you,” I said. “Part of your internship.”

Katy grabbed her phone and said, “Ignore him, he’s being a coward.”

Cuddles was sleeping on a chair in my office when I crept in with the carrier.

He woke, saw the carrier, and immediately began to hiss and spit. I shut the door behind me.

I tried to reason with the cat, pointing out it was just an exam.  He needed to get a clean bill of health to stay at the rehab.  Cuddles wasn’t having it.

Sometimes people try to hurt you as you try to help them. Your family member storms out of the intervention telling everyone to go to hell. A friend explodes as you tell her the new boyfriend is shady. A mom screams at you from the stands any time you redirect her little LeBron wannabe.

“You try to help, even if your help isn’t appreciated,” I said to Cuddles.  I never got the blood stains out of my shirt.

Today I’ll try to help, even if that help might be rejected.

 

 Fawlty Showers 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

·         https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

Fawlty Showers

A Trip to the Vet

“You have to take Cuddles and MA to the vet,” Katy said as I walked into work the next day.

“I’d rather get a root canal,” I said. “From a drunk dentist with no Novocain.”

“Randy is taking an inventory of the whole program before the county review. We have to show they’re healthy and not a threat to our patients.”

I hated reviews, but always liked AA’s recommendation of taking a daily inventory. It kept you from drifting into bad habits. Gave you reasons to be grateful. Showed you what you needed to eliminate or improve. Reminded you of what you’d survived.

“I’ll take them to the vet, but I’m going to need some chloroform, a Taser, and leather gloves.”

 

Today I’ll take a daily inventory.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/ 

 Fawlty Showers

A Day’s Worth

‘How many days have you been sober?’ the tweet asked.

It’s fun to count your days I thought, but more important to look at how well you did what you needed to do.

Early in recovery there were days when all I could do was hang on. Sometimes it seemed like I wasn’t accomplishing much. I was like someone shouldering grief, not giving themselves credit for doing what had to be done until better days came along.

The weekend before I’d started to sink into the couch, where I’d spend more time picking a movie than watching one. I got up, went to the gym, and afterward fished a stream, making the most of my down time.

I had promised Dr. Deb I’d do some yardwork while she was away. Instead of just cutting the grass, I planted flowers, edged, and put up a new bird feeder. Her smile told me I’d gotten the most out of my day.

Today I’ll compare what I did with how well I did it.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 Fawlty Showers

Live in the Present, But…

That night I dreamt I was back at Pitt, working on a Ph.D. I’d pay for but never get because I was too drunk to study for comprehensive exams. I woke up feeling a little sick, but grateful for the reminder of one reason I got sober.

My friend married a snake. He seemed like a saint until he drove off in her car, leaving behind a mountain of credit card debt. She discovered he’d fathered at least one child with another woman while they were together. She started dating again, but kept her wedding ring to remind herself not to be too trusting.  

A guy I knew broke his wrist and fractured his skull riding his bike without a helmet.  He had the odd habit of circling the scar on his forearm in ink when he biked to remind himself to be careful.

 

Today I won’t live in the past, but I will remember my mistakes.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 

Fawlty Showers

Dumb Deer

Katy transferred a call to my office.

“I drank again,” a familiar voice said.  “After a business lunch. The waitress asked we wanted anything else. The other guys ordered beers and I froze.”

“Remember me telling you about the deer?” I asked, knowing I’d have to be a little harsher with him than I would be with most people.

He quoted me. “Smart deer cross roads as quickly as they can, sensing the danger.  Dumb deer take their time. When they see the headlights, it’s too late. They freeze.”

“And anybody who lingers near something he should avoid  ‘cause it might kill him is dumber than the dumbest deer.”

“Oh, so you’re saying I’m no smarter than roadkill?”

“If you were a deer your nickname would be ‘Hood Ornament’.”

 

Today I’ll prove I’m smarter than roadkill.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

Fawlty Showers

What Doesn’t Kill Me

“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” Katy said.

I winced. “I’ve always believed that saying is only half true. What doesn’t kill me could strengthen or weaken me, depending on what I do next.”

“Oh, how so?”

“Last time I had a drink, I crashed into a county sheriff. My life was a mess. It strengthened my determination to stop drinking. I haven’t had a drink since.”

“So it did make you stronger.”

“Yes, but If I went out and had one beer, I’d know I should get right back on the wagon. Instead, I might say to myself, ‘well that didn’t kill me.’ It would weaken my commitment to sobriety, make it easier to pick up the next beer or three.”

 Katy nodded, “It’s all about what you do after something doesn’t kill you.”

 

Today I’ll remember it’s all about what you do after something doesn’t kill you.

 

Fawlty Showers 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

·         https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

 

 Fawlty Showers

Let It @#$@ Go

The next day I sat down to right my blog. I wrote, rewrote, deleted what I’d written, and wrote some more. Time passed. I had a training that morning. People were coming soon.

I cursed my laptop. I spilled my coffee and cursed the cup.  “#$#%@#%%” I cursed my high school English teacher, and all three of the Pitt professors whose writing classes I’d taken. “May you rot in a hell of editing grade school essays.”

When I was a child I’d been told my guardian angel shed a tear every time I swore.  “Cry my a river,”  I muttered.

In the end I realized what I had written was good, but not perfect. “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” I said out loud.  “Do your best and let it go.”

I let it go, published my blog, and felt a wave of relief wash over me.

Today I will do my best and let it go.

Fawlty Showers 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

·         https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/