With the New Year upon us, my annual abstinence program begins. I am going to go the whole month of January without alcohol I started this in 2005 to give my liver a break. So far so good, as my physical last summer indicated my liver was in fine shape. I would like to extend it past January this year, but am making no promises.
The first year I attempted this, I was apprehensive as to what I would discover about myself. It had been 7 years since I had last gone so much as 2 days without drinking and I was leery about my ability to withstand a prolonged interval of temperance.
What I found out was that I had developed a psychological (or even emotional) dependency to drinking. I found that I had a window of vulnerability for not drinking and that window was roughly around 5:30 to 8:30 PM. This is the time I get off work and would generally head off a favorite bar/restaurant. Going home was not as much fun as going to a bar. After 8:30 or so, any thought of having a drink was gone until 5:30 the next day.
So today is the first day back on the wagon. In addition to not drinking, I have decided to start dining at home most every evening too. I spend(t) ~$1500 per month (at least) in food and drink out on the town as an entertainment expense.
In honor of my savings this month, I went out and bought an iPod Touch. I consider this the only real present I got this year (besides the grill light Chris gave me.) So this was my gift to myself. After I got home, I went out to the Newsgroups and downloaded Amy Winehouse's Back to Black album onto the Touch. First song I heard was "Rehab". Coincidence?
