I’ve not written much on the blog for months now and a lot has happened since then, which I will update on in due course.
It’s now less than a year until I turn 40.
However, one thing that did happen is that I went back to drinking. Annoyingly I was on like day 97 when it happened.
Not majorly bad, not every day like I used to. I suppose you could say, weekend binge drinking. And, to be quite honest, I was enjoying it. Even my partner didn’t seem to mind too much.
I started the business in March and drinking wasn’t having a detrimental effect. Indeed, I was far less likely to drink more than I could handle because I was aware that I had client meetings.
But, I have now quit again, today is day 1. Why have I made this decision?
On Thursday 1st of December 2022, I was at the Christmas night out of a networking group that I am a member of. It was filled with merriment. Indeed, I even agreed to join an offshoot group which is centred around going to the pub.
It was a great night! We started in the pub, and then went for a meal before heading off to a late night cocktail bar where we danced the night away.
At some point, I was bundled out the door by one of my networking colleagues, who tried to get me into a taxi. I don’t know what happened with that but I was no doubt belligerent in my refusal.
I ended up (I think) chatting to some of the randoms I was chatting to in the bar. I don’t believe I was being an arsehole or anything.
Then, 3 guys came up behind me and hit me over the head with a metal bar or pole.
It seems that I was not at fault. The police have confirmed that they literally just came up behind me and did it, this is based on the CCTV footage.
So, why, then, given that it’s not a drunken scrape I’ve got myself into, has it spurred me on to just quit again.
Well, there are two main reasons:
#1
I’m furious that I’ve not been able to give the police much information – when they are treating it extremely seriously. Now, part of that could be due to the blow to the head, however, I think it’s more likely because I was really, very drunk. This will limit the chance that they’ll catch the fuckers in my view, and will certainly stop me being able to identify them nor give a coherent account in court as to what happened. I can almost feel the cross-examination now. “I put it to you, sir, that you were too drunk to know that it was my client who hit you” – and the barrister would be completely correct. I can now only rely on CCTV footage.
#2
I’d say that, while I didn’t bring this on myself, it is undeniable that I wouldn’t have been in that situation had I not been drinking. I wouldn’t be out at 4am on a Thursday chatting to randoms. I’d have been in bed, asleep, probably for a number of hours by that point in the morning.
So, that frustration I feel is driving me forward. I was very lucky, it could have been an awful lot worse – but it is a fact that in a different scenario, I could have died. I could be one of those men who was killed on a night out by one hit.
Now, I actually decided to stop drinking the morning I got out of hospital. However, I’d forgotten to prepare myself for it and last night, after a choir rehearsal, I was asked “are you coming for a drink?” and my instantaneous, pavlovian reply was “yes”. Work, and preparation, is now required.
So, while I could today be on day 4, I’m actually on day 1. However, this is the end, I’ve signed up again to One Year No Beer, and this time gone the whole hog and bought the full 365 day membership – which I’m pretty sure will be the best early Christmas present I’ll have even bought myself.
640 Days to 40 