34 Days Completed & What I have Learned

Wow, it has been a long 34 days.  Someone told me before this all happened, to not believe those that said house arrest would be a piece of cake.  It's not!

It does help to get out the house more now that I have a PT job but I never realized how lonely this experience would be.  I am such a people person that when I am home I feel like I am trapped from the world (especially when I can't go outside).  Yes, I keep in touch with people via FB and other avenues but it's the personal connection that I really miss.  Just hanging out with a bunch of friends on a whim shooting darts or playing Wii, for example.  I miss not being able to go away at the spur of the moment for the weekend or even out for the night.

So I try to be outside as much as possible and as a result I am meeting a lot of my neighbors or getting to know them better than before.  I am not embarrassed to let them know I am on house arrest.  I have wonderful neighbors, they always ask me if I need anything when they head out to the store.  This is a true blessing.

The past two Saturdays I had my required Alcohol Safety classes.  I was surprised at how interesting it was and how much I learned.  For example;

• The one hour rule in between drinks is not accurate.  It's really two hours in between servings. 
• What is a serving?  A serving is a 12oz. bottle of beer (not a pint), and wine is 4 ounces.  Most restaurants pour a lot more than that into a glass.  In the past if I got a 4oz. glass of wine, I would have sent it back because it would look like a taster to me.
• The food rule - It doesn't matter how much or what you eat before or while drinking.  I always thought that bread or carbs would slow you down from getting drunk but since alcohol seeps through your stomach and is not digested it doesn't matter.
• Benzodiazepam's, even if Prescribed are illegal to be in your system (it's a certain nanogram level) and will result in a DUI even if you haven't been drinking.  This is a big lesson for me since I have been taking benzo's like Klonopin or Valium on a daily basis for numerous years.  

I think the most important lesson I walked away with is to always have a plan and a back up plan.  If I am going to be consuming alcohol and not get another DUI, I CAN NOT DRIVE!  How many times have I driven to the bar, had a few, and then drove home or to a friends house?  Many a times!  However, I can also say that there have been times when I have left my car at the bar and either walked to a friends or got a ride home from the bartender or another sober person.  This has happened, but not as much as it should have.

I know that I can not risk a third DUI.