How I Cleaned Up

How I cleaned up my act: I stopped drinking because I fuck it up every time. Maybe not the night I go out, but once I start I pick right up where I left off. Let me share my research with you:

I spent most of my life from 13-28 doing the harder drugs, but after an arrest the month I was graduating my MA program at a state University; I decided to switch to alcohol. At first I thought “what have I been wasting my life on drugs for, this is legal and cheap.”

I had about a decade of good times getting drunk every night and passing out. At some point near the end of that first decade I began to have debilitating tendinitis, and my hands began shaking. I had to quit my job as a bartender, and ironically switched to being a prep cook which involved lots of knife work. Always the optimist I thought it was my nerves as I had anxiety anyway.

As my drinking continued, I switched into restaurant management around 31 as first a general manager and later a district manager. I worked for a mid size pizza chain running 9 stores during the pandemic. As the stress and pressure built up at some point I started just drinking all day. I would wake up with these awful hangovers that only seemed better when I started drinking again. At first just a little, but before I knew it I was drinking all day every day until I passed out. I was still working 48-60 hour weeks and driving non-stop between locations.

At this point you might be wondering when I was going to kill someone with my recklessness. However, as luck would have it, I was working on myself as the victim. This was kind of on brand for me too. I started feeling sicker and weaker as time went on. I became a diabetic, my weight ballooned from an already too much 199 to 300 pounds in a couple years. I tried to quit drinking and noticed after a few hours I would be shaking and having trouble walking or talking. If I went longer I would start throwing up and hallucinating.

This was around the first time I went to the hospital to get help. They were very helpful the first time, I came in and gave them my symptoms. After triage they decided I needed to be put in ICU for a week because my heart could not maintain my blood pressure. I also had pancreatitis, but the best part was the catheter. Upon my release after two and a half weeks I was eager to begin my new life as a sober person. I made it a month and decided I would have a drink. I spent 7 times going to various hospitals and they were never as kind and helpful as the first time. I was told I was a waste of a bed, and could hear them complain about another drunk in between hallucinations.

Then came what should have been my last hurrah, I had called off work and drank for two days straight. My girlfriend went to work and left me home, but she called to check on me. When I didn’t answer, which to be fair happened a lot, she got concerned and came home. She found me naked and unresponsive on the floor in the bedroom. The hospital put my BAC at 45.6%, but somehow my dumb luck kept me alive. I went to rehab and spent over a month there after my two week hospital stay.

Maybe this should have been the end, but I spent all of 2023 relapsing and going to 28 day rehab. Did 3 stints, if you want to know first thing they do when you get there is strip you naked and have you lift your sack squat and cough. So it isn’t fun, but they tried (at the ones I went to) to make it therapeutic and as unlike prison as possible. Before my third stint I hiked down to the Kanawha River on a cold night drunk out of mind with full intentions on jumping in. It was at flood stage at the time, so you probably know where my train of thought was that night. That time when I went to the ER they told me they wouldn’t help me as I had no insurance because I was newly unemployed and didn’t have Medicaide. The doctor told my fiance and I that they were sending me home, but I shouldn’t quit drinking or I would die from a seizure.

Now the good news, I spent all of 2024 the end of 2023, and so far this year sober. I am happy 90% of the time and that other 10% I’m still happier than before. Life isn’t perfect, but if you don’t live it with a clear mind the choices get made for you. My problem was that I was negative and had a victim mindset, when I started being proactive with my life instead of just letting it happen to me things began to click. I blog on my website about my journey if anyone is interested. link in my bio.

I wish you luck in your journey and hope you find the peace and happiness you seek!

As always, thank you for Riding With Me!

Recorded: 2/21/2025

Visibility: Partly Sunny / Snow

Destinations in chronological order:

South Charleston, WV: B-5:51, 30:15-52:35, 1:24:23-1:33:09, 2:12:00-2:23:34, 2:33:36-E

Thomas Hospital Rear Entrance, US60/MacCorkle Avenue, I64, Chesapeake Street, Kanawha Turnpike, WV601/Jefferson Road, US119/Corridor G, Southridge, Riverwalk Plaza, Dunbar Toll Bridge

Dunbar, WV: 5:51-9:01, 2:23:34-2:33:36

I64, WV25/Fairlawn Avenue, West Virginia State University, WV25/10th Street, Dunbar Toll Bridge

Cross Lanes, WV: 9:01-10:38

I64

Nitro, WV: 10:38-22:10

I64, WV25/1st Avenue, Center Street/3rd Street

Saint Albans, WV: 22:10-30:15

3^rd Street/Center Street, US60/MacCorkle Avenue

Alum Creek, WV: 52:35-1:00:24, 1:12:52-1:24:23

US119/Corridor G, WV214/Yeager Highway/Midway Road

Sod, WV: 1:00:24-1:12:52

WV214/Midway Road

Charleston, WV: 1:33:09-2:12:00

US119/Corridor G, I64, US119/Pennsylvania Avenue, Lee Street, Charleston Town Center, Court Street, Piedmont Road, Slack Street, Hinton Terrace, Sunset Avenue, Spring Hill Cemetery, Renaissance Circle/Vista View, Triangle District, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Joseph Street, Mary Street, US60/Washington Street/Washington Street West, Patrick Street, 7^th Avenue, Iowa Street, Patrick Street Plaza, US60/Patrick Street Bridge, US60/WV61/MacCorkle Avenue

https://noggy.org – my website

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570980376051 – my Facebook

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt53MMb1R6eOf49jw7LQkPw – my YouTube

https://venmo.com/noggynet – my Venmo

My dash-cam is slowly dying so I am trying to raise $120 to get a new one with extra delivery work. If you got any value out of this video please consider donating to make future videos possible 🙂