It's been a while

[r1v3th3ad]

I got Tangiers Orange Soda in my mya econo gelato (not using my Km OG trimetal oxidized because it's tough getting in and out of my tent with) and thought it's time to check in on my favorite old stomping grounds. 

 

I was reading some posts and it's a walk down memory lane. My memory isn't the best for old friends, due to past traumas, meds, and being a burnout. But remembering so many and wishing this community was still active. I have a handful of you on Facebook and wouldn't mind having more on my list...but be warned, my posts are mostly left wing politics(I went from Libertarian with the Ron Paul Revolution, to Democratic Socialist with good ol' Bernie Sanders) and we'll say the green things in life that make you giggle(was in an accident in 2012 that left me with dehabilitating pain and unable to work for 8 years or so. Green got my pain under control that I could work again and later allowed me to stop taking benzodiazepines for generalized anxiety disorder and panic attack disorder after 16 years or so of relying on them)(give me a temp ban if you want for breaking anti-green rule, but my family here should know what I've been through and how my life changed). 

 

I still smoke hookah daily. At home I either use my km og trimetal oxidized or my mya econo gelato. At the cabin on the weekends I use my km king tut(of 3ft one that is practically a km exotica with king tut stuffed in there)(I'd love to sell this hookah, comes with a Syrian trumpet bell vase, I want a tiny km to replace it). During the winter I have an ice fishing tent that can sit two(but a pinch cramped that way, but my gf and I make it work) that I smoke hookah in because I can't smoke hookah in the house. It's cozy, I have space heaters and keep it between 50°f-70°f depending on how cold it is outside...the other night it was 12°f and I was struggling to keep the tent 50°f. 

I still pretty much only smoke Tangiers. Damn, I'm in shock, I just found out in the last year that Eric owner/founder of Tangiers, and beloved friend to many of us here and former mod, has passed away. It really saddens me. We talked a lot over the years, he even helped me thru a nasty mental breakdown. I wanted to reach out to him after a bad series of mental breakdowns in 2020 over COVID + being addicted to Clash of Kings(when I stopped playing, I was in third place in the entire game for amount of hours spent online playing out of millions and millions of accounts, it was like how people get with WoW)).  When I learned of his death. I still have moments he gave me over the years. Anyone remember when he made the custom wood mouth tipsand hose port pieces to hoses? He put them out in vacuum sealed bags with a card certifying authenticity and what number set it was out of the total collection. All had a number. Mine has no number! I don't know if I'll ever open it but I really wanna use it.

 

Ya, so I've had a tough decade, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Finally properly diagnosed (Bipolar 1, G.A.D., Panic Attack Disorder, OCD, and hypertension) and doing great. Honestly best I've been mentally since before my first psych episode in 2006. I'm no longer living manic and impulsively, so less shenanigans from me like the trouble I was always in when we were thriving here. It's nice not living in constant ups and downs and having poor impulse control. I don't go on bipolar shopping sprees anymore, last time I did that I dropped over a grand on Clash of Kings in 3 months. I'm no longer having 5+ panic attacks a day, instead I'm getting a few a year, thanks to getting away from being prescribed Xanax/klonopin and getting prescribed mmj. 

I work about 35 hours a week as my 92-year-old invalid(I hate the term but it's what she told me she is considered medically) grandmother's caregiver. I wouldn't trade my job for the world, but I wish I didn't have to rely on welfare with making $8 an hour(dammit I have a college degree and was a contractor 12years and I'm making 8/hr 😟). She helped me thru my last breakdown just by me being there taking care of her everyday and talking. It probably would have taken me an extra 6mo-1yr in my recovery if it wasn't for her helping pull me back to reality. 

Let's see, what else...I "built" a cabin, that is my mancave, starting around early 2012. It was a dilapidated cabin that hadn't been used in 40 years or so. The roof had caved in at least 20 years ago and the inside was in deplorable condition as well as the outside. We (my family and I)  gutted it and hired a contractor to do the exterior. We got it insulated and new siding on, new windows, new roof, and a door, and one of the windows is a 9-ft x 6 ft picture window overlooking the bend in the correct behind my cabin. Me and my uncle did all the electrical for the cabin, my mom and I built the walls on the inside making bedrooms and a kitchen and a biiiiiig living room. I sealed the outer walls with roofing caulk anywhere there was a crack before putting in insulation and particle board and sealing the particle board. Then I put naughty pine up throughout the entire cabin with sanded blonde quarter inch plywood for ceilings with furring strips over the seams. I love this place and I brag about it all the time, I put a lot of blood and sweat into it and my life savings as I became disabled. I probably spend around 16 to 20,000 total on it, but with labor and everything else, if my place were to burn down tomorrow and insurance paid to build a replica of it it would probably cost 60 to 80k to do, with hiring others to do all the labor. I host all the family cookouts now, but I sit back and smoke hookah while they cook lol.  But ya, this is my safe space, if I'm in a bad headspace I go there. 

I had more I typed and I forget what I said, my phone messed up and deleted it while I was proofreading the post for typos.

But yeah I really miss this place. I'd love to see it active again here and if something came up that we can get all the old regulars active in here and running again, I be willing to volunteer to help run the place again. I'd be less fun because I'm properly medicated LOL, but I think it would be awesome.

 

I'm going to try to check in every so often to see if anyone comments on this. I'm hoping to see some of my old friends on here. If any of you old friends /family want to be Facebook friends just reach out. 

-Much Love,

Pat / Rivethead