>I have a new mantra: not going to drink today. I can't control tomorrow, and I certainly can't control yesterday, but I can control today. With help.

And tomorrow it will be a tad easier - because you only have to repeat what you did (not do) the day before. Just like I couldn't believe I could quit smoking so easily, on a whim. (the whim was "now I'm really pis*ed off at the way they mistreat smokers in this country, that's a fuc*ing apartheid - I'm not going to give them the fuc*ing pleasure anymore")

I can't give you much advice on your particular problem, because what relatives and inlaws I had who drank, are all dead now. My parents thought I'd go their way, because I did have a pull in my time, but then I was really only a social drinker. Once the kids came, we soon stopped going out and generally lost interest in the stuff. I still have some of dad's moonshine that we brought from home (whoever was traveling always brought some), and it's really a chore to dust the bottles every few months, so we mostly just don't touch them.

Just glad you're back, buddy - now just do this little bit of the staying thing, OK?