It went well yesterday. The people at the club were very nice and approachable. I wasn't immediately wowed by the experience, but I was fairly comfortable, I could tell that it was a place where people cared about each other, and I got the impression it would grow on me.

Members work in the kitchen, maintenance, or business departments. Everyone's expected to chip in to some extent, but they understand some people have limitations. They recommend new members have a four day orientation period (I already had the day 1 tour) to see which unit they're interested in working in. I will have to break this up because I wouldn't be able to commit to going 4 days in a row… way too much for me. I was encouraged to make my next visit in time for the morning meeting at 9am to see how a normal day starts.

Most days they open at 8 and close at 4. They are open until 7 two days a week. Some people spend the whole day there. I would probably only be able to manage a couple of hours once or twice a week. Right now I'm probably only going to go once a week because of the cab fare. The pick up time is too early and drop off time too late for me to take the van, and when I start reaching my limit I just have to leave. It will be easier to participate when I can come and go at will. It's very close to home.

People are working, but there is a lot of socializing going on at the same time. I had coffee and a cigarette with a couple of members…. that's right up my alley. They also serve meals at the club. I know a regular sized lunch is $1.75 and a large is $2. I saw the salads… they look really good!

Pdoc has to fill out a referral for me. I'm going to mail it to her and have her fax it to the club's office. It will get to the club faster that way since I don't see her until the 28th. I guess I can keep going to the club in the meantime.

It was a positive experience.


I have my final appointment with my substance abuse counselor tomorrow
I think she's going to be very happy I went to check out the club yesterday.
She has put a lot of emphasis on the importance of a "sober support system." I think she'll be particularly happy that I have found a place to support people with mental health problems.

And I spoke to my case manager at drunk.org yesterday and she said she will "complete my file" once my counselor sends in the final paperwork and I send in a $60 money order for "monitoring fees" (2 phone calls). I'll send them the money order tomorrow on my way back from my appointment.

I'm going to call my GYN's office once it opens to follow up on the results of my PAP smear. She said they always call with bad news, but that hasn't proved true in the past…. Every bit of ****** news has been a result of a report I received in the mail or a follow up to a phone call I made myself. I've been trying to ignore the issue but it keeps popping up to aggravate my anxiety.