Dear Larry! That does sound very aggravating your experience with upgrading your internet connection. At least you knew something about the equipment you were dealing with, unlike me that could never have resolved this. Thanks for sharing your Mardi Gras experience, as I have never been there. I am looking forward to meeting you in Chicago for the conference. I’m so glad you decided to go. I’m back to Recovery 101 and need to take the time to do the things that worked for me in the past to remain gamble free. The past 3 1/2 months have been a stressful time for me, with my MIL being hospitalized November 12, and subsequently dying in December. Then In January, my sister who is an alcoholic, tried to suicide, and after acute care ended up in a locked unit at a mental hospital, and then in rehab thankfully. Then to wait for 3 weeks to see if I had the job I applied for, only to see it go to a way less qualified person who already worked there, felt like a personal rejection which is a huge trigger for me. I wish I could say I didn’t gamble during these stressful times, but I can’t. It is what it is. All I can do is move forward. I was feeling like such a failure at recovery because I wasn’t able to manage without gambling. But I used to gamble almost every day so I have to measure my success in a different manner. I can say that most of my days have been gamble free during my 14 months of recovery. You mention Valentine’s Day. Some of us are married and still have no one to share that day with. My husband was working out of town, and didn’t leave me a card at home. I gave him one to take with him back to work so he would have it on that day. No preorder of flowers, nothing! No little hidden treat at home. It was a bit disappointing, but I have to look at the big picture of the things he does for me, the rest of the time. It would be nice if you could find someone to share your life with, but that’s not easy to do these days, especially when we get older. If I was single at this stage of my life, I wouldn’t know how to do this myself. I wouldn’t be able to know if someone was being kind or was "hitting on me" like my granddaughter calls it. Those internet meeting/dating sites scare me, as I believe that most people lie like crazy on them. Maybe church or a GA meeting might be the place to meet someone of quality. Carole
