The week is finally starting to come
into focus. Thanks in part to a lot of caffeine. And people being patient with
me as well as working with me. Along with talking me through things. I can be
difficult to work with when my focus is off I know. And I appreciate everyone’s
patients with me. I’m enjoying this term immensely and finding new ways every
day to be more productive in it. And I thank everyone involved for their help
with that.
But today I wanted to take a look
back at my sanctuary for so many years known as Amistad. It was so much
different when I walked in through the doors 16 years ago than it is today. And
yes I know I am dating myself with that number. My friend Mark knew I was in a
slump so he came by early one morning around 8 and dragged my butt out of the
house. He took me to what I now know as Amistad and had me help out cleaning
that morning.
Since back then it was a privilege
to be allowed in early, none of this you earned a lunch ticket stuff for
helping clean like now. He got me signed up as a member since back then you had
to be a member to be there and you had to have a mental illness to be a member.
He took me around introducing me to the staff and various older members before
leaving me to my own devices. I first went to the computer room and logged in
time there. First checking email and various sites I had been a member of
before being introduced to chat rooms by another member.
I was off and running with that
meeting people from all over. It was on one site for chat that a friend
recommended that I met my soon to be ex-wife. But I found that was my place
there mainly in the early days. Though I eventually fell into playing Magic:
The Gathering with a few people there. And Mark would normally drag me off with
him in the afternoon as well. But it was fairly peaceful there most days.
And the food was great back then. It
has since gone downhill since the best cook we had left. But even back then the
food was decent still and more variety in my opinion. Plus, you had coffee for
longer hours. There were always activities and it took me a long time to get
involved in them. Though I think I would have gotten involved in the activities
eventually anyways. But I did get involved in the running of the club fairly
early on in my membership.
I was part of the Peer Review
Committee for a while. It is a disciplinary committee for when someone breaks
the rules. Though it has become a shell of its former self. I think if I ever
got the money together I would restart Amistad the way it was intended to be
and make sure they always had enough money. Though it would take a lot of money
now to do that. We had just started to bring in younger members when the state
ordered us to let in the homeless with no requirement for having a mental
illness at all.
But I already ranted about that last
week and won’t get into that again here today. So for now feel free to leave
your questions and comments below. And if you want my posts to appear in your
inbox enter your email address in the box below where it
says follow by email. As for me I am off to do more school work. *Tips his hat
and walks out the door heading back to the study. *
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