1981 started off in Hell and ended up in Heaven . All I have to do is quote from my diary regarding January and it tells most of the story--actually more than I remember.

7th--Got
smashed  8th Drunk after going to the Marlin Beach hotel (some of you
may remember it as the hotel that "Where The Boys Are" was filmed) and
Lefty's 11th  drunk out of my mind  13th Picked up Les while both of us
driving--we went to Jimmy January's and after came to my place--both
smashed  14--Mafia Mike and I went for dinner at The Ark--I drank too
much 16 & 17 Robert, the valet guy, and I spent the days and nights
together drinking, among other things--you get the picture--let's cut to
the morning of the 24th--I woke up with 2, obviously homeless people,
in my bed--my immediate thought was that I hope I didn't have sex with
them--got rid of them--that evening I went to January's again.

I remember very little of the following but here it what it said "Got arrested, totaled car--next day saw lawyer, called auto insurance--will have to wait and see--I STOPPED DRINKING! (For the record I have not had a drink since that day nor will I order
anything cooked in wine or flambeed. IT HAS BEEN 31 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS
SINCE MY LAST DRINK!)

On
February 4 I bought the 1973 CHEVROLET CAPRICE WITH A 454 MOTOR (I had
no idea what that meant--all I knew about a car was to belong to AAA!)
It was a dull maroon color with a very blah inside. I brought it into
The National Top and Glass place on Federal and 6th and 1 week later I
got back the car you see on top of this post. Inside and outside it was
all a bright red except for the top which was black. Terry would take
care of this car for the next 23 years. Every 3 years I would have the
interior and exterior redone until I just couldn't afford it anymore due
to very high insurance rates brought on by a lousy credit rating--yes
it does affect your insurance rates. The first time Terry returned the
car and told me it had been in an accident which the car salesman 
(SURPRISE!) didn't tell me. He suggested a mechanic on State Rd 84 and
between the both of them the car was taken care of for those 23 years. I
felt they were honest, didn'ttake advantage of me. I don't know why but
I still have my records for bills. Over 23 years, including the
repainting, reupholstering every 3 years and the engine rebuilt in 1997 I
spent a total of $42,837--that's less than $2,000 a year and, though I
don't know for sure, sounds pretty good.

I
had stopped drinking, my weight was doing okay, I had a decent job, had
money in the bank and life was okay. I went to see Sammy Davis, Jr. in
concert with Mafia Mike, having dinner at one of my favorite
restaurants, Casa Vecchia, and David, Ronnie's cousin, came down to live
in West Palm and stayed with me for a few days. Emir, Tom Lacey, Albyn
and I went to see Liz Taylor on stage at the Parker Playhouse in "The
Little Foxes" before it went to Broadway. A month after Howard, Wally,
Brad and I went to the Sunrise Musical Theatre to see Liza Minnelli and
Joel Gray. Fuller Brush Bob and I were becoming close friends though I
didn't care much for his lover of 20 some years. He was becoming a
'star' of my Wednesday get togethers but that is a whole other blog!
Teacher Mike and I were going out to eat 2-3 times a week of which most
of those places are closed now.

Life
was going good but we all know something comes along to mess with you
and it did. The Fisherman's Wharf where I was working for over a year
closed. Stories about something called GRID, or the 4 H's, were
filtering down from New York. Still there was Heaven coming up in
November!

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HOW TO SPEAK REPUBLICAN BY PETE KOTZ

" SCIENCE: DISCREDITED FIELD OF STUDY PRACTICED BY SISSIES AT NORTHERN LIBERAL ARTS SCHOOLS THAT SUCK AT FOOTBALL."