No Alcohol April - Rules and Guidance

[lawrocket 3]

Kelly apparently took me seriously on my "No Alcohol April" idea. I find this to be nice and admirable of her. She appears to be serious. Well, I am VERY serious about it.

I personally would like to see a bunch of people participate. It is good for some of us who want to do it because we want to try it ourselves. It's even better for some of us who want to do it to be there to support others in their quest. Honestly, you'll be amazed at how hard it is to do this, and looking back, you'll hopefully be amazed at how easy it was.

It's a chance for all of us to do something good for ourselves and others. Think of: 1) the money we save not purchasing alcohol; 2) the weight we may lose by eliminating a few hundred or thousand calories per week (some of us can expect to lose in excess of 5 or 10 pounds); 3) the self-awareness of our capabilities once we set our minds to it; and 4) the kudos from all for being a good designated driver for a while.

So, anyone who wants to participate, chime in. Those who want to laugh about it, go ahead. It's not all serious - some of it is in good fun, and we may have a good time with it. There will be laughs and enjoyment at all of our expenses.

Regardless of whether anyone else does this, I'm doing it. I'd encourage anyone to try.

So, let me lay down the rules and guidelines.

1. Duration
We start at 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 1, 2006 (this leaves Friday night for those of us to say goodbye). It ends at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 30. During this period of time, participants will drink no alcoholic beverages, subject to the qualifications listed below relating to "Special Dispensation."

2. Penalties for Non-Compliance
In the event a participant consumes an alcoholic beverage without Special Dispensation during the period of time covered, the No-Alcohol period will have five days tacked onto it, meaning that if I have a drink on April 15 without Special Dispensation, but no drinks otherwise, my No-Alcohol period will extend to May 1 - May 5, 2006 (yep, no drinks on Cinqo to Mayo). This penalty applies "per day," meaning the penalty is the same with one drink on a day as it would be for a binge.

3. Easter Sunday - Automatic Special Dispensation - Easter is April 16. Some may want to participate in the Sacrament. Others may have a traditional gathering of family wherein wine is a festive centerpiece of the meal. Therefore, April 16, 2006 - Easter Sunday - will by this rule have "Special Dispensation" and not be considered for purposes of this test.

4. Discretionary "Special Dispensation" - there may be some circumstances where the drinking of alcohol may be understandable in the context of events. For example, "Grandma is really sick." Or, "My best friend's bachelor party is April 22." For that, you may seek PRIOR permission for the day to have, "Special Dispensation." It must be granted prior to your consumption, not after.

I have asked a moderator to assist us with being the sole arbiter of whether "Special Dispensation" will be granted. Since the Pope Catholics to eat meat on St. Patrick's Day via "Special Dispensation" this arbiter will be titled "The Pope."

5. Symama is "The Pope" - All requests for Special Dispensation will be made to Skymama via a post on this forum. While others may comment and make suggestions as to whether Special Dispensation should be granted for the stated reason, Skymama has exclusive and continuing authority to make the decisions as to the granting of the request. There is no preset limit to the number of requests that she may grant. She does not have to grant any requests. It is up to her.

If she denies your request, suck it up, cupcake. If drinking is THAT important to you, sacrifice five days later and have a drink, anyway. Your choice.

6. Special Dispensation for One is Special Dispensation for All - to avoid a bureacratic mess, "Special Dispensation" for one is a "Special Dispensation" for all. This means that if I ask for Special Dispensation for a day, and this request is granted, all participants have "Special Dispensation" for that day. If it has been granted, then there is no need for another participant to ask for it because he woke up in the morning and discvered a hangnail on his middle finger.

7. Tacking on of Special Dispensation Days - if you did not drink on a day when Special Dispensation was granted, you cannot bank it for use at a later date. You've lost it, which is actually fine if you think about the purpose of this exercise.

8. Honor System - due to the nature of this, the honor system applies. I'm a lawyer, and even I will stick to it. Trust me, it'll be harder for me than anyone else here. If I can do it, so can you.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[wildcard451 0]

I may just do this.

[lisamariewillbe 1]

yea right.... is this your pre-April fools day joke?

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[GARYC24 3]

Count me in !
1 month will go by really quick!

[SpeedRacer 1]

I would think that the teeny baby-sip of wine you get at church services should hardly qualify as a violation.

anyway good luck with this. I'm considering participating mainly due to the extra-calorie thing. And the two batches of homebrew I just finished brewing should be nicely aged by the end of the month!

Speed Racer
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[lawrocket 3]

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yea right.... is this your pre-April fools day joke?

I'm not joking, lisa. I'm serious, and it looks like others may join in, too. It's an opportunity to make myself a better person.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

Those of us that are Catholic have already been abstaining from 'whatever' for a few weeks now! Mine was not alcohol, it was processed foods, including bleached flour, preservatives, additives, and sugar. -How's it going for me? I'm getting by! Man do I want chocolate sometimes, but I've lost 6 1/2 pounds not even really trying, and I feel good.
About this, Lawrocket:

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2. Penalties for Non-Compliance
In the event a participant consumes an alcoholic beverage without Special Dispensation during the period of time covered, the No-Alcohol period will have five days tacked onto it, meaning that if I have a drink on April 15 without Special Dispensation, but no drinks otherwise, my No-Alcohol period will extend to May 1 - May 5, 2006 (yep, no drinks on Cinqo to Mayo). This penalty applies "per day," meaning the penalty is the same with one drink on a day as it would be for a binge.

Nope, too weak. I say 5 lashes. I'll be the enforcer.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[popsjumper 2]

ATTN: SKYMAMA

I hereby and formally request special dispensation for abstaining from the "non-use of alcohol during the month of April" program.

Justification:
I have already purchased my April supply and it needs to be disposed of quickly - there is only a 1-month lease on the box cars from the railroad.

Thank you in advance,
Popsjumper

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[lawrocket 3]

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I say 5 lashes

That's no good unless done with a wet noodle, and since you have abstained from "processed foods, including bleached flour, preservatives, additives, and sugar" then you lose that gig. Sorry, but wet noodles are loaded with all of the above.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Cornholio 0]

Discretionary "Special Dispensation" - is BULLSHIT. If you're going to stop - then stop it all - not one fucking drop, including cough medicine and Nyquil.

I'm very interested in seeing how many people actually can do this. I'll even wager on it, if there was some way for me to know for sure that the participants didn't drink.

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool!
bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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I say 5 lashes

That's no good unless done with a wet noodle, and since you have abstained from "processed foods, including bleached flour, preservatives, additives, and sugar" then you lose that gig. Sorry, but wet noodles are loaded with all of the above.

Oh what I wouldn't give for noodles...

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[lawrocket 3]

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If you're going to stop - then stop it all - not one fucking drop, including cough medicine and Nyquil.

Dang. Are you an attorney?

This is about the spirit of this exercise.

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Discretionary "Special Dispensation" - is BULLSHIT.

Maybe skymama agrees. She's the Pope. Maybe she doesn't. It's outta my hands now. Good thing, too, because I agree with you.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[wildcard451 0]

For me, it has nothing to do with bettering myself. I've been drinking a lot lately, and feel the need to cut back. I am also back into a moderately serious progressive training regimen, so the less drinking the better.

I will however, have a drink or two with my fraternity brother at his wedding on april 22th, regardless of my abstention the rest of the month. And could give two fucks less if anyone wants to call me out on it.

[freeflir29 0]

Oh I know the month thing is for real, I think the wildcard participating is...

I need a quit smoking buddy thread like this one... the beer and wine was easy to give up. Even at Dublin with everyone else drinking.

[GiaKrembs 0]

I think I'm in, my body sure could use a good rest!

Madame Pope, I need to request a *Special Dispensation* day. I have a customer event on 4/22/06 at the Santa Anita Race Track.

I'm soooo screwed if I fail, it will inhibit my birthday drinking, so I'm going to do my best at being a good girl!

g

Raddest ho this side of Jersey #1 - rest in peace brother
Beth lost her cherry and I missed it
.... you want access to it, but you don't want to break it.

[jeiber 0]

I think I might be game.... I gotta look at my calendar and see what's on the schedule for April.

Jeff

Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

[mcneill79 0]

Ummm is this LisaMarie or Clay?

[skymama 35]

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Madame Pope, I need to request a *Special Dispensation* day. I have a customer event on 4/22/06 at the Santa Anita Race Track.

I like Madame Pope. I wonder if HH will change my title to that for the month.

I'll have to see how many other "customer events" and such are requested before that day.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[waltappel 1]

I'm in, but I don't drink anyway. I'm more than happy to support everyone in their efforts on this, though, because I know it's a real challenge--the first month is especially difficult.

Walt

[Thanatos340 1]

Let me know when the partisipants list is finalized so that I can set the Odds for the Betting Pools.

Currently DZ.com Odds makers have the following that the partisipants will be successful..

lawrocket -1000 (win $1 for every $10 bet)
Wildcard -150 (win $1.50 for every $10 bet)
Kele01 +500 (win $5 for every $1 bet)

Setting Over/Under for each at:
Lawrocket 26 days
Wildcard 19 days
kele01 9 Days

Even Money.. Take the Over or Under...

Get your Bets in now!!

[mcneill79 0]

You forgot Gia

[wildcard451 0]

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Let me know when the partisipants list is finalized so that I can set the Odds for the Betting Pools.

Currently DZ.com Odds makers have the following that the partisipants will be successful..

lawrocket -1000 (win $1 for every $10 bet)
Wildcard -150 (win $1.50 for every $10 bet)
Kele01 +500 (win $5 for every $1 bet)

Setting Over/Under for each at:
Lawrocket 26 days
Wildcard 19 days
kele01 9 Days

Even Money.. Take the Over or Under...

Get your Bets in now!!

I'll take my bet on my over +3, since I have already said that I will be drinking a beer or two at my friend's wedding.

That aside. I won't drink. Place your bets bitches.

[Thanatos340 1]

I have Never... Nor will I ever... Forget Giaaaa!!!

Gia -225 (win $2.25 for ever $10 bet)

Over/Under at 21 Days.

[LisaM 0]

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yea right.... is this your pre-April fools day joke?

I'm not joking, lisa. I'm serious, and it looks like others may join in, too. It's an opportunity to make myself a better person.

I have no doubt you are serious...what I have to giglge at is your avatar.... kind of ironic... hehehe....

It is a good idea though....I don't drink much but I'm sure what little I do kills my calorie count fo rthe day... :)

So, will an announcement be made officially when a day is allowed by The Pope?

~ Lisa
~ Do you Rigminder?

[ROK 0]

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Oh I know the month thing is for real, I think the wildcard participating is...

I need a quit smoking buddy thread like this one... the beer and wine was easy to give up. Even at Dublin with everyone else drinking.

I'm with you. Not drinking is too easy (for me). Start a no smoking thread and I'll be there. Even make it interesting by having a penalty. Let's say...who ever fails has to buy a jump ticket at one of the winners home DZ's. Skymama can hold a simple raffle for those who make it to see who and how many get a free jump.