entral office the common bond - fayaa.orgfayaa.org/pdf/commonbond/commonbondoctnov2017.pdf · the...
TRANSCRIPT
Central Office
910-678-8002 310 Green St., Suite 201, Box 14 Fayetteville, NC 28301 Office hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays Website: fayaa.org
October 2017
The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
The Common Bond
Upcoming
Events
Oct. 31 Halloween, check
with local groups
for any special
events.
***
Nov. 3 Area 51 Fall
Committee meet-
ings in Raleigh.
***
Nov. 4-5 Area 51 Fall As-
sembly and Elec-
tions. North Raleigh
Hilton, 3415 Wake
Forest Road (Exit
10 on I-440. Hotel
reservation infor-
mation at aanorth-
carolina.org. Open
to all AA members.
***
Nov. 6 Principles Group
will host a speaker
at 6:30 and potluck
dinner at 7:30 at
Highland Presbyteri-
an Church. Details
in District 51 on
page 6.
Continued on page 2 Continued on page 3
The strange mental twist My first exposure to the
peculiar, or strange, mental
twist was about 6 months
after coming into Alcoholics
Anonymous, the year doesn’t
matter.
It was August and it was
hot. I had been working in a
warehouse housing about
$8 million worth of chemical
gear for the 25th Infantry Di-
vision in Pearl Harbor, Ha-
waii.
In a metal building which
just baked us, we accom-
plished a lot of Quality As-
surance work that day and I
was superbly pleased and
Page 2
Make contact with the Central Office
Common Bond editor: [email protected]
Fayaa.org webmaster: [email protected]
Central Office: [email protected]
also [email protected]. Hotline: 910-678-8733 Mail: 310
Green St., Suite 201, Mailbox 14, Fayetteville, NC
28301
Upcoming
events
Page 2 COMMON BOND
Nov. 15 BCR-Central
Office Council
meeting at 6:30
p.m. at board
meeting room at
office, 310 Green
St. Fayetteville.
***
Nov. 19 District 51
board meeting at 2
p.m. Site in Robe-
son County to be
decided. See story
at left.
***
Nov. 22-26 Thanksgiving
Day weekend.
Check with local
groups for alca-
thons and special
activities.
***
Dec. 24-Jan.1 Check with local
groups for Christ-
mastime and New
Year’s events.
District 51: Appeal made
to aid Florida AA groups The District 51 DCM Kate made a
plea Sunday for groups to aid Florida
AA groups hurt by Hurricane Irma.
Many groups lost all their books and
literature in the storm.
The board is discussing cutting back
on its prudent reserve because of a
lack of funds for other needs. The cur-
rent reserve is $2,500 and was set
when the district had more money.
Currently, the district can’t fund the
DCM attending Area 51 meetings or
workshops.
An exact amount has not been set.
In other business, Lloyd K., of
Spring Into Action, was elected to the
vacant assistant DCM post.
The board’s next meeting has been
tentatively set for Nov. 19 at Mohr
Plaza at Martin Luther King and
Field streets in Lumberton. If that site
Continued on page 6
Central Office Board Chairman Dave. C. Vice chairman Jim B. Treasurer Carey D. At-Large members Bladen Vacant Cumberland Carl S. Robeson Vacant Office manager/ secretary Linda C.
Council Agnostics & Others Vacant Central Group Jackie M. Sandalwood Sean L. Back to Basics Dan. A Bare Bones Michael B. ODAT Jerry T. Fort Bragg Michael Freedom in Growth Laureen O. Keep It Simple Corey B. New Freedom Spencer G. Principles Group Charles K. Pine Run Craig Seekers of Sobriety Donna L. Spring Into Action Anne S. There is a Solution Stephen B. Village Group Sylvia E. Walking the Same Path Alexis L.
Services Hotline Audrey C. Webmaster Jim H. Common Bond editor Dave C.
Page 3 The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
Strange mental twist Continued from page 1
proud of myself. While travelling
from the warehouse area of Pearl
Harbor Naval Base to Schofield
Barracks, where I lived. I was driv-
ing on “automatic pilot,” consider-
ing my work, what next, reporting
my progress and other mundane
duties I thought “boy I’m thirsty.” I
decided to buy a soft drink, while
on auto
pilot, the
car
parked it-
self in a
bar park-
ing lot.
I was
shocked
and be-
fuddled at
the same
time. I guessed that something
strange had happened, but I wasn’t
sure what it was. So I turned
around and retraced my drive back
to the point on the highway I last
remembered, retracing my path
back to the bar. I passed two
“shoppettes” and a gas station. I
had to change lanes from right to
left and then into a left turn lane, a
U-turn and a half block back to a
right turn into the bar’s parking
lot.
I paused there for a few
minutes then left and went home,
never having achieved my goal of
acquiring a soda! I called my spon-
sor, Clancy U., related my day to
him, in the
vernacular of
all good
sponsors, he
responded to
me, “you
wanted to
drink you
damn fool get
your ass over
here and
don’t stop an-
ywhere along the way.”
So I did what I was told and we
had a discussion about the
“peculiar form of insanity” as he
called it. He forced me to go with
him to his home group and he de-
manded that the topic be chapter
two, More About Alcoholism. I
learned a lot that evening and the
Continued on page 4
4 COMMON BOND
Page 4 The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
Strange mental twist Continued from page 3 younger ones in the meeting took
me out for coffee, my sponsor went
home.
I began to see, after reading
chapter three and asking myself
what Bill and the first one hundred
were specifically trying to warn me
about. The chapter three certainly
didn’t tell how to avoid this scary
experience in the future. It did give
me a hint which I found a few years
later.
I had another experience simi-
lar to the one above when my mid-
dle child had to have an ear opera-
tion early one morning about a year
later. My wife and I had to get my
daughter to hospital at about 4
a.m., and we were released, with
the child after the successful opera-
tion, all of us woozy and sleepy. I
decided to get her a treat for being;
oh so brave and grown up. When
we got to the shoppette on post in
mid morning, I went in and thought
“ice cream just the thing,” I saun-
tered to the ice cream case, then
thought “maybe cookies,: then
thought of something else; just
wandering and browsing trying to
make up my mind concerning the
child’s reward, finally deciding to
get ice cream after about 40
minutes. My wife asked, “what kept
you, I thought I’d have to come in
and get you.”
I was pretty sure this was the
“strange mental twist” of chapter
two in the Big Book. I went to my
sponsor’s later that day and I told
him about my behavior and he
merely nodded simple non verbal
encouragers and let me rattle on.
He finally asked me when I had run
down what I thought was going on
and he I said “a different version of
the strange mental twist.” He
smiled approvingly, agreed with me
and gave me an assignment.
Page 4 COMMON BOND
Continued on page 5
Page 5 The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
Strange mental twist Continued from page 4
He said. “Go home and figure
what caused this episode and the
other one you had and what you
can do about them.” He continued,
“come up with a plan to see these
periods of peculiar and unexplaina-
ble behav-
ior before
they catch
you una-
ware.”
He also
told me to
pray for
inspira-
tion and
insight concerning chapter two
each time I sat and meditated upon
the problem of the strange mental
twist.
I had a third episode about a year
later when I was reassigned from
Hawaii to Chicago, I was torn from
the safety of my home group. I
didn’t like the “Something Similar”
meeting I went to nor another I
tried, so I decided to give AA a
miss since I’d be leaving Chicago in
about a year when I retired from
the U.S. Army. I didn’t like losing
the comfort and security of my
friends in AA and the womb of my
first home group. I was sad, feeling
sorry for myself. We call this iso-
lating in AA.
Riding down an Interstate, I
noticed two things each morning,
first was that a bar had a full park-
ing lot every morning and the
thought came to me for several
days “gee that’s gotta be one hell of
a bar, I gotta go there.
A few days later I noticed a very
large sign with a clear glass curli-
cue that said ― Cocktails. A bit
confused I hit an exit and went
back to see exactly what this sign
said in full. It gave the name of the
bar and the word ‘bar’ below with
the curlicue filigree clear light in-
serted over the word bar. The sign
was not on as it was roughly 8 a.m.
I went on to work and hit a meeting
at noon on Pulaski Avenue.
In the final installment I’ll re-
late to you what I’ve learned about
interrupting and overcoming the
strange/peculiar mental twist.
― Carl Anonym
6 COMMON BOND
Financial Report for August 2017
A.A. BIRTHDAYS
Balance sheet
Assets
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash - Unrestricted $1,859.71
Total General Fund 2,818.73
Founders’ Day 1,540.98
Prudent Reserve 2,500.00
Total Assets $4,359.71
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Employee Tax Payable $83.20
Sales Tax Payable 119.91
Total Current Liabilities 203.11
Total Liabilities $203.11
Equity
Beginning net equity $4,824.78
Current Year Earnings -668.18
Total Equity 4,824.78
Total Liabilities and Equity $4,359.71
Revenue
Book & Material Sales $897.90
Contributions 910.66
Other revenue -1.07
Total Revenue 1,807.19
Less Cost of Sales 583.65
Gross Profit $1,223.54
Other Income and Expense
Bank Service Charges -6.00
Hotline Telephone -48.43
Office Expenses -41.20
Payroll Tax Expense -17.74
Rent -240.83
Telephone/Internet -125.14
Wages and Salaries -232.00
Total -711.34
Income Net Income $512.20
Contributions July/Aug Total*
Agnostics & Others 0.00 0.00
Bare Bones 490.00 490.00
Central Group 0.00 0.00
Freedom In Growth 0.00 0.00
Fort Bragg 0.00 0.00
Keep It Simple 0.00 0.00
Principles Group 0.00 0.00
Spring Into Action 250.00 250.00
SOS Group 0.00 0.00
Sandalwood Group 0.00 0.00
ODAT 415.66 415.66
Walking The Same Path 0.00 0.00
Village Group 0.00 0.00
Faithful Fivers/ Ind. 10.00 10.00
Founders’ Day donations 0.00 0.00
Totals $1,165.66 $1,165.66 *From July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018
Oct. 1
Kelly C. – 10
Mike S. – 10
Oct. 2
Al S. – 29
Beth D - 34
Matthew C. – 6
Oct. 3
Lisa L. – 6
Oct. 4
Zack O. – 8
Oct. 5
Alfonso P. – 5
Oct. 7
Jared D. – 10
Cameron B. – 10
Oct. 8
Sandra M. – 10
Oct. 9
Robert I – 8
Oct. 15
Maura M. – 5
Oct. 16
Milton S. – 11
Sue R. – 41
Chad T. – 13
Oct. 18
Don Z. – 33
Patrick W. – 14
Pete P. – 9
Fagan M. – 10
Oct. 19
Elisha – 10
Mike P – 32
Oct. 20
Jay O. – 12
Oct. 21
Stanley E. – 17
Oct. 22
Kasey R. – 9
Oct. 24
Todd W. – 10
David B. – 9
Oct. 25
Joe H. – 11
Oct. 26
Kelly M. – 9
Mike R. – 13
Oct. 27
Lauren O. – 1
Oct. 28
Frazier S. – 13
Oct. 30
Ernest S. – 10
Nov. 1
Mike K. – 8
Nov. 2 Harvey G. – 32
Tom L. – 30 Aninty Y. – 5
Nov. 4 Alfonso P. – 36
Nov. 5 Ron S. – 37 Ray V. – 31
Mike E. – 18 Nov. 6
Jeff W. – 29 Nov. 7
Jed T. – 13 Edward E. – 6
Nov. 8 Wanda P. – 23
Nov. 10 Crystal – 12
Nov. 11 Joseph M. – 50
Carl S. - 31 Wade S. – 18
Nov. 12 Esther S. – 20
Scott T. – 8
Audrey – 6 Nov. 14
Johnny B. – 9 Nov. 15
Andrew K. – 9 Nov. 16
Kathy E. – 37 Charles J. – 9
Nov. 18 Dan – 19 Nov. 19
Julie S. – 32 Audrey C. – 19 Debora B. – 10 Jordan W. – 5
Nov. 21 Mike L. – 26 Gary M. – 13
Melissa L. – 10 Nov. 23
Bryan L. – 26 Bill L. – 24
Nov. 24 Jeff W. – 27
Nov. 25 Bryan L. – 25
Nov. 26 Johnny F. – 12 Daniela D. – 9 Trisha F. – 1
Nov. 29 Gary H. – 7
Send your birthdays
to the Central Office
or to the editor at
commonbond2011@
gmail.com.
District 51
Pembroke at the home of Walk-
ing the Same Path.
In group news, the Principals
Group will have a speaker and
potluck supper on Nov. 6 at
Highland Presbyterian Church
on Hay Street in Fayetteville.
Lanee B., will speak at 6:30
p.m., with dinner at 7:30 p.m.
Side dishes are requested.
Those attending should enter
the church from the Hay Street
entrance under the covered porti-
co, take a right at the hallway
and down the stairs to the base-
ment.
Central Group is planning an
anniversary celebration for Janu-
ary.
Continued from page 2