I look at this thread title and I simply can't believe that I'm the guy who started it. Many of the finest folks in my life (I won't embarass them by naming them, but there's a few Mudcatters) I met while taking 'smoke breaks' off to the side of a stage somewhere at a gig or Festival.

But yesterday......I walked three miles up some VERY serious hills without a lot of puffing. A year ago, I simply could not have walked three hundred yards without really feeling it.

In the morning I went to my Producer's (Mudcatter Paul Mills) house, to begin work on finishing a new album that I started two years ago (!!). We listened to a couple of existing vocal tracks, and it was obvious to me that I was "covering" on certain notes because I was running out of breath. I had never felt that smoking had affected my singing ('cause I wasn't someone who coughed, or cleared their throat) but I was wrong...it very much affected my lung capacity.

I still get the odd feeling that I "Should" grab for a fag, but it's not the fearsome craving that I dreaded....for me, a lot of this was strictly behavioral...Play guitar=smoke cig. Drink coffee=smoke cig. Read book=smoke cig.

Hang tough you folks, Cat and Clifton....and Jeri...I'm bloody proud of ya! (especially for admitting it publicly....that must have been tough)!

Rick