BS: gnu has to quit smokin

26 May 11 - 05:07 PM (#3161023)
Subject: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Got an email from the Airmiles. If I sign up for the quittin smoking in New Brunswick campaign I get 150 Airmiles. 140 gets a $20 grocery coupon at Sobeys. So, after 40 years a smokin (it's actually 54 years + on accounta I started with second hand smoke when I was 5 days old), I guess I have no choice but to quit.

Gonna be rough but I want that $20 + ten airmiles. I spend more than that in one day on smokes but THIS is free money eh... can't pass up free money eh?

---

26 May 11 - 05:15 PM (#3161028)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: maeve

TL and I wish you every success, gnu.

---

26 May 11 - 05:29 PM (#3161038)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: number 6

Good luck gnu ... and I hope you succeed.

biLL

---

26 May 11 - 05:31 PM (#3161040)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: frogprince

Yah, right, ya lilly livered junkie; now way you'll have the guts to quit. Them little cancer sticks have got more will power than you'll ever have!




(Hope that makes him pissed off enough to prove he can really do it.)

---

26 May 11 - 05:31 PM (#3161041)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ed T

Why buy groceries? 150 Air miles may get you an all inclusive flight from the Moncton airport to the Scoudouc Airfield, (aka Scoudouc Raceway, or Dragway)for a nostalgic wheel smok'in.

---

26 May 11 - 05:35 PM (#3161043)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Arthur_itus

Go for it Gnu. It's not what they give you. Just think you will have that saving evryday everyday.

Just think, 31 days of not smoking will give you an extra $620.

12 months will give you $7440.

Make you think eh!

---

26 May 11 - 05:39 PM (#3161045)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Joe Offer

Back in 1994, a beautiful woman told me that quitting smoking would improve my love life, so I quit after almost 30 years of cigarettes. It didn't improve my chances with her, but it DID improve my love life quite soon after that.

Sex is one of the better motivators....

-Joe-

---

26 May 11 - 05:47 PM (#3161046)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Arthur_itus

Too much information Joe :-)

---

26 May 11 - 05:53 PM (#3161049)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: frogprince

I used to smoke after making love, but then I learned to do it a little slower.

---

26 May 11 - 05:55 PM (#3161050)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Arthur_itus

"but it DID improve my love life quite soon after that.
"

Obviously, better than Viagra then!

---

26 May 11 - 06:00 PM (#3161053)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: John MacKenzie

I stopped, hoping to be fitter. Somebody swapped the i for an a though!

---

26 May 11 - 06:10 PM (#3161057)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Well, I should hope! The local fire dept. is properly tired of coming over to put you out...extinguish you...er...cut off the oxygen supply and cool you down until combustion stops.

---

26 May 11 - 06:55 PM (#3161070)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: J-boy

Good luck gnu. Have you thought of tryng an e-cigarette? That's how my brother quit. Gonna try one myself.

---

26 May 11 - 06:57 PM (#3161071)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ed T

""Oxygen is Not Flammable

Unlike some other gases and chemicals, oxygen is not flammable. It is classified as an accelerator, meaning that if there is a fire and oxygen is present, the fire will burn. The more oxygen, the larger the fire and the faster it will spread. We are used to seeing fires burn in an atmosphere containing about 21 percent oxygen. This is the atmosphere in which most materials are tested for safety, such as the covering of the chair in the above story. But when oxygen is flowing near such material, the material absorbs the oxygen and becomes more susceptible to burning. The clothing and hair of a person on oxygen contains a higher concentration of oxygen than that of a person not on oxygen.

Knowing this, one should use the "five foot rule" and stay at least this distance away from sources of sparks and flames, including lit "smokes". So, keep your concentrator, and store both liquid and compressed oxygen containers, at least five feet from any source of flames or spark.""

"" Smoker denied O2 benefits

Nova Scota 2004. Nova Scotia's Health Department said it would no longer provide an asthma sufferer funds to rent a concentrator and equipment for back up oxygen. The reason: A homecare worker caught him smoking, which is against the rules.

After being caught smoking, Vernon Hughes, 59, a former three-pack a day smoker who can't afford to pay for his own equipment, promised the Nova Scotia's Health Department that he wouldn't smoke anymore. The department didn't budge, saying there is no guarantee he'll live up to that promise. The no smoking rule is in place as a safety measure and explained fully to beneficiaries.""

---

26 May 11 - 07:50 PM (#3161087)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

No, not really. Of course, I quit smoking during a siege of pneumonia. My wife suggested it.

"How are you feeling?"
"Can't wait to get over this and smoke my pipe again!"
"Well, it'll be a long wait 'cause you ain't gonna smoke anymore." "WHAT?!?!"
"And neither am I. We're quitting, right now!"
"Ah, okay..."

---

26 May 11 - 08:47 PM (#3161115)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Charley Noble

gnu-

Yes, it would be nice to have you around for a few more years. But it will be devastating for the international tobacco cartel. Have you considered their interest in your decision?

Charley Noble, who just never became addicted (Hey, I tried!)

---

26 May 11 - 10:55 PM (#3161150)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Take up snoose...dribble on your shirt.

---

26 May 11 - 11:30 PM (#3161162)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Stilly River Sage

I agree with the advice Joe Offer was given. A relationship/sex with a smoker is just unthinkable. Keeping it out of the house (relationship) and oozing the toxins from smoking in a clinch (sex) are just SOOOO unappealing.

SRS

---

26 May 11 - 11:36 PM (#3161165)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: katlaughing

I think it quite brave of Joe to have shared that and it should give others hope/motivation.:-) Thanks, Joe!

Good luck, gnu. My Rog quit by using Chantix for about 6 weeks. Stress at work almost caused a relapse.

---

27 May 11 - 12:12 AM (#3161168)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ebbie

gnu, go read some of the previous about quitting; strangely enough they are not only cheering but cheerful.

The one phrase that worked for me: The fact that it will be difficult to quit is not the point; the point is that I don't want to be a smoker any more.

---

27 May 11 - 07:37 AM (#3161213)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Sandra in Sydney

fingers crossed for you, gnu - perhaps if you cross your fingers, too, you won't be able to hold a cigarette!

---

27 May 11 - 07:41 AM (#3161217)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: John MacKenzie

But Joe, he's given up sex too.

---

27 May 11 - 08:18 AM (#3161225)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Gee... thanks for the encouragement! I suppose it could actually happen.

Hehehe... one of the questions in the telecon for signing up and getting my "starter kit" was regarding what my worst triggers were in past attempts to quit. I said the worst was when people would ask me about how I was doing. Shortly thereafter, the lady said she would be phoning me in about two weeks to see how I am doing.

She also wanted me to see my doc to discuss quitting. I dunno what province she is in but you ain't gonna get an appointment in two weeks for that around here.

---

27 May 11 - 08:32 AM (#3161239)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: John MacKenzie

So? Make the appointment, for whenever.

---

27 May 11 - 09:01 AM (#3161257)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: SINSULL

gnu,
You can't be thin and smoke free and still be a folkie. There arer ules you know.
heh heh
Congratulations and spend that $20 wisely.
Mary

---

27 May 11 - 09:44 AM (#3161270)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Look, dude. You can do it. It's no worse than getting a vasectomy with a sledge hammer -- pain will gradually subside. But you CAN do it. In fact, you WILL do it or I visit Moncton.

---

27 May 11 - 10:25 AM (#3161294)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: topical tom

Good luck, Gnu! I was fortunate enough to be able to quit cold turkey in 1970 and have never regretted it since. I was smoking up to two packs a day when I quit so there is hope.You can and will do it, I'm sure!"...Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death..." NOT!!

---

27 May 11 - 11:05 AM (#3161312)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: alanabit

I am told that the physical dependence wears off quickly when the nicotene has left the body. That happens within forty-eight hours to a week. So I have often pondered on why people relapse into the habit again. One reason is obviously social pressure. Other people worry about putting on a lot of weight. I think though that for many it is a mask for a nervous habit. So I have wondered whether finding another simple, but harmless toy to fidget with could be a help to some people giving up? This is mere speculation on my part, but I would say that most people I know have a visible nervous habit - and those who don't usually smoke. Can anyone take that line of thought anywhere?
Good luck Gnu!

---

27 May 11 - 11:18 AM (#3161316)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Amos

It is possible but it ain't easy; your whole metabolism has a spanner thrown into the works after years in a groove. To answer the issue about why persistence, there are two different kinds of triggers involved--the behavioral triggers and the chemical ones. Men seem to find the chemical triggers the biggest hurdle; women, the behvioral ones, especially social behaviors (phone calls, dinner parties, etc.)

So give 'em hell, man. Always recall that "urges pass". I found Commit tablets helped a lot. Or try an e-cig if you must put something in your mouth and suck on it.


A

---

27 May 11 - 11:25 AM (#3161321)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ebbie

After awhile when I quit, I carried a 'worry stone'. It was a wooden knot I had picked up in the woods weeks before. Small enough that it fit into the palm of my hand and with a slightly raised ridged swirl, it was tactile and organic. Later someone gave me an amethyst etched with a dragonfly form.

I gather that you posted with tongue slightly in cheek, gnu. But try it- you might be surprised.

In Juneau, Alaska, a pack of ciggies these days is around $8.00. Were I still a smoker I would be in a constant state of fury.

---

27 May 11 - 11:43 AM (#3161325)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Bob the Postman

Gnu, you need to consult a lawyer on this deal. Evidently you are not aware of the legal principle of "Habet panis et edet". That's "panis" with an A, repeat, A. In other words,"have the loaf and eat" or, as we say in English, "you can have your cake and eat it too"--you get the Airmiles for SIGNING UP, not for actually quitting. So sign up! Repeatedly! Keep signing up until you have enough Airmiles for a flight to Havana, where ripe cigars can be plucked at will from the heavily laden boughs of the panatella trees.

---

27 May 11 - 02:31 PM (#3161404)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Or to any cancer hospital/long term care facility and see the people with the oxygen tanks, or the people coughing their lungs up, or the people who have had to have their cancerous jaws removed, or who have to use "burp speech" through the hole in their throat, or....

You've done harder things, you can do this. Why, just admitting you play the b*****n takes far more courage than simply quitting tobacco!

---

27 May 11 - 02:54 PM (#3161418)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Well, I was just after the Airmiles but maybe... maybe... we'll see. I am seriously considering starting to stop next week.

Kinda sets be back... the posts of encouragement. Thanks again.

---

27 May 11 - 03:04 PM (#3161424)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ebbie

What I did, gnu, is on Wednesday teling everybody that I was going to quit on Sunday. That week I let myself smoke as much as I liked, even though I had to buy several more packs to get me through.

Sunday night I washed all the ash trays and put them in the cupboard, threw my half-smoked pack in the fire and went to bed.

Didn't feel good about anything for about three days and after that I started admiring myself for having quit.

That's been a bit more than 33 years ago. I still like the smell of cigarette smoke outdoors, but not too close up. Indoors I can't stand it at all.

---

27 May 11 - 03:13 PM (#3161426)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Arthur_itus

What I did 35 years ago Gnu, when normally smoking 50 a day, was, go to a party and refused to smoke all night. When I woke up with a hangover, my first thought was a fag. I almost gave in, but managed to make myself realise that I had gone all night without one. So I didn't. A few months later I had a fag. However, instead of saying I failed and going back on them, I said ugh, that was crap and I don't want another. so i stopped again and never smoked again.

It's called self will and if you have it, you will succeed. If not carry on smoking because you will not do it.

You have to want to stop smoking, not wish you could stop.

---

27 May 11 - 03:47 PM (#3161446)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Great stories and encouragement. Sorry to keep saying that, but I DO appreciate it... the advice is certainly going to be helpful.

So... let's just see how I do if I do do what I need to do. I may not post to this thread again for a while... for a reason I gave above. Although, if I get REAL squirrely, I might post and it might be inane. Of course, I suppose youse might not be able to see any difference.

Thanks all.

---

27 May 11 - 07:44 PM (#3161537)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: DrugCrazed

I can't speak for such an act (never saw the appeal in smoking), but I wish you well fine sir.

A bit of negative re-enforcement should help right? I tend to force myself into press ups. Geeks don't like press ups. At all.

Either that or female contact. WHY ARE THEY DIFFERENT?

---

27 May 11 - 08:52 PM (#3161565)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: JennieG

Gnu, just think of the loonies you will save by not buying the demon weed.......why, before you know it you would have enough saved for a trip to Oz!

Cheers
JennieG

---

27 May 11 - 09:07 PM (#3161569)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: maeve

A trip to Oz, visits to Maine, canal boat cruises...

Maeve

---

27 May 11 - 09:16 PM (#3161571)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Dunno if I wanna go to Oz. Just got an e with a bunch of pics of some lads what got a BIG croc, cut it it up and found someone inside. The warning said the pics were graphic but I didn't know what I was gonna see... if I had any inkling I wouldn't have opened it. And ye got them funny spiders... and them deadly snakes... and no Steve Irwin to save me anymore.

---

27 May 11 - 09:51 PM (#3161579)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Donuel

Look at it this way...
Cigarettes are supposed to kill you.

You are alive.

Therefore

THEY DID NOT WORK!


Why buy stuff that does not work?


Quitting should center on not buying them. Not smoking takes care of itself.

I ran a quit smoking clinic for 15 years and contributed to the American lung cancer assoc. quit smoking program named /Let Go of smoking

---

27 May 11 - 11:11 PM (#3161597)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

If not Oz, perhaps you could save enough to get to Getaway this year. And next, and next....

---

28 May 11 - 01:09 AM (#3161615)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: J-boy

Yes! If you and I withhold enough money from the motherfucking tobacco cartels we can afford to attend a Pats game at Gillette. There will be an NFL season. There must be.

---

28 May 11 - 02:08 AM (#3161630)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: JennieG

Gnu, I hate to disillusion you...but the average Ozzie never sees a croc unless they go to a reptile park, and snakes are more scared of us than we are of them. As for the spiders - well yes, some of them can kill you with one glance, but with a few simple precautions (like, don't leave your boots outside overnight) you will be fine. At least we don't have bears....now they will eat you!

Just keep saving those loonies and toonies......don't give them to the baccy companies, put them in your own pocket.

Cheers
JennieG

---

28 May 11 - 03:38 AM (#3161643)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: JohnInKansas

Recently reported Dutch research has found that the elimination of smoking in public places has eliminated the pervasive smell of smoke, along with a coincident reduction in the "active participation" of patrons in public places (with pubs and bars specifically mentioned).

The conclusion reported was that the smoke masked other odors that now are apparent in the environs, and some of those others are sufficiently unpleasant to have an inhibiting effect on the pleasures of the people.

In particular, the report mentioned that many have now "suddenly" discovered that -

        PEOPLE STINK!

(Also mentioned was the odor of stale beer/ale.)

Research is in process on "replacement odors" for use in appropriately and more pleasurably masking the newly observed annoyances.

Further reports to be expected.

Individual research is encouraged.

John

---

28 May 11 - 11:43 AM (#3161753)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Well, first we have to verify the Dutch findings in other countries. I'd like a grant, just a few million US dollars, to do that. I'll visit all sorts of places and conduct research by asking random people to first sniff various fragrances ranging from roses to skatoles, rate them on a scale of one to ten, and then take them into a non-smoking pub and rate the odors in there on the same scale. This will, of course, staying the pubs throughout their business hours and on random occasions. This will be checked by direct and indirect instrument olfactometry and the mean, median, and high/low ranges will be presented.

---

28 May 11 - 11:57 AM (#3161759)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ebbie

I can vouch for the fact that people stink. When I quit smoking my olfactory faculties roared back to an almost unbearable level. Eventually it went back to a normal level- or I got used to it - but for awhile I had to stay upwind and away from a great many people.

---

28 May 11 - 12:49 PM (#3161781)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

So, you moved waaaayUP to Alaska to get as far away from Spaw as possible?

---

28 May 11 - 01:21 PM (#3161793)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: JohnInKansas

A report of the Dutch research is at The Body Odd.

A possible "defect" in the research reported is that the principal method involved interviewing club patrons who were mostly "twenty-something" young adults. Due to the "raging hormones" factor, the test population quite possibly is more prone to excretion of a variety of "bad smells," what with all that pheromone broadcasting, and a tendency toward "athletic exhibitions" in lieu of dancing.

(An adjunct study is perhaps needed for my generation, to determine whether an effective noise ordinance would have a similar negative effect by making normal "body sounds" less easily masked.)

John

---

28 May 11 - 01:54 PM (#3161812)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: GUEST,kendall

I smoked for 47 years. Four years after I quit I developed cancer.
You can tell yourself "I have to quit" all you want, but it will never happen until you say "I want to quit".

Smoking cost me tens of thousands of dollars, my vocal cords and my lungs. Doctor says I have emphysema now.

I've examined many tombstones for their humorous epitaphs and I have never seen one that said, "I wish I hadn't quit smoking."
My one regret is that I ever started in the first place.

---

28 May 11 - 03:15 PM (#3161834)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Dat's true woids from Da Maine Man!

---

28 May 11 - 05:27 PM (#3161878)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Right... tomorrow. I bought the patch today even tho I am supposed to cut down and talk to a doc or pharmacist and go on the four week course first according to the lass I spoke on the phone with.

Kendall's post means a lot to me as we share a common, ahhh, thing. And, I got an e from a dear old friend a few hours ago who quit over 15 years ago... he has just started his second round of chemo for lung cancer. Never met a nicer guy in my life... always laughing, always just such a great guy. One of those guys ya just wanted ta be around on accounta ya knew he was gonna make ya laugh just because he was laughing.

Kendall... to hear about the emphysema is a blow to all who know you including me. I hope you weather this storm well my friend.

---

28 May 11 - 07:05 PM (#3161917)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Don Firth

Good on ya, gnu!

It can be done. I started smoking when I was seventeen and smoked like a chimney for thirty years. I tried to quit several times and found that Day 3 was the hard one to get past. That was the day my mind generally disconnected, by body turned into a robot, I bought a pack of cigarettes, and lit up. Along about the third marvelous drag, I suddenly became furious at myself, muttered a lot, and then kept on smoking.

I tried all sorts of over-the-counter drugstore products, chewed great wads of chewing gum until I endangered my teeth, and all that, but to little effect.

I read a very good book on quitting smoking (can't remember the title—something brilliant like, "How to Quit Smoking," I think— and I don't have it anymore—gave it to someone in need) that suggested several methods, but one data point that stuck with me was the comment that in hospitals and clinics, when trying to get addicts off hard drugs such as heroin, blood tests showed that after three weeks—twenty-one days—all traces of the drug were out of the person's body and essentially the body was clean, so any return to taking the drug was a matter of choice!

So if you could hold out for twenty-one days, you're off the stuff.

And although nicotine is powerfully addictive, it is not as powerful as heroin.

With that twenty-one day goal to shoot at, I started my own program, NOT following the usual advice ("The ONLY way it can be done is cold turkey!").

I tapered off.

But I have to admit, I had a lot of help. My wife does not smoke (never had) and second hand smoke really bothers her, so I decided not to smoke in our apartment. If I really felt like I needed a smoke, I went out on the porch or the balcony. And where I was working at the time (phone company operator—"One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies"), you couldn't smoke at the switchboard, so I could smoke only on breaks.

So I didn't smoke much at home, I smoked only on breaks at work, and my first cigarette in the morning was as I was driving to work, and unless I went out on the porch or we were at a party somewhere, my last cigarette for the day was when I was driving home from work.

I was actually down from about thirty butts a day to about six or seven.

One Sunday evening, John Dwyer hosted a Song Circle at his waterfront home west of Marysville, WA. About a dozen people gathered that afternoon for some serious loafing and to scarf down vast quantities of John's delicious barbequed ribs. Several of us were sitting out on his deck, enjoying the view of Puget Sound, the ssunshine, and the light breeze. Coincidentally, that happened to be my birthday.

John didn't smoke, and the rule was "No Smoking" in the house. If you wanted to smoke, go out on the deck. So as we sat there, a couple of people were smoking. I pulled out my pack to light up and noticed that I had only three left. I made a mental note to buy another pack from the machine when I got to work Monday morning.

Then, I said, "Hey, wait a minute!" My birthday. As auspicious an occasion as any. Since I had been planning on quitting, and since I was down to a half-dozen butts a day, I figured, "Do it, dammit! Just DO it!!"

So—I sat there that afternoon on John's deck and leisurely smoked my last three cigarettes. Then I gave my Bic butane lighter to a woman there who smoked, went inside, pigged out on barbequed ribs, and sang up a storm with a batch of other people until late in the evening.

When I got to work the following morning, I hung up my coat, went to the break room and had a cup of coffee, then went out and plugged in.

For the next week or so, I would find myself reaching into my—now empty—shirt pocket, just out of habit. From time to time there would be a slight twinge of a craving, but as long as I didn't dwell on it, it went away in a matter of a moment or two.

Twenty-one days pretty easy days later, no more twinges, and it never occurred to me to want to smoke again. I was OFF the damned things!

Two lovely side-effects:   in a few weeks, my singing voice sounded much clearer, and singing was actually easier;   and I no longer had to spend fifteen minutes every morning sitting on the edge of my bed coughing up a quart of phlegm!

That was thirty-three years ago.

IT CAN BE DONE. It's not exactly a picnic, but it's not that bad either. And the benefits are well worth any temporary discomfort.

Hang in there!

Don Firth

P. S. Here's a good question to contemplate:   If I played an expensive and irreplaceable clarinet, would it make sense to blow hot, tar-filled smoke through it about thirty times a day?

---

28 May 11 - 07:05 PM (#3161918)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Don Firth

Good on ya, gnu!

It can be done. I started smoking when I was seventeen and smoked like a chimney for thirty years. I tried to quit several times and found that Day 3 was the hard one to get past. That was the day my mind generally disconnected, by body turned into a robot, I bought a pack of cigarettes, and lit up. Along about the third marvelous drag, I suddenly became furious at myself, muttered a lot, and then kept on smoking.

I tried all sorts of over-the-counter drugstore products, chewed great wads of chewing gum until I endangered my teeth, and all that, but to little effect.

I read a very good book on quitting smoking (can't remember the title—something brilliant like, "How to Quit Smoking," I think— and I don't have it anymore—gave it to someone in need) that suggested several methods, but one data point that stuck with me was the comment that in hospitals and clinics, when trying to get addicts off hard drugs such as heroin, blood tests showed that after three weeks—twenty-one days—all traces of the drug were out of the person's body and essentially the body was clean, so any return to taking the drug was a matter of choice!

So if you could hold out for twenty-one days, you're off the stuff.

And although nicotine is powerfully addictive, it is not as powerful as heroin.

With that twenty-one day goal to shoot at, I started my own program, NOT following the usual advice ("The ONLY way it can be done is cold turkey!").

I tapered off.

But I have to admit, I had a lot of help. My wife does not smoke (never had) and second hand smoke really bothers her, so I decided not to smoke in our apartment. If I really felt like I needed a smoke, I went out on the porch or the balcony. And where I was working at the time (phone company operator—"One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies"), you couldn't smoke at the switchboard, so I could smoke only on breaks.

So I didn't smoke much at home, I smoked only on breaks at work, and my first cigarette in the morning was as I was driving to work, and unless I went out on the porch or we were at a party somewhere, my last cigarette for the day was when I was driving home from work.

I was actually down from about thirty butts a day to about six or seven.

One Sunday evening, John Dwyer hosted a Song Circle at his waterfront home west of Marysville, WA. About a dozen people gathered that afternoon for some serious loafing and to scarf down vast quantities of John's delicious barbequed ribs. Several of us were sitting out on his deck, enjoying the view of Puget Sound, the ssunshine, and the light breeze. Coincidentally, that happened to be my birthday.

John didn't smoke, and the rule was "No Smoking" in the house. If you wanted to smoke, go out on the deck. So as we sat there, a couple of people were smoking. I pulled out my pack to light up and noticed that I had only three left. I made a mental note to buy another pack from the machine when I got to work Monday morning.

Then, I said, "Hey, wait a minute!" My birthday. As auspicious an occasion as any. Since I had been planning on quitting, and since I was down to a half-dozen butts a day, I figured, "Do it, dammit! Just DO it!!"

So—I sat there that afternoon on John's deck and leisurely smoked my last three cigarettes. Then I gave my Bic butane lighter to a woman there who smoked, went inside, pigged out on barbequed ribs, and sang up a storm with a batch of other people until late in the evening.

When I got to work the following morning, I hung up my coat, went to the break room and had a cup of coffee, then went out and plugged in.

For the next week or so, I would find myself reaching into my—now empty—shirt pocket, just out of habit. From time to time there would be a slight twinge of a craving, but as long as I didn't dwell on it, it went away in a matter of a moment or two.

Twenty-one days pretty easy days later, no more twinges, and it never occurred to me to want to smoke again. I was OFF the damned things!

Two lovely side-effects:   in a few weeks, my singing voice sounded much clearer, and singing was actually easier;   and I no longer had to spend fifteen minutes every morning sitting on the edge of my bed coughing up a quart of phlegm!

That was thirty-three years ago.

IT CAN BE DONE. It's not exactly a picnic, but it's not that bad either. And the benefits are well worth any temporary discomfort.

Hang in there!

Don Firth

P. S. Here's a good question to contemplate:   If I played an expensive and irreplaceable clarinet, would it make sense to blow hot, tar-filled smoke through it about thirty times a day?

---

28 May 11 - 07:07 PM (#3161920)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Don Firth

OOPS!! Sorry to repeat myself.

Don Firth

---

28 May 11 - 07:32 PM (#3161931)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Joe Offer

I suppose most of us gain weight when we stop smoking. I think I weighed 145 pounds when I quit smoking in 1994, and now I weigh 200. I guess that smokers have addictive personalities, and the craving for tobacco may be replaced by a craving for food. I don't think of myself as an addictive eater, but I'd sure like to lose about thirty pounds....

---

28 May 11 - 07:34 PM (#3161932)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Thanks Don. Thanks all. Like I said. It just might happen.

---

28 May 11 - 07:49 PM (#3161944)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: kendall

When I quit in 1996 I weighed 196 pounds; I now weigh 185. I've heard many people say they put on weight when they quit smoking but I have to wonder if that is necessary.

---

28 May 11 - 08:51 PM (#3161955)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Nicotine suppresses the appetite, which is one reason North Korean leaders encourage smoking, even in children.

But if you know that you can checkmate it.

---

29 May 11 - 01:12 PM (#3162194)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

The title of this thread is a misnomer. gnu does not have to quit smoking -- gnu HAD DAMNED WELL BETTER quite smoking.

---

29 May 11 - 01:58 PM (#3162218)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ebbie

Quite so. :)

---

29 May 11 - 04:35 PM (#3162269)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Yeah. Well. I'll pick da bones outtin a dat fish and see if I can getter down me troat eh wah?

I can't even call the cessation clinics until the morrow to book me a seat for the 16 hour course that spans a month. I think I gotta go on the course to get my $20 and I am also kinda waiting to see the start kit they send me.

In any case, I am quite resigned to kicking myself in the ass but that's MY job. It ain't for anyone else, let alone da loikes a some Idahoan what tinks we dunno our spuds down home in da Merrytimes a Canada eh wah?

Alaskans kinda frighten me tho.

In any case, like I said, I will stop posting to this thread for at least a while if and when I do go for it. Until then, I'll keep making excuses for being such a wimp.

Again, thanks all. Your concern for someone you don't even know is touching, to say the least. Yer a good bunch.

---

29 May 11 - 04:53 PM (#3162272)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: DrugCrazed

I know, people are friendly. On the internet. THE INTERNET!.

I joined because you lot were friendly. That's right, it's all your fault I'm still here. I hope you're happy.

But seriously, we're all here and we'll have some prize for you. I might send you a pack of jaffa cakes.

---

29 May 11 - 09:22 PM (#3162379)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

I'm thinking about visiting NB next year -- probably St. John's since I'll be coming by boat, if I come there.

---

30 May 11 - 08:33 AM (#3162578)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: freda underhill

Gnu, a very easy solution, find a good hypnotist who specialises in helping people stop. One treatment and you won't even think about it again, you want feel liker doing it and you'll be able to sit round a table with smokers and not feel tempted.

---

30 May 11 - 02:17 PM (#3162718)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: dick greenhaus

Nobody wants to be caught red-handed with a smoking gnu...

---

30 May 11 - 02:40 PM (#3162735)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: GUEST,Kendall

Idaho to NB in a boat? Better check your charts, Mate; there are some stretches of real shallow water.:-)

---

30 May 11 - 03:34 PM (#3162764)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Kendall... and a map... St. John's isn't in NB. Ya GOTTA take a plane or a boat.

---

30 May 11 - 03:44 PM (#3162769)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Yes, Ebbie, I have, but I flooded the engine.

---

31 May 11 - 12:20 AM (#3162915)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ebbie

oh

---

31 May 11 - 02:17 AM (#3162929)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: J-boy

Time for my fifth and final smoke of the day. Goodnight and God bless.

---

31 May 11 - 11:17 PM (#3163492)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: GUEST,You don' wanna know

If it feels good ... do it. "Whether or not it feels good, do it- you're hooked, right?

HAS TO QUIT? - come on "Nobody has to quit. At the late stages, there's no point at all in thinking you have to quit.


Why pretend ... you are a beast of burdern? "Right. You're hooked on smokes and smoking is what you do."


Tobacco is an awful weed, "Can't argue with that."
I LIKE IT. "Right."
It satisfies no normal need. "But "ABnormal? Ah!"
I LIKE IT. "Right"
It makes you pale it makes you lean "Never had to diet when I was a smoker."
Its the worst darn stuff I've ever seen. "And the best. Who cares about the side effects? They don't last all that long."
I LIKE IT. "Right."

---

01 Jun 11 - 07:27 AM (#3163629)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Donuel

They say that pot is safer than tobbacco/
Have you tried smoking 40 joints a day as a substitute for cigarettes?

---

09 Jun 11 - 05:37 PM (#3167953)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Missed that Don... Hahahahahaa... ahhh... well, I think I missed it?

Soooo... I got a follow up call from the smokin police. Apparently, they are gonna keep callin... next call is a week from today. It's a lot of pressure. I need a smoke.

But, I have a plan. I have arranged to have a very painful operation on Tuesday and quit smokin then and I will be on painkillers and can tell everyone to go fuck themselves if they bug my and blame it on the pain/killers. How's that for committment eh?

Hmmmm... the surgeon has been on maternity leave since November and I am the FIRST slice and dice she will have when she returns... I hope she hasn't gotten "rusty"... gee... I need a smoke.

---

09 Jun 11 - 10:50 PM (#3168125)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Ebbie

Gary, whatever it is, I hope you slip right on through quickly and painlessly. Write, OK?

---

09 Jun 11 - 10:53 PM (#3168131)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Ja, ve haf your address und ve know vhere your muther is und vhere de controls for her iron lung are! You VILL quit smoking!

---

14 Jun 11 - 06:05 PM (#3170676)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

It was turbinate reduction surgery... snippy-snippy up the nostrils on the septum. There's no pain. She said it would be painful on accouta she cauterizes the wounds. There was pain right after I woke up in recovery but the dilaudid took that away along with my sense of reality. Had I know it would make me looooopy, dizzy and nauseated and make me sweat I would have refused it... I did ask the nurse if it would make me loopy and dizzy and she said "No. You'll be fine."

I asked the nurse in the post recovery how long I would be loopy and she said "About an hour so you should feel better anytime now." An hour later, I asked another nurse the same question and she said "At least 4 hours." She gave me gravol. At three hours I almost fell as I got in the chair to be wheeled to the taxi. When I almost fell getting into a chair at the front door the nurse decided to stay with me until I got in the taxi.

An hour ago, the ceiling stopped falling and I could read. I'm still spacey but there isn't much pain. I guess they tell you it's gonna hurt in case it does... and it may yet... who nose?

Yes it was a long way to go for a nose joke eh?

Call me Rudolf eh?

---

14 Jun 11 - 08:12 PM (#3170721)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: michaelr

I've been smoking cigarettes for 40 years, and I've been sick of `em for more than 10.

A month ago, I got myself one of those electronic cigarette kits. Haven't bought any tobacco since. When I get the craving, I have a puff on the thing and I'm good. (On average, three times a day.)

It's got liquid nicotine inside which is vaporized via a battery. You inhale vapor - not smoke, tar, or carbon particles. I think I'm finally gonna kick this thing.

Cheers,
Michael

---

14 Jun 11 - 11:48 PM (#3170779)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Keep us updated michaelr!

---

14 Jun 11 - 11:49 PM (#3170780)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Do you get bad dreams with that michaelr?

---

14 Jun 11 - 11:55 PM (#3170783)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Jeri

Gnu, don't sneeze. I had a septum thing with "windows" put in for sinus drainage thing once, and you don't wanna sneeze or your whole head turns inside out.

Seriously, heal well and quickly!

---

15 Jun 11 - 01:06 AM (#3170812)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: michaelr

No bad dreams. No down side yet!

---

15 Jun 11 - 01:57 AM (#3170821)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

michaelr... the more info you can supply about your experiences the better... maybe even a new thread unless there is one already incorporating info about this device???

---

15 Jun 11 - 02:21 PM (#3171042)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: michaelr

What can I say? It supplies pure nicotine in vapor form, so it services the addiction. I don't know if the craving will go away, but at least I don't inhale all that other crud. I haven't noticed any other effects.

---

15 Jun 11 - 02:32 PM (#3171048)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: John MacKenzie

I used nicotine chewing gum to help me quit, and normally I absolutely LOATHE gum.
It worked though, been stpped for over 20 years

---

15 Jun 11 - 03:14 PM (#3171067)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

The gum gave me my first vocal cord polyp in less than two weeks.

---

15 Jun 11 - 03:30 PM (#3171074)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: michaelr

Here is the website for the product I'm using. Don't be fooled by the photo - there is NO smoke, and very little vapor.

---

15 Jun 11 - 03:54 PM (#3171089)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Hmmm... John... perhaps the polyp was there and the gums simply "made me aware" it was there? Could be.

As for the gadget, "high blood pressure" might be a problem. Must read up on the patch in regard to that.

Anyway, I have cut way down and tomorrow even more. Stanley Cup final tonight and I grabbed some beer today so no guarantees once the game starts.

---

15 Jun 11 - 07:34 PM (#3171185)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smoking
From: Beer

I'm following this thread G. So you hang in there. Boston in 7
Ah!, maybe the Canucks in 8
ad.

---

15 Jun 11 - 10:02 PM (#3171237)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

It ain't over until the fat puck sings.

Although, it seems to me that Boston is digging harder in the corners and it's paying off... forcing Vancouver to dump out to get out of trouble. And Vancouver is dumping it into the corners too much instead of keeping control of it to the net. I really don't see any hope for the Canucks unless they change their strategy... like my old man used to say... PUT DAT PUCK ON DAT NET!!!!

---

17 Jul 11 - 01:56 PM (#3189532)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

I have received word on a smoking cessation course. Two hours per week for 6 weeks starting in 9 days.

I can't wait for the instructor to ask, for the first time, "Any questions." I'm gonna say, "Yeah... when do we get a smoke break?" I wonder if they've heard that one before?

Anybody got any other good questions to ask?

---

17 Jul 11 - 02:53 PM (#3189574)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smoking
From: Beer

If I quit smoking and still smoke Pot, will the craving for cigarettes go away?

Or lets say the question goes like this. " I have not smoked cigarettes in nearly 10 years, if I smoke a joint, will I be hooked to cigarettes again"?

ad.

---

17 Jul 11 - 04:33 PM (#3189626)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: ranger1

Gnu, if you quit, maybe I can get J-boy to quit, too. Worth a try, anyway.

---

17 Jul 11 - 07:00 PM (#3189703)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Beer... not bad but it's a second session question, unless someone brings some pot to the first smoke break.

J-boy had better quit. The Pats need a decent QB. >;-)

---

17 Jul 11 - 09:42 PM (#3189765)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Ask if it's okay to chew or dip snoose as long as you don't smoke.

Spoken introduction:
Nicholas! Albert! Look, I don't know where they are, but I'd like you to meet
my two pals, my buddies, my two amigos. I'll tell you all about them - well...
------------------------------
I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
Strange as it seems, I met in my dreams, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
Here's what they said to me, 'Use your head, just see your life is very, very dull"
Well, I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
So I said to Nick, 'Nick tell me quick, what should a fellow do?'
He said to me, 'Boy, easy to see boy, you should try a cigarette or two.'
Well, I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
So I lit a fag, and I took a drag, then to my great surprise,
I started to gasp, and coughed like a rasp,
And everything spun round before my eyes.
Well, I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
So I said to Al, 'Al, be a pal, what do you really think?'
He said to me, 'Boy, easy to see boy, smoking's kid's stuff, pour yourself a drink.'
Well, I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
So quick as a wink, I took a drink, swigged a glassful down.
First it seemed to hit me, then it turned around and bit me,
And everything went all spinning round.
Well, I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
Well, here is the joke, when I awoke, it wasn't finished yet,
I noticed first a terrible thirst
And then a craving for a cigarette.
Well, I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
Well, take my advice, this smoking is nice and the drinking is really lush.
As you can see, there's no change in me,
I'm still as pure as the driven slush.
Well, I never gargled, I never gambled, I never smoked at all.
Until I met my two good amigos, Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.
Nick Teen and Al K. Hall.

                                  --Rolf Harris

---

18 Jul 11 - 01:32 AM (#3189819)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Sandy Mc Lean

I chain smoked but have been off the weed for nearly 35 years. If I didn't quit I doubt if I would still be here. It got so that coughing was my main exercise! Good luck gnu!

---

18 Jul 11 - 08:28 AM (#3189967)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: GUEST

Where is all the money I was suppose to save?

---

18 Jul 11 - 08:37 AM (#3189974)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Charley Noble

And so it goes!

Charley Noble

---

18 Jul 11 - 08:58 AM (#3189984)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Beer

8:28 Guest was me Beer.
Lost my cookie . Sorry about that.
ad.

---

18 Jul 11 - 10:36 AM (#3190035)
Subject: Lyr Add: The 200-YEAR-OLD ALCOHOLIC (Clancy)
From: Rapparee

THE TWO-HUNDRED YEAR OLD ALCOHOLIC

When I was eighty I started smoking
Took to drinking at eighty-five
At ninety I started courting
Thank God that I was alive
Ninety-five saw me in business
Determined to rake in a pile
At a hundred I made my first million
And I started living in style

Chorus:
Oh, it's never too late to start living
To get out and have some fun
The sun will be just as shiny in the morning
As the first day the world begun

Well I moved to an uptown penthouse
Used fifties to light my cigars
Developed a taste for fine champagne
Drove fast I-talian cars
But the doctor he give me a warning
And a lecture on right and wrong
If I didn't give up my sinful ways
I couldn't live very long

But I said to him...

Now I'm a two-hundred year old alcoholic
And the nicotine's caught up on me
But worst of all in this morning's mail
Got a suit for paternity
But I'm not really unhappy
'Cause maybe I'll have me a son
And his morning's will be just as shiny
As the first day the world begun.

               -Words and music by Liam Clancy

---

18 Jul 11 - 12:23 PM (#3190092)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: frogprince

"Ask if it's okay to chew or dip snoose as long as you don't smoke."

Forgive me this, but I had a flashback. This goes back to an Ann Landers column, way, way back, I think before Eppie Whatwasername wrote the column for decades. The letter was from the concerned parents of a young man, regarding his choice of girlfriend and the relationship. The girl, "Julie", was well along in pregnancy, and his parents wanted them to get married, but the couple said they were "waiting to see if the baby was his". The kicker came at the end of the letter: "P.S., Julie doesn't drink or smoke".

No, it isn't an urban legend; I read it in the column, in the Austin (Minnesota) Daily Herald.

---

18 Jul 11 - 06:37 PM (#3190329)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

A friend of mine, a good member of the LDS Church, was asked why he ordered such wonderful (and large) desserts. His response was, "When you're Mormon you can't smoke and you can't drink. That leaves only two other things, and eating dessert you can do in public."

---

18 Jul 11 - 06:56 PM (#3190337)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Rap.... yer buddy is a cool dude. Of course, that begs a joke he wouldn't appreciate... in public. >;-)

---

18 Jul 11 - 10:45 PM (#3190428)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Maryrrf

You definitely can do it Gnu. Many have (I did). It was hard but worth it. Just focus on getting through it one day at a time.   Keep a supply of apples, carrots, celery, etc. the kind of things that have crunch but few calories and maybe that will help with the weight gain, which is a possibility when you quit smoking, but it doesn't have to happen.

---

19 Jul 11 - 08:51 AM (#3190597)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: McGrath of Harlow

Smoking cigarettes is a completely daft way to get your nicotine. Kills you, and pollutes the place with fag ends, which can last for years.

Smoking a pipe is a lot better, and can make you look reliable and honest. But I'm always puzzled by why hardened nicotine addicts seem to ignore the much hallowed option of taking snuff. No hassles about non-smoking areas or having to go outside in a pub.

That's leaving aside the simplest option which is of course just to give up entirely. I do that because while I think for most people it in in fact a simple option, clearly for many people it isn't, presumably because their brains or bodies are wired in some different way.

---

19 Jul 11 - 09:45 AM (#3190630)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Every time you light up, have a friend yell "GOD! HE'S ON FIRE!" and dump a bucket of water on you.

---

19 Jul 11 - 09:54 AM (#3190637)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

I suppose you'd be the first to volunteer?

---

19 Jul 11 - 12:19 PM (#3190732)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: frogprince

"eating dessert you can do in public."
"You definitely can do it Gnu. Many have (I did). It was hard but worth it."
Nuts; I was thinkin' for a minute there that I could make that second quote look like a reference to what the guy indicated that you couldn't do in public.

---

19 Jul 11 - 02:21 PM (#3190826)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Crowhugger

Rapparee that's a great plan!

So how's it going these days, Gnu? Did you take that cessation course mentioned last month?

I admire your self control being able to cut down. Cutting down didn't work for me and my 2 packs a day addiction. In 2003 I made the decision to quit with the help of the patch. Main motivation: I finally chose to honour my husband's fear of a fire. Bonus motivation: We had a trip planned that included an 8 hour flight (=11 hours unable to smoke and I didn't want to be miserable for 9 or 10 of those hours), with an overnight non-smoking train ride and a lengthy bus ride into the mix. And I cannot abide nicotine gum!

Basically smoking became more guilt & nuisance than pleasure. Embarrassing truth be told though, if smoking became socially acceptable again I'm not sure I would remain a non-smoker. I think I would, out of respect for my husband and to save my lung capacity for singing. But there is something awfully powerful about tobacco. Cruel stuff. Maybe it's a good thing I couldn't cut down; if I could have I might still be smoking a few, outside the house, even up to half a pack per day just to enjoy it. Pathetic, I know!

Despite the occasional urges, it sure felt good when I hit the one-year mark tobacco-free. My blood pressure was borderline before I quit but I didn't need any medication to balance side effects of the patch.

The biggest tricks to minimize my suffering were all in my head:
1. distraction during an urge to smoke (a bucket of water dumped over me would have certainly been that, but I opted for drier ways)
2. trust that the urge would pass--these are rare now, but still do happen occasionally.

Keep us posted!

---

19 Jul 11 - 03:15 PM (#3190864)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp

Whatcha wanta quit smokin' for, gnu? I been smokin' steady since the year 1925, I love it, and it ain't done me no harm. Smokin' makes you look suave and debonair, and that can help attract swanky dames. It also gives you somethin' to do with yer hands while you talk. You can break the ice by lightin' one up for her. Do I gotta tell you everything?

Watch a few old Bogart movies fer chrissake, notice how important a good smoke is to social interaction, and get with it.

- Chongo

---

19 Jul 11 - 06:26 PM (#3191000)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Yeah, and it also pinpoints yer location at night, letting them get a shot at ya.

---

20 Jul 11 - 01:06 AM (#3191151)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp

That is true, Rap. The thing is, there are times when you wanna smoke and times when you don't. You gotta judge each situation on its own requirements. I have fooled snipers more than once by puttin' a lit cigarette in the crack of a fence or the knothole of a tree, and stakin' out the scene from about 10 or 20 feet off to one side. They blast hell out of the cigarette and then I blast hell out of them. Works like a charm. You can use a hat that way too.

- Chongo

---

20 Jul 11 - 10:13 AM (#3191370)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Rapparee

Unless they wait and see you lightin' up, and the end of the cig has to keep moving a little bit. Then blammo! brains in the drains.

---

20 Jul 11 - 04:02 PM (#3191574)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: McGrath of Harlow

Of course when you're a chimp you've got two extra hands to keep busy.

---

20 Jul 11 - 04:10 PM (#3191579)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

My uncle's buddy, a Lewey, got shot that way from the side by a sniper. Teeth all over the place. The lads were very concerned. BUT, all he had was a hole in both cheeks and cuts in the mouth... dentures... lucky man.

Doubt if he gave up smoking. Probably needed a smoke after that!

---

02 Aug 11 - 04:15 PM (#3200373)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: gnu

Today (day two of 6 weekly two hour sessions) we had a pharmacist as a guest speaker. I was taken aback to hear that if you want to try the nicotene replacement products and, say, smoke two packs a day you should put on TWO patches to start. Or, you could put on one patch and use the gum, lozenges or inhaler to supplement one patch per day.

Glad I am taking the course because I am learning things I did not know.

I just may do this thing and almost started before today but now I am convinced I should finish the course first. Better armed, better able.

---

02 Aug 11 - 11:29 PM (#3200672)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Janie

Pullin' fer ya', gnu. If you make it, maybe I can too.

---

02 Aug 11 - 11:40 PM (#3200677)
Subject: RE: BS: gnu has to quit smokin
From: Beer

I'm sure one of your worries is that you love "BUD" and smoke go together. RIGHT!!!! Well it was also an excuse for me as well. But you know.... I am just finishing a 6 pack of BUD and have been off the smoke for 10 years and i still can enjoy "me bud". So have no fear G. You can do it.
ad.
Your BUD.

---