I Quit Smoking - UPDATED

but somehow reasonable arguments, logic and common sense don't seem to apply when it comes to me and the dreaded weed.
I'd offer that the logic to cave is quite humorous. I've come up with some doozies in my past attempts. Nicotine messes with your mind big time. "If I have one now, the drought will end and the butterflies will get to be free again. It's only one. It will better prepare you for tomorrow's quit-smoking efforts. It'll be good for me in the long run if I have just ONE right now" All kinds of stupid garbage.

good going Roy.
a few weeks is really good. the corner isn't far ahead .
now, if you sneak a puff, you will instantly feel it
does not feel pleasant . it's like a hammer in the chest.

good going Roy.
a few weeks is really good. the corner isn't far ahead .
now, if you sneak a puff, you will instantly feel it
does not feel pleasant . it's like a hammer in the chest.
Every time I smoked when I was on the greatly reduced plan was both a combination of foul taste and some sort of chemical pleasure. Very weird to anyone that has never smoked. Understandable to anyone who has and liked it. Took almost two weeks to get back to a semi-normal sleep pattern.

A couple sticks of gum a day and minimal amounts of snacking has been my replacement. I've cut down on meal size to make up for added snacking. Net result is no weight change. Oh, and the brand of gum called "5" lasts for hours.

I can't relate directly Roy, I have never smoked. Of course, I deal with folks who do on a regular basis here at work and let me tell you .......... ooops gotta go, my ventilator patient needs me. :P

I can't relate directly Roy, I have never smoked. Of course, I deal with folks who do on a regular basis here at work and let me tell you .......... ooops gotta go, my ventilator patient needs me. :P
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I hear ya!

btw, most of the hospitals down here don't allow smoking anywhere on campus. You have to walk out to the sidewalk on the street. Ooops. I meant they and not "we". 8)

btw, most of the hospitals down here don't allow smoking anywhere on campus. You have to walk out to the sidewalk on the street.

Same here, Roy....you have to go out of the Hospital Grounds completely. I suppose that makes sense....but I'm getting heartily sick of the anti-smoking brigade and the health fascists telling me I can't do this and I can't do that. I'm intelligent enough to know what's good for me and what's bad for me, so it's my choice. There are certain things you don't do - like, I certainly wouldn't go into a non-smoking household and light up. I'd ask the houseowner if they minded if I went outside for a cigarette. I never smoked in restaurants, or anywhere people are/were eating - I don't like people smoking around me when I'm eating, so I don't inflict it on others.

But the whole "no smoking in pubs" thing bothers me.....in a town the size of Newton-le-Willows, where there's around 20 pubs, why can't half of them be smoking and half of them non-smoking? Or at least give the pub owners some say in the matter? I've read quite a few articles on how many pubs are having to close because they just aren't getting the customers in any more.

That's what this particular government wants, though - a non-smoking, non-drinking culture. I can't understand for the life of me where they'd begin to replace the tax revenue lost if everyone stopped smoking - the government tells us it costs a lot of money for the NHS (National Health Service) to treat smoking related diseases, but I reckon with the tax they're raking in - over £4 per packet sold ($6.40, approx.) goes to the government, and I'd say there are at least 10 million smokers in this country. Average a packet a day, and they're hauling in £40MILLION A DAY!

I'm only guessing at those figures....I'd love to find the real ones. I've probably overestimated - it would mean the government was raking in roughly a FIFTEEN BILLION POUNDS per year in tax. Where would they get that from if everyone quit?

I'm stressed now just thinking about those figures....going to have a cigarette and chill out!

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Vic

I've never been a smoker but I don't really have a problem if people smoke that's their choice. I did have to shut it down when we practice because with three people smoking in a confined area the smoke was very annoying to me.

I'm pretty much pro-choice so if someone wants to smoke go for it. It is a bit different with smoking vs some other govt mandated laws though. Smoking does effect other people, not only the second hand smoke but the fact that the health care costs are huge, something I end up contributing to.

When I had my Harley I never wore a helmet and eventually the changed the law in our state so they are not mandatory but in most states they are just like seat belts. Those are laws I have a serious problem with, I mean If I were to have an accident on my motorcycle and I wasn't wearing a helmet I don't think anyone else is going to be impacted other than myself. The same with a seat belt so why should I be forced to wear one.

But stopping anything is tough so I hope you stay with it.

I never liked the smoking inside other people's houses. Last time I visited my mentor/father-figure type in NY, he went outside to smoke because my wife did not smoke. I thought that was a very considerate gesture. His house was probably the ony house I regularly smoked in. They all smoked when I lived up there, so no biggie I thought.

I still cannot imagine your bandmates firing up in your basement. Not a non-smoker's house. Nope. Hard to fathom.

I agree with you both either to an extent or whole heartedly on the social and economic points you've brought up.

Hard to imagine without seeing it, but remember the regular old talk shows from the 60's and 70's with everyone smoking? That wasn't so long ago in the grand scheme of things.

There were some "cigar bars" in NYC that had to do some creative air management to stay in business last decade.

Well, I had a very difficult night's sleep. Kept dreaming about smoking and quitting. Oh well. At least I didn't cave. I played some guitar this morning. I got nailed with a nice nic-fit right after I butchered All The Young Dudes and a few 'Stones songs. No caving though. My mentality is not a "I wish I could smoke", but rather a "I can't wait until the nic fits end' kind of thing.

Congratulations Roy, with that mental attitude you've got it whipped. You must be almost through the cravings part then you just have to deal with the reflexive habits like that smoke with coffee, or after eating, when drinking and those are easy to ignore. Next thing you know ten years will have gone by and you'll catch yourself reaching for your pack in one of your trigger moments and you'll wonder where the heck that came from. :D

Smoking does effect other people, not only the second hand smoke but the fact that the health care costs are huge, something I end up contributing to.

The point I was trying to make - or should have made - was that smokers actually pay TWICE for their healthcare, at least here in the UK. Once through the normal healthcare contributions....National Insurance, etc - and the second time through the tax on cigarettes. They'd be less than £1 a packet instead of around £5 if the government didn't take such a huge slice in tax.

Honestly, though, the whole "nanny state" thing is getting out of hand over here.

In today's paper, there's a columnist taking a swipe at the "health police" .... a pregnant woman in a supermarket was only allowed to buy a piece of cheese if she promised not to eat it! A staff member told her it was "dangerous for someone in her condition" and that she should consider herself lucky that her generation was privy to such valuable information. Ye Gods, has it really come to this?

(The columnist - Sue Carroll in the Mirror - added, "What next? Check-out guards probing shopping baskets with chocolate detectors?")

See, I'm getting all worked up now - time for another ciggie!

:evil: :evil: :evil:

Vic

Actually there are a few in the area that allow smoking and it's pretty much Ok as long as no one complains but if they get one complaint then they'll fine you.

But I agree with Vic everything is getting a bit too politically correct and all these Nanny laws as Vic calls them are a bit out of control.

Well Roy they are idiots , OK maybe not idiots....no they're idiots. I had to put up a sign and pretty much every week we go through the same thing, "Can I smoke down here", "No, read the sign" then they complain and go outside.

New Zealand has had no smoking in bars and cafés for some years now and the experience here is that far from loss of patronage there are more people rediscovering the pub and going back to it. There is a huge untapped (excuse the pun) collection of non smokers who have stayed away from bars because it was just too uncomfortable to be there. It's really just a shift in mindset. The reality is that people don't live in isolation, things you do will affect others, that one cigarette will have an effect on everybody else in that room and in some cases an adverse effect on their health. What gives the smoker (or any other individual for that matter) the right to expect that their needs are greater than everybody else's especially when all they have to do is go outside for 5 minutes.

So Roy your not only doing youself a favour but you are also doing everybody else one as well, well done and keep at it.

Paul

But the whole "no smoking in pubs" thing bothers me.....in a town the size of Newton-le-Willows, where there's around 20 pubs, why can't half of them be smoking and half of them non-smoking? Or at least give the pub owners some say in the matter? I've read quite a few articles on how many pubs are having to close because they just aren't getting the customers in any more.

Over in the US Ohio went non-smoking a couple years ago....including OUTDOOR events like sporting events. There were plenty bars that shut down because of it.

I'm not a smoker, and enjoy the fact that I can go places and not really worry about it. But the fact that they won't allow some bars to have smoking in them is kind of rediculous, there are so many bars, not give bar owners some choice in the matter I think infringes on some rights.

Just another example of getting a law "almost" right. Things here on tobacco road are not quite so strict, but a lot stricter than you would imagine. The smokers have a tiny little area, tucked away where nobody goes where they can smoke at most outdoor events.

You can still smoke in a bar. Most bars. Hell, that's the only time a lot of people smoke. It's a big part of the bar scene. Perhaps letting bar owners install some air movement system and allow them to let their customers back in?

Everywhere else, nope. I remember 15 years ago all the moaning and groaning about no smoking in shopping malls. Pro-smoker's rights folks were up in arms, but I think most smokers where like "yeah, I guess that doesn't make much sense to smoke in there". Restaraunts soon followed. My father-in-law used to select his grocery store of choice based on which ones let him smoke while in there. He's still big, so I guess he caved in and stopped smoking in stores for the 20 minute journey.

Most places have or had that one little area outside where nobody treks. Most of the time it's just fine. Once in a while a non-smoker will pass by and give that fake cough thing and you'd have to lay into some snob with a verbal barrage of some sort. You know, we're outside, away from everyone and everything and normally not in a direct line between a parking lot and door. We (well, they) don't need some uppity non-smoking snob thinking that they're making a political statement by going out of their way to walk into their clouds and crying the right to clean air stuff. People like that kill me, and I always laid into people. Yanno, we are smoking where we are to give you clean air. We see snakes sometimes because we are so far removed.

Ooooops, I ranted. It takes both sides of people to be reasonable. Smokers, if someone doesn't want their basement smelling like smoke, then go outside, dispose of your butts in a proper manner and thank the host when you leave for having you over. Don't keep up the 'hey Chris, can I smoke here?' bit every Friday. It's really amazing how some common courtesies can go a long way. Restaraunt hostesses always gave me a funny look when I went out for a smoke. They'd say "you can smoke right there in the bar" and I look over there and there would be plenty of non-smokers in there enjoying a beer or a game. Nah, this is the Carolinas. It's probably not too bad outside. :)

Oh well, day 17 begins.

Roy, that "5" gum's flavor will last longer than I've ever cared to chew a piece. I don't know how they do it.

Here in TN, there is no smoking in public places, except places that only allow 21 years and up. So some "bars" you can smoke, some you can't. I put bars in parenthesis because in TN there is no such thing as a pure bar. All bars are licensed as restaurants. And thanks to the law passed this summer, handgun carry permit holders can carry in places that serve alcohol, as long as they aren't consuming. Makes me feel better when playing a show in a seedy part of town.