Amiga.org
Coffee House => Coffee House Boards => CH / General => Topic started by: Dr_Righteous on January 06, 2007, 03:59:02 AM
-
...and I do mean HELL within.
So I'm sitting here, at war with my own brain and body... Wondering what the hell I was thinking by starting smoking. For 25 years (well, minus my early childhood of course), I swore up and down I'd never start.
Of course that was before I had heard of clove cigarettes. A gateway drug if I've ever seen one. Smelled great, tasted great, smoked smooth. Eventually, due to cost, I moved to regular ol' menthol cigarettes (still couldn't stand smoking unflavored).
As of 01/01/07, the great state of Texas has decided to add on another $1 per pack tax on cigarettes, to offset property taxes... In an effort to raise more education funding.
Having wished I'd never started in the first place, knowing it's had ill effects on my health, and would probably shorten my life... And realizing that my pack-a-day habit would now cost me over $100 a month, just to harm myself... I decide to quit.
This is not an attempt to quit. As master Yoda says, "do or do not, there is no try." One must have absolutely no room for waivering when you decide to quit, otherwise you're simply not ready, and you're just wasting your time. Cuz let me tell you... Not even broken bones cause as much agony as nicotine withdrawls. A broken heart is more tolerable. I can't imagine any torture on the planet more horrific than the confusion, the numbness, the panic, the anger and rage, the lack of control of your emotions, the lethargy, the spikes of "ants in your pants" energy that come and go... Making you feel like flipping out like the rival anchor from Bruce Almighty. It's truely hell within.
To those of you out there who don't smoke, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT STARTING! Don't touch them! Not even ONE! Cuz eventually you will be in my shoes. "Oh I just smoke maybe one or two a month... A week... A day... An hour. Oops.
Everyone who smokes, at some point at least, wants to quit. And this, what I'm going through right now, is what you face. A demon only the strongest of wills can slay. The stop-smoking patches, and pills and candies... They're like a fine sword. YOU still have to face the demon, no matter how fine your sword is.
Why am I writing all of this? Just trying to vent. Gotta keep up the fight. $100 a month can go a long way towards my Amiga habit! Eight or nine months of not smoking could buy me a CSPPC!
-
Hang in there! Visualise all the cool Amiga stuff you could buy =).
-
Ja, smoking is a no-no.
My ex-gf is a smoker and she was starting to get those wrinkles around her mouth, like a cat's anus. It's no good. Your clothes stink, the house stinks, your fingers are yellow and kissing a smoker is like kissing an ashtray.
But the worst thing is what you can't see: atheromatous plaques. Ja, I have seen those first hand. A vascular surgeon pulled those out of a guy's leg in theatre in front of me. When he handed it to me it looked like a long bleached booger and it was of a rubbery texture. That is what was coating his arteries. Get that build up in your coronary arteries and one day it could be unexpectedly 'Game Over'
So all the best wishes in quitting. You'll be much better off and you'll be able to climb a staircase without wheezing at the age of 65.
If I could nuke all cigarettes I would do it. Sometimes I think Dennis Farina's quote in 'Snatch' is the best. He was in a restaurant and someone at the next table was smoking. He got up and said to the guy "If you agree not to smoke I'll agree not to come over to your table and fart while you are eating"
Sums it up nicely.
-
X-ray wrote:
"If you agree not to smoke I'll agree not to come over to your table and fart while you are eating"
Sums it up nicely.
:lol: Great quote. Very fitting.
As for quitting, I've been there, and it really sucks. However, it doesn't take a really long time, it just takes a lot of strong will, and reinforcement of your convictions. I found after a while of not smoking, I just couldn't stand the smell of the stuff, and that really helped to keep me from re-starting. Of course when you smoke regularly, your sense of smell is quite dulled, and you don't notice how bad it is.
Good luck to you Dr. Righteous. Keep it up.
Oli
P.S. I had to also stop drinking with my mates to stop smoking, just to avoid the temptation (specially when drunk, and I'd falter more easily). I found it better to avoid movies where characters smoked a lot too.
edit- keep in mind that the hell of quitting can't be nearly as bad as the hell of lung, mouth or throat cancer. Better the hell you know.
-
Strangely, smoking cigars made me not smoking cigarettes :lol:
Well, I smoke a couple of cigars once in 3 months or so.
-
I used to smoke a cigar about once a year, but last time I had two cigars, and noticed an immediate, and significant hit to my fitness. Wow! Never doing that again. It felt terrible.
-
My physics have always been utterly miserable, so I can't use that to measure the effect... :-/
(anyway I don't inhale anyway)
-
The other thing that may be a problem (and I have experienced this twice), is that when you are a non-smoker and you go out with somebody who smokes, then there are actually three parties to that relationship: its you, the girl and her smokes.
If there is an argument, then the girl and her newly-lit cigarette will scowl at you from amidst the smoke and that will be her barrier. That cigarette is her buddy, its what she confides in.
-
I am starting another "give-up" attempt in a couple of days (hopefully). Best apprach to that is to have your last cigarette, just before you go to bed.After you woke up, much of the withdrawal syndrom of the first hours is passed while you are asleep. If things get really anxious, you could try nicotinne gums. of course the biggest challenge is to get it off your mind, rather than becoming biologicaly independant of it.
-
Dr_Righteous wrote:
As of 01/01/07, the great state of Texas has decided to add on another $1 per pack tax on cigarettes, to offset property taxes... In an effort to raise more education funding.
As of Jan 1, 2007 the Texas cigarette tax increased to $1.46 on a 20 cigarette pack or $1.76 on a 25 cigarette pack.
US states cigarette tax rates, 2006 (http://www.taxadmin.org/FTA/rate/cigarett.html)
Raising a "sin tax," appeals to legislators who view it as a way of discouraging consumption of objectionable products (cigarettes, liquor, gambling, and so on)
Increasing a "sin tax" just creates an underground market for cigarettes from cheap sources (Indian reservations, Duty free export shops, lower tax states}. Long haul truck drivers make extra money buying cigarettes in low tax areas then reselling them in higher tax states. Organized crime just targets whole semi-trailers of cigarettes for theft.
Health wise, you're much better off giving them up.
-
Well day three has gone much better than the other two.
I discovered shortly after writing the original post just how effective the patches are. See, I had taken mine off at about 9:00. By 10:00 I was ready for the looney bin. Popped a fresh patch on, and in a matter of minutes I was a new man!
I'm only getting brief flashes of madness now... But a new demon has arisen. Now I'm fighting my thoughts! "I miss smoking... I liked smoking." To which I have to reassure myself that it's not true.
So I went to the store today, and now I have a new weapon. A 5 pound bag of Jolly Ranchers!
@Van_M
I started out that way. Last smoke at night before bed. It was also the last one I owned. Tried it a few days before, but having them around was too big a temptation.
My next challenge is beating my 3 week record. I tried quitting before, made it three weeks before deciding it'd be best to smoke before someone died. Of course, I was also working as a security guard outside of a Wal-Mart. Might have had something to do with it!
Again, I urge those who smoke not to bother trying to quit untill you are absolutely 100% committed. If you have even the slightest doubt about you ability to do it, it's not worth the torture as you WILL fail. I recommend psyching yourself up untill you're so pissed off about smoking you'd tear the head off the devil to do it.
Well, time for a smoke break.... no, No, NO!!!!!! NEVER AGAIN!!!!
-
@ Dr Righteous
If you smoke again, I will mail you a piece of cancerous lung with some stringy atheromatous toppings and some brown tooth scrapings as a garnish. :-P
-
X-ray wrote:
@ Dr Righteous
If you smoke again, I will mail you a piece of cancerous lung with some stringy atheromatous toppings and some brown tooth scrapings as a garnish. :-P
Served with a sub-saharan outdoor latrine shrimp in bag special?
-
X-ray wrote:
The other thing that may be a problem (and I have experienced this twice), is that when you are a non-smoker and you go out with somebody who smokes, then there are actually three parties to that relationship: its you, the girl and her smokes.
If there is an argument, then the girl and her newly-lit cigarette will scowl at you from amidst the smoke and that will be her barrier. That cigarette is her buddy, its what she confides in.
And there's nothing more off putting than the smell of old ashtrays.
-
If you don't count the taste.
-
December 31st 2006 marked ten years since I quit smoking and I've never looked back. Sure, quitting isn't easy but within three months of quitting I could swim a mile. Within a year I could swim that mile in under 30 minutes.
As for having lady partners who smoke, it's downright disgusting. Kissing someone who tastes like the inside of a tramps pocket is one thing but take it from me you can even tell a lass is a smoker when "heading south of the border".
Good luck with the quitting, very soon you won't look back.
-
Kissing someone who tastes like the inside of a tramps pocket is one thing
Well you do choose to live in Essex my friend. :-P
-
"...but take it from me you can even tell a lass is a smoker when "heading south of the border"..."
---------------------------------------------------------
That's an interesting thing. I have had two girlfriends that smoke, and they had a different taste (when comparing one to the other). In fact I would say all those sausage wallets have a different taste, maybe some research is needed into that.
-
Where were they putting the cigarette? :-o
;-)
-
@X-ray
Eww. I think I'll pass on the rotten body parts.
I'm not sure which part was worse... Fighting the "Need" or fighting the "Want" for a smoke. It's easier to say you don't want something when you NEED it... Harder to say you don't want it when you DO want it. Sort of a split personality thing going on right now. It's weird.
-
Karlos wrote:
Where were they putting the cigarette? :-o
;-)
Cigars!
Cigar Aficionado (http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blmonicacigaraficionado.htm)
Portrait with Monica (http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blclintonportraitmonica.htm)
Absolut Lewinsky (http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blclintonabsolut.htm)
-
Dr_Righteous wrote:
I'm only getting brief flashes of madness now... But a new demon has arisen. Now I'm fighting my thoughts! "I miss smoking... I liked smoking." To which I have to reassure myself that it's not true.
So I went to the store today, and now I have a new weapon. A 5 pound bag of Jolly Ranchers!
several ex-smokers recomend chewing gum
-
X-ray wrote:
That's an interesting thing. I have had two girlfriends that smoke, and they had a different taste (when comparing one to the other). In fact I would say all those sausage wallets have a different taste, maybe some research is needed into that.
First of all :lol: at the "sausage wallet" euphamism, I rather like "Spam Purse" myself.
Secondly, all ladies in my experience are unique in that respect although smokers tend to be somewhat distinctive. Yuk!
-
metalman wrote:
several ex-smokers recomend chewing gum
Actually it does help, but the main thing for me was finding something I enjoyed doing which was enhanced when I stopped smoking. I got into sports before quitting and discovered I enjoyed the endorphine rush of exercise far more than I did the rush of nicotine. Quitting smoking = better fitness levels = bigger endorphine rush.
-
PMC wrote:
X-ray wrote:
That's an interesting thing. I have had two girlfriends that smoke, and they had a different taste (when comparing one to the other). In fact I would say all those sausage wallets have a different taste, maybe some research is needed into that.
First of all :lol: at the "sausage wallet" euphamism, I rather like "Spam Purse" myself.
Secondly, all ladies in my experience are unique in that respect although smokers tend to be somewhat distinctive. Yuk!
along the foodstuffs theme I like the name "Beef Curtains".
most of my other nicknames for it are unprintable where minors are concerned. although, the act mentioned by our friend in Colchester I like to describe as "sipping from the furry chalice".
as for flavour: there are two things that taste of fish, and one of those is fish!
-
:lol:
-
Keef Burtons? Ahem...
I'd love to know where the "fish" analogy comes in, as if it does have a tendency to resemble the latter then its owner is liable to be sent to the bathroom to rectify the situation before I embark on an rainforest charting expedition south of the equator.
-
PMC wrote:
Keef Burtons? Ahem...
I'd love to know where the "fish" analogy comes in, as if it does have a tendency to resemble the latter then its owner is liable to be sent to the bathroom to rectify the situation before I embark on an rainforest charting expedition south of the equator.
Hi all,
You guys are a riot!! :-D
Never heard any of these expressions before.
As to smoking; I always say, EVEN IF cigarettes were $1 a pack, tax included, of WHAT BENEFIT are they?
N O N E !!!!!
None whatsoever!
No vitamins, no minerals. It doesn't increase your beauty or make you smarter. It increases your need to clean, and virtually it's impossible, in many ways. How disgusting is it to see people whose skin has changed colour to yellowish IN their hands, and or has burns on their fingers from them falling asleep with cig in hand? No end to hassles too.
If you're somewhere, say standing on a corner smoking, dangerous types will come over asking you for an extra one. (Hmmmm, not like they're not looking for someone to rob, anyway.)
Also, what's up with "hey, you got a light?"
If you smoke a pack a day, that's 7,300 a year, and 73,000 in ten years! Why the (insert profanity) DON'T YOU KNOW where the damn lighter is or HAVE ONE??!!??!!!!!?
OKAY, OKAY, OKAY, there IS ONE benefit (since you've gone there already), a girl could ask you for a smoke/light, but there are ALWAYS strings attached, you know? ;-)
P.S. Most reprehensible is when people fall asleep with an ashtray on their bed, and we know what happens next....
(Hey, accidents happen, but...)
-
True, except for the following:
or make you smarter.
There is scientific evidence that smoking makes you concentrate better (for a while), wich makes you in a way, smarter.
-
It probably makes smokers concentrate better, but their baseline concentration without smoking is probably impaired due to nicotine withdrawl symptoms to start with, so perhaps it merely brings them back up towards that of a non smoker ;-)
Ever seen a regular smoker try to do anything complicated when they need a cigarette? Half the time they can barely light it without shaking...
-
@ Agafaster
"...the act mentioned by our friend in Colchester I like to describe as "sipping from the furry chalice". ..."
-----------------------------------------------------------
My mate, it is never that elegant.
Sure, it starts like a butterfly sitting on a petal, but it finishes like a bulldog eating porridge.
-
X-ray wrote:
Sure, it starts like a butterfly sitting on a petal, but it finishes like a bulldog eating porridge.
I quite like it when the butterfly has a little moustache...
I remember a g/f once saying "try and find the little man in a canoe".
I spent the next three hours searching, but by the time I got back from the canal, she'd buggered off home.