Boo

Feeling lucky to have avoided what would have been one of the goofiest car wrecks in the history of automotive travel. I was behind a work truck earlier today that had a porta-john on the back. I laid back a few extra car lengths when I saw the john shifting around more than it should have been. The truck starts to accelerate climbing a hill and the crapper fell right off the back of the truck. I'm relieved to have avoided the wreck and also not have people laughing at my misfortune... What happened to Boo? He hit a shitter on Highway 27.

Present and accounted for.

Good call. A few moments of temporary agitation is a small price to pay for a lifetime of freedom from cigarettes.

Same here. I rolled out those two old tropes "we're all gonna die of something" and "nobody gets out alive" to justify my addiction on a regular basis. As an addict, you have to learn to turn a blind eye to your own bullshit. Fortunately, I eventually got tired of that guy in the mirror lying to me every day. That was when I was able to start making some positive changes in my life.

Addiction and conditioning. It's the same trap we all fell in. If I read your post correctly, you smoked your first cigarette immediately after having sex for the first time. That is doubling down on the dopamine right there. Lighting up the pleasure center of the brain like that during the formative years of your life is bound to create a mental link between the two activities that leaves you wanting more of both. With a bit of reinforcement of the behavior, smoking after sex, you have conditioned your brain in such a way that it will naturally link the two activities. The good news is: you can rewire your brain and create new neural pathways. Neuroplasticity is your friend here. As for the haze and glorified memories of past smoking experiences that end up with you buying a pack of smokes, that's just addiction. Plain and simple...addiction. If you continue to buy cigarettes when these thoughts occur, you will keep the cycle going. If you resist the temptation and don't buy cigarettes, the roar of addiction will fade to a whimper and eventually go silent. You can. It is simply a matter of making a choice and committing to it. Addiction and self-doubt kept me smoking well past the age you are at now. Don't make the same mistake I did.

You're asking for vacation pictures of Bakon in Florida? Careful what you wish for.

28,968 hours since I lit one up. Good riddance.

The Foo Fighters cover was good. However, I typically show preference for the original. Wings gets my vote.

For what it's worth...tomorrow's game between the Braves and Mets offers up what could be a great pitching duel with Soroka and deGrom taking the mound. I understand that the gurus and wizards of baseball, armed with advanced metrics and complicated equations, have led the way in diminishing the importance of starting pitching. However, the first thing I look at before a game are the probable starters. Until the number crunchers totally take over the game, the starters matter. And from the looks of some of the bullpens around the league, I can't help but think that there are a few managers who are feeling less inclined to pull a starter on pitch-count alone. In totally unrelated news, the Cookie Monster sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley today. Perhaps I'm too old to admit this, but that made me very happy.

That's particularly true for those of us who are a bit, what the mental health professionals call, obsessive-compulsive. If one aspect of the plan goes sideways, there's always a temptation to throw the whole thing out and start over...later. Much later.

The only place I have been in Atlanta that may still have a smoking section is a billiards club that has a walk-in humidor and sells cigars. Even that joint had clearly defined smoking and non-smoking areas. Even most of the strip clubs in Atlanta went smoke-free several years ago. And no...it's not important how I know that.

Good job Richard. You're well on your way now.

The Atlanta City Council is late to the party on this one. Every restaurant and bar I can think of in the A-T-L has been smoke-free for years. Some had outdoor areas where smoking was permitted, but it's been years since any of those places had a smoking area inside the establishment. Bars and restaurants had to make a business decision. With smoking on a dramatic decline, going smoke-free was the right choice.

I had a plan, but it turned out to be pretty much useless. For instance: I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to deal with being around other people smoking. Then I quit and found that I was indifferent to other people smoking. The sight of someone smoking and the smell of the cigarette had no affect on me either negative or positive. I don't like nitpicking over semantics, but I would go with preparation over planning when starting the quitting process. Learn about the nicotine trap, the psychology of addiction, and the misguided "beliefs" that lead to us "needing" a cigarette. If you're firmly rooted in the fundamentals you can sort everything else out with ease. I know a guy who has been "planning" on quitting for over two years now. He has all the information he needs. I think at this point he's waiting for a Bigfoot to ride by on a unicorn and deliver the magic code for quitting.

Could be a good match-up between a couple of young guns tonight when the Braves and Cubs play. Alzolay will make his first career start tonight and Max Fried will take the mound for Atlanta. I'm hoping for better results than last night when a good Jon Lester started for the Cubs and a bad Julio Teheran started for Atlanta.

My dad turned 73 years-old earlier this month and today he started the fourth week of his new workout regimen. As he got his strength back after having double bypass surgery last year he made a point to stay as busy as his body would allow. He picked back up working on the family farm and made a point to walk a minimum of 30 minutes a-day. It has worked out well for him. The more exercise he got, the better he felt. Unfortunately, a couple of the doctors he sees didn't seem to understand that he was feeling much better physically and mentally by staying busy. "Take it easy" they said, "you have to understand the limitations of a man your age." Nothing motivates the old man like getting pissed off. Dad said: "those bastards (his doctors) are telling me I need to sit in a rocking chair and wait to die." He concluded by saying: "they can kiss my ass." I gave him my copy of "The Barbell Prescription" by Jonathan Sullivan and Andy Baker. Also put him in touch with a guy I know in Cleveland who knows more about strength training than anyone else I know and he agreed to train my dad. Right now he goes to the gym twice-a-week to allow for plenty of recovery time between workouts. His trainer has him focused on three of the fundamental lifts: Deadlift, Overhead Press, and Bench Press. Every workout session is built around the Deadlift for the time being. On days when he doesn't go to the gym he stays busy (working and walking) and he recently bought an airdyne bike that he rides daily. I'm not advocating a reckless approach where anyone takes on more than they can handle. However...finding a good starting point, working from there, and making continuous progress will provide great benefits to anyone regardless of age or any other factors.

I knew there were only six episodes of Police Squad that aired, but had no idea about the idiotic reason the show was cancelled. ABC pulled the plug on the show as it was basically deemed too funny. A network executive stated that there were so many jokes per episode that some viewers were going to miss many of them. Much of the material written for future episodes became part of The Naked Gun series of movies. The "Fact Fiend" Karl Smallwood did a video about it...

Welcome to the Lido Deck Tammy. Celebrate and enjoy, you earned it.

Ten months of freedom and a rock-solid quit that will continue to benefit you through the rest of your life...that is something to celebrate.

Welcome aboard Greenlight. Seasoned veterans are a real asset here at the Quit Train. There is a symbiotic relationship between the newbies and the veterans. Grab a seat and stay a while.

Great job Christa.