Sazerac

you might find this essay helpful, My Cigarette, My Friend by Joel Spitzer and here is a short video, dramatizing the essay

bump for @Diane and here is a short video dramatizing this essay

the link above no longer works. Here is the vid and here is the original essay by Joel Spitzer How do you feel about a friend who has to go everywhere with you? Not only does he tag along all the time, but since he is so offensive and vulgar, you become unwelcome when with him. He has a peculiar odor that sticks to you wherever you go. Others think both of you stink. He controls you totally. When he says jump, you jump. Sometimes in the middle of a blizzard or storm, he wants you to come to the store and pick him up. You would give your spouse hell if he or she did that to you all the time, but you can't argue with your friend. Sometimes, when you are out at a movie or play he says he wants you to go stand in the lobby with him and miss important scenes. Since he calls all the shots in your life, you go. Your friend doesn't like your choice of clothing either. Instead of politely telling you that you have lousy taste, he burns little holes in these items so you will want to throw them out. Sometimes, he tires of the furniture and gets rid of it too. Occasionally, he gets really nasty and decides the whole house must go. He gets pretty expensive to support. Not only is his knack of property destruction costly, but you must pay to keep him with you. In fact, he will cost you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. And you can count on one thing, he will never pay you a penny in return. Often at picnics you watch others playing vigorous activities and having lots of fun doing them. But your friend won't let you. He doesn't believe in physical activity. In his opinion, you are too old to have that kind of fun. So he kind of sits on your chest and makes it difficult for you to breathe. Now you don't want to go off and play with other people when you can't breathe, do you? Your friend does not believe in being healthy. He is really repulsed by the thought of you living a long and productive life. So every chance he gets he makes you sick. He helps you catch colds and flu. Not just by running out in the middle of the lousy weather to pick him up at the store. He is more creative than that. He carries thousands of poisons with him which he constantly blows in your face. When you inhale some of them, they wipe out cilia in your lungs which would have helped you prevent these diseases. But colds and flu are just his form of child's play. He especially likes diseases that slowly cripple you - like emphysema. He considers this disease great. Once he gets you to have this, you will give up all your other friends, family, career goals, activities - everything. You will just sit home and caress him, telling him what a great friend he is while you desperately gasp for air. But eventually your friend tires of you. He decides he no longer wishes to have your company. Instead of letting you go your separate ways, he decides to kill you. He has a wonderful arsenal of weapons behind him. In fact, he has been plotting your death since the day you met him. He picked all the top killers in society and did everything in his power to ensure you would get one of them. He overworked your heart and lungs. He clogged up the arteries to your heart, brain, and every other part of your body. In case you were too strong to succumb to this, he constantly exposed you to cancer causing agents. He knew he would get you sooner or later. Well, this is the story of your "friend," your cigarette. No real friend would do all this to you. Cigarettes are the worst possible enemies you ever had. They are expensive, addictive, socially unacceptable, and deadly. Consider all this and NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF! Joel http://whyquit.com/whyquit/joelcigfriend.html

@Martian5 's reminder to celebrate is really important ! and remember to reward yourself. All these things solidify your quit along with your reading and posting.

Congratulations, Diane on Three Weeks of Freedom ! The second a smokey thought comes your way, replace it with deep breaths, your 'mantra', and look at something of beauty. The sooner you banish these thoughts the better and replacing them with something always available, the better too. It won't be long before you will have conquered every receptor and wrenched it away from nicotine. It really won't be long even though it might seem like forever right now.

I'm going to pick #3 because there are so many variables.

you get the big prize, @Jordan7 , I have never been to Jamaica

@Jordan7, I am not being too modest, that is the truth. lol. #1 I've been to St. Lucia #2 I've been to Trinidad/Tobago #3 I've been to Jamaica

Oh, damn. I didn't tell a lie. Damn....gimme a second

#1 I like the knives in my silverware drawer to be facing the same way #2 I cannot sleep on printed or patterned sheets #3 I have never Karaoke'd

Jillar !!!

Sadly (or not) I left all that behind when I left Husband #1. Photos, autographs, tapes, all ephemera is gone. It wasn't a pretty ending. Ron is dead and his second wife isn't obliging (if our history even exists anymore). There may be a tape of 6 or 7 songs somewhere in Sonoma County with an old friend, I've lost contact with. I wasn't a very good singer, harmony did not come naturally, my playing was OK but I was a pretty good performer and a decent songwriter/arranger. It really wasn't my thing, just fell into it for about 10 years and had a whole lot of fun.

#2 I don't think you wear dresses every day you may have other people paint your toenails.

or truths....maybe we should go to two lies and one truth ?

A friend just sent this to me, apparently we have one, I don't have the ap to read it on my phone but, for those that do here it is

yes @reciprocity that is exactly what I am talking about. Way cooler that quittrain.com scrawled on a bev nap. A card with the logo, the address and the QR code would be really great. Here is something from our friend, Joel Spitzer, about Helping Others Quit

I am not savvy enough to even know what I am talking about but, don't places like clubs and stores have what looks like a bar code on their card and you can magically get to the site by clicking on it in your phone ? or am I future tripping ?

WTF @jillar wins again. I never opened for Taj. My girlfriend had an affair with him and I was SO jealous, I love that man. I was in an acoustic singer/songwriter duet with my first husband. We opened for both John Lee and Muddy in 1976 here in NOLA. I was 21 years old. Muddy shared champagne with us backstage and was warm and gracious, fiddled around with my dulcimer. Put his arm around us and said, knock 'em dead' as we left to go on. I was on cloud 9. Incredible show, Muddy Waters. John Lee hung out in his trailer and didn't get to shake his hand but, man oh man....what a great show he did.

I love Walleye. I don't know if I would bring up the conversation alone with a smoker in a boat in the middle of lake Erie. Lol. I talk to my friends about smoking, they ask me questions also. This is pretty casual. The don't smoke around me, that's a rule. Mostly, they cannot believe that I quit. I talk to strangers about it sometimes. Not everybody, not the same person twice (unless they ask me). This happens at local bars or music clubs. Maybe 1 or 2 people every few months. I try to suss them out, see if they might be receptive. I don't admonish. My rap is: 'you know, I was a heavy smoker for 40 something years and quit cold turkey..(now almost 6) years ago. I just want you to know that it isn't impossible, anyone can do it. It has to do with understanding nicotine addiction and making a commitment to yourself. That's all. I am still active on a stop smoking website, it is a great place for education and camaraderie and there are many success stories' Here is the address....Quittrain.com' Sometimes people come over and want to know more. Mostly they don't. Some thank me. I am very low key about it except for my exuberance about being quit, can't hide that. I would like some QTrain cards. It would be great to have a barcode on it so people could just take a snap on their phone and get here instantly. Maybe @MarylandQuitter would be into this or one of our geeks could put it together.

I was the opening act for #1 Muddy Waters #2 Taj Mahal #3 John Lee Hooker

Morning Monday, @notsmokinjo I am better with the last choice, for sure. I need a couple of minutes so that I can fool @jillar.

As you know, there is more information, in general on QTrain here in Vaping & Juling:  Unquestionable Addiction, Reckless Aftermath. and two of particular interest: 1. E-cigarette vapor, even when nicotine-free, found to damage lung cells 2. New evidence that e-cigs pose substantial risks of adult asthma and COPD similar to cigarettes

#1 is left for me, I see. I'm often lucky like this. @notsmokinjo should be waking up tomorrow very soon today.

Oh ! @jillar, so Lube & Tune is a real place !