What is in your cup?

[VydorScope]

That is freaking awesome Stitchawl!!! Yeah!!!!

[CRussel]

Second 16 ounce mug of Peet's Anniversary Breakfast Blend. I'll have to taper off a bit or I'll have a rough night.

[ProfCrash]

More Teavana Oolong. Eating lunch while holding a sleeping baby.

[dreams]

Thanks for answering my curiosity and what a great story to mark your decision, Stitchawl.

I had a friend that use to brush her teeth every time she wanted to smoke. I guess that served to alleviate the habit of having something in her hand. Another friend ate sunflower seeds. The one with the toothbrush had an easier time - although she has a toothbrush habit now.

Finishing my morning coffee and craving something to snack.

[Stitchawl]

Old friends, old friends sat on their parkbench like bookends
A newspaper blowin' through the grass
Falls on the round toes of the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyWx8bxw0ik)

Good morning, all! It's nice to be drinking Assam tea from the East India Company again. I'd been out of it for a while. Like being back with an old friend...

... and speaking of which...

Originally Posted by dreams

Thanks for answering my curiosity and what a great story to mark your decision, Stitchawl.

One of the difficult parts of no longer smoking was giving up 'old friends...' my favorite lighter that had been an award for winning a competition, the 'after-dinner cigarette,' even the action of reaching into my pocket to take out a cigarette, three fingers gripping the lighter and igniting it, and that first drag... These 'old friends' had been with me for more than 40 years... unconscious habits repeated every hour or two... since I was 11 years old... I really did have to re-learn how to go through my day. I'd like to kick the Marlboro Man in the ghoolies for influencing me as a little kid.


Stitchawl

[ProfCrash]

I have a friend who says that he is a smoker who does not smoke even after Irving up smoking 20 years ago.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I have a friend who says that he is a smoker who does not smoke even after Irving up smoking 20 years ago.

I suspect that is kind of like my line of "I am fat man, leasing a thin mans body." Every day I still fight not to eat 10x what I need, even after loosing 50 pounds... twice. Addictions never really go away, you just gain some measure of control over them.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I have a friend who says that he is a smoker who does not smoke even after Irving up smoking 20 years ago.

I do the very same thing. If you look at my posts, nowhere do I say that I 'quit.' I say that I smoked my last cigarette 14 years ago. Having tried to 'quit' dozens of times and failed, I realized I needed something stronger. Something 'proven.' That 'something' was AA. "One day at a time." I didn't smoke yesterday, I'm not going to smoke today, and I pray that I won't smoke tomorrow. ODAT.

I realized that once I think that I've actually 'quit,' I'd be tempted to try to 'just smoke one.' The fact is, I don't want to smoke just one. I want to live the same life I lived for over 40 years with my 'friends.' They filled time for me. They calmed me down when I was excited. They were with me through thick and thin. (The fact that they were killing me was irrelevant.) And now they are gone, and although I miss them, I pray they stay gone. ODAT.

Fourteen years, one day, 4 hours, 2 minutes and 34 seconds.
153455 cigarettes not smoked, saving $38,363.76.



Stitchawl

[pdurrant]

Coke Zero #1 for me. And I can give them up anytime!

Just back from another visit to my sisters-in-law. More unpacking and some putting up of bookshelves.

And a package waiting for me on my return - a new monitor. An "edge 10", a 21.5", 1920x1080 LED backlight monitor, replacing a monitor with a dead backlight.

Well, actually replacing the monitor that replaced the one with the dead backlight. The first one that arrived had several hundred dead pixels in four strips in the centre of the screen! Luckily Amazon have sensible policies for this sort of thing.

[ProfCrash]

Water for me, breast milk and formula for Lucas. He went 5 1/2 hours between feelings. I am so hoping that this a new thing. I actually got 4 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by dreams

Thanks for answering my curiosity and what a great story to mark your decision, Stitchawl.

I had a friend that use to brush her teeth every time she wanted to smoke. I guess that served to alleviate the habit of having something in her hand. Another friend ate sunflower seeds. The one with the toothbrush had an easier time - although she has a toothbrush habit now.

Finishing my morning coffee and craving something to snack.

I drank water every time I wanted one. I really feel like I can say I have QUIT! I smoked the night my cousins, kids and I all gathered to celebrate my Uncle's life, and had no problem not smoking again the next day. I do occasionally pause when I smell the first freshly lit whiff a cigarette, but that's all. I've gotten to the point where the mere odor of tobacco smoke in houses and on clothes makes me gag

[CRussel]

Yes, Amazon policies are good for that. And certainly, several hundred dead pixels isn't going to cut it.

Today is a day for remembering "Le Bon Jack" -- Jack Layton, the only politician in even distant memory that I actually _liked_ and trusted. And whom even the Tories I know respected.

Peet's Anniversary Breakfast Blend. (And I too can quit any time. But see no need to!)

[Stitchawl]

o sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean,
to ride on the crest of a wild raging storm
To work in the service of life and living,
in search of the answers of questions unknown
To be part of the movement and part of the growing,
part of beginning to understand,

Aye Calypso the places you've been to,
the things that you've shown us,
the stories you tell
Aye Calypso, I sing to your spirit,
the men who have served you so long and so well

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZonmQZG0GQ )

Good morning, everyone! Sunny skies and we're packing once again. Take-off at 3pm this afternoon. But first a breakfast of really tasteless microwaved rice and some left-over mystery meat. Because we're off this morning we didn't make rice last night, and opten instead for the stuff they sell off the shelves in the supermarket. Already cooked... just nuke for two minutes. We keep a few in the cupboard just for such emergencies. At least the tea is good East India Company's "Assam" fresh out of the new package!

I got a call last night to show up at the marina in Guam tonight, for a quick photo shoot for an ad campaign. At least this time my wife can come with me and work as my dive buddy/shooting assistant holding the reflector for me. Shouldn't take more than 2-3 dives to get it the way we need... assuming the marine life do their part... but there is a shallow reef (12m to the top of the reef and only 16m to the sea floor) that is absolutely teeming with micro-critters, and that's what is being called for. Breathing Nitrox we can stay down almost as long as we want!

So, to all... have a nice weekend! See you again on Monday!

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

I smoked the night my cousins, kids and I all gathered to celebrate my Uncle's life, and had no problem not smoking again the next day.

I wish I could do that. I had a friend who was just like that... He could smoke once a week or once a year, and never had a problem. I can't do it. Just one, and I'll be back to a pack and a half of unfiltered menthol within two weeks...

I've gotten to the point where the mere odor of tobacco smoke in houses and on clothes makes me gag

'Old' smoke and ashtrays make me gag too, but not fresh. I especially love the smell of a good quality pipe tobacco. I can stand with my nose in a tobacco shop all day just breathing in... But sometimes someone walks past me on the street or in a shop and the stench of old nicotine is so strong it almost knocks me over. I can't believe that I once smelled that way myself. I'm amazed that non-smokers even let me into their houses!


Stitchawl

[ProfCrash]

Enjoy your trip! It is great that you have a job you love so much.

[GeoffC]

Coffee : Black.