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General => General Discussion and ??? => Topic started by: Prosperi-Tees on May 19, 2012, 04:04:12 PM
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So I'm coming up on my 37th birthday on the 30th and it has me thinking of putting more effort into quitting. I have tried gum, the e-cig and cold turkey. The most effective so far has been the gum which allows me 2 whole days of smoke free freedom. I have been smoking off and on for 27 years and I actually support the higher taxes on cigs. Hell if they were $10 bucks a pack my cheap ass wouldn't buy em. But I still can get them for about $3.50 a pack so it makes it easy to keep going.
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Oh and I'm not a heavy smoker just steady. I average about 10-14 smokes a day.
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My buddy got on some med that made him super sick when he would smoke and that pretty much did it for him.
Basically think A Clockwork Orange type of conditioning. Messed up but, effective.
One thing you could do is pretend it IS $10 bucks a pack. When you buy a pack take the other $6.50 and put it in a savings account for your kid or just plain give it to your kid. I know I love my kid but I don't want to just be giving her $6.50/day because I would want to smoke! LOL If that doesn't work give the $6.50 to a cause you don't like at all... that way it is truly a terrible tax on you.
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I see the commercials about Chantix but my wife is paranoid about the side effects like suicidal thoughts etc etc. My old boss use to tell me the same thing to match the money each time I bought a pack and put it aside. Never tried it though. I wonder if hypnotism works
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"Quitting smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I have done it a million times." -Mark Twain
Though I am pretty sure it is rare, I do know a girl that came close to a homicidal rampage while on Chantix. The feelings she described were frightening to say the least.
Cold turkey and will power and not being around other smokers. But you have to want to quit. One of my buddies makes no qualms about it, he loves smoking and will likely never quit.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
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I think that's the bad part with me. I actually enjoy smoking but I know it's not good for me. Homicidal rampage? Dang I don't think my wife would like that.
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I did something kinda like cold turkey, but not quite--every time I wanted a smoke, I told myself I'd get one more thing done--whether it was at work, at home, going for a bike ride, whatever. "Put yourself off" kinda therapy. The weird thing is, for me, it was only a few days before I'd put it off, and when I was done with whatever I was putting if off with, I didn't really feel like I needed to have a cigarette.
As mentioned, the tough part is convincing yourself you don't really want to smoke--I think I'm just really good at brainwashing myself. ;)
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2.5 years ago I did it with patches. Used patches for two weeks and when I realized that I was forgetting to put them on, I realized I do not need them I stopped using them two weeks in.
Never thought about smoking since.
I think that if you are not 100% ready, nothing will help you.
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NEVER EVER FOREVER pick up another one after you "think" you're good to go. NEVER.
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my father in law smoked for 52 years...i HATE smoke....nasty nasty....so I told him if he wanted us to come over ( we moved back to the area ) then he would have to quit...my wife sent him to a hypnotist...he has not smoked in 7 yrs....
sam
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Go watch someone gasp for air from emphysema in an emergency room, begging for help. Especially someone you know.
After 20 years of a pack and a half a day habit, I never picked up another one.
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Yeah, I don't have an addictive personality so it's kind of easy for me to say "quit already". I also have not been chemically dependent on anything other than caffeine and I just gave that up while I was down with the flu for a couple of days. I realized I hadn't had any in a couple of days (due to all the juice I was drinking and medication to keep my "comfortable" and said "now is as good of a time as any to give it up).
I've quit many things that I just decided or thought weren't good for me. I quit drinking DP when I thought it was the cause of my stomach problems (I was wrong but still have no desire to drink it any longer and I used to love it). Gave up caffeine and ergo Mountain Dew (though I still love the taste of MD I don't ever drink it.) Most things I've given up I rarely have a desire to have them again, the taste buds acclimate to the change.
With the recent diet I have given up soda's and lemonade almost entirely. I subbed it with carbonated water and Mio and some "Sparkling Ice" that I found and like a lot. I still have a love for carbonation and if I really had a true reason to give it up, I'm sure I could.
I just wish I could do the opposite.
I wish I could make myself learn to like foods and drinks that I don't like. I don't drink really ANY water and don't like most vegetables... If I could learn to like the things I should like I can drop the things I shouldn't have I'd be a lean mean healthy machine. :)
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NEVER EVER FOREVER pick up another one after you "think" you're good to go. NEVER.
You got that right. After quitting for 23 years, I know damn well never to stick another one in my mouth. I'd be back to my old routine in a week.
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I am with sam, but I feel bad for those trying to quit. I would see a hypnotist as well, what will it cost, $100, $200, that is cheaper than patches or gum for a month(maybe?)
I would try anything personally, shoot, I'd even try acupuncture.
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Gerry just put on your big girl panties and do it. After a few days its no longer physical just in your head.
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Just this topic alone has given me the encouragement to give it my best shot to quit. I know it's going to be extremely hard to quit at work where there is more stress, but it's worth a shot. I'm tired of feeling self-conscious when talking to people knowing that I smell like smoke not to mention the other benefits of quitting. I've been at it for 11 years now and I'm at atleast a pack and a half a day. The sad thing is that I had it whipped for 1 month about a year ago and stupid me used the excuse of an argument with my wife to buy a pack. Well you know the rest of the story.
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My wife used to smoke and quit... she was one that could smoke a couple one day around some friends and then not again the next day. BUT, she would also LOVE to smoke again.
Now though, when I come home from a bar, club or customer's house and I smell like smoke she gets all pissy and grossed out. LOL I'm like, you know that I had to live with that on you for years... get over it!
But when I had long hair and was in a band the next morning taking my shower with the hair around my face... *puke* That is one disgusting smell.
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One thing to help is to avoid the situations where you are used to lighting up. If you have a smoke after a meal, find something else to do instead. If you smoke after pokin' your old lady, well, I don't know what to tell you to do. Back in the day what made quitting hard for me was to sit in a bar and not smoke . . . the two went pretty much hand-in-hand. And as JBLUE says, after a couple of days, you'll get over the desire. It's the habit that's hardest to break, I think.
When I was in college, after having smoked for 3 years, I'd wake up with a tightness in my chest every morning, and I figured, well, that's that. Within a week of quitting after 20 years of it, the tightness disappeared. I couldn't believe it.
Oh, and you'll start getting fat. Not much sense in sugarcoating it for you.
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i quit a long time ago with my now wife cold turkey. All I can say is drink a lot of water, avoid your triggers like after dinner, after sex, your friends that smoke, any thing you would do when you smoke really. The first 3-7 days,if you drink at least a gallon of water a day, is all chemicals from smoking leaving your body telling you to just smoke one and if you do you have to start all over. After that its all in you mind, mind over matter and smoking don't matter. You have to want to stop smoking to stop smoking and that means you have to remove yourself from the things that trigger you to want one and that means your friends too. Sounds harsh but if you could see what your lungs look like right now you would be shocked. Not to mention smoking causes so many problems and it does nothing for stress, NOTHING!!! It actually makes stress worse, think about it. When your stressed your blood pressure and heart rate rise which is normal for your body and mind so that you can think, respond and move. Ok so that's normal and some stress it good but add to that the smoking,caffeine, salt, poor sleep and any thing else that stimulates your body then your blood pressure and heart rate are really jacked up and stay jacked long after the real stress has passed. And that is what well kill you or leave you half screwed up from a stroke or a heart attack. Lets don't even get started on the cancer kick because we all have had a loved one die from that crap and if you haven't then it just a matter of time before you do see a friend or family member die from cancer and smoking causes a lot of different cancers.
I remember when i started smoking cigarettes, I started smoking cigs because I started smoking weed first at the age if 16 and then soon after that cigs because all my "friends" were doing it ,like it was a weed substitute cause you could just walk around smoking weed in public. All that pushed me into other drugs so bad I could do it any longer and had to remove myself from them and even the town. I basically hit the reset button on my life, stopped smoking, drugs, went to college, found my wife, found God but know I now that He was there the whole time.
You can do it man, I have faith in you and I will keep you in my prayers. You first have to really want to STOP, not quit, but STOP smoking. Stay away from your triggers for at least a year, find other things to do, every time you have a craving just say to yourself "I can wait till the next craving" and keep doing and saying that. And drink lots of water to help flush out the the toxins quicker. One more thing try not to eat to much because youll want to eat and thats where the extra 20 lbs comes from. Its also an oral thing for so people which started when your mom gave you that pacifier. ;D You can do it on your own will power...
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I was a 3 pack a day chain-smoker. I went cold turkey in 1975.
I know everyone cannot do it the same way. Somehow I had started to mentally develop the image that they were dirty and filthy. Thoughts of things like a butt ground out on the ground or one broken open and they just looked icky (lol).
Worked for me.
No idea how much money I've saved. Nowadays, just the smell is a total turn-off.
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get hypnotized it worked for me
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I was a 3 pack a day chain-smoker. I went cold turkey in 1975.
I know everyone cannot do it the same way. Somehow I had started to mentally develop the image that they were dirty and filthy. Thoughts of things like a butt ground out on the ground or one broken open and they just looked icky (lol).
Worked for me.
No idea how much money I've saved. Nowadays, just the smell is a total turn-off.
Before I was jolted into quitting, I still enjoyed a few smokes in the morning with coffee while reading the paper, but by the afternoon, I found myself washing my hands after a smoke to get the smell off. In some ways I think I was ready to quit anyway.
Like many, I started in college with a roommate who smoked, and at the time it was the cheapest habit I had. I spent a year and a half in a small college in North Carolina, where taxes were low, and a pack of smokes out of a machine was .25, and a carton was $1.90 unless you liked the 100mm jobs that would set you back $2.10. A coke cost more than a pack of smokes. With what they cost now, I couldn't afford to smoke.
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The patch made all the difference for me but only once I was right in the head to quit. I also chugged a bottle of water when I started thinking about smoking. I found out that thirst and a cigarette craving were pretty much the same. Dehydration was not my friend. Also no booze. I have an addictive personality so one beer and my will power went out the window.
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I starting smoking in HS. I found that I used smoking as a reinforcement for doing something. I'll light up after I read this assignment, eat ect. It was always a reward. It was very difficult for me to quit. I tried everything including dipping which scared me way more than smoking with sores popping up on my lips or gums. I was always athletic, playing basketball, baseball and track. Finally I tried running. Holy sh!t did my lungs burn at first and I realized what smoking was doing to me. I ran up to 2 miles a day for about a year. It hastened the process quite a bit. I never felt better. Now the smell of smoke makes me sick. I can't stand to be around it.
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Thanks Jason for the prayers and all for your tips! Its gonna be tough but I'm gonna geter done.
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I also quit 8 years ago after 15 years smoking a pack a day
program myself to quit when i was 25 years of age
I said to myself i`m going to have all the fun in the world,
go in to concerts, bars, the beach, putas
but when i turn 30 i`m gonna quit smoking which i did.
to hell with the patch, the gum, cold turkey
i started jogging is when i realize i was so out of shape
that feeling pretty much did it for me
i know is not easy you don`t give up
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July 21, 2008. month and a week after a flood totally devastated our business. A long month of back breaking work to salvage what we could, and plan for starting all over. I was just opening my second pack of the day. I looked at the smokes and asked myself what the eff I was doing. I tossed them to an employee and said he could have them. Haven't touched one since then. Besides, I want to be around longer to make my kids' lives a little more miserable. Side note: Yesterday I did the Gladiator Assault Challenge. Five miles and thirty obstacle from fire to mud. Couldn't have done that five years ago.
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quit. stressed. started again. now need to quit again. will seek stress help this time and attack a root behavior causation. smoking sucks. I smoke a lot, as I am some kind of ocd kook.
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My wife and I used Chantix. We didn't have the depression, or psychotic episodes. Our dreams were really vivid though. Not wet or anything like that, it was like full color 3-D type stuff. I really do miss the dreams. Anyways, we followed the directions and slowly (about a month for me) I had quit smoking. My wife took a little longer. Every now and then we get a brief urge for a smoke, that is common because smoking as you know is an addiction. We tried everything, patches, smoking programs, welbutron. The only thing we didn't do was hypnotism. It has been almost two years since I quite and I don't have any regrets. I wish you the best of luck but I am sure you will do it.
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Over a year ago I had some spots show up on X-Ray after being hospitalized with phenumonia (? spelling). I had a appt. with a specialist and he suggested a snip off the spots in my lungs by going through my nose. I was not all the way under so I was hearing everything they said, scary! The results came back negative but that along let me quit COLD Turkey or Scared Turkey which ever you want to say. Since then I feel better than I have in a long time. I use to blame the cough on a cold and the short breath on just getting old ( turning 50 6-12 ) it was neither it was them Cigs. With God's help and good family support I am smoke free and it feels good. I never knew how much that stunk until I quit. No I did not gain a bunch of weight I am really active outside when off from here so holding the weight down. Good Luck and you can do it and you will never look back.
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my father in law smoked for 52 years...i HATE smoke....nasty nasty....so I told him if he wanted us to come over ( we moved back to the area ) then he would have to quit...my wife sent him to a hypnotist...he has not smoked in 7 yrs....
sam
I was a 2 pack a day smoker, Marlboro, and I also used Hypnosis. Went from 40 a day to 0 in 18 days. Not a single twinge since, and that was 1981. I can hold one in my hand, and nothing, no urge. BTW, all hypnosis is self hypnosis. It's your mind, the hypnotist just kind of guides you. If you fight it, you win, if you don't fight it, you win, get it? And remember, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to smoke tobacco, other than your addiction to nicotine. For me, it's just like I never smoked at all, that 18 years of smoking (12 - 30) just disappeared from my mind, like grammar school; I did it at the time, but not now. JUST DO IT!
Steve
The stories from the guys who did it on there own is the same, they just changed their minds, and the mind is pretty powerful. They quit for the same reason that they don't do some other ridiculous thing, it makes no sense any longer.
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Steve is right... the mind is incredibly powerful.
There have been studies done where they tell (sick) people there is a "faith healer" praying over them behind a one way mirror. Of course there is only one there for half of the people. Yet the same percentage of people got better.
I'm not a religious person but if you believe it is working then it will work (to a degree).
Much of life is the same way, no matter if you believe you will fail or you believe you will succeed, you are right. ;)
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Steve is right... the mind is incredibly powerful.
There have been studies done where they tell (sick) people there is a "faith healer" praying over them behind a one way mirror. Of course there is only one there for half of the people. Yet the same percentage of people got better.
I'm not a religious person but if you believe it is working then it will work (to a degree).
Much of life is the same way, no matter if you believe you will fail or you believe you will succeed, you are right. ;)
By the way, I didn't have to avoid anything, none of the triggers. I still ate meals, had sex, went to parties and played in clubs. Zero attraction to it. You almost wonder why the hell you started, it's so stupid. Oh yeah, I looked so cool...
steve
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Oh yeah, I looked so cool
that explains the long hair and leopard spandex. ;)
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I quit smoking with Hypnosis. I was part of a barter group at the time and had a ton of barter. I was looking for something to spend it on. I figured I would try it. It was $250 it was a 2 session treatment. I went to the first session and they recorded the session. Then I lessened to it on repeat all night while I slept for the week. I went from a pack a day to about 2 a day that week. I felt like it wasn't working because I still needed to smoke. I went for the second session and told her I still had 2 a day and she said that was really good. The second session was the same after the next week of lessening to it all night on repeat I was done. This was over 7 years ago. I smoked for over 13 years and quite after 2 weeks. I have had friends try Hypnosis and it didn't work. I think the key is lessening to it all night on repeat. It was still a little hard to quite but I know the hypnosis helped. The hardest part is breaking the habits. I liked taking a smoke break when I was working. If I was frustrated with a project I took a smoke break and when i came back my head was clear and I could keep working. You can do it. The first month is hardest.
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change the smoke break to a coffee break. I have switched to decaf, I gave coffee up for a couple months an saw no change, but I figured why drink caffeine if I didn't need it? Decaf has a little, I just really like the taste and smell of coffee in the AM.
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change the smoke break to a coffee break. I have switched to decaf, I gave coffee up for a couple months an saw no change, but I figured why drink caffeine if I didn't need it? Decaf has a little, I just really like the taste and smell of coffee in the AM.
It was over 7 years since I quit so I am good now.
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right, I was saying for other folks. I know when something isn't going right I step away, have a drink or a small break and when I come beck it goes right together like it should.
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That's the eureka theory. As soon as you stop thing about it, you will figure it out. I don't know how many times that worked for me. So many times I started relying on it.
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So, does anyone think this hypnotism stuff could help me with my laziness/procrastination? I THINK I'm open to the idea of it... I won't lie, there is a part of me that says "but then I'll have to start doing stuff if I get fixed" LOL
How do you "vet" the hypnotist?
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I quit a 2 pack a day habit cold by just giving them up one at a time. Just say no to the next one and keep on saying it.
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I quit smoking with Hypnosis. I was part of a barter group at the time and had a ton of barter. I was looking for something to spend it on. I figured I would try it. It was $250 it was a 2 session treatment. I went to the first session and they recorded the session. Then I lessened to it on repeat all night while I slept for the week. I went from a pack a day to about 2 a day that week. I felt like it wasn't working because I still needed to smoke. I went for the second session and told her I still had 2 a day and she said that was really good. The second session was the same after the next week of lessening to it all night on repeat I was done. This was over 7 years ago. I smoked for over 13 years and quite after 2 weeks. I have had friends try Hypnosis and it didn't work. I think the key is lessening to it all night on repeat. It was still a little hard to quite but I know the hypnosis helped. The hardest part is breaking the habits. I liked taking a smoke break when I was working. If I was frustrated with a project I took a smoke break and when i came back my head was clear and I could keep working. You can do it. The first month is hardest.
Just curious.
Did they ever show you the pictures of you waddling around like a duck with your hat on upside down?
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Did they ever show you the pictures of you waddling around like a duck with your hat on upside down?
Or acting like a chicken, scratching and clucking around the room with your hands folded under your armpits, elbows flapping like wings?
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I quit smoking with Hypnosis. I was part of a barter group at the time and had a ton of barter. I was looking for something to spend it on. I figured I would try it. It was $250 it was a 2 session treatment. I went to the first session and they recorded the session. Then I lessened to it on repeat all night while I slept for the week. I went from a pack a day to about 2 a day that week. I felt like it wasn't working because I still needed to smoke. I went for the second session and told her I still had 2 a day and she said that was really good. The second session was the same after the next week of lessening to it all night on repeat I was done. This was over 7 years ago. I smoked for over 13 years and quite after 2 weeks. I have had friends try Hypnosis and it didn't work. I think the key is lessening to it all night on repeat. It was still a little hard to quite but I know the hypnosis helped. The hardest part is breaking the habits. I liked taking a smoke break when I was working. If I was frustrated with a project I took a smoke break and when i came back my head was clear and I could keep working. You can do it. The first month is hardest.
Just curious.
Did they ever show you the pictures of you waddling around like a duck with your hat on upside down?
I was never under that deep. They even told me that I was not going to be. I could have got up and left at any time.
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Aren't those post-hypnotic suggestions just fantastic? Hmmmm? ;)
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Obtainable goals! If you quite forever it may be hard to make it through a hard day. If you you quit for the day/hour/minute... It is easier to make through a rough patch.
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Day 1
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Gettem Gerry!!!!!!
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Gerry, do you have family? Wife, kids, parents? Do it for them.
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Today really sucked! I could not get a file to print for the life of me and then I forgot to change some text on a banner to red and had it come out pink.
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Gerry, do you have family? Wife, kids, parents? Do it for them.
I do and I am. I stopped myself at around 2 this afternoon from asking my neighbor for a smoke. That was a nice little victory but I have had cravings all day long not just once in a while, all day.
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do something else every time you want a smoke. Maybe take up sunflower seeds.
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Deep breaths. Indeed printers can be some of the more enraging pieces of equipment in this industry.
I actually sent an Epson 1520 flying once. Stomped it Office Space style and everything.
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I bought a big bag this morning actually. Although I should've got the low sodium kind.
And Sean, yeah I was close to throwing that printer when I tried to 'slam' a piece of film the printer kept spitting out on the ground. That film slamming was not very gratifying lol.
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Does this help?
(http://smokerslungs.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/smokers-lungs-comparison1.png)
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that looks funky either way, eww
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I bet shirt printers lungs look the the ones on the left...if you print a lot of black and charcoal shirts. ;)
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Day 2
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I've done the chantix thing twice and it worked both times really well. No homicidal thoughts but plenty of crazy acid trip dreams. I started again because of my own stupid choice. Bout to hop on the chantix train again though....for the last time.
I'll tel you what those smoking commercials they were playing during the hockey playoffs certainly caught my attention. All the people giving tips on daily life with a trach hole in your throat. whoa.
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I've done the chantix thing twice and it worked both times really well. No homicidal thoughts but plenty of crazy acid trip dreams. I started again because of my own stupid choice. Bout to hop on the chantix train again though....for the last time.
I'll tel you what those smoking commercials they were playing during the hockey playoffs certainly caught my attention. All the people giving tips on daily life with a trach hole in your throat. whoa.
What does the chantix cost anyway?
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Around $100 for a months supply. I only took it for a month and was good though.
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That's pretty cheap compared to the cost of cigarettes nowadays. I think they were $0.92 when I quit.
Steve
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Failed Day 2. But thank God for day 1.
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Get back on that horse Gerry!!
You can do it man!