how many smokers out there? just curious

[mmillelacs]

[EyeJacker]

Guess, we are not token about smoking a ham here. :)
Jack

[Bobr]

I take the brinkman along with me on every fishing trip! ;)

[WallyHunter15 (IL)]

Yeah everyone, Sry. but... I pass on grass. ;)

[SUPERTROLLER]

The fourth choice down should have read, "I don't but don't care if you do". It is a choice most of us have made at one time in our life. I have never smoked after I saw what it did to my parents. I grew up around smoke so I don't care if you want to smoke , it's your health and body. Treat it as you wish.

[Atomic Eye]

Nicotine is very addictive and a difficult habit to break. My wife, Fission Female, is the Director for, and provides, Smoking Cessation Clinics for the Los Alamos National Lab. Without aids (e.g., support group, guidance, depression chemicals, patch, gum , etc.) very few are able to quit on their own.

However, any of you who have quit for any period of time, have shown that it is possible. Hang in there! I quit about a dozen times before it took permanently on 2/21/81. I replaced smoking with an incompatible habit - running.

My mother died of emphesyma complications. Believe me, emphysema is an ugly way to die!

Atomic Eye (New Mexico) -- "Gone Fission!" ~~~<}}}:>

[red2]

I quit august 19th.2001 I went to las vegas for my 52nd birhtday august 13th and said when I get home I'm going to give myself a birhtday present and that present was to quit smoking and I did. Wasn't easy but I did it!! I did enjoy smoking, If it wasn't so bad for you I still would be smoking. Best of luck to all of us "quitters" LOL!! Tim

[Gabby_SD]

I quit Sept. 21 2000. yepper drove myself to the emergency door of the hospital and had a cigarette before going in (was having a small heart attack) anyway Doc grabbed my pack and threw them in the trash and said I'd never need them again. 2 weeks in the hospital also 2 stints in the heart and NO cigarettes since.

[BlackSilver]

I smoked (heavily) for 40 years, and enjoyed every minute of it. But I saw too many friends and relatives going down with the big "C" in their lungs.

Four years ago I quit, and haven't looked back.

This is one of the topics on which I tend to be a preacher! (Sorry!)

SET the hook!!!

Hans/MN

PS: I used the Nicorette (sp?) chewing gum. You're not a sissy if you need this kind of help. Worked for me.

[Jig Master]

Atomic Eye, did you get "Gone Fission" from the Simpsons?

[Wables]

I quit smoking after eight years when I was 23 after a fishing bet, cold turkey, and quit chewing 3 mo. ago after 11 years with nicorette. The nicorette is expensive but a lot cheaper than the habbit! My wife quit smoking at the same time, so I figure we are saving enough for a new boat! :)

[Chris]

I read that it costs about 2,000 a year to smoke,..I'd rather put that money toward fishing.

[EyeJacker]

Quit a 3 pack a day habit on October 14, 1978. Haven't smoked since. Best thing I ever did for my health and budget!!
Jack

[River_eye]

I work with a lot of smokers, so the smoke does't bother me that much, but what does bother me is when some feel that they can flick their butts anywhere, like the world is their ashtray. Of course, not all do this.

[Mike M (Sask)]

I just quit........Day 7 and counting. Here in Saskatchewan with the recent price increase it would cost me $3600 a year to smoke. I had already made my mind up to quit but the price increase just moved the date up a little. $3600 buys a lot of tacle or whatever!

Good Fish'n
Mike M (Sask)

[Don__SD]

I smoke in the ol bedroom but I don't light up!!!!

[BigJohnsonAI]

When my wife starts smoking, I slow down and sometimes use a little lubrication.

[EyeJacker]

That $ 2,000 is the out of pocket cost! The real expense is deferred and is not necessarily measured in dollars. Everyone can an does quit eventually. It just that some do it voluntarily.
Jack

[NateW]

On April 29th it will be one year since I had a cigarette! Of course I've had a couple stogies since then....

[tj1n]

I've wanted a NEW fishing boat for years....last night my wife asked me to stop and pick her up a pack of cigs. I found out how we can afford the new boat~ $4.19 per pack of "Salem Slim Lights!" You gotta be kidding me....she smokes over a pack a day. Anyhow, she wants to quit but just hasn't been able to yet. Any good new methods? I think she's tried most...with little success.

Travis J.

[Scott Richardson]

I quit a 20-year 4- to 5-pack a day habit on April 4, 1988. It was 14 years on Thursday. Cigs were 70 cents a pack then. I really did by a Ranger 681 on what I saved. I was hynotized and walked out a non-smoker. Haven't touched one since. Best $36 I ever spent.

Good luck to all those have quit. You are not "quitting." You "have quit." Important difference in attitude.


Now, if I could only lose 75 pounds....

Scott Richardson

[rock2me]

It has been over a month now! I am alcohol and tobacco free. Amazing how a a cerebral hemorrhage will change your priorities. I am not saying that smoking or drinking caused my problems, it is my change in what is important to me.

I am only 36. Two weeks in intensive care and now over 3 weeks in physical and occupational therapy. It will be some time before my vision and strength is back but I am taking one day at a time. :)

I don't want to miss one day with my wife or kids. Boy, I feel like I have already wasted too much time. I can't wait to get on the water with the entire family.

Be careful with ephedrine products. The doctors wouldn't say that my problem was due to using Sudafed. They indicated that there seems to be some empirical evidence that ephedrine products can be contributing factors as they raise your blood pressure and affect some people's blood pressure severely.



Good Luck!

[Bob]

I quit 2 weeks ago today and it is tough. But after trying several times in the last few years I am not going through this again. I can't wait to get out on the lake. Cabin fever and quitting smoking do not go well together.

Happy Fishin!

[Atomic Eye]

Jig Master,

Naw, I didn't cop "Gone Fission" from the Simpsons. I'm a cone head who's worked with radioactive materials for almost 40 years now.

By the way I see from your Avatar you're a Hawk Eye, the Badgers will be back this year in football since they can't be punished even more by the NCAA for sport shoe discounts. What a stupid thing for that booster to provide!! They shoulda' nuke'd him 'til he glowed.

Atomic Eye (New Mexico) -- "Gone Fission!" ~~~<}}}:>

[Atomic Eye]

As I said in post #5, I repeat, "Emphysema is a VERY ugly way to die." You can't breathe and it's like an increasingly heavy weight is being placed on your chest and each breath becomes more shallow until you can't breathe anymore. The last time I talked to my mother, she could only carry on a conversation for about 5 minutes before her speaking to me fatigued her.

If you are contemplating quitting, please contact the American Lung Association for aids that might be available to you in your part of the country.

Although, I quit over 21 years ago, my greatest risk of mortality (at age 57) is still attributable to my having smoked. My other risk factors are down because of aerobic exercise (running / rowing) and very high HDL cholesterol (~100).

If you've quit for a day, you can do it one day at a time for the rest of your life! Good luck.

Atomic Eye (New Mexico) -- "Gone Fission!" ~~~<}}}:>

[Gary]

I smoke about a pack a day, closer to 3/4's actually. I smoke out in my garage, it's my thinking time with a coffee. But here in Manitoba, our government is putting a $1.85 per pack tax bringing the price up to $9.00, joining Sakatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.

The anti smoking lobby group has managed to have smoking ban in all public areas where minors can go. Two gentlemen were fined $100 for smoking in a parkade. Exhaust fumes are ok, cigarette smoke guess not. A person can get fined for smoking in your own car if children are in it.

I'll probably quit, use on line banking to put that cigarette money towards a debt or a savings account on a daily basis.

Sad thing about the whole anti smoking thing is that the government has managed to vilified an entire segment of the population with no outcry or a whimper of complaint from whatever rights watchdog type group. I guess it is because smoking cuts across all race, creeds and religions, not a single indentifyable group.

But here in Manitoba an one cent tax on a single cigarette brings in $12 million annually to the government's pockets.

What I would like to see is that all smokers in Manitoba quit, stop going to the government casinos and watch all the non smokers taxes go up!

[Ferris B.]

I quit smoking last Easter. I wasn't paying anywhere near $9.00 for smokes, but the cost wasn't my main reason for quitting anyway. My wife of nearly 10 years is a Respiratory Therapist and I caught ##### from her almost every day. I never smoked in the house or vehicles, but still wreaked of the stuff. She said she would agree to a new boat if I quit, and at the time that wasn't even enough incentive. But waking myself up at night wheezing like leaky windows in 75 mph winds and coughing up crap more & more often got me to thinking more seriously about it. I have a new 186 Crestliner in the garage. Make up your mind to quit and PROMISE YOURSELF not to give in and you can do it.

[iamwalleye1]

I do enjoy a good cigar once and a while!

[reddog]

I started smoking when I was 14, and quit when I was 19. My wife continued to smoke, cuz she liked it. She tried to quit several times, and even went 8 months and then started again. Finally she got hypnotized, and that worked real well. She has been smoke free for almost 12 years. My mother was going to quit then they got to $1.00 a pack. They killed her before they hit 85 cents. She was 36 years old. RIP Mom. Smokers are a dying breed. Its your choice.

[Like Licking an Ashtray]

Both of my parents smoked so there was a real good chance that I would too. My first girlfriend told me that kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray. That thought motivated me enough that I have not touched a cigarette in 30 years. I married a beautiful non-smoking woman whom I would never have dated if I had smoked. The decision to smoke or not to smoke is a major life decision. Don't ruin your life with the wrong decision. Smoking is a sign of weakness. Be strong.

[boatman]

Smoking is a sign of weakness??? I don't think labeling someone for a bad habit as weak shows any sign of strength. To each their own, no I don't smoke, but I don't label people either. My 2 cents

[CAPT CALVIN]

Smoking is a sign of weakness and you know it other wise you wouldnt even bother to get so defensive. I for one will not be a slave to your tobacco company.If you want to make lung jerky out of your unrenewable body you got a problem. Stay busy enough to not smoke and youlle do fine. Theres too many things to do when you retire than DIE period! I only wish the USA would make smokes 9.00 a pack how did the Canadiens think of this outstanding idea before our most powerful govt and why isnt the US catching on. ID rather give my money to my family , college fund,fishing , or retirement fund or charity , anything else than the tobacco companies that have killed millions of our fellow americans!! One of my fishing buddies almost died of emphasema last winter and is still going to the hospital for the damage ,he lived somehow, he didnt think he would, but Im glad he did. Man I hate tobbaco... even the idiotic Hollywood movie stars are smart enough to drink flavored waters now instead of smoke. Is it too much for us to figuire out?
JUST SAVE THE SMOKES MONEY FOR GAS MONEY AND PROMISE YOURSELF A VACATION AT THE END OF THE YEAR AND CONSIDER THE BENEFITS A BONUS IF YOU MUST ...
CAPT CALVIN

[boatman]

I do NOT smoke as you Imply.But If labeling people is your thing, go for it. By the way do you drink, chew gum.etc.... I hope not You may be considered WEAK by someone else. Have a nice day.