chilm's Blog - 2old2play

Well, I suck balls ...

... coz I'm smoking again. But I'll quit again soon and do it again and again and again until I get this fucking thing right! *grumble*

It's no excuse and it does sound lame, but the main reason I started again was the damn weed. Or more to the point, the complete lack of it round where I live! For love nor money can me and mine get hold of any decent amounts. This, in turn, has led me to toking on the occasional reefer, and BAM! Back smoking before I knew it! Bollocks!

The real shitter is that I still don't have any weed, just the 'baccy.

Date for next stopping of smoking: 1st Dec 2006, the day after my last day in my current job.

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1 MONTH WITH NO TOBACCO!!!

I had to 'shout' that as I'm pretty bloody happy with myself!!!

So, that's it ... A whole month has passed since I decided to stop smoking that 'orrible brown weed. Still, the lovely green weed is all good

The harshest thing is the 'sudden' increase in fatty weight I have put on ... Not masses, but a good half a stone I reckon, which seems to have settled on my face more than anywhere else *sigh* (bastarding bastards)

Still, my rowing machine has been delivered, setup and already used the once ... it is bloody marvelous! I shall be ripping it up on that little bugger 3 times a week and hitting my weights after each session. On the 14th December I shall take stock of what has changed, both physically on myself and according to my notes on how far I can row, how quickly I recover and what the difference is in the weights and reps I do.

Hopefully I'll lose a bit of this nasty extra chin wobble I have developed ... haha!

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2 weeks and all is well ...

... except maybe my caffine consumption. Man, I love tea. And, I think, tea loves me too. At least, that is what I tell myself as I gulp down another pint of the stuff.

Two weeks. Time does fly. Not just when you are having fun either ... Although I reckon that both Dead Rising and NHL07 have helped a little in keeping me sane thoughout this stopping period.

I actually have nothign to spend my money on now-a-days. Cigarettes were my only regular expense. Can't say I'm going to get back into smoking weed all the time either, just for something to do? Oh no, not again.

So, here I am, smokeless.

I used to worry when I stopped smoking da 'erb as much as I did. What did you sober people do all the time? I had been battered for the best part of a decade - working my way thorugh some coding jobs (we're all stoners, us coders) and being mashed was no worry. I would go as far as to say that on a few occasions, da 'erb inspired some truly crazy solutions. They worked, but were just a little nutty is all. Aaaah, happy days. Sobriety is not so bad. Not at all. You just have to find stuff to do more, is all ...

I have a day off today. It is 8am amd my Lady has just mooched off to work. My plan? Gardening. *sigh*

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No Smoking == chubby chilm?

Quite possibly, and I have put on a few pounds in the last week or so ... I'm sure I have (damn maltesers!)

Soon enough I will be back on the weights and exercises! No, really, I will ... My Lady is currently looking into Yoga classes, which should be good. My mother is a teacher of Yoga and Aromatherapy etc. She showed me a position call The Cows Head (!?!) that exercises your stomach one side then the other, and no shit (thankfully!) I was farting away 5 minutes later, much to my relief!

So, Yoga good.

NHL07 has been delivered and I'll be giving that a bash later on for a couple of hours after work. The first time in weeks that I haven't turned on the 360 and played Dead Rising! I decided I enjoyed the game enough to go for the full 1000GPs - but, now at 880, I'm happy to take a breather for a bit - especially as to get the last few I would need to do the 72hour mode (possibly twice) the Overtime mode and the Inifinte mode for the full 12-16 hours (whatever it is). I can take a break (mmm, kitkat ... damn it!)

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1 week, 7 days, 168 hours ...

... well, 1 week(ish), 7 days(ish), 168 hours(ish) - probably closer to 153 hours, but close enough! In any case, one whole (let's not be too picky!) week of not smoking that tobacco! I'm quite, quite happy ... And my work colleague is just popping out for a smoke now, haha! Great timing.

Have to say, that although it was not a hard thing to do, I have had my pangs of 'oooh, a cigarette would be nice' knowing that to be utter crap, but still wanting one! Bloody addiction! Still, I have not given into such cravings and they will become fewer and farther between as the weeks pass.

But yeah, yay me! One week down, the rest of my life to go ... A-hahahahaa! *cough*

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5 and 6!

Ok, so the fifth day was Sunday, yesterday, and today is the 6th, but even though it is only the morning, I already know that it'll be fine and I will not be smoking any kind of tobacco based products, so I'll catch up to here now; Leaving tomorrow's entry for my first full week off the smokes one! Excellent!!!
What is there to say ... ?

I consider myself a complete non-smoker, period. It is great! I know it has only been 6 or so days, but to already feel that I will never be smoking another cigarette is a pretty incredible feeling! I am a very happy man ...

I am so alert in the mornings now, my breath is coming easier, I get less worn out from small amounts of exercise ... the list goes on. And on ...

Heh heh, I think I having been pissng my Lady off a little by doing the whole ex-smoker, convert, loony act ... the constant "I think you should stop smoking you know" ... "you'll feel sooo much better" ... "stopping is easy, you having nothing to lose" etc etc. I've had to stop now, for fear of my sacks *ahem*

Anyhow, on to tomorrow for the "1-week-whoop-post"

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#4

Saturday. Maybe a day I was dreading, maybe not. All day, home alone seemed like it could be trouble, but no, another great day was had! Must admit, I spent a fair amount of time on Dead Rising ... then Chromehounds ... some more DR and later a touch of Poker. Again, I may have consumed a tad too
much of the suggary stuff, and I must curb that soon!

It is getting kind of silly as there is nothing really to report again. All is totally fine and can honestly say that I do not miss the smokes, even reefers which I thought I might have had more trouble getting over. But no, I see them all in the same light now - pointless. Hence, my pipe

My Lady cooked me a steak last night as a 'well done on 5 days' type meal. It was superb! Then some apple pie and custard for afters ... yum! Heh, there seem to be a few unforseen perks to this whole stopping smoking thing ... hahaha! Sweet!

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a,b,c, easy as 1,2,3

Thank buggery its the weekend! Not due to the not smoking thing, but mainly as I was getting bored to tears at work! I have to get a new job sorted out, pronto!

Anyhow ... day #3 has come and gone much like the two before it. Feeling so much better in the mornings, and getting up and out of bed is no hassle at all. I think I can feel my lungs slowly 'opening up' again and I can't remember the last time I have managed to pull off such deep yawns!

No cigarette dreams yet thankfully ... but it is still early, early days ...

Got a little stoned yesterday, which was nice, but found, now that I do not smoke tobacco anymore, that the draw on me pipe for the 'erb was that much rougher on my throat, made me cough more, eyes water a tad, and generally made me feel more of a stoner than I have for a while ... haha! 'Clean' consumption of weed, that's what it is all about.

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Day 2, done and dusted!

Sweeeet!

Over 48 hours (some say that is breaking the camel's back) and all is going well ...

Yesterday was a little more munchy than the day before - I think it is good that there will be nothing to snack on in the house tonight. But again, other than simply getting used to not walking outside for a smoke every hour or so, nothing was any different!

Added bonus to day 3 (today) is that I will have to take a few hours off early as it seems my new monitor is getting delivered! Great news! Nice kind of a 'well done' gift to myself I guess, although in reality the deal at pc world was too good to miss - 19", flat, widescreen from HP for £150!?! Could not pass that one up. So, as of tonight, Dead Rising, Chromehounds and the rest will look just that little bit more splendid and just that little bit larger. Only bugger is that it seems that my stereo has now lost its stereoness, and only outputs through one speaker!

As a footnote, apparently it is officially the first day of Autumn today - it's raining here. Seems about right. Just as well I love the rain - kinda have to being a Brit.

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Day 1 ... Over

So, the only real downside to this whole stopping thing (if can really be seen as a bad thing) is the consant 'clearing out' of my lungs! Eeew! Still, gives me something to do during those real dull moments here at work. Now, it is not the lack of cigarettes that make this place any more boring, it has always been this way - I just used to have a moment to get out of the office ... At best, I can can go grab a cuppa now - Good enough me thinks!

It was an odd day yesterday ... Kind of twitchy and kept checking myself about popping out for a smoke. That was the worst of it really. No grumpiness, no snapiness, no angst or short fuses! Superb!

Just. A. Little. Weird.

Again I say to all the smokers out there - whether or not you are in the mind to stop smoking, give this book a read and see how you feel afterwards.

Day 2, here I come!

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Today I stopped smoking!

... well, the tobacco anyways *ahem*

On Monday (Sept 18th) I was delivered a book on stopping smoking, by last night I had completed reading it (it is only 150-200 pages, and pretty quick to get through) and stumped out my last cigarette. That was it. None of this hardness over giving up, the 'stress' etc. Just stopped.

The book is called "The EASY WAY To Stop Smoking" written by Allan Carr (EASY WAY being the name of the 'method' he describes).

at amazon.co.uk
at amazon.com

If you are a smoker, and you want to quit it, then have a read and see if you feel the book makes sense to you. He has been doing this for over 20 years now, and reckons his clinics and book alike have around a 90% success rate! Pretty impressive.

I'm happy to say I am one of the 90% now.

There is no trick, no magic, no real hardship at all ... Just a new way of looking at the whole smoking thing.

I'll keep this blog up to date over the next 3 weeks - a time period in which, after much feed back over 12 years from his success stories, it seems the maximum amount of time for the 'cravings' (for what they are worth) to fully vanish.

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As I near 30 ...

Painted by a British dude I met on Chromehounds, and wiile waiting for a few of the squad to get on, we ended up chatting a while and, as you do, I discovered he was a painter. He mainly does nudes as they sell better than most others, and I asked to him to send me a link when he next eBay'd them. He did so, and soon after I bought these two pieces.

Best thing is, he takes commissions, so I'll be sending hima few choice pictures to paint up as soon as I have a lttle spare cash ... and have decided on what exactly I want painted.

The one my Lady chose

... and my one

This one will be the first of, hopefully, around 6 or so pieces that I will place in my 'one day to be made' bachelor room. Essentially the garage attached to the house will be converted into a room for me; Half dedicated to my weights, bench, bike, rowing machine etc. The other half to a couch, a TV, a stereo my computer and of course my consoles. I figured, as I am getting older, that instead of plastering the walls with posters and the like, I would invest in a little art instead.

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Thank the lordy for my NDS!

My Lady pretty much detest gaming machines - it goes back some time with her and her mothers now husband (we don't use the 'step-father' term) and his general obsession with gaming. As such, the attitude has impacted somewhat on our relationship over the last 5 or so years. No real biggie, just the occasional scuffle over it ...

However, now she has discovered the new Mario on my NDS and is pretty addicted to it! Whoop! She scratched the surface with Brain game, but did not manage to keep up any daily brain workout (I only managed a couple of months), but Mario seems to have sucked her in! She used to play the Mario many, many years ago and I guess it is a leap back to her younger days ...

All in all, it means that every now and agagin, I can squeeze in an extra hour or two on my 360! Sweet!

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The Day The World Changed

There is a theory called the 6 (or is it 7?) Degrees of Seperation - a concept that says that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else through 6 (or 7) leaps from person to person. Even though I did not know anyone directly involved in the Twin Towers destruction, I do have a connection as close as 2 degrees from myself, and that is close enough to appreciate the pain it caused just that little more.

On the day itself, the whole thing seemed like a movie, being trasmitted live. Something so alien and fantastic it was akin to the fake broadcasts of 'The War of The Worlds' many decades ago - a show that threw people into panic believing it to be real ... Only this time, it was the reverse - we knew it was real, we just could not believe it. It was not until the one year memorial that the gravity of the whole thing really hit me hard. I am not ashmed to say I shed a few tears that evening when I was watching the news.

My thouhgts go out to all those affected by that horrific day 5 years ago.

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Oh, and ...

A few initial blog bookmarks for special reasons

MikeJames for inviting me here in the first place - thanks again mate!

DSmooth for helping with my dumb as shit questions on how to get this going in the first place - cheers dude.

DantezINFERNO for his great LAN video! Really enjoyed that! (I really hope I got the right dude here my memory sucks generally)

... and finally, as she is the current blog flavour of the month and I am fascinated by female coders (having only ever met 3, and one is 'retired') gamerchicklet!

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