GUS (Giving Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. We avoid discussion of political issues. If you are quitting or even thinking about quitting, please -- join us!
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Good evening, residents of GUSville. This is an unofficial substitute diary for Saturday GUS diarist extraordinaire effervescent, who regularly leads the community with a few morning yoga poses. I will do no such thing. Because... well, it's evening, after all. However, I will show you the very same first-person view from where I practice my five minutes of daily morning yoga:
Today marks my tenth day off cigarettes. I am using an e-cigarette to taper down my nicotine level. So far, this is going successfully, in that each subsequent day, I have been delaying the time until I allow myself the first vape (it's the same as a "puff," only with e-cigs... h/t x).
My plan is to be off the nicotine after finishing the remaining three cartridges in the e-cig pack. For general reference, each cartridge contains a nicotine content that is equal to 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes. Over the past twelve days, I have gone through three of these cartridges. So, if this tapering down continues to work, I could conceivably mark my official nicotine quit for June 15, which is (not coincidentally) the 3-year anniversary of this fine GUS community.
Or then again, I might just pitch the thing tomorrow. A part of me wants to knock off this bullshit, and have it done yesterday. Get the crud out of my system, go through a few days of adjustment, and get mean, clean, and off nicotine.
Pretty tough talk, right? Then how is it that the comfy, snuggly side of me who wants his baby blanket e-cig is winning this fight? But see, that's the kind of edge that nicotine will give a person... especially one who has decided to end their rocky relationship with tobacco.
~~~
It's one thing to make a decision to quit smoking, but it's another thing to add some insurance to that policy. Purchasing an e-cigarette kit is one piece of this. Another thing I did that was a specific response to my own living situation with another human being is to ask for, and receive, a wish that our common apartment living space be free of smoke, with the exception of incense or sage.
My roommate agreed to this, so eleven days ago our hip bachelor pad went smoke free. It was one thing to have my reasonable request graciously fulfilled. But it was another thing:
* to find myself quitting smoking, one month ahead of schedule.
* to find my roommate quitting, a couple of days after I did.
This was pretty inspiring, you see. So I celebrated the best way I know how to... by painting most of the common areas of the apartment (living room, hall, kitchen). There was an existing residue of cigarette stain on the walls, some areas worse than others. A simple pre-cleaning of the ceilings and walls had everything looking better prior to cracking the lids off the paint cans.
After cleaning and prep work, I selected a color, one that went against my instinct to stick with a basic off-white scheme. Our place has plenty of stuff: cool artwork, a nice living room mantel, and other effects that might normally dictate going with a lighter color, so as to avoid creating a color circus funhouse effect. Instead, I went with one of Benjamin Moore'sTM historical colors, a mid-range hue that looks gold, mustard, and green, depending on how the light hits it. Here is how it looks from the musical corner of the living room.
Here is a kitchen angle, featuring Sam and Woody's tropical kitty corner.
Emphasis here is on the word "tropical," and not the fact that this is where my critters go to take care of what is euphemistically called "their business." Featured: the same wall color, though I painted both boxed kitchen windows with an off-white semi-gloss.
Woody: Our 'business?' Really?
In the interests of pootie picture fairness, here is one of Sam, though the featured room had already been painted:
The place is really clean now, and looks fresh. If smoking in here wasn't exactly encouraged before the painting project, then doing it afterwards is now unthinkable.
~~~
Here are some bonus pictures of the neighborhood... that new and magical place I venture into, when I've had too much paint fumes and binge-viewed episodes of Breaking Bad. Starting in two weeks will be the neighborhood farmer's market, which I'm pretty jazzed about. In the meantime, I enjoy checking out this local community garden...
... complete with rainwater barrel. Don't forget to keep drinking that water, you quitters! Nicotine is water-soluble, and will cleanse from your system faster. Eight glasses max will do it, so let's be careful out there :-)
Hey, buddy...
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Our Weekly GUS Diary Schedule! Regular diarists featured in bold:
Sat PM: bsmechanic (you are here)
Sun AM: Safina
Sun PM: Open
Mon AM: Open
Mon PM: Vacationland
Tue AM: gchaucer2
Tue PM: Open
Wed AM: labwitchy
Wed PM: Open
Thu AM: Open
Thus PM: bgblcklab1
Fri AM: flumptytail
Fri PM: open
Sat AM: effervescent
Coming Attractions:
eeff hosting Friday 6/1!
GUS 3-year anniversary 6/15!