Eye opener and other bits

marleneandgypo · Eye opener and other bits

This is not meant to be a dig at smokers, I just wanted to share a real eye opener for me and hopefully Clive will see it as well.

Someone sent me this URL:

http://quitmeter.com/index.php

It is for people who have given up smoking to see how many cigs they haven't had and how much it all would have cost. You just fill in the form and it gets calculated.

I gave up at 10.30 am on 28 November 1998. So up until 08.54 this morning at the 30 a day I was smoking then I have NOT smoked 101,099 cigarettes! I put the price at 8 dollars which is just over £4 and less then a regular packet then used a online converter to work out what that would have cost me in money and what an eye opener that was!

I remember Clive saying "if ever they get to a £ a packet I am giving up...5 different meds daily and an inhaler and heart op and he is still lighting up. I hear that cough of his and it is scaring me now. My dad died of lung cancer you see. Well he was 25 years older than Clive so if only he could do something now he is still in with a chance.

Sorry didn't mean to say all that as this was never meant to dig at any smokers who may be among us, just wanted to say about the eye opener really for me personally.

Off to work now...Got to get to London this week as well for a training course on editing and producing newsletters and leaflets for the charity I work for. I have been our church mag editor for 8 years but there is always room for improvement.

My friend will be here from Finland and she will meet me after and we hope to go and see the stage play Brief Encounter at Haymarket. Love that movie and saw it as a stage play once before, it was excellent.

Off to work now

Marlene

kerby

Hi Marlene, Have had a look at the site as I gave up on Monday at 8pm on the 14th February 1981. At the time I smoked 50 per day and had done so for a number of years having started in 1951. As I was in charge of the Cigarette rations at Langeleben, I smoked my fair share whilst there. Also when I was a computer programmer on a valve machine from 1959, a cigarette helped me concentrate. At the beginning of 1981 I realised I was getting out of breath going up stairs at work. Then on the 14th Feb the price of cigarettes went up to ninety odd pence per packet. That evening in my local pub, the barmaid refused to sell me some matches to light-up, saying 'give up for 24 hours'. After a couple of minutes arguing, she still refused so I picked up the packet of cigarettes and threw it at her saying 'I'm giving up for good' That was the last time I had a cigarette. I have to be careful what I say as the barmaid is sitting in the chair next to me. 12 months later we set up home together. I am fitter now than I was in 1981. Us ex smokers are all the same. Best of luck, Keith

Mike Hudson · Eye opener and other bits

Ye Gods, I started smoking at the age of 11 in 1955, initially either a single cigarette and a match for a penny halfpenny, or if I was really flush a pouch of 5 Woodbines or a 5 pack of Park Drive. Then I hit the big time, how many of you remember 5's of Domino? I don't think there isn't a cigarette I have not tried, from the sublime to the ridiculous from the multicoloured Balkan Sobranie 'Cocktail cigarettes' to the 'Joysticks' about 5" long.
Mostly, in the Forces I smoked Capstan Full strength and still ran Cross Country and played Rugby, Badminton and VolleyBall for the Squadron.
The I had a brainwave, I would only smoke when I drank, not such a good idea as my consumption (of cigarettes) went up by 50%.
Like Kerby, I stopped suddenly, I started to work nights for Tesco and on a Saturday in June 1999, I think it was the 19th, I stopped smoking and have never looked at one since. That was about the time I became the Old Fat Grey and Grumpy son of unmarried parents that I am today.
Pharticus Incontinentus, still dribbling!!