originally scribbled on my PDA 08/30/03

Gluttons for punishment that we are, Marcy and I went out last night for a little karaoke fun. Given the company that we were with, and their propensity to smoke, I thought for sure I would be starting over at day 1 again in our quest for a cigarette free life style. As it turns out, both of us want this badly enough and as I’m happy to report, we are now on day 6 (now 7).

Updated stats:
Time Smoke-Free: 7 days, 3 hours, 43 minutes and 57 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 64
Lifetime Saved: 11 hours

Money Saved: $10.55

Two lawyers, Jon and David, head out for their usual 9 holes of golf. Jon offers David a $50 bet. David agrees and they’re off. They do a great game. After the 8th hole, David is ahead by one stroke, but cuts his ball into the rough on the 9th.

“Help me find my ball. Look over there,’” he says to Jon. After a few minutes, neither have any luck. Since a lost ball carries a four point penalty, David secretly pulls a ball from his pocket and tosses it to the ground. “I’ve found my ball!” he announces.

“After all of the years we’ve been partners and playing together,” Jon says, “you’d cheat me out of a lousy 50 bucks?”

“What do you mean, cheat? I found my ball sitting right there!”

“And you’re a liar, too!” Jon says. “I’ve been STANDING on your ball for the last five minutes!”

Day 5, still we have not had a cigarette. If we get through the weekend, we will be done with what the Q calls “hell-week”. It hasn’t been all that bad either. I think with the right state-of-mind, actually wanting to quit because we’re sick of how smoking makes us feel, and what it does to our pocketbook, only makes things easier. Still, with the long weekend ahead, I think we will need to keep ourselves mighty busy, that shouldn’t be hard to do.

It’s Friday, and I’ve decided that from now on, instead of bombarding you all week long with interesting links from around the www, I’m going to save them all week and bombard you on Friday, in one shot. Since I’ve only decided to start this today, I only have a few links for ya, but I hope you enjoy.

First, I have one link that goes into my “funny as hell” category: (via Metafilter)

Flash Animations for your viewing enjoyment

Next, in my “These-guys have way too much time on their hands” category, I bring you: (via Metafilter)

Burgers Having Sex & AT-ST Love

Finally, in my “This guy is too stupid to breathe” category: (via Metafilter)

This moron gets what he deserves

Yes, if life was the internet, and oxygen was bandwith, that guy does not deserve to share mine. That’s all for today, more links will come your way next week. And if you find a strange or funny little morsel of www goodness, leave me a comment or send me an email and I’ll feature it here next week.

_______
Stats:
Time Smoke-Free: 4 days, 13 hours, 43 minutes and 52 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 41
Lifetime Saved: 7 hours
Money Saved: $7.54

Ever since we quit smoking, it feels like my lungs are trying to purge themselves of all the smoke that I have injested into them over the years. I didn’t mean to release it all at once though, sorry. Seriously though, I wish I could sometimes, release it all at once. Instead of hacking day after day, take one big giant breath, and hack up all the tar and smoke that my lungs have had to intake because of my habit. Not a pretty picture eh? I imagine though that the picture looks clear compared to what the inside of my lungs looked like. Yeah, I think I’m definately ready to live the rest of our lives without smoking. Yesterday I went until noon without taking my first hit off of the inhaler, let’s see how long I can go today, shall we?

I talked to Marcy’s brother Bobby last night after putting up his, er Ahnold’s, video:
Bobby: I told Marcy that that video better not end up on your site.

Me:Cmon Bobby, you know me better than that. It had to.
Bobby: I know

In a bit of good news, Marcy’s Dad came through just fine, in fact, there were no blockages in any of his arteries or valves. Definately good news.

Stats:
Time Smoke-Free: 3 days, 11 hours, 3 minutes and 7 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 28

Lifetime Saved: 5 hours
Money Saved: $5.60

Guessed who stopped by for an impromptu visit… You got it, Ahnold…and he went over some of the platforms that he will be running on. Luckily, Marcy was there with the camera to catch this most unexpected visit. He also told me off camera that you must go buy a shirt or else his next stop may be your house.

Stats:
Time Smoke-Free: 3 days, 1 hour, 22 minutes and 10 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 24
Lifetime Saved: 4 hours
Money Saved: $4.20

If you haven’t noticed already, Marcy and I are quitting smoking. I have found a couple of websites for some support, but Quit Net is by far the coolest. If your in the same boat we are, or are thinking about jumping ship, Check it out.

My Stats:
Time Smoke-Free: 2 days, 21 hours, 4 minutes and 32 seconds

Cigarettes NOT smoked: 23
Lifetime Saved: 4 hours
Money Saved: $4.20

Well, day 3 of our smoke-free life has started and I have Stephen Lynch’s “Special Fred” stuck in my head. Thanks to Marcy’s brother Bobby singing it that is. A couple of month’s ago Bobby called me up late one night and told me to turn on Comedy Central. The comedian that he had been telling me about for a month or more was on. I did, and ever since I have been hooked on his songs. Check out his website for more information, you’ll be glad you did.

Last night we finally set Marcy up to start selling on Ebay and submitted her first two auctions. She sews handmade quilts and tote bags, so if you are looking for something like that, check out her auctions. We will be setting up a website for her soon as well, I will post where you can find it when it is complete.

On a more serious note, Marcy’s dad is going in for surgery today, we saw him off to the hospital this morning. The doctors will be doing mostly exploratory work on his heart valves and arteries, but they have indicated that angioplasty will most likely be necessary while they are in there. Some repair to the main heart valve may also be necessary today. He is in our thoughts today, please keep him in yours.

I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far, will continue during tomorrow’s lunch, but from what I’ve seen so far this is hilarious. Red vs Blue

Ok, my Sitemeter tells me that I have readers, but noone comments on the posts, that is except for this guy. Not complaining, just commenting on an observation, that’s all. No pun intended of course.

Ok, now that I have my past life wrapped up and taken care of, I can concentrate on this one. It is day 2 of my and Marcy’s most recent bid to quit smoking. So far, so good. We both are using the Nicotrol Inhaler sparingly, in fact I have not yet needed to use mine yet today only needed to use mine once so far today. I remember though, it seems that the last time I tried to quit earlier this year, was much worse. The cravings were worse, and the gum of course was no help at all, unless you enjoy feeling nauseous. All in all, it’s probably something that is completely metal. I think I am definately more ready, or mentally prepared, to quit this time. I guess I’ll just have to take it one day at a time, and see what happens. Either way, I will quit.