My Absence and Those Damned Cigarettes

[pipenscotch]

So I know that 99.9% of you on this forum won't recognize my name at all seeing as how I only had a few posts before a sudden absence lasting months. To be brief, I picked up pipe smoking after about a year away from the hobby, due to circumstances out of my control, work, life, school ETC. I got really excited about it, fully intended to be an active member of the forums and even wanted to start my own YouTube channel. Well, as things usually go, life got in the way again, and I was either too busy or too tired to go smoke a pipe. And that's where the whole cigarette thing came into play.
I started smoking around three years ago, when I was still a minor, on and off. At most, I'd probably have the odd cigarette or flavored cigarillo with my friends, maybe four or five times a month, and sometimes when I was just by myself. Well lately, and I'm gonna say the last year or so, smoking cigarettes has wormed its way into my life, in a not so very convenient way. I've been working a few industrial jobs, first in a pipe yard, and then I started to apprentice as an industrial electrician. Very stressful, long hours, physical jobs that don't get me wrong payed well, but just left me feeling empty inside, in the sense that I knew what I was doing was not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. A majority of the people I worked with smoked cigarettes, and I just started to smoke more and more. The stress, long days all accumulated into making me a daily smoker of cigarettes, and up until now I had been smoking at least a half a pack a day. Not something I'd ever think myself doing personally.
Well now I'm glad to report I'm cigarette free for two days. I know that's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it's a big deal to me. I hated feeling miserable, and so I quit apprenticing, and am going to go back to school in the fall of 2014 to strive towards a university education (nothing against the trades however, tis' a very good life and work for many honorable folk, just not for me). I set up a smoking room/man cave in the parents garage (gracious enough on their part since I still live with them). My girlfriend is very supportive, and I hope to start reaching for my pipe on a daily basis and quit dreaming of cigarettes.
Not very brief now that I've finished haha, but I felt I needed to reintroduce myself to the forum, and give all you good folk a little looksee into my life.
Stay puffin!
pipenscotch

 

[Perique]

Good for you, Scotch. Stay focused on the pipe and enjoy your tobacco.

 

[kashmir]

You'll live longer with a pipe than you will with cigarettes. That's a given. The pipe will also change your outlook on life for the better. Welcome back.

 

[mso489]

My late wife (I eventually remarried) had a three pack a day cigarette habit, and she finally broke it by having a

smoking station with a mason jar where she kept all the butts, to make it unappetizing. That was the only

place she could smoke. She'd tried to quit smoking a number of times, but that finally did it. I finally lost her

to a non-smoking related illness, but she was a great person. My living wife quit a Camels habit cold, after

smoking for years. Many people have to quit several times. My father quit pipes and cigars cold at 65. He'd

taken a job where smoking wasn't allowed, and since he was a chain smoker, it didn't do for him to smoke

after work.

 

[captainsousie]

Glad to have you back and every step, however small it may seem, helps.

 

[wilson]

pipenscotch, welcome back. Two days is two days - it's a good start. The pipe is a much different experience, for me, than cigarettes, which I've not smoked in several years. Though not the same (and I can remember finishing a bowl, or a cigar, and then wanting a cigarette -- that was really bad!), the pipe will take the edge off of the craving for a cigarette. Stick with the pipe. Pretty soon, a cigarette will taste like crap compared to quality tobacco.

 

[sablebrush52]

Hi Pipenscotch,
Welcome back! Two days is terrific! I smoked cigarettes for years before giving them up in 1981. I just decided that I'd had enough. Take it a day at a time.

 

[05venturer]

Pipenscotch Welcome Back!

I know where you are coming from, I still find myself reaching for the convenience of a cig on break at work or when I have had a few too many adult beverages. The cigs taste like crap but I still think that I eventually will be off them entirely. For me I figure a pack a week is better than a pack or so a day.

Good luck and enjoy your pipe.

 

[petes03]

Welcome back! Congrats for putting down the cigs! I've been trying to for years now, but I still smoke them occasionally. Usually only at work. As for the jobs, I'm a life long skill trade worker, but I'll be the first to admit that it's not for everyone! I'm glad to hear that you've more or less figured out what you want from a career standpoint. Good luck in your endeavors, and I look forward to seeing you around the forum!
Dan

 

[sparrowhawk]

Congrats on quitting the cigarettes. They are a different experience from pipe smoking; with a cig, you feel like (and are) feeding a narcotic habit. Pipe smoking is more meditative. When I smoked cigarettes, a cig was the first thing I reached for when I woke up from sleep; I only have my first pipe after I've had time to wake up, clean up, make coffee, etc. It's not a panic driven desire like cigs. May I recommend getting a prescription for Chantex, just to help kick the cigs? It did wonders for me, with a combination of Jolly Ranchers hard candies. And if you fail in your current streak, don't despair. It took me years until I finally kicked the cigarette habit, partially induced by the enormous cost of smokes. Good luck.

 

[drwatson]

Congrates and welcome back.

 

[mrjerke]

Welcome back pipenscotch. Good for you for trying to quit cigarettes. You'll feel much better once you do. Hopefully the pipe will help.

 

[crazypipe]

Welcome back and don't worry you will one day be a full time pipe smoker. ::