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That is, according to a study by three doctors in KS Hegde Medical Academy in Mangalore, India. The study asks: “Are lung cancers triggered by stopping smoking?”
So basically they took 312 lung cancer patients they treated during a four-year period of which 182 recently quit. They had all been smoking for more than 25 years. Theres more to it I’m sure, but the bottom line is 58% of patients had quit yet they still got lung cancer.
“A biological mechanism that protects smokers against cancer, that gets exercised and strengthened by years of diligent, heavy smoking. As in habitual marathon running, the body becomes accustomed to suffering grievous damage, and develops habitual ways to fix up whatever breaks down. The smoker’s body becomes a sort of lean, puffing, self-damaging-yet-self-repairing machine.”
Having said that - I am doing the smart thing, and once again attempting to quit the nasty and expensive habit.
Could it be what the Boathouse lyrics are all about in the song ‘Johnny and Ruth Story’: “She knows he’ll never quit”?
Why is it that when my bank calls me they insist that I attempt my ‘password’ at least twice. I don’t generally forget passwords, the sort that I type, but those crap ones that have to be spoken over the phone I always forget. I put it down to the fact that it will always be completely different from any of my typical passwords for the obvious reason that it will be spoken and anyone may hear it. For this reason I try to make it something I will remember, though it definitely doesn’t help that it would only be every 6 months or so that I need to use it…
They called yesterday.
“Could you give the first and last letters of your password please” said the voice.
“No, sorry, I never remember it.”
“I’m sorry I’m going to have to ask you to attempt it.”
“I haven’t a clue. Can’t you ask me something else”
“I have to get an answer from you”.
“Yeah, could you call back later?”
“You said now was convenient”
“It’s not anymore.”
Banks can be a pain in the ass. I could tell them everything else they needed to know about me, hell I could tell them the last time I got laid if they asked (great quote from a friend who was in a similar situation recently).
Since then she has called me four times. I have ignored the call.
I was going to quit smoking yesterday but I got pissed off in work so it didn’t happen. Today, however, I haven’t had a cigarette. I want one, oh how I do want one…
A lot has been going through my head lately, mainly about how the hell I can get out of my current job. I’m getting scared. I’m 22. I’m getting old. These dreams that I have to travel the world and get to know another country, city, as well as my own may just become a pipe dream…
Friends come and go, I’ve noticed it happen lately. Its just nice to have people to be yourself around and to talk to.
I have to do it now, before I end up with a house, mortgage, car, kids and all that other crap that destroys lives.
I feel like I’m trapped in a cycle: get up, generally very tired, rush to get to work on time, have a shitty day in work, work on photographs/browse the web, go to gig, get back later than I should. It doesn’t end, and I don’t know what to do. My one year anniversary of being in my current job is coming up next month. I will decide by then what I will do.
I have begun to clear up my room and all the crap I have accumulated in the last 12 months. I definitely won’t miss this room, though I do hope my next room won’t be any worse.
Clothes currently get dumped on the floor
I won’t miss this beautiful crack
Gotta sort this lot out
hmm curvy
lots of soap; essential
I’m outta toothpaste
As long as I get the internet I’ll be fine
BEWARE THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS A MULTITUDE OF CLICHÉS
I didn’t have a cigarette today.
You are probably thinking to yourself “Oh well done you(!)” [in sarcastic tone], whether you are a smoker or non-smoker. More specifically non-smokers will be thinking “You shouldn’t have started such a nasty habit”. The Smokers are thinking “So fucking what. I don’t wanna read another rant about someone trying to quit. Don’t go down that road.” Sorry all, thats what I’m going to do, and continue to do until I get rid of this nasty fucking cough.
“Smokers cough, eh?”
“Eh, yeah”
Those are the words which were exchanged this morning during the fire evacuation between me and a colleague as I tried hard to keep my lungs inside my rib cage. Much coughing continued throughout the day. I felt so unhealthy.
I decided last week I was going to quit smoking, it has yet to happen. A week before that, the month before that - it was even my new years resolution! Although I have managed to cut down in the last few weeks - months even; I smoke normally no more than 10 cigarettes a day (aren’t I just great!), it’s still 10 too many.
Lets break it down to the most basic way I know how:
Advantages
- Sometimes it feels great, especially after a few drinks.
- I look cool (right?)
- Sociable. How many conversations have you sparked with people in designated smoking areas?
Disadvantages
- It costs too much
- I got this nasty cough
- I’m smelly
- Lying to the parents
- Having to go outside to smoke - its freezing most of the year (but it’s spring now and getting warmer!)
- Weight loss & loss of appetite
- Oh and all these reasons!
Guess what, I think there are more disadvantages!
In the past I have bought the Gum and I tell you now - do not try it! It gave me such a sore head. I still have plenty left, maybe I’ll give it another shot.
So why do I find it so hard to quit? Thats easy; what the hell am I going to do if I don’t smoke?? I generally smoke on the way to work, one or two at lunch time (only time I’m allowed out of the building during the day), one the way home from work, about 3 or 4 in the evening, plenty more at the weekend. Any time I leave the house, I make sure to have a cigarette, oh yeah, and in bars: one hand; pint, other hand; cigarette, with such a great combination you can never go wrong.
The hardest to give up; those couple at lunch time and when I’m drinking. Oh yeah, the ban.
I’ve been really looking forward to the ban since the date was first publicised many moons ago. Knowing that if I hadn’t managed to quit by the time it comes around (100% correct), it will only be a good thing for me. With the ban having been in place in the rest of Ireland, Scotland and most US states for a few years now, there have been both positive and negative reports: bars smelling like sweaty armpits and urine (“At our particular corner it smelled of old man and old man urine. Nice”), business sales drop, people being laid off from bars and restaurants, Guinness sales drop, children affected by more smoking at home , Ireland pubs closing
On the other hand: Air pollution levels drop, many lives will be saved, Bar staff will be healthier, better business in bars and restaurants, ban will encourage people to quit, less gamblers, none of this passive smoking crap.
So why would I want to come across so desperate on my own blog? Cos I wanna quit. By making this post I have a permanent reminder of my desperation.
“It’s a dead end job, and you gets tired of sittin’
And it’s like a nicotine habit you’re always thinking about quittin’
I think about quittin’ every day of the week
When I look out my window it’s brown and it’s bleak”
Paul Simon - Once Upon A Time There Was An Ocean
Spring has arrived, and it has been showing in the weather this week. Certainly no warmer in the late evening but during the day its actually been warm. Yesterday there was not a cloud in the sky. It was all blue, and doesn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
The clocks went forward an hour last night, good old daylight savings time British Summer Time; resulting in the loss of an hour’s sleep - for most people. I didn’t go to sleep until 5:30am this morning, though I didn’t get up until 1pm so I didn’t lose much sleep at all last night, yet I’m perfectly aware how unhealthy it is to screw up my sleep pattern like that. Tomorrow I will be getting up at 8am for work. I thought since it was already 6.45am I would be doing myself more harm than good by going to bed sleeping until late in the evening then have trouble getting to sleep tonight.
update: I slept from 8:30 to 3pm. I’m fucked tonight.
I’ve always hated going to sleep. Why would I want to stop having so much fun doing whatever it is I’m doing and spend 7-8hrs being idle. I might miss something! I don’t want to continue it [current activity] in the morning when I’ve got this far!
As much as I have tried over the years I have never managed to do it. I am never asleep before 12am, yet I have to get up every morning at 8-8:30am. Even when I do try to go to sleep I just can’t.
I can’t sleep ‘cos I can’t stop thinking. OK so obviously I gotta think, but when I’m actually trying to sleep I don’t want to be thinking so much. I’ve noticed this more over the last few months, that all this thinking leads to some great ideas, often so great I want to write down. But it’s too late and I’m too tired to get out of bed, where it’s warm, to reach for a pen and paper.
So I’ll just write it down in the morning, right? No. I never seem to remember anything I was thinking about in the morning. I have theories for both of these problems. Sensible theories. The kind of theories by parents used to go on at me about.
1. Shutting off the computer sooner before going to bed
Another term for this as used by my mother on many occasions, winding down. Instead of switching off computer and hoping straight into bed I should give myself some time to relax my brain. Maybe I should read a little or even just go to bed earlier, time to think and not end up getting to sleep so late.
2. Getting up earlier
This would be good so that I’m not rushing so much in the morning. To give myself time to collect my thoughts in the morning maybe even try and remember those thoughts of the night before. I could even get breakfast every morning and a nice mug of coffee.
I’ve been wanting to know for years the explanation for the crusty crap around the eyes when we wake up today I found the answer:
When we wake up, why do we have crust in our eyes? - S.S.
“Eye crusts†are the leftover protein and fat from tears that have dried up. Tears have three components:
- Salty water, which comes from the tear gland behind the upper outer corner of our eye.
- Protein, secreted by the conjunctiva, which is the clear film that covers the eye.
- And fat, which comes from ducts in the eyelids.
Tears do lots of jobs. They clean the eye. They fill in tiny imperfections in the surface of the cornea, which needs to be perfectly smooth for maximal vision. They also deliver nutrients to the cornea, which has to be clear to let light through to the iris, and therefore has no blood vessels to deliver a “food supply.†And of course tears flow at times of emotion, when the tear glands power up and produce more salt water.
At night, with our eyes closed and protected, we don’t display emotion, and with our eyes closed we don’t get dirt in our eyes. So we don’t make tears. Small amounts of the mixture already on the surface of the eye seep out, but without a fresh supply of liquid from the tear gland, the fat and protein dry up.
They also answered that age-old question Why is yawning contagious?
If you don’t think YAWNING is contagious, see if you YAWN by the time you’re done reading this explanation of YAWNING.
Each time the word yawn is mentioned they put it in CAPS. I yawned by 5th paragraph, and again just 3 seconds ago writing this.
I’m actually a little bored now. Screw it - I’m going to sleep.
I went shopping today. This is not something i have done often enough since moving out in October ‘06. My problem is that I am not a great cook, well not even that, more that I’m not so good at putting together meals - what goes with what. I don’t know what to buy. I was never a very adventurous eater when I was young. I’ve gotten much better at eating a variety of
foods in the last few years, but making it myself isn’t something I have mastered yet. I really need to read some websites on healthy eating along with recipe sites. Let me know if you know of any good ones.
I bought a fair amount which should keep me going for a week or so. Though I feel I should really get out of the way of eating ready meals so often. I do have a small variety of other ingredients which i plan to experiment with during the week. I do find it quite worrying however, that I cannot even remember how to eat an apple. I bought three, and ate one. Well I forgot to take the little sticker off it. This was drawn to my attention when I saw half of it. The other half had been eaten. Better luck next time I guess.
There is of course the fact that food is expensive and awkward when its only for one person. You cant just buy one chicken breast. They come in packs of 2 or 4. Which really isn’t much good. I could probably go to the butchers. The same with mince. Well I have some sort of mini chicken things, rice, pasta, plenty of sauces and some vegetables - cant go wrong, right?
The medication I’m on causes me to have dry skin and lips - so plenty of moisturisor has been required. Today, with the advice of a friend, I bought Blistex, as a replacement for my girly pocket-sized Vaseline ‘lip therapy’.
Besides the fact that Blistex looks more like a tube of Super Glue, it also looks like it is going to do a better job than your average tub of vaseline. But better still - it instantly felt much better! This was just an excuse to take a crappy photo, I have nothing more to say on the matter.
And just like that I can no longer drink alcohol. As quickly as it started, it must end. Alright so its only for 4 months due to medication im going to be on, but still - not one drop of alcohol until the end of the summer. Gotta think of another way of celebrating my 21st now too. Apparently its serious stuff, and has side effects. Before I begin tomorrow I think I will have one last pint of guiness tonight.
I think I need to see someone about my lack of sleep, or not wanting to go to sleep. I am never asleep before 1:30 anymore, yet I have to get up at 7:30 6 days a week.
Today is no smoking day, a charity setup in London to “help people who want to stop smoking”. Personally I think this is a great idea. As someone who has just recently quit smoking I’m all for it.
I have tried to quit before in the last couple of years, but found it really hard. I have always said that I will quit eventually and not leave it too late. I’ve had my ‘fun’. I am pretty proud of my progress at quitting. I had my ‘last’ cigarette on sunday 29th jan 2006. 38 days ago. In that time I have had no more than 6 or 7 cigarettes, oh and a cigar. These have also only been smoked whilst I have been in a bar, none during my normally working day.
It definately helped that I started a new job 6 weeks ago. I decided that with a new routine, new environment and no smoking room that I would try my best to give up. The first week didnt go to well, but in my second week I brought a book to work or buy a newspaper every couple of days. I now read, drink coffee, and if im feeling creative, take some photographs outside. I have been to bars plenty and managed not to smoke, though it is hard. But its well worth it, and my wallet is beginng to notice the difference as well as my health!
I am really looking forward to the day that smoking in public places is banned. I’m not going to be one of those ‘ex-smokers’ who looks down on those who chose to smoke. Not at all. I’m doing it for myself and what anyone else does is definately their choice, its how I thought about my own habit, although I have really noticed how bad it is in bars with the smoke in the air. So many other countries have the right idea - the sooner we follow this lead the better.