FlyingOrca's Journal: "This is the time / And this is the record of the time..."

...as Laurie Anderson once observed.

What is the time? It's time (well, long past, but that's a whole bunch of longer stories) for me to stop smoking one of the few drugs that really should have war declared upon them - tobacco.

I've been a smoker for about twenty years, give or take, and I've made far too many half-assed attempts to quit. Sometimes I've succeeded (once for eight months), but never for good. This time, though... this time just feels different.

The patch helps, as does the fact that the weather here is cool enough that I don't sweat the things right off my skin. If you've ever tried the patch and encountered the same phenomenon, here's some advice for getting them to stick all day:

1) Wash the application area really well, with soap that effectively removes dirt, sweat, and skin oils.

2) Dry the application area with a hair dryer. A towel just doesn't seem to cut it, although a really absorbent paper towel might.

3) Heat up the patch with the hair dryer (a toaster works too). Don't set it alight, just get it all soft and sticky.

4) Slap that puppy down tight and rub it 'til it's seriously bonded with your clean, dry skin.

This does slightly increase the "burn-in" feeling on first application, but the trade-off is well worth it to me, because the patch has a better chance of staying on all day.

It also helps, this time around, that I've been working toward and planning this for some time. Preparation is a good thing. So is acknowledging your efforts, both to other people and through journaling. Or both. ;-)

Another key motivator here is that I'm living in my own space (no longer sharing with anyone), and I want it to be clean. At my old place my roomie and I were always popping outside for a smoke; going down three flights of stairs on my own is not so appealing. It's also good to have my place smell clean when my nonsmoking girlfriend comes over...

It's only been a couple of days, but I've already noticed a few things that are very different. Munchies!!! I'm really going to have to watch that. Time to start keeping a lot more fruit and rice cakes around! Another thing that's weird: I've always associated cigarettes with "breaks" - like if my job has me driving around, I get to have a smoke. Somehow, it just doesn't seem like the much-anticipated break that it was until this week.

Also, I'm really tired. I wonder if other people have found this. I'm a coffee drinker (well, this is Slashdot, probably no need to explain that); my typical morning is a travel mug full of strong coffee and a couple of smokes before arriving at work, then another travel mug for the trip to work and the first part of the morning. I miss the morning cigs less than I thought I would, but the caffeine doesn't seem to work quite as effectively without the nicotine jolt. Probably a lot better for my health, though - together, they pack a hell of a wallop.

So that's where I'm at. I'm going to try to journal about this occasionally; it might make for interesting reading down the road. To me, at least. One thing I'm going to avoid, though: becoming one of those painfully smug, holier-than-thou reformed smokers. I'll just be happy to manage this much, thanks!

Anyone else have good, inspirational or funny stories about quitting? I'd love to hear them. Cheers!