I Quit
As of Friday, November 6, 2015, 18:00hrs Eastern Standard Time, I am officially no longer a smoker (of cigarettes.) Sure, at the time of this post it has only been ~43 hours, but it’s been trying! I decided today that I wanted to document my journey. Hopefully my last journey along this path. I figured that since I was only in 2 days and could recall most of my feelings and thoughts over the past 72 hours, it would be a great time for an introduction post (amirite?!?)
Prologue
I wanted to throw out a short, yet important, introduction to how this whole endeavor got off the ground. I am was a member of a dwindling sect of society – the cigarette smoker. The group of people worldwide that once reigned in popularity is now at the bottom of society. Addiction…it’s a bitch. It’s the one thing that will keep you wanting, longing even, to belong to a group that disparages your own name. For over 20 years I have been a member of that group of people in society. I haven’t minded it much though. I have always found companionship in the fellow members of that group.
A long time member… maybe it’s time to cancel that membership? It is quite expensive. Then there are cons like having to go outside in all types of weather. The stink. The faces and comments people make. Yeah, it’s a bad time to be a smoker. I am not even going to touch on health issues.
I have been meaning to quit. I mean that seriously. I have given it a go a few times, though none too successful. I have even tried to quit by vaping before. I used those little electronic cigarette things. This was probably 2 years ago when the whole vaping thing was getting started. Since then they have made some very interesting improvements in the industry. So much so that a friend was able to get me interested in quitting again.
That friend, let’s call him Ted (I don’t like to use people’s names without consent, it’s just rude,) basically convinced me to quit smoking, all in the matter of about 3 days. Now that I think about it – did he brainwash me?
Days Before
I spent a few days talking with Ted about equipment. He recommended items he was familiar with and is currently using, which I thought would be a plus, since it wasn’t too expensive and he knew all about it. I had no idea if this equipment would be good, but still, I decided to take the plunge.
After reading a few pages about vaping equipment on the good old internet, I decided to go with Ted’s recommendation of an Eleaf iStick TC40 and a KangerTech Subtank Mini with a sub-ohm coil. Now, I have no idea what I am talking about here. No clue. However, as time goes on, I am sure I will learn.
Thursday, November 5
I knew the equipment was out for delivery on this day. Ted messaged me about our joint order, which we combined together to save on shipping and which was being delivered to his house. Delivery was confirmed around 14:00 and the plan was to meet up after work and so he could help me get set up and show me the ropes. 16:30 finally rolled around and I went to meet up and procure the device and knowledge.
I met up with Ted at his house and we immediately tore into the box. It was kind of a whirlwind for me and I was too enamored with all the new shiny toys that I really didn’t pay much attention to what he was doing… something I think I will regret in the future. In no time, my vaping machine was all set up and ready to go. Ted filled the inaugural tank with some of his own juice since mine hadn’t come in yet, choosing the flavor of Apple of my Ice from VapeWild. And I was off.
Friday, November 6
Quit day, well, according to estimation of how many cigarettes remained in my last pack. I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away or break them. They are just too damn expensive! I had my brand new vape machine with me. I went back and forth throughout the day between smoking and vaping. In my head I thought it was going to be like getting into a pool by slowly wading in. It kind of was.
By the end of the day I was almost out of the juice that Ted had filled my tank with the day prior. It tasted so good I could barely bring myself to stop vaping the night before. At this point my juice order wasn’t delivered yet and it wasn’t going to be. I had to make a choice: buy just one more pack of cigarettes, or go to a store I had just heard about, The Vaping Oasis. I opted for the later and drove there straight from work.
I really would love to get more in depth about my experience in The Vaping Oasis, but I will leave that for another post. I left there with 4 10ml bottles of juice and was happy. When I got home, I filled my first tank of juice with Toro.
Saturday, November 7th
It had all been going so well… until I woke up Saturday morning. It. Was. Hell. I would have to say that the morning time is probably the worst for me. It is when I crave a cigarette in the worst way. I thought the vaping would curb that urge in the morning, only I had an issue. For some reason every hit I was taking, no matter how big or small, was killing my throat. I had no idea why. So this in combination with the “nic fit” I was going through made the morning a bit rough, to say the least.
My throat got better throughout the day and I was able to level off. Coffee helped. The day really was just another day. I didn’t have an issue at all.
We went to a friend’s place that night because they were having a fire. I was really unsure about going. At this point it was just about 24 hours, and I was leery of myself in a public situation. We got there and everything was fine. I just vaped, no one cared or looked at me funny. As the night went on we talked about me quitting and vaping and received many words of encouragement. These really do mean a lot.
And then it happened: a smoker showed up to the party, walking to the fire smoking a cigarette. I saw it. I stared at it. I thought to myself, “Self, how you feeling about that cigarette over there?” I then replied to myself, “Dude, it’s the first day. We can’t go all crazy over the sight of a cigarette after 24 hours. That is completely nuts.” So I moved on about my business. I reached in my pocket, hit my vape a few times, and continued on with conversation.
Sunday, November 8
Hooray! We are on the current day (as of the writing of this post.) This morning wasn’t bad at all. Even though I was drinking the night before, I didn’t have a cigarette and I was feeling OK in the morning. After some advice on how to handle the morning I was able to take some small hits of the vape and level out almost right away. This morning was a cake walk compared to yesterday.
I am hoping that the rest of the day will be much like the past – uneventful and manageable. We shall see.
Wrapping Up
I plan to continue to blog my way through this experience. I think it will help me overcome something that I have been afraid of for the past 10 or 15 years of my life. Maybe it will help someone else. Who knows.
I hope that you will follow me on my endeavor, maybe offer some words of encouragement or give advice. Hell, later on down the road maybe I will be answering some of the very questions I started out with.
