Today I'm happy about......

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Self preservation trumps eco in these parts.

[Bruce Rioja]

Aye keep it up Pru. One of the best things you'll do. I gave up 2009.

Happy today as we chose our new car/tank and put the deposit down. Hopefully we'll get the paperwork sorted and pick it up next week

Essential kit for negotiating those speed bumps around the kasbah is a tank eh, AT?

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Aye keep it up Pru. One of the best things you'll do. I gave up 2009.

Happy today as we chose our new car/tank and put the deposit down. Hopefully we'll get the paperwork sorted and pick it up next week

Essential kit for negotiating those speed bumps around the kasbah is a tank eh, AT?

There's a particularly nasty one that got the current car just outside our compound

Seriously though. It is wacky races around here and you either need something very expensive or big, otherwise the feck* will try and run you off the road

[Lord Kangana]

I remember being in a taxi reversing up the motorway just outside Dubai. In case you missed it, my first sentence included the word "reversing". They drive like mentalists over there. Reasonably scary.

[Bruce Rioja]

Today I'm happy because it's open day at the house over the road from me which is for sale. I'm clocking the viewers. Several very nice totties have been in and out up to now. It's looking good

UPDATE: Two blokes have just turned up Time to plug the amp in.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

I remember being in a taxi reversing up the motorway just outside Dubai. In case you missed it, my first sentence included the word "reversing". They drive like mentalists over there. Reasonably scary.

The reversing think is a common thing. It's the ones that try to ram you off the road for having the temerity to overtake them in a car they deem inferior, you have to watch out for.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

WayHay. Carphone Warehouse. Missus on pay as you go for the last century...I point out that running out of credit continually and paying a tenner every fkun week is not the new way forward. Changes old shit phone for smart phone unlimited talk unlimited text 1 gig of shit she didn't even access previously coz it weren't smart, and for over a tenner a month cheaper....and the bloke sez, what free gift do you want. So instead of Xbox etc we've now got a free brand new flat screen 32 inch plasma tv....

[Prufrock]

15 hours !! Including sleeping time.

I've never smoked and so can't understand but is it that addictive ? I'd have thought 15 hours was simply "I've not lit up yet today". How many a day do you (sorry, DID you do) ?

I'm not belittling it at all and I'm nor being smug at all just have no reference point to relate that to.

Keep it up, btw.

It was only last week that I saw the price of a pack of 20 and was astonished. A pack a day is £200 pm.

. Everyone who has quit has had a point where they'd only 'quit' for 15 hours. They'd still had their last one. But yeah. So far so good. 24 hours done. Had the usual urges but not been difficult to not give in. Yet. Trying to do a big pub night asap to get that over with, coz that was my main do.

I wasn't a massive smoker, only about 5 a day in the week, and then 10-20 a day Fri/Sat/Sun. The money isn't why I'm doing it, though it'll be nice to have the £30 a week extra!

I'd had a few moments (which everyone who smokes gets at least occasionally) where I thought 'what am I doing, I'm not enjoying this', so asked GtE the name of a book he'd recommended. Ordered that, then read it in the week. I'd genuinely never realised I was addicted to nicotine! As mental and deluded as that sounds, I always thought I enjoyed it, and that feeling of needing a cigarette was needing something to relax me from the outside stuff, not needing to have nicotine coz I was addicted. 7 years and that penny had never dropped. Once that did, and I realised it wasn't actually enjoyable, decided I wasn't having that. Fingers crossed!

[William the White]

Today I'm happy because it's open day at the house over the road from me which is for sale. I'm clocking the viewers. Several very nice totties have been in and out up to now. It's looking good

UPDATE: Two blokes have just turned up Time to plug the amp in.

They could be your new best friends if you only gave them a chance, Bruce....

[bobo the clown]

Today I'm happy because it's open day at the house over the road from me which is for sale. I'm clocking the viewers. Several very nice totties have been in and out up to now. It's looking good

UPDATE: Two blokes have just turned up Time to plug the amp in.

They could be your new best friends if you only gave them a chance, Bruce....

.... and great help with interior design advice !!

[Lost Leopard Spot]

15 hours !! Including sleeping time.

I've never smoked and so can't understand but is it that addictive ? I'd have thought 15 hours was simply "I've not lit up yet today". How many a day do you (sorry, DID you do) ?

I'm not belittling it at all and I'm nor being smug at all just have no reference point to relate that to.

Keep it up, btw.

It was only last week that I saw the price of a pack of 20 and was astonished. A pack a day is £200 pm.

. Everyone who has quit has had a point where they'd only 'quit' for 15 hours. They'd still had their last one. But yeah. So far so good. 24 hours done. Had the usual urges but not been difficult to not give in. Yet. Trying to do a big pub night asap to get that over with, coz that was my main do.

I wasn't a massive smoker, only about 5 a day in the week, and then 10-20 a day Fri/Sat/Sun. The money isn't why I'm doing it, though it'll be nice to have the £30 a week extra!

I'd had a few moments (which everyone who smokes gets at least occasionally) where I thought 'what am I doing, I'm not enjoying this', so asked GtE the name of a book he'd recommended. Ordered that, then read it in the week. I'd genuinely never realised I was addicted to nicotine! As mental and deluded as that sounds, I always thought I enjoyed it, and that feeling of needing a cigarette was needing something to relax me from the outside stuff, not needing to have nicotine coz I was addicted. 7 years and that penny had never dropped. Once that did, and I realised it wasn't actually enjoyable, decided I wasn't having that. Fingers crossed!

I wasn't going to interfere, because you'd only see my name and think "him "
But if you do quit, well done.

[Prufrock]

Ha! Can't say that I'm surprised that's your take on it Spots. What do you reckon if I kept my e-cig for in pubs .

Cold Turkey for me. Not using nicotine to stop a nicotine addiction.

[Bijou Bob]

Well done Pru, it can't be easy. First steps on the road to not dying a horrible, painful and usually traumatic death. Not to mention early.

[Enoch]

Never been a smoker, though back in the day I was a top exponent of the passive art.

Best wishes to anyone that gives up. I hate it when a decent conversation goes west 'cos some f*cker needs to spark up.

Good luck Prufrock.

[William the White]

Today I'm happy because it's open day at the house over the road from me which is for sale. I'm clocking the viewers. Several very nice totties have been in and out up to now. It's looking good

UPDATE: Two blokes have just turned up Time to plug the amp in.

They could be your new best friends if you only gave them a chance, Bruce....

.... and great help with interior design advice !!

He could make them a sausage casserole...

[Worthy4England]

[Prufrock]

And cheers, folks.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I'd genuinely never realised I was addicted to nicotine!

[Prufrock]

Like ... seriously. I'm astounded at my own delusion. I could go two or three days without having one if I was going home etc, so I thought I couldn't be.

[Gary the Enfield]

Like ... seriously. I'm astounded at my own delusion. I could go two or three days without having one if I was going home etc, so I thought I couldn't be.

I quit cold turkey too. I was a twenty to forty a day smoker so pretty heavily into it. I loved smoking too. Especially with a pint or after a nice meal. Yum.

For the record Pru I didn't actually buy the book. I read the preface or the précis on the back cover and saw enough in those few short sentences to give me the mantra I needed; that I was a non-smoker rather than an ex smoker, or 'trying to quit'.

I also changed my habits. Parts of my journey to work were a visual stimulus for me to light up, so I changed the route. I genuinely never had cravings although I would dream I had had a cigarette and wake up feeling guilty.

After about 12 months I took up running having not done any formal exercise for around 20 years, and I haven't looked back. I'll be 9 years clean in July.