I started smoking when I was 14, at the time a pack of 20 Marlboro (the fag of choice for the illegal puffer) cost about £1.30. I smoked on and off whilst at school in the evenings down in the cricket pavillion then while I was in the US, by this time I had become dead hard and I smoked Camel until I gave up in 1991 when I went back and stayed with my Mother for a bit (I was more scared of the consequences of her finding out than I was of resisting the craving!) Went to Germany and started up again inadvertently because the last time I’d been in Ger. I had smoked. From then until Nov 99 I was a 20-25 a day man, Camel lights/Gaulloises Blondes Legeres and then I discovered Winnie Blue in Summer 97 in Luxemburg, Winnie Blue is for the non-australians amongst you a brand of cig (Winfield Blue/lights). They came to England a few weeks after I got back, at the time I was paying about £3.75-£4 a pack and Winnie’s came in at £3.39 -rock and roll. I did give up in 99 and went well over a year until I had to go from one side of London to the other and it took me 5 hours I then fell off the wagon with a clunk, since then it’s been on-off-on-off. Anyway to cut what has been a very long story about fags short Tesco’s new cig plan no longer has them on there and as I haven’t been able to find them that often for the past couple of months and my best mate has given up so I thought well time for you to have a go you smelly old tart. Now problem is that when I don’t smoke, I eat, no I mean quite a lot, no I mean quite a lot more than quite a lot as normal! So I’m going to have to try to exercise as well. Oh bollocks.

Now reason I have gone thru’ all this is firstly abstinence does not make the heart grow fonder it makes the old goat as randy as a mad march hare and ready to start shagging a decent looking gateleg table if it gives me the eye. So in an effort to make myself marginally less of a gargoyle I will endeavour to keep myself alive for a few more years and work on it. The reason I have posted this here is so that I can name and shame myself, which will not only provide myself with something to do when I might otherwise be having a smoke but also make me feel guilty if I contemplate it. Another reason is that I’m really fecking skint and I have a choice between fags or lunch and I quite like lunch.

48 hours they say is the physical side, that’s when the actual need subsides, it’s the mental side that’s a problem. Now in ’99 my mind switched overnight after I had a really bad dose of flu’ and I thougt that I simply didn’t have to do it anymore. I can’t get that thought back.

Other than that I have played poker this weekend for 21 hours had nearly an entire case of Tetly and about 12 hours sleep over 3 days. I don’t feel too bad in that regard but I suspect it’ll hit me tomorrow.

I don’t think I’ve got much else to say and besides I’ve got 1/2 to post before I miss out on the blog-a-thon. Any other recently ex-ed smokers out there?