Smoking... (Part 364)

The Evil Tobacco

For a change... I bought coffee instead of tea.

Instant coffee mind you... but coffee nonetheless.

As a life long drinker of Red Rose Orange Pekoe, for me buying coffee was not an easy decision.
Tea needs to be in a porcelain or glass mug, and not a styrofoam or paper cup. This won't happen when you're out of the house. So I have coffee... Mickey Dee's over Timmy's... Timothy's over Mickey Dee's. Fortunately... all three are within walking distance of home.

Sooo... I'm sitting here, having finished a bagel (with sliced cheese), having my coffee, and smoking what is my one of my last cigarettes.
My 'plan' is to take to The Boardwalk this afternoon, burn this 1/2 d00b, and enjoy what I want to be my LAST cigarette.

Should the rain hold off, of course.

Having spent nearly a year in the wilds of Northern Alberta I can say that I was absolutely looking forward to a Toronto summer.

Hasn't happened yet.
One can 'hope', right?

Since the age of 13, smoking has always held a challenge for me. See, I differentiate between the act of smoking and 'smoking' itself. I can enjoy a cigarette, but I do not like smoking.

That's right, there is a difference.

You see it now, don't you?
You're welcome.

Over the years I have successfully quit. Though I'd started again... I have to admit that I wasn't entirely 'successful'... While I've always viewed stopping/quitting smoking as a relatively simple endeavour (notice I said simple... not easy), the challenge has been in not starting again.

There are just so many occasions where a cigarette compliments an event.
A good dinner...
Fine glass if wine...

Bacon.

A fine woman.
...
*cough*
:l

A great d00b and a double Wisers.

You get the idea.

And that is where I'm 'at' today.
...
The longest I've gone without a cigarette is a little over two years.
I was in my early 30's at the time.
It was shortly after my divorce.
I'd also stopped for 14 months in my mid-40's.
Course, I also decided I wasn't going to exercise, but that I'd eat my way to health instead.

That didn't exactly work out all too well.

:l

I said I'd wanted to finally eradicate this menace once and for all by the time I hit the age of 50.
I'm now a little past 51.

That too hasn't exactly worked out either.

BUT THIS TIME!!!

This time will be different.
Be gone with you evil tobacco!

Be gone with you!

Leave the d00bs though eh.

And the bacon... and the Wisers... well, you get the idea here too.

I want to succeed.

Finally.

All I can ask is that you wish me well.

As I wish you. Read More...

Light 'em up

The Huffington Post has an interesting article here on the topic of marijuana use by those over the age of 50.

Apparently marijuana relieves pain, and those over 50 experience pain.

Who'da thought that?

"The most recent data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration show that marijuana use has increased among individuals over the age of 50 in the past decade. In 2012, 8 percent of those aged 50-54 said they’d used marijuana in the past year, nearly double the percentage from 2002. Users aged 55-59 more than quadrupled, from 1.6 percent in 2002 to 7.4 percent in 2012. Among people 60-64, use nearly doubled, from 2.4 percent to 4.4 percent in the same period. The data were collected for the agency’s annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which polled more than 68,000 Americans over age 12 in 2012."

Of course, how marijuana usage in the movies is portrayed somewhat differently, isn't it? For example, marijuana.com has a page entitled the Top Ten Stoner Characters in movies.

With the currently pro-marijuana climate in the states growing, and world-wide, governments are decriminalizing pot completely, and seeing usage and crime decline, it's only a matter of time before the wonder drug is available to all.

Heck, it wasn't that long ago it could be had over the counter at your local pharmacy.

In my mind though, it won't happen in the Great White North until such time as governments can figure out a way to effectively tax it. Talk about paying off the debt!

And just in case you're confused...

Light 'em if you got 'em. Read More...

Just Be

I simply had to post this.

“Do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special, it’s not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred. I meet a lot of people who think they are enlightened and awake simply because they have had a ver...y moving spiritual experience. They wear their enlightenment on their sleeve like a badge of honor. They sit among friends and talk about how awake they are while sipping coffee at a cafe. The funny thing about enlightenment is that when it is authentic, there is no one to claim it. Enlightenment is very ordinary; it is nothing special. Rather than making you more special, it is going to make you less special. It plants you right in the center of a wonderful humility and innocence. Everyone else may or may not call you enlightened, but when you are enlightened, the many concepts of enlightenment is a big joke. I use the word enlightenment all the time; not to point you toward it but to point you beyond it. Do not get stuck in the idea of enlightenment.

Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier.

Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretence. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.

Enlightenment is, in the end, nothing more than the natural state of being.”

Adyashanti Read More...

Will you trust Google with your money?

The Huffington Post has a slideshow on Google's new product the Google Wallet, entitled Things You Need To Know About Google's Newest Product.

The Wallet, an app for smartphones, will use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology so that users can pay just by waving their phones over a terminal when they pay. At the same time, Google will continue rolling out Google Offers, which offers users a way to find and use coupons.

I foresee only trouble. Read More...