MarylandQuitter

If you're smoking because you've not yet attempted to commit to quitting or have relapsed, you need to be here. It may feel uncomfortable for any number of reasons but this may very well be what saves your life. If you're comfortable smoking and continue to rationalize using nicotine, how is this benefiting you? It's certainly not going to save your life, I can guarantee you that. At this very moment in time, you're exactly where you need to be which is reading this thread. From this thread you will read other threads, watch videos, learn from other members, share your thoughts and start a new beginning by committing to quitting smoking. Not after the holidays, not after the stress is gone, but now. If you really want to quit smoking you need to be around others who are able to help you and know the pitfalls and traps of rationalization, junkie thinking and the truth about smoking before it kills you. Sometimes the message isn't what you want to hear but it's these messages that speak the truth that will save your life. This isn't Facebook or Myspace as we have a clear mission which is to help you quit smoking and stay quit. Sure, we have fun and talk about all sorts of things that are not smoking related. All you have to do is take a look in our Non-Smoking Lounge and see the camaraderie that we share. But make no mistake about it, we are here to help you quit smoking. Quitting and staying quit comes first in our lives and on this board. Learning about nicotine addiction is the key to your success and a finding a support group that is there to support you, not pamper you, is where you need to be. We will help you quit and stay quit as a group. We stand united to help you fight for your freedom...and life. From Joel: 2 Goals 1. First and foremost, to give people the core information they need to quit smoking for the rest of their lives. 2. For people who don't get off for the rest of their lives, is to screw up their smoking for the rest of their lives. He wants you to see smoking for what it is and all the medical and social implications that come along with it. He wants you to understand that you're fighting for you lives. We share the same philosophy as Joel and most if not all of us have benefited greatly from his articles and videos. Look, you're doing yourself a huge disservice by not educating yourself about smoking and accepting it for what it is. It kills you and robs you of your freedom. It enslaves you to a life of that wretched smell of smoke, forces you to constantly leave conversations to step outside to smoke, ruins your teeth, robs your organs of oxygen, destroys your lungs, heart and arteries and will eventually take your life and leave your family to grieve your early death. This doesn't need to be you. Please take a few moments to watch this video as it helps further explain why you need to be here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJv9NSjJkcw&app=desktop

How are things going for you, Laura?

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2006 Toyota Sequoia 4.7L V8, 273 horsepower, 314 ft/lbs torque, less than 20 MPG no matter what. 2005 Chevy Cobalt 2.2L inline 4 cylinder, 145 horsepower, 155 ft/lbs torque, commuter car to and fro Washington, D.C., 31 MPG combined. 2011 Ram 1500 Big Horn 5.7L V8 w/ hemispherical-shaped cylinder combustion chambers (HEMI) 397 horsepower, 407 ft/lbs torque, 21 MPG highway, 18 MPG combined. Don't trust anybody to do any work (except tires & alignments) on them except myself. If an engine goes, I'll yank it before I let somebody else do it. New brakes & rotors, plugs & wires and a bunch of other stuff every year whether it needs it or not. The Cobalt just got new front struts & springs, rear shocks and new control arm links 3 weeks ago. The Ram will get new front & rear rotors, brakes, stainless steel braided brake hoses, new battery and new drive belt before winter. The cobalt will get new front rotors, brakes, calipers and rear drums/brakes before winter. As of last week the Sequoia is all done for winter. Also, the paint on all cars are meticulously maintained with the 2 bucket wash system, Adam's polishes and my PC rotary buffer as needed for light scratches or a full paint correction. I did a full paint correction on the Ram last winter, the Sequoia this past spring and the Cobalt last month. The Sequoia and Ram took 2 days each to complete the correction and the Cobalt I got done in a few hours. None should need a full paint correction again as my wife and I are the only one who will ever wash our vehicles. Wash them incorrectly and you put light scratches and swirl marks in the paint. One bay of our garage is set up for mechanical work and the other side for detailing. The back of the garage has several workbenches for minor woodworking, chainsaws and other landscaping equipment. Our garage is my second home. Next on the list for the garage is a wood burning stove, probably in 2015. I get things done a lot quicker now that I don't have to take smoke breaks or step back and smoke to admire my work. It's a wonder I got anything done with all that smoking.

I wear no scents. I like the smell of natural. No froo-froo. Sometimes I'll build a punky fire and hover over it before I head out on the town. Nothing like the smell of smoked hardwoods on the skin.

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In the best case scenario, let's assume it's as safe as any other NRT (which is far from being proven). It should only be used as an NRT and not to replace smoking. Just as someone is using nicotine gum or patches, they should be used for the short-term with the intent of getting completely free of nicotine. Using the same drug to get off the drug you're addicted to is only prolonging and dragging out the withdrawal process. For some smokers NRT works wonders and they are happy non-smokers while for others it keeps them chained to the addiction and they suffer and struggle. Many members here have used NRT and have just as strong quits going as those who didn't use it.

Phewwww. Squeaked out that win!!

lol Yeah, Ava is sick of cleaning up after everybody. She says it's melancholy.

My day is great and the coffee is perfect. :) Never much cared about my birthday but for some reason, today is special to me.

HOC is definitely not something to watch with the kids, at least my little ones!lol This fall is going to rock with Netflix!! Woots! Oh, Petra, how is that Big Green Egg working for you and your husband? Did you end up getting an additional grill like you were talking about?

Both here and abroad. :)

Can't go too much into detail right now, but I need a list of charities. I love St. Jude's and although they're international, I'd like to know which charities are good in other countries. Being from the US, I really need the help of everybody here. In the end, I'll choose 5-6 charities. Thanks!

You can't sleep on Cleveland as they proved to us last year. But still, I cannot stomach the thought of losing to them today. Johnny Football going to play today? Ngata, Suggs, Dumervill and Smith, hell our whole defensive is enough reason to sit that little man out for this week.

lol I had a dream the Ravens lost to the Browns today and I was beyond upset. It's all pretty much true, except for the ADD. I can stare at the walls for hours and be quite content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OecZW2kDnM0

Congrates, Comrade!

Thank you all so much! Another year for which I am very grateful for. I don't take a single minute for granted. Here's to another few decades! :beach: I don't plan on ever dying so you see, a toast to the next few decades isn't as preposterous as it sounds. :)

Thank you and Happy Birthday to Humbled & Betsy! When you're born on the 21st of the 9th month of the year, you're in good company. :lol:

Count me in! NOPE!

We have never breached privacy and never will. We will never ask for money, contacts or anything else. What a valuable tool this can be to reach out to those who reached out to us. If you go to edit your profile, you see a box asking if you'd like to receive emails from the administrator(s). I've never sent an email from Quit Train and have only responded to those who have emailed me. As I've stated many times, I care about each and every one of you, and I don't need to know you to say that. Anything that we can do as a group to help people we already do and if there is something more that I can do as the administrator to help, I will. We found a way and I fully intend to reach out to those who were here and left. There is no breach of privacy for Beth to give me information that every single member here can see. She's just willing to compile it all for me so I have accurate data. I belong to a couple of automobile forums and when I don't post for awhile, I get an auto-generated email stating that I've been missed. I don't want to send an auto-generated email and would rather make each one more personalized because I do care. The moderators care. Beth cares and I know all of you do as well. This is in no way a breech of privacy and would ask anybody to think twice before tossing out those accusations because we've gone to great lengths (not to mention money) to ensure privacy is protected as much as possible. So an owner of a quit site sends an email to a member who has not posted in a long time to see how they are doing is spam? lol I don't think so. Sounds more like somebody who cares. Sounds like somebody who pays attention to members. Doesn't sound like spam. Spam is sending emails to sell crap. What am I selling? I only spend money on this forum. I don't and refused to take donations (many have offered) from anybody. Some of the stuff that I've read in this thread was written to plant negative seeds and I don't much appreciate it. Typically I won't even respond to such things but when the integrity of this forum is erroneously called into question, I will not be silent and do whatever it takes to stop such accusations.

I use "us" when talking about Quit Train because without "us", there is no forum. Member information is not shared, what little we ask for. :) Besides, this is no concern of yours. Nothing like a good old fashioned back-handed compliment (insult).

Sharing an email address with a 3rd party, even though it is a member of the board, is an invasion of privacy. I don't remember the sign-up process, but I don't think there was a button where I could allow or deny my private information to be shared with other members of the board. Maybe I misunderstood and you meant she will contact members via PM and not email, or maybe she is a administrator and I didn't see this either...my bad then! The people coming from my blog will be posting when they are ready. The have different reasons for not posting, very interesting reasons by the way! What am I missing? There is no private information asked when you join. The requirement is a valid email address to protect the integrity of this forum. Furthermore, I am not a third party, I'm the owner of this forum. The only person who sees email addresses is me, not the moderators, not Beth. The only person who will be sending any emails is me. So please tell me how I am sharing any emails with a third party. Again, LB, please re-read my original post because a lot of it went right by ya. I think it's pretty clear. Your responses baffle me at times.