Boo

Doing math work with a grin on my face. Got a call this morning from a man who recently bought a warehouse at auction. There were a bunch of cylinders in there (Oxygen, Acetylene, Argon, Nitrogen). He had no use for them and just wanted them out of the way. Told us if we were willing to pick them up, we could have them free of charge. We picked up over $10,000 dollars worth of cylinders. Even with the retests and new valves, we're still coming out over $8,000 dollars to the good. There is pride in working hard and earning your keep...but that easy money is pretty damn sweet.

It wasn't health concerns or the social stigma that motivated me to quit. I got tired of planning my every waking moment around smoking. Cigarettes were dominating my life. We took different routes to get there, but the destination was the same.

Looking at the weather radar. That big storm they warned us was rolling in this afternoon has turned out to be little more than a light drizzle. I think the damage is going to be minimal...

Good job Katgirl.

Congratulations Linda. Savor the flavor of freedom.

Good job Steven.

Back to focusing on strength training. I started a workout this week based on Dan John's "Five Basic Human Movements." Two workouts. Four days per-week(Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday). Workout A: Deadlift, High-Boy Rows, Landmine Twists, and Farmer's Walks. Workout B: Squat, Overhead Press, Bench Press, and Sled Pushes. Conditioning work consists primarily of either boxing rounds on the heavy bag or intervals on the rower.

Top-shelf quit. First class lady. Three cheers for Nancy.

You've got this Ace.

Great job Robbie. Congratulations.

I don't think I did the math right. Not sure if I'm looking at my savings from not buying smokes or the gross domestic product of Liechtenstein.

My daughter was clapping along to Buck Owens songs last night. I'm counting that as a fatherhood win.

Initially, I used some of the savings from quitting to convert the basement of my old house into a gym. Now I have a wife and a daughter. Whatever I'm saving from not smoking is already spent.

Feeling good about life. Just wrapped up the work week. Looking ahead to a three-day weekend, spending time on the river with family and friends. And just got off the phone with the better-half. She asked: "do you want to grill bacon wrapped sea scallops tonight?" There will never come a day when the answer to that question is "no." Have a good one folks. Shine on me sunshine, skip to me world, it's a zippy-da-doo-dah day...I'm the happiest boy, in the whole U.S.A.

Welcome aboard the Quit Train Patricia. Congratulations on your successful quit. Have a look-around. Feel free to ask questions. Enjoy the ride.

Yep.

Sometimes we ask questions that we already know the answer to. Throwing away your quit now would be a temporary fix that will lead to instant regret. There are many other options when it comes to increasing dopamine levels: exercise, sleep, consuming more protein, listening to good music, etc.. Kate, I'm not going to pretend to know how you're feeling right now. However, I do know that if you find yourself in a hole the best thing to do is stop digging. Do the right thing for yourself and continue to build on the good decisions you've made.

Welcome aboard Anne. Grab a seat and stay awhile. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you will ever do for yourself.

I've been rambling about my favorite Western movies in another thread. Put me in mind of this song...

I was watching clips of old late night talk shows on YouTube. Lee Marvin was on Dick Cavett's show. Dick asked Lee: "during the war, where were you wounded?" Lee answered: "in the ass, I got shot in the ass." Lee Marvin was as cool and tough in real life as he was on screen. I'll probably revisit this thread often. There are so many good Westerns, there is no way I will cover them all in one post. Today's pick: Lonely are the Brave starring Kirk Douglas. The movie is based on one of my favorite books of all-time: "The Brave Cowboy" by Edward Abbey.

Be careful out there folks. We've got a long weekend coming up...people are excited and in a hurry. This afternoon I drove between Soddy-Daisy and Collegedale. It's just a 25 mile trip and I saw two bad accidents. A guy in a Camaro rear-ended a semi-trailer. Just down the road, there was a Jeep laying on its side and a Honda Accord that hit the concrete divider. If you are choosing between getting there just a little bit quicker and getting there in one piece...I suggest you pick the latter.