Reciprocity

That was the idea. The 10 year old wheelbarrow just sort of died out there so we 'repurposed' it in the corner of the yard!

Been hot & humid here too with some good rain just at the right times Gardens are lovin' it!

Nope!

-14

-12 we're almost winning now. This should be a walk in the park!

Great work Nana!! You're right. It takes an unwavering commitment and lots of hard work to succeed but it's doable & well worth it in the end Proud and Happy you made it to your 1 year anniversary!

-12

Just to clarify, you're not saying you've actually done this yourself, right?

Don't worry about being judged here Steven. There are a couple of members here who may take the tough love approach but that is not a judgement. Think of it as a slap in the face to make you pause and take stock of what you are doing and how you're approaching things. The more you're involved here, the stronger your focus will be on your own quit. Doesn't even matter what you have to add to a post - just dive in. Even if your contribution is; good job! or I agree, or I feel your pain .... doesn't matter the content, What matters is that you're involved frequently. It WILL help Steven!

Congrats on 5 months. That's almost a half year

Actually I had zero reaction to my first shot, not even the sore arm. Hoping for a repeat performance this time . I have heard reports indicating people have generally suffered greater reactions after the 2nd shot. Not sure if that true or not.

Yes @Lilley no cost for the vaccine (but they'll tax us for it later ) No two heads or extra boobs so far, just a slight swollen feeling around my head.

Gif avalanche coming our way

The Indian variant probably isn't the last. These viruses mutate over time to keep themselves alive. I expect there will be tweaks to the vaccine formulas and possibly an annual booster shot offered. I expect, like the flu shot, not that large a percentage of the population will want the booster. People get complacent. With some re-opening plans in place now here in Canada, the latest debate is employers making full vaccination a condition of employment. That could get ugly

In Canada, everyone was included in lockdowns and stay at home orders. There were no divisions of age groups there but in the initial wave of the pandemic is was widely known that the elderly (over 60-65) were most at risk of serious illness & death. Since the variants have arrived, that has actually turned around where now it's younger people (20's-30's) that are ending up in the ICU units and dying. Not sure if that's because the elderly were vaccinated earlier or just that the younger people were pushing things more in terms of gatherings etc. There are so many, worldwide, whole just aren't taking this whole thing very seriously. You don't have to look online very long to fine any conspiracy theory you might want to find. Makes it tough for people on the fence with getting the vaccination.

Yup! Still know I can contract it and spread it too. I'm not one to be partying in large numbers or even going out pretty much anywhere all that often in crowd situations but it will be nice to sit on a patio for a dinner and drinks once in awhile now that summer is here and we are both looking forward to travelling again at some point later this year or early next year. I feel a lot safer vaccinated than before but I do realize it's not a magic bullet that makes me invincible.

Nice Job Ace!! You quit is really adding up now

WOW, YES absolutely!! Give me a road trip any day over a quick flight! So much fun and seeing new places is fabulous. Based on where you live I suppose you're a little far north to make southern Utah/northern Arizona part of your travels but OMG, that part of the country is just so awesome and different from anywhere else - so beautiful and awesome to see on a road trip! In any case, have a blast! It will also be so much more relaxed and fulfilling as a non-smoker too (bonus!!)

LOL - Yeah, not here in Canada The whole timing became a political football, as did the qualifying process for the AZ and J&J vaccines. Without becoming too political here, Canada was late out-of-the-gate on getting vaccine shipments coming here in big enough numbers to really get the vaccination programs up and running so, because of that they wanted to get 1st shots into the arms of as many people as possible to at least have 'some' protection. As a result, they said the vaccine oversight medical group here in Canada had determined that it would be safe to delay 2nd doses for up to 4 months So, they were booking 2nd shots roughly 4 month after 1st shots. My first shot was Apr. 7th so now my 2nd will be just over 2 months. The vaccine manufacturers never weighed in on this delay because during their initial, somewhat rushed testing they only used the approx. 1 month interval. In limited studies since the initial test groups, it is said that a further delay is not only safe but actually maximizes the efficacy. Bottom line, I don't think anyone really knows for sure, as is the case with many things in this pandemic. Constricted time frames, due to the magnitude of this pandemic has simply not allowed extensive studies. In the end, I'm just glad vaccines were developed so quickly. Miraculous might be a better term for what was done in 1 year! Now that there's lots of vaccine coming in, they are ramping up the second doses mostly due to the emergence of the Delta (India) variant, which has proven problematic to people with only their 1st dose. Canada did a big flip-flop on making the AZ vaccine available as well. The same vaccine board wouldn't approve it for use initially. But, because of vaccine shortages with both Pfizer & Moderna, they came back and said .... yeah, the AZ is OK now for I think people over 40? So they started giving it out like candy for a few weeks then took it back off the availability list here because of the blood clotting issue. They are now allowing people who got AZ as their initial shot to also get it as their second shot too. They have also approved those AZ people to get one of the MRNA vaccines (Pfizer/Moderna) as their second shot. Kind of glad I'm not in that group. Not sure I'd want to mix those? As well, Canada has never released the shipment of J&J one-shot vaccine they got back in May due to concerns over tainted vaccine batches that were reported in the US at the manufacturing facility our batch came from. Not sure what happened to those doses? I would imagine they have or will soon expire That's the long-winded story

Was able to re-book my second shot at 8:00 AM this morning so I did. It was originally booked after my 1st vaccine for July 27th Now I get my second vaccination Thursday June 17th. So a couple of weeks after, when it fully kicks in, I'll be good to go. Good timing too because things will be opening up quite a bit by then so I'll feel safer doing things I haven't done in quite awhile

He also played Davey Crockett, another famous American frontiersman who died at the Alamo, in a mid 1950's Disney TV series along side of Buddy Epsen of Beverly Hillbillies fame. My Mom bought me a Davey Crocket outfit when I was pretty young complete with the coon-skin hat with the dangling raccoon tail and all. She told me I loved that outfit so much I even wanted to wear it to bed at night lol.

I suspect no one in your other life really gets it - what it's like to quit that is. That's why there's so much value to a forum like this. Everyone certainly does 'get it'. We're all traveling the same path. Just separated by time and distance is all

We're not wine drinkers but they also distil Rye-Whiskey there and we love their Salted Caramel Whiskey based Cream Liquor! So tasty on the rocks as an after dinner treat Puts Bailey's Irish Cream to shame (IMO) From what I have ever heard, Niagara wines are OK for locally produced wines but they are not really up there on a world wide scale. They do make excellent dessert Ice Wines though. If you ever make your way to Niagara on the Lake again, it's worth a visit because you can buy taste testing packages and sample many of their products, both wine & whiskey products. They have a lovely patio and large indoor area for this. Even a skating rink for winter months. And of course, a retail store lol.

We all had many times when we thought about or wanted to go back to smoking ... for various reasons. Stress, sadness, happiness; you name it! The one thing that is universally true in EVERY case is that lighting up will not help the situation and in fact would put you in a deep dark place because you would have thrown away 5 months of hard work. I don't see the positive side anywhere to lighting up. It's junkie thinking for sure. Your addiction wants control again .... don't let that happen under any circumstances! Sorry your friend is in a tough spot Please honor her by keeping your quit. I'm sure she would want to know you're making a positive change for your future.