Opah

Thank you Linda

Tomorrow a new day for me, Found this song to be pretty inspirational for me. Not sure what everyone else will hear, I hear let go the passt and hich a ride into tomorrow. Jim Croce Got to Love him.

I know you have heard this a 100 or so times but none the less it is true. You are doing great and We are here for you !

there is Face time on the phone

heres the Cat funny

I know it is hard to amuse your self when you are stuck inside, Get a fan and make noises into it, sign a song drive your pets nuts. Turn up the Radio or put your Best Jam in run around in you underware singing at the top of your lungs. spend some time remembering how to have fun and intertain your self. If you have a cat I know one that will have you laughing so hard you could wet your self. (Cat people may not approve) But promise it does not hurt the Kitty Here you go start with this

Hey Dog it is almost 3 weeks now, I now I am late to the show but just wanted to say you have the hardest part completed, its no pleasure cruise from here but the nicotine is gone, your lungs are thinking about healing, the receptors in your brain are stating to shut down. Keep the Momentum and your eye on the prize , you are kicking butt ~

Thank you Jill It has been a while since I I have been able to get out, it is going to be 4 days of fresh air !

Yes in deedy do, all set Monday to Thursday, head out around 4am and get to the Ranch about 9 or 10am. Met my Cardiac nurse and got my leash on, a watch that monitors my heart rate , blood oxy gen end such then sends it ti her to check out. She was very interested in Quit train and you all, she was wondering how I quit without the patches or gum and I told her about us. we may see some newbie from her cardiac rehab. If that is OK ? i can ask her not to if it is not OK? Well I am Gearing up for this Challenge, I know I will have several triggers to over come, end of the day setting by the fire kicking around the days hunt, after the morning hunt while having that first hot cup of coffee. All will be confronted and put away, Ill come home 8 more days into my quit and a couple hundred lbs of pork for the freezer. This quit is some much different than the others, so much more going on, got my heart, my sugar, my weight, my beer, all the meds and ll the keeping track of it all really doesn't leave much time. I guess the plus to this is I won't be in no mans land for a year or so with all the testing and monitoring going on. My fails happened in the quite of no mans land. Over confidence, that creeping little voice whispering to me that i am fine and in control, putting the hardship and work i went thru behind me, forgetting what got me to where I was. In that silence os No Mans Lands is where I really need Quit train, all the good voices reminding me where I came from. The voices that will remind me what a liar that soft whispering little voice is.

Thank you I am really prepping for next week, be the first hunt since my incident. Four days, five nights to plan for, adrenaline is at a high smoking is not a issue no stores in 40 miles so unless I roll up some pig stuff I'm gold Can not smoke what you don't got.

Thank you

Well it is time to pull my head out of the sand and get back to the normal world. Starting to meet my triggers and having those Smoking dreams, Man the other night I Smoked and Smoked in a dream, my pipes, cigars, cigarettes and such. woke up with my lungs hurting, thank god I have the knowledge form here to fall back on. Triggers are everywhere, when I drive, when I work, even the rain will set off a craving. So Far I have been able to say to myself, no thank you not today and walk away from it. But it is now to the point I need to deal with it not walk away, straight forward address the craving and say NO and continue on with what I was doing. Got some Hunting coming up and I know there are major triggers there that I will really need to over come and remove. Life goes on after smoking and I plan on enjoying all that is ahead of me !

How's this ? I remember at one point I was using larger text and our members that used the phones had issues wuth the larger text. Trying not to Offend.

You know the word Heart attack is one of those words that read much bigger, I really appreciate all the concern but it was for me a real none event. it was caught at the very first sign. I was awake when they put the stint in, they used a vein in my wrist instead of my inner leg, I was released the same day and back to work 4 days later. Been remolding my Game room, new ceiling and hard wood floor, some electrical, Been losing weight and controlling my Blood sugar. I kinda look at it this way, God reached down and Taped my on the shoulder to say Hey Bud your headed for trouble if you don't listen. My sight has taken the brunt of it, went for 20/10 to barely abile to read what I am posting, Hoping know that my blood sugar is back to normal I can get a good prescription for glasses and my eyes will start to improve. But it was the glue I needed !

Hey Guys Opah here still not smoking, but have an added assertive to continue not to. Had a heart attack on Christmas eve, not a chest clutching OH My God thing just a uneasy feeling. drove to the Hospital stood in line for an hour, got in and they hooked me up and said you are having a heart attack ! I said OK what do we do ? Well at 12:15 Christmas Morning I had my stint in one of my arteries, seem I have excessive platelets and with my blood sugar being high they started to buld scabs in m,y arteries. But all is well, Blood sugar is good now, lost 15 pounds since and like I said a real good incentive to continue to not smoke, Now Time for me to preach just a little Bit, smoking had a major part in my heart attack. I got lucky I was on and off with my smoking, I knew I was playing with fire, I was aware I could get burned, it was I feel great, I hike , i hunt, i climb mountains and carry heavy weight on my back. I was and am active so I looked at all the exceptions and fooled myself I was one of them. Well I was wrong and God let me know, so Is you are trying continue to, if have have stopped, you have done the best thing you could ever do for your self, if you are considering quitting do it, you will be saving your life. Jill, Babs, Doreen, all of you I want to say thank you, you have been caring, understanding and I hold you all as friends and I will leave you with these words of wisdom one of my hunting buds told me. You should feel good about what happened, you proved them all wrong, you do have a heart !

The coronavirus butterfly effect: Six predictions for a new world order The world may soon pass “peak virus.” But true recovery will take years—and the ripple effects will be seismic. Parag Khanna and Karan Khemka forecast the aftershocks. [Source Image: PytyCzech/iStock] MORE LIKE THIS Electric bills from the pandemic are coming due. Who will pay them? 6 innovative projects to improve health and safety for workers during the pandemic What Biden could do on climate—even with a Republican Senate BY PARAG KHANNA AND KARAN KHEMKA8 MINUTE READ In chaos theory, the butterfly effect describes a small change that can have massive, unpredictable consequences. An insect flaps its wings and, weeks later, causes a tornado. The coronavirus is more like an earthquake, with aftershocks that will permanently reshape the world. If we are lucky, the world will pass “peak virus” within the next six months. But the economy, governments, and social institutions will take years to recover in the best-case scenario. Indeed, rather than even speak of “recovery,” which implies a return to how things were, it would be wise to project what new direction civilization will take. That too will be a bumpy ride. The next 3-5 years will remind us that COVID-19 was the lightning before the thunder. Of course, it is difficult to draw straight lines between cause and effect. With the benefit of hindsight, we can trace how the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression enabled the rise of Hitler. But in the hyperconnected world of today, dense global networks enable butterfly effects to ripple and amplify far more rapidly. Can we forward-engineer probable scenarios emerging from the consequences of today’s pandemic? Given how stretched our institutions are in coping with the current crisis, few tasks could be more urgent in helping us prepare for the future. It is easy to predict further doom after a devastating phenomenon such as the coronavirus. Reality will likely turn out differently—and it certainly can. [Source Image: PytyCzech/iStock] THE LONG EMERGENCY The most obvious tail-risk scenario to consider is that the numerous existing strains of COVID-19 encircling the world continue to ravage societies and the search for a vaccine proves more elusive, extending beyond the currently forecast 12-18 months. Countries that have accepted the rhythms of shelter-in-place policies and deployed contact-tracing technologies may be able to isolate pockets of exposure through strict quarantines, but poor and densely populated countries will remain especially unprepared and vulnerable. The aggregate death toll crosses from under 100,000 at present to nearly one million or more. At the moment, all countries are self-isolating, but in this trajectory, some countries would be indefinitely ring-fenced from physical exchange with others. Domestically, they face a painful choice between reopening their economies and exposing their populations to further infection. We should therefore be cautious about forecasts suggesting we face only a U- or V-shaped recession. Numerous factors militate against this sanguine view. Most importantly, supply chains and markets are more integrated than commonly appreciated, and near-shoring is more difficult than the wave of a pen. The current American debacle with surgical masks and ventilators is a case in point. Emerging markets and developing countries are critical both as suppliers and markets. Their demise weakens the world economy as a whole. Furthermore, domestic unemployment is reaching Depression-era levels, and the current relief packages don’t yet amount to the stimulus that many Western publics may need for years to come. Precautionary savings and muted consumption will govern household spending decisions, and business investment will sag. A long-drawn-out W shape is therefore the most likely economic scenario for the years ahead. At a human level, the current economic nosedive is so steep that GDP figures are the last thing on most people’s minds. For governments and corporates, however, spiraling debt is a matter of immense concern. Once revolving credit lines are tapped out, numerous large firms will collapse or be consolidated. Industries from commercial real estate to aviation will suffer enormous write-downs on office buildings and shopping malls, airlines and airports. While European social policy keeps households afloat far better than America’s meager welfare, America’s single market is far more efficient than the eurozone, where leaders won’t agree to a sufficiently large mutualized debt scheme. As large employers (and the states or provinces that depend on their tax revenue) collapse, governments may fall. [Source Image: PytyCzech/iStock] THE “SUEZ SCENARIO” Outright state collapse is not an implausible scenario for petro-states from Ecuador to Iran. Venezuela’s recent years of hyperinflation and starvation will be compounded by trickling aid and oil prices hitting bottom. Much as the 1980s oil trough hastened the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the combination of oil prices cratering and the likelihood that the hajj will have to be canceled eviscerates Saudi Arabia’s two largest sources of revenue. The high virus infection rate in Iran has been compounded by the stranglehold of American sanctions. Petro-states and developing countries have flocked to the IMF to access its emergency lending facility and have also drawn down their USD reserves to buttress their financing and stave off capital flight. Gulf states may need to loosen their U.S. dollar pegs. It would be too simplistic to suggest that China will fill the void. Given its own difficulties with zombie firms, high municipal debt, and shift into deficits, Beijing has held back from extending generous credit to its usual client states such as Iran and Pakistan. Yet a “Suez scenario” remains plausible, harkening to the 1956 episode in which the Eisenhower administration threatened to withhold support for the British pound unless Britain withdrew its forces from the Suez Canal. With U.S.-China trade trending sharply downward and China angling to re-price oil into renminbi, a fragmentation of the global monetary order is a possibility for which all countries should prepare. [Source Image: PytyCzech/iStock] ANOTHER MIGRANT CRISIS Global economic fragmentation and diminished international lifelines all but ensure that people will continue to flee failing states. Turkey has made clear it wants neither to house four million Syrian refugees in perpetuity nor to tolerate a mass virus outbreak. Dwindling Gulf support for Egypt and Sudan could spark an exodus from those states as well. Thus we should expect the migrant crisis from Central America into Mexico and the Middle East into Europe to surge again. More broadly, if and when the pandemic restrictions on cross-border mobility lift, millions of other people will seek to escape “red zone” geographies with inadequate healthcare in favor of “green zones” with better medical care. At present, almost all the countries that offer universal medical care are in Europe. Those with skills and “immunity passports” may well gain entry as some wealthier countries seek migrants to contribute to a consumption rebound and fill labor shortages. Within countries, the flight from expensive tier-one cities to more affordable provincial areas will likely accelerate. In America, they may benefit cities such as Denver and Charlotte; in Europe, Lisbon and Athens. [Source Image: PytyCzech/iStock] RISING NATIONALISM Before many countries contemplate jump-starting migration, however, they will likely first undertake a serious review of their food and medical supplies and perhaps engage in the kind of stockpiling or “food nationalism” that Russia has done in limiting grain exports and Vietnam with restricting rice exports. A decade ago, the agricultural price volatility exacerbated by Russia’s banning of wheat exports helped push Egypt and Tunisia over the edge. We should not be surprised for this recent history to repeat itself in numerous countries. It would be wildly optimistic to predict, even to hope, that multilateral institutions will be upgraded by great powers to better cope with future shocks. China’s recent manipulation of the WHO and admission to the Human Rights Council, as well as the complete sidelining of the UN Security Council, suggest the United Nations will continue its terminal decay. While the IMF has temporarily restored its relevance, macroprudential supervision will fall by the wayside. The World Bank is woefully slow and underresourced. The most optimistic scenario, then, is a revival of regional organizations. The EU has a chance to bring about the fiscal union it needs more than ever, but it remains unclear whether it will take it. Asian countries have just passed a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and will need to deepen their internal trade to cope with the global demand shock. North America’s three states already trade more with each other than with China or Europe. Regionalization will be the new globalization. [Source Image: PytyCzech/iStock] TECHNOLOGY VERSUS THE COST CURVE What investments can we make or deepen today to blunt the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and steer the future in a more stable and sustainable direction? Greater investment in biotechnology and healthcare are obvious places to start—but not in their current form. Healthcare is being defined as a social good worldwide (as is already the case in Europe), but its cost is coming under scrutiny. Cost-effective universal provision can only be achieved through a model that emphasizes telemedicine and localized clinics and treatment centers. The push being made in this direction even in poor countries such as India and Indonesia may be instructive for much of the world. Fragmentation of life sciences regulation must also be overcome if we are to sustain the “science diplomacy” that has sprouted amid this pandemic and reverse the decades-long trend where the cost to produce a new drug has doubled with every passing decade. Along similar lines, private education will receive substantially more investment given its strong performance during the crisis, but with a focus on digital delivery. This in turn should demonstrate how broad innovation in public education can be achieved cost-effectively as well. Digitization of financial services, which had already mushroomed prior to the pandemic, should be pushed to every living person in its wake. Neither widening inequality nor anemic consumption can be overcome without it. [Source Image: PytyCzech/iStock] CIVILIZATIONAL THREATS The coronavirus has proven to be a greater test for leadership than 9/11 and the financial crisis combined, a sobering shock that has shattered complacent assumptions that progress always moves “up and to the right.” Evolution, both biological and civilizational, is a much more haphazard and indeterminate process. Moving forward, public- and private-sector leaders will have to accept a far greater agency in defining long-term priorities such as combating climate change and communicating the short-term sacrifices necessary to achieve them. Incentives will have to be realigned, with governments subsidizing investments in sustainability—and markets rewarding those firms that achieve revenue with resilience. If we are at “war” against the pandemic or future civilizational threats, we should act like it. The further we look into the future, the more we can imagine how global society may well be reinvented by the coronavirus pandemic. The 14th-century Black Death caused millions of deaths across Eurasia, splintered the largest territorial empire ever known (the Mongols), forced significant wage growth in Europe, and promoted wider maritime exploration that led to European colonialism. These phenomena trace strongly to the plague even if they played out over centuries. The consequences of today’s pandemic will emerge far more quickly, and with the benefit of foresight, we can try to mitigate them, capitalize on them, and build a more resilient global system in the process. Parag Khanna is founder and managing partner of FutureMap and author of numerous books including Connectography and The Future Is Asian. Karan Khemka is an investor and director in education companies globally. He previously founded the Asian operations of the strategic consultancy The Parthenon Group (now EY-Parthenon). You Might Also Like: U.S. election maps are wildly misleading, so this designer fixed them Donald Trump is a loser

Man I am in total disbelief, I cant till you how bumed I am , now I am fighting with myself why bother ? The world as I know it is about to go down the toilet. I am not ready to toss in the towel yet but soon amendments go under attack and our economy is trashed. (Yes I have heard it form my own " that was a bunch of Baloney, BS) I have 179 days to see one way or the other. alls I can say is if i'm correct there wont be much of a life that smoking will make a difference. Don't got much more to say, super bummed, still not giving up the quit.

I just took this really deep breath, full on thru the nostrils, cool air ramped thru filling my lungs, Man that felt good. Its calm for me to day soft and warm, my body and mind seem to have taken a little time to just chill out. You know what I am going to day tomorrow ? I think I am going to take a walk in the rain

Well its Friday again, get my one day off and it is hopefully going to rain, I really like the cooler weather, fog rain, snow. Can Play all day, or cuddle on the couch in front of the fire place or just sleep all day.. That 24 hour crave has passed I haven't watched the news for a day or so, all ready know what is going to happen, its not going to be pretty but it is what it is and it is o surprise to any of us. well got to get my guys working Maybe later

Got to love it Doreen

Long day, stressful day,, ended out on the patio, the wicked smoking patio. But once again I bought my way out, a cucumber green tea and a strawberry tea. 180 calories of soothing sweetness. and now I am good came to grips on the election with the serenity prayer, All I can do is done, what happens from here is out of my hands and no matter which way this may go I will have to live with it. So now y game plan has altered just a little bit, when I can eat right I will, when I can avoid a beer or two I will, when I can get an extra bit of sleep I will and when I cant I cant. So I have softened the expectations I placed on my self, for the now. It is hard enough controlling suractic necatine fueled emotional outburst under the best of conditions, so it only makes sense to provide myself the bestest conditions i can. I have had Hairier days !

Man that was a horrendous night, driving home I had to have a pepperoni stick and once home I ate my way to bed and in the Morning I still had to demand myself to stop and we=hen I got to work seems we had a idgit crawl into a piece of equipment and dam near got himself squashed. Now that the craziness is over first thing that came to mind is hey this is bad stuff happen go grab a smoke, The negative factor, the lie that a smoke will make things better. C9jane29 thank you for your words of wisdom, I was caught off guard with al this stuff happening together and mr feeling that I need a smoke. I am breathing thru it and most of t=it has calmed down, Thank you guys

Been tracking the election and not really liking what I am seeing, and then a cigar pops into my thoughts and in my mind says well we are all fonked now might as well. This one caught me off guard and made my breathing a little heavier. good for me None of my crew smokes and two of them have about 6 months smoke free, so we do support each other. Todd was my strength to night, he just sat there and listened to me rant and ramble and when I was done got up and said you got and left. Deep Deep breathes and some ricola lemon drops are calming me down, wish this crap was all over one way or the other.

Out of all that rolls out of my mouth here Jswiss this will be the one most important thing I say Confidence has two edges and the nicotine edge can lure you into a I have control, I am confident I can smoke just one. Yes sir I have been there and I have lost my quit because of this very thing Confidence, overconfidence, even arrogance, I was better, i knew more, I listened to all the warnings and shrugged them off. So please if I can offer just one piece of advise it would be never believe you can smoke just one, it is a lie a trap a road back to your addiction. Sorry about signing the blues here, you are doing great, you should be proud and confidence is a good thing just beware of the second edge.