Smoking, oh its so much fun to quit.

Congrats. Thats a lot of money.

good work rhyme. Should be pretty safely off them now (the craving all gone, anyhow).

You can smoke in Chicago bars. He did fine when I was out with him (in fact, I forgot he had recently given up).

Mind, I gave up a year ago (ish), so made it easy for him by not smoking infront of him - that is a real killer.

Four months later, how's your willpower holding up?

Yeah, especially after the "incident"

3 months, 3 weeks and 2 hours, saving 2,201.45 cigarettes and $836.55.

You da man!

I'm being tested this week in so many ways...

Let me fill you in:

Last week: Went to go see doctor about this cough I've had for five weeks. Concerned it might be more serious than just a passing cold. He prescribes a z-pack. It does nothing.

Monday: Call Doctor, he wont see me until Tuesday. Go to the house to monitor an electrician. Electrician is supposed to be done, but he fries the circuit and needs to come back the next day.

Monday night: Feel worse, becoming increasingly concerned - left arm starts to feel numb go to the emergency room. They rule out most of the bad stuff but agree that I need to see a doctor and figure out whats causing this cough.

Tuesday: Get up at 5.30, go up north till 9am, go back down south to see Doctor who proves totally useless and just referrs me to an allergist. I run to the allergist who can't see me till Wednesday, so I run back to the house to monitor the electrician who was supposed to show up at 8.30 - hence why I went up to the new place 7am to let him in before leaving for my doctors appointment. He shows up at 1pm and doesnt finish that day.

Wednesday: Get up at 6am, drive up to the new house, let the electrician in at 8.30, go to allergist at 10.30. Makes me wait an hour and a half cause they botched my reservation. Come back and place an order for a tv with amazon. Turns out I'm allergic to dust mites. Order some new pillow covers. American Express denies the charges - doesn't call me - and doesn't explain why. Today I find out they denied them because they "looked suspicious" - what the hell is so suspicious about a !@(#!@ $18.95 order? In any case, Wednesday night I decide to go to a softball game.
Get into a car accident, wait 2 HOURS for a fricking tow truck and get home at 10pm.

Thursday: Amazon hasn't shipped or charged me. They dont know whats going on. I'm trying to get the tv in before the painters show up on monday so I can mount it and do any drywall work before they come. At the house at 7am again this time waiting on hardwood folks.

Friday: Hardwood people there all day. Dog gets sick at home and craps everywhere. Dog walker never shows up and doesnt call, her check just ends up sitting there. Call Amazon again, this time they tell me my order hasn't shipped because of "A computer virus". I can't stand getting routed to their indian call center anymore, if one more indian tells me his name is "Charles" and he "promises to call me back with a solution" I'm gonna scream. Just stop making crap up. Order should have arrived today, of course it doesn't.

Saturday: Get up at 5am, get to house at 7am. Hardwood people show up. They seem to be doing their thing so I let them do it and leave, place stinks of hardwood finish anyway. I go get a rental car and come back that night when things are supposed to have dried. They haven't, but im not too concerned.

Sunday (today): Decide to bike up to the new house as its a nice day. Unfortunately bike blows a flat and I have to walk it back home. Take a cab back to the new house again, not only has the hardwood not dried but its bubbled up and looks like crap. It's a disaster. I call the hardwood folks and they tell me they will come redo them, but they have to call the owner to see when they can come out. I try to explain that I need to call my painters and tell them if they should come Monday morning or not, and he tells me he'll call me at 7pm. I try to explain that I cant be calling them at 10pm telling them not to come... I decide to stop payment on the check, but I realize I dont know the check number.... sigh.

Right now, I really feel like just curling up into a ball or going on a murderous rampage...

That sucks. I've had weeks like that and usually ended up catching a cold or something from the stress. Has the cough subsided yet?

Good thing is you aren't working now, right?

Cough is improving. Actually, I am working as well, im just juggling that inbetween all this.

I haven't smoked for 4 months, 3 weeks and 1 day, saving 2,839.88 cigarettes and $1,079.15.

Just had to update that.

$1,000.... jeez...

Good job...hope your house woes have cleared up somewhat. Though they never end. Thats why if we buy something when I am in school we are getting a condo. I am trying to cram for the GMAT but my wife is afraid of the lawnmower (so she claims) so I had to spend 3 hours cutting the lawn after work today. Its things like that I dont want to deal with when I am going to school.

LOL.. My wife asked me to go to the basement with her because the light was out. I laughed. She didn't laugh with me.

oh and just come to chicago for your mba.... you wont have a yard to mow here. Maybe a flower pot to water, if you are lucky enough to have a balcony.

edit:

Rhyme, congrats on staying smoke free! How's the house coming along?

I've smoked for about 5 yrs., usually less than 1/2 pack a day. However, my DH is on my back because I've really been smoking a lot more the past couple of weeks since I'm taking the GMAT this Saturday and am more stressed out than I think I have ever been before in my life.

I think that after I take the GMAT and get my B-School application in, I am really going to make a concerted effort to quit. So therefore, I appreciate the links everyone has posted!

However, I do have one concern, Rhyme - based off of the cartoon you posted a few months ago, you haven't turned into one of those self-rightous reformed smokers who now goes around and lectures those who do smoke, have you? Nah, I didn't think so.

Congrats Rhyme. Thats a way to go.

I was a pack a dayer. Whats a DH?

I wanted to quit before I started the GMAT and apps and everything but I realized that was about as likely as ending up in bed with Jessica Alba. One my admits came through, and I stopped caring about the hundreds of monkeys I'm surrounded by at work, I decided the time was ripe.

Most of all, what drove me was a realization - and I suppose you have to be a real addict to say this - that come recruiting season I'd likely end up leaving events early or skipping them altogether - I'd say its because "they were dumb" or "not very helpful" but really, it'd be because I'd want to go have a smoke and then I'd feel bad about going back in stinking like that. Or, I'd reek of smoke in interview rooms... Knowing how INSANELY HORRIBLE that smell is and how much it REALLY REALLY bothers me now, I can only imagine what it must be like for the interviewer.

As for being one of those anti smoking nazi's ... Well, sort of... I'm like that with my wife (cause I want her to quit, so I give er crap for it), but I don't much care what other people do - wanna smoke? Smoke.

In your case, I advise smoking your brains out between now and Saturday (good luck!) - worry about your lungs afterwards.

When time does come to quit, I strongly strongly strongly suggest:

https://whyquit.com/

Start with the stories ...

Read

https://www.noniglykos.com/nonis_story_o ... cancer.htm

That'll motivate.

If it doesn't ...

https://whyquit.com/whyquit/BryanLeeCurtis.html

Once you've done that..

Read:

https://whyquit.com/joel/ntap.pdf

Yes, its long.

And watch

https://whyquit.com/joel/#video

Sorry, on another message board I post on it's short for "dear husband". I sometimes forget that some abbreviations are actually board specific.

Thanks for the advice on how to quit and also to smoke my brains out between now and Saturday. I fully intend to commit to both!

I thought it might be... but then that implied that you were *gasp* a girl.... and we don't get many of those around here. Aaudetat and econgirl are the only two I can think of at the moment.

Enjoy yer gmat, and come back to let us know how it went. Good luck!