Scruffy.

The weather has changed.

We've had a few nice days, it's been great cycling weather and I've taken full advantage of it. Looking out the window today, you would never believe that it's been so nice. We have fog, wind and that characteristic sideways rain that seems to be the signature move of New Hey Road in Outlane!!

I've locked the doors, taken the phones off the hook, rolled my dog-shaped draught excluders up to the draughty bits, grown a beard, baked some bread, and I'm not going out.

Managed a few cheeky halves of beer at the splendid Star Inn Easter Beer Festival last evening. That pub is a credit to the licensed trade..... sixty... count them.... sixty beers to choose from.... breweries from as far afield as Glasgow and Cornwall.... all on hand pumps. Splendid. I'll be going again tomorrow and if I get my way I will be going on Saturday too!!! Muhahahahah!!

I still want to write something about my new toy, the CycloDS. In the meantime, if you have a Nintendo DS then just buy a CycloDS Evolution, I got mine from TechWizad, and you will see how good it is.

Here's a funny fact.... it is now one whole year &to the day) since I quit smoking. In those twelve months elapsed, I would have smoked fourteen thousand six hundred and forty cigarettes which would have cost me somewhere in the region of three thousand eight hundred and fifty quids!! (that's a bewildering seven thousand six hundred and thirty three US dollars).

Smoking.

Well, it's been some time now since I quit smoking. About six months in fact!!

I can now see what a great move it was to quit, and how silly I was to not quit before. I guess the old adage is true, that you need to want to quit before you really will.

So, now my mum's quit too!! She's smoked for 50 years.... yes, five-zero!! She hasn't had a cig for two weeks now, and we'd both appreciate it if you'd raise a glass or put your hands together in appreciation of that!!

I just wanted (for my own benefit really) to go through my numbers again just to reinforce the difference it's made to me.

Since I quit:
I have not smoked: 7680 cigarettes.
I have been cig free for: 192 days.
I have not spent: £2016 (4088 USD; 4085 CAD; 26547 SEK)

Most importantly.....
I have not ingested: 61.44 Grams of tar into my lungs.
I have not inhaled: 61.44 Grams of carbon monoxide.

And for you delight, here are some items that weighs the same as that amount of tar or the amount of carbon monoxide that I have saved myself from.










Ok, strictly speaking, she doesn't weigh in at 62 Grams, but I would never have been able to catch her before without running out of breath!!

What do you get.....

If you cross a monkey with a pig?

Well, not literally, but it's a good opener right?

Do you know the story of Monkey?

Well, I used to watch the series "Monkey" when I was a kid. A really oddly dubbed Chinese adventure about a cannibal, a pig, a monkey and a genderless disciple of Buddha, crossing India to find the holy scriptures.

Obviously, as a kid, none of that bothered me too much. The cool thing was all the great fighting action, and of course the monkey could fly about on a cloud!!

Honestly, I wasn't on drugs during that period of my life!!

So last night I went to Manchester to see: Monkey - Journey to the West.

It's a crazy "circus opera", whatever that means!!

A mix of martial arts, acrobatics, animation, music and singing, and cool costumes and sets. Three very cool people collaborated to bring us this show as part of the Manchester International Festival; Damon Albarn (Blur and Gorillaz), Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl and Gorillaz), and Chen Shi-Zheng (Director).

Of course, I could rattle on about it all day, but maybe that's already been done more comprehensibly and more eloquently than I could ever manage:

Here

and

Here

All I will say, is that if you get a chance to go and see it as it sets sail around the world, then you'd be mad not to. It's unlike anything you will have seen before.

In other news.....

I have fallen so far into the Big Brother existence, that I now do my grocery shopping online, with a corresponding luxury or rationed shopping budget, and have it delivered at a synchronised time to that of our dear housemates. I am permanently pissed on cider, and live in a caravan.

My friend Emma is going away tomorrow. Boo hoo. She is going "Darn Sarf" for about six months to learn something about how to tell the difference between a healthy dog and a manky one. She will be missed, and the gutters of Huddersfield will be very empty without her drunken antics!! The mobile phone shops in Huddersfield are already going out of business!!

I am getting through lots of smoked mackerel. It's a poor substitute for cigarettes, and they are much harder to light, but they contain so much less tar!!

Smoking tally - Haven't updated for a while so don't even know the figures myself.....

Let's see:

Days smoke free: 109 (nearly four months!!)
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 4360!!!!
Money NOT spent: 1145 GBP (2302 USD; 2415 CAD; 283858 JPY)

That makes me feel a bit better, and it makes the cost of going to see monkey last evening..... completely free!! Woohoo!!!!

Sticking twos up!

Two good things have happened.

Well, I say two good things have happened.... In fairness, probably a great many more than two good things have happened, but for the most part they do not concern me. Well, they do concern me, and of course I love all the good things that happen...... Bloody hell, I am never gonna sort this mess out.

OK.... Disregard the above.

Two good things have happened to me that I would like to share with you through the power of blog.

Firstly, it was the most fantastical full moon last night. The moon has been really great for the last few nights in fact. Very golden, and moody, shrouded with wispy clouds. I love the full moon.

Secondly, it is officially the first day of July. This means that the country is now a designated no-smoking zone. In my wildest dreams, until very recently, I think I would have considered this an outrageous infringement of my civil liberties. As a non-smoker, it now delights me.

Big Brother is still bobbing along at a fair old pace.

I haven't watched last night's episode of Jekyll yet, so please don't spoiler it for me.

I am still loco for Pogo.

I put some vintage Big Brother adverts on youtube. They are from Big Brother 6 which was the one with Citizen Science and Kemal and Derek..... well, you get the picture. Feel free to watch them.

Pogo.

I have a problem, and the first part of curing it is to admit to it.

I am a Pogo addict.

Moreover, I am a complete and utter badge whore.

Even as I type this blog with my left hand, my right hand is arranging cards in a game of "Rainy Day Spider Solitaire" trying to earn my "Itsy Bitsy Spider" badge for a personal challenge.

I can only imagine that maybe one in a hundred people who might read the above paragraph is not scratching their head in dumbfounded response. Those that know, will instinctively know what I mean.

My free internet big brother link is buggered. The result of its buggery is that I now have to occasionally leave my bedroom, my laptop and pogo, to go downstairs and watch a snippet or two of the live big brother feed. Grrrrrr.

Happy anniversary to me. Last night was in fact my fourteen week anniversary of stopping smoking. I tend to mention this at various milestones, but today I mention it for the following reason:

Emma has stopped smoking!!

If you can all press your hand on your monitor and send some positive vibes and healing power in Emma's direction, I know she will appreciate it.

As for the nicotine lozenges.......

Yes, indigestion was a side effect.

Yes, the worst case of flatulence ever imaginable was an added bonus.

Yes, it did last for quite a while.

On the bright side, the downsides will make you want to wean yourself off them at the first opportunity.

I managed to take nine of the four mg lozenges per day for six weeks, then I just stopped altogether.

Stay with them, learn to love them. I found they made my throat a bit sore, but eventually came to associate that sensation with the idea that I was getting my fix. In the end, I loved the sensation in the same way that you might have once loved smoking a cigarette. Coming off the lozenges was the easiest thing to do in the end, and I know I didn't follow the guidelines...... I only did half a course.

Try to keep a record of when you had your last cigarette, and how long it has been since then.

Don't be afraid to know that if you want a cigarette you can have one. I have had cigarettes in the house ever since I stopped and haven't wanted one once. Knowing I can have one if I want one makes it easier for me.

Here's me giving advice..... Ignore all advice and do whatever helps you through it.

You have all the support right here.... Good luck, and well done for making a start.

Feeling old.

A strange illness indeed has descended upon my fevered brow.

For about a week now I have been mildly ill..... just ill enough for it to be annoying. Nothing debilitating or anything you understand, just weirdly off colour.

From the stomach gripes, through to the aches and pains in my bones. From headache to toothache. Acid scorched intestines and bubbling bowels.

It's just making me feel old. Is this really what I have to look forward to? I bloody hope not! Still, looking back to when I was in my early twenties, I would have guaranteed at that point that I would not be here today to write a blog.

Youthful nihilism is wonderful, but like a failed kamikaze pilot living in endless shame, the rewards of my over zealous days of consumptiveness are coming home to roost, like naughty pigeons.

Or maybe it's just a virus, a bug, a passing phase..... I have everything crossed, and a cupboard full of Zantac.

So where have I been? Why haven't I been blogging?? What's been so important that I have not had a few minutes to say hello?

Nothing..... Well lots of things, but probably nothing that the majority of you would be remotely interested in.....

Big Brother - I am gradually swaddling myself in the warm summer duvet of Big Brotherly love. I know you don't want to read about Big Brother here, but I like to state my case: The twins - I am loving them. They are the only housemates I have ever seen who have truly gone in there simply to enjoy and embrace the experience. I am disappointed that Lesley walked. I quite like Gerry, and although it's early days, I am starting to dislike Seany. There, that didn't hurt did it? Watching Big Brother isn't the end..... I must also watch all the companion shows - Big Mouth, On The Couch, Little Brother, Diary Room Uncut....... It takes time and dedication to be this big a geek.

Nintendo time - OK, so I bought a Nintendo Wii...... I completed the fishing game, and now I am settling down to play Red Steel - It's actually not a bad game. The controls take some getting used to, and I spend a lot of time spinning round either looking at the roof or the floor, but I am getting there. Cooking Mama is a good fun game, if a little limited in its longevity. Ten pin bowling will always be a classic.

Deadliest Catch - Its a TV show about a bunch of guys who fish the Bering Sea for crab. I love it. The new series has been great so far.

The F Word - I used to hate Gordon Ramsay, but I am now starting to actually like him. I think he has a natural talent with food, that makes it all look so easy. His choice to make that talent aggressive and loud mouthed has probably earned him more money than the talent alone, but I don't hold that against him. I also know Gordon will feel so much better knowing that's how I think.....

Celebrity Masterchef - I love the cooking shows. Don't ask me why. I am not a big fan of John Torode, but Greg Wallace is a good guy from Radio 4's very own Veg Talk. We're down to the final four contestants of this light hearted version of the much meatier Masterchef Goes Large.

Age of Empires - I am STILL playing it. I swear on my own life that this game has to be the best value game I have ever owned. There's no start, no end, and it just keeps going. I love it to pieces, and have played every incarnation. They've even announced plans for a new expansion pack - WooT!

Britain's Got Talent - Ant and Dec (my two least favourite presenters) host a talent search across the British Isles, to find an act that will be performing at the Royal Variety Performance. The three judges of this show are: Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden, and Simon Cowell - All three would feature in my top ten of who not to watch on TV - It's a recipe for a completely crap show, but I find myself actually enjoying it. From the Rapping Granny, to the Michael Jackson dancing monkey puppet act.

Hustle - OK, it's some light-hearted stuff about a bunch of grifters pulling cons against some unscrupulous "marks". The way the "marks" set themselves up for their falls is the weakest thing about the show, but the plots of the scams are worth a look. I originally was recording it for my Unc, but I am hooked now.

OK, it's clear I am becoming a telly addict. I am sorry. It's a much better habit than the smoking though. Three months have elapsed since I quit and here's my stats:

Days Smoke free: 85
Cigs not smoked: 3400
Cash saved: 893 GBP (1760 USD; 1890 CAD; 71665 INR)

Only 18 more days until Britain goes no-smoking - I for one am looking forward to it. A year ago, the concept would have scared the living bejeezus out of me, but look at me now Ma', I'm dancing, I'm dancing!!

Angry kid.

Woke up, bleary eyed.

Within ten minutes of waking up, my day's tranquility was broken.

In my house there is an unwritten rule. Well there are several unwritten rules, but one which comes into play each and every first day of every month.

Pinch and a punch for the first of the month.

You are allowed to pinch and punch someone today. You cannot pinch and punch once you have been pinched and punched.

I lost. Again!! Now I have to wait a whole month to get the chance for revenge.

Follow up my humiliation with the most brazen piece of televisual misrepresentation ever (and no I am not talking about Big Brother for a change) and you've got one grumpy fox on your hands.

The news. It's a simple thing. There are even channels now which show nothing BUT news. You switch on the news and you fairly well know what to expect. It's usually a collection of stories from around the world about what is happening. It rarely makes you feel good to be alive.

So, I always choose the BBC news. I always watch on BBC1 because you get local bulletins every half hour or so. The BBC news is generally of a better quality than the other news channels, and of course there are no adverts....... Or are there???

This morning's coming up stories.......

Will Bradley and Stacey ever get back together? - A bloody Eastenders expose, complete with interview with an associated actor!!

Serious Andes - A pierced teenager joins the news crew on the couch to discuss what it was like to climb part of the Andes for a BBC television programme.

Any dream will do - The latest from a BBC programme where Graham Norton and Andrew Lloyd Webber grace our living rooms with their tireless search for a new Joseph. Starring Graham Norton as Jesus and Andrew Lloyd Webber as God.

I am left cursing.... this isn't bloody news. This is advertising. I pay my licence fee so I don't have to watch adverts. Outrageous.

Then, just as we are settling back down to some news.....

It's June the first. We have one month (exactly) left in this country, before a total no smoking blanket settles itself over all our public places. I never thought I would say it, but I am quite looking forward to it.

Coupled with the fact that there is a new "stop smoking" drug available on prescription, which allegedly triples the chances of success.

So the BBC, in all its wisdom gathers three smokers, and promises to follow them in their quest to stop smoking. At this point my ears prick up, and I await the item with baited breath that no longer smells like an ashtray.

Meet our smokers - Between the three of them, they actually smoke less than I did. One of them smokes one cigarette a day, and only if they go out to a bar. Is this really the best you can do BBC? Absolutely insulting. It's going to be a riveting series of news items watching these people busting their balls with managing to stop.

I think I will watch GMTV in future, even if it means I would have to endure Jenni Falconer. Yes, she does actually spell it with an "i" instead of a "y" and I bet when she signs it, she uses a massive circle to dot the "i".

Grrrrrrr

Mornings.

What is it with me and mornings?

We have never been the best of friends. In fairness, I am what you might call a bit of a night owl.

Lately, I haven't even had the stamina to stay up all night playing games, which given the chance, is very unusual for me.

This morning, like so many before it, I woke early. Too early. Too early for someone with no job, that's for sure. I think it must have been about six AM.

Like being chewed up by the night, and having given it indigestion, being unceremoniously spat out into the dawn chorus. Wishing it would go away, turning over, trying in vain to reconnect with sleep. Bladder niggling, just enough to keep the sandman at bay.

I got up and pandered to my weak bladder. This would have been the point where I lit a cigarette and chilled for a while on the sofa. Not any more.

Nine weeks and one day ago, I stopped smoking. My grand totals right now are even starting to impress me.

Cigarettes not smoked = 2560
Money saved = 672 GBP (1336 USD; 1447 CAD; 34547 RUB)
Sweets eaten = Any that I could find.
Weight gained = Most definitely.

Well, bladder emptied, jumped back in bed. Managed another two hours of snoozing before the light pried my eyelids with the subtlety of a shiny metal crowbar. Eight AM. I don't know why I have such a love/hate relationship with sleep.

In other news..... Big Brother 8 is just one week away..... count them.... seven days, that's all.... I am so excited. I am sure that I will have lost interest by the second day of it, but you live in hope. Hope that we get people who are less annoying than Danielle Lloyd for instance.

Ouch.

I love "shop banter".

It's a term I think I invented, and it relates to those brief over-the-counter encounters we all have with shop staff.

The best types of shop banter are usually to be found in smaller shops, which I imagine are staffed by someone you might consider to be the owner. Perhaps a newsagent or a fishmonger or even a hardware store?

I am desperately racking my tiny brain to remember where I had this poignant piece of shop banter.....

Time passes....

Cogs whirr......

Kettle goes on...... Coffee is made......

Cue cutaway scene of sun rising and setting and moon (all speeded up to signify the passing of weeks) replacing it, repeating over and over again like at the end of Evil Dead Three - Medieval Dead - Army of Darkness.

Bingo.....

Fox brushes the cobwebs from the keyboard and resumes typing......

Janet Green Photographic in Halifax - Obviously not the place to be buying photographic memories, is it now!!!!

I was looking at cameras in the week that I gave up smoking. It all kind of ties in nicely now.... in fact it all ties together so much better than when I actually started writing this blog.

Ok, so I stopped smoking, and I am telling this guy in the camera shop that the money I save is going towards a new camera. He tells me he used to smoke, and that he stopped, and now he always gets a sore throat.

So, how apt, that on my eight week anniversary of not smoking a cigarette, I've developed a sore throat, and was reminded of his comment, but couldn't remember who had told me.

I look in the medicine cupboard for something to ease the discomfort of having a cheese grater rammed sideways down my oesophagus. Strepsils.... Medicine for sore throats, or so they tell me.

I go the whole hog and take two. Not that I am greedy you understand, but all medicines in my experience are better doubled at the start.

Nonchalantly flipping the packet over..... Expires July 2005!!

Bugger.

Chalk it down.....

I know it means absolutely nothing to anyone who might read this, but it means something to me, and it's my blog!!!

Officially, today, it's my 2000th cigarette anniversary!!

Since I quit smoking, exactly fifty days ago, I have not smoked 2000 cigs.... would you Adam and Eve it? The total monetary saving thus far, amounts to the grand sum of five hundred and twenty five pounds (1050 USD; 1160 CAD).

I fall over trying to pat myself on the back.

I find it quite useful to be able to write these figures down in my blog. I think, if I hadn't started recording my progress here, that by now I wouldn't even know when I stopped smoking.

Another milestone, is that I have now been completely nicotine free for a whole week. It's just over a week, in fact, since I stopped taking the lozenges.

Hooray for me.

Anyone else thinking about stopping smoking? Want to know something?? It doesn't hurt one bit!! The fear of trying to stop, and possibly failing, is far worse than actually stopping.

Going back to my webstats.... I know I shouldn't...... An average day for me is usually thirty to forty visitors. Yesterday, I received one hundred visitors. Unprecedented, and wholly inexplicable.

Rol: You wanted to know if you could track your visitors.... well, yes of course you can...... I use something called sitemeter - you can sign up for some free webstats like mine at sitemeter - You can view my stats..... by clicking the little Sitemeter button, which is lurking somewhere down the right hand side of my page, near the bottom of those navigational elements over there >>>

I am....

... waiting for the moon.

Wasn't that a Lou Reed song?

It's a gorgeous spring day, blue sky, a few wispy clouds, and deliciously warm.

It's also my six week marker. I haven't smoked a cigarette for forty two days now, and I am seriously pleased with myself. They say the first three months are the hardest, and I am half way through it. To be fair, it's been a bloody doddle.

It's also the first of May.

On top of all this, we are blessed this evening with a full moon. I aim to take some nice photos of it. Last night the moon came out early, and looked stunning in the blue sky. It's always easier to photograph the moon in the day because of the contrast issues..... Tonight could be my night.

All these things happening together...... the sheer syszygy of it all.... It's got to mean something.

I even cut my lawn today, and that's not something that happens very often. Now, if only I could get round to trimming my hoboesque beard and barnett, I'd be laughing.

Oh to be in England.

Saint George's day just passed, grey and drizzly, snooker on the telly, and BNP leaflets through the door.

Yes, we're most definitely in England.

Strangely enough, it always makes me smile that BNP (British National Party) are the only wankers who will shove a leaflet through the door and then run off without so much as canvassing my hard earned vote. They are the only party I would actually like to knock on my door, so in return I could knock their effing blocks off!!

I think their PR guru missed a trick by not wrapping their bile ridden leaflets round a house brick and then throwing them through our windows as they drive by from some armoured vehicle.

I shouldn't moan, it's a democracy right? Seems a shame that the BNP come canvassing in a village where two of the three remaining shops are run by Asians, and I for one am VERY grateful for their services, and the fact that they don't observe christian holidays. I can always get a pint of milk or a curry when I need one.

Thirty one days without a cigarette. I am beginning to feel quite proud of this achievement. So far, I haven't smoked twelve hundred and forty cigarettes, and I haven't spent three hundred and twenty five pounds (650 USD; 725 CAD).

The only drawback of using nicotine lozenges, is a heightened state of extremely unpleasant flatulence. The comedy potential is enormous, and I am often found retching at my own astonishing pungency.

Don't think it will be too long now before I can afford the camera I am promising myself.

Right, I better be scooting along.... time's money on a Wednesday night, and I better get myself out of this funk, and into something a bit more presentable before I go round to see Dawn.

Manana bananas!!

My granny.....

.... Not only throws harder than that, but she rocks harder too!!

What am I on about?

I done busted my rock bone, Musky.

I was supposed to be giving a masterclass to the kids tonight in how to play Guitar Hero 2. Alas and alack, during my afternoon warm up, which lasted some three hours, I think I have snapped more than my G string!!

My rock bone is truly knackered.

I did, however, manage to attain levels far in advance of those ever witnessed before. I can honestly say, that for a while, I was rocking.

I guess that, unlike an ageing, and rather portly Biff Byford, I know when it's time to hang up my plastic ukulele, and start sipping cocoa by the fire, with a cat curled round my feet. I don't want any of those marshmallows on top though, they make me feel queasy. I'll stick to drinking my pureed vegetables through a straw.

Ouch, my rock bone's even twinging and twanging when I type, and that's never a good sign, is it?

I should apologise for having neglected, not only my own blog, for a week or so, but everyone else's too, but I am not going to, so there!! The Fox bites his thumb at thee!!

I am still eating far too much. Too many sweets, and now I am starting to get toothache. I would switch over to gum, but it just makes me more hungry, and last time I chewed gum it inflamed an abscess in my jaw. I haven't smoked a cigarette for three weeks though, and that's no bad thing. I'll be a toothless, fat, bald, non-smoker, before you can say "diabetes".

I have managed, so far, to not smoke eight hundred and forty cigs. I have saved two hundred and twenty pounds (434 USD; 498 CAD), and that's roughly about a quarter of what I want to spend on my new camera and associated peripherals. It's a start.

I can't imagine how much gunk would have come out of those eight hundred and forty cigs, and into my lungs, and subsequently, blood. I just can't begin to imagine, that over twenty or so years of smoking, this hasn't occurred to me before.

I think, when you stop smoking, you look at a bigger picture. Let's imagine I was still smoking, then I only ever measure how many cigs I smoke in a day. I would never calculate the volume of a week, or the cost of a month..... Just the day. It works in reverse I suppose. A handy way we can imagine to ourselves that we'll stop smoking tomorrow, or that we enjoy smoking anyway.

Having a sense of smell again is a bonus.

Having a sense of taste, and obliterating it with every sugary confection under God's blue sky, is another matter.

I love being a preachy non-smoker!!

There once was a young fox from Hudds.....

No, seriously, I am NOT going to limerick my way through the week.

It's been very difficult this last week, being confined to haiku. There have been days where I have wanted to say things, and it's just not been possible.

One thing I DID discover over the course of the week, that I will point out to you, is a little blog that reports news headlines in haiku. It's just one guy that does it, and he does a great job. It's called "Now haiku", and I know he will appreciate your support.

The smoking, or should I say lack of it, is going really well. I have managed twelve whole days without a cigarette. In that time, I would have smoked four hundred and eighty cigs, yes 480 of them!!!! This would have cost me two hundred and fifty two pounds, yes £126, and for my American or Canadian chums, that's about two hundred and fifty US dollars or nearly three hundred Canadian dollars!!

I have set my heart on buying a new camera with the money I am saving. The camera I want is a Samsung GX10 and it's gonna cost me about six hundred quid, so I am well on my way.

Today, however, my dreams of becoming a photographer, have been shattered.

I have, for quite some time, fancied myself as a wildlife photographer. Dawn doesn't take photographs, but she enjoys looking at the ones I take. Imagine my disgruntlement, when today, she picked up my camera, and with a single shot, managed to catch one of the rarest sights you could hope to see......

Many wildlife photographers have tried to catch a scene like this. None have succeeded, until now. David Attenborough would have been proud to include this in his collection.

An Arctic Fox, captured, engaging in a hitherto unknown activity. It's unlikely that it will ever happen again either!!



You might be forgiven for thinking this is an April Fool's joke, but it bloody well isn't.

I might as well hang up my flashgun now.

Which bit don't you get?

Simple Japanese poems,
Rather than essays.

It's Monday morning.
Bright, but foggy and chilly;
Sunshine to follow.

Blog readers puzzled?
About the Fox's concept?
To haiku my week?

Five and a half days,
Since I smoked a cigarette;
A long way to go.

So far, I have NOT,
Smoked two hundred and twenty,
Which saved sixty quid.

Tom refuses help,
Will not attend extra class;
To help with science.

Paperwork O.D;
Must tackle bills and accounts,
Before bailiffs come.

Nicotine lozenge,
And a quick tidy around;
Before Dawn arrives.

Lord, give me a sign.....

Tempting fate.

I know I shouldn't mention this.... I know I should keep my mouth shut.....

It is officially twenty hours, since I smoked a cigarette.

This might not sound like a brilliant achievement, and I am certainly NOT looking for reassurance, or support, or encouragement. I haven't even made a conscious decision to stop smoking. I bought some nicotine lozenges, with the aim of cutting down.

It seems quite apt, that on today of all days, the budget day, when cigarettes have just gone up by a further eleven pence per pack (of twenty), that I should be kicking it into touch.

As a positive measure, this is my story.

Recently I have been smoking two packs a day. That's forty cigarettes every twenty four hours. The old price of my habit, was approximately ten pounds and twenty pence per day. The new inflated price would be ten pounds and forty two pence per day. In the last forty eight hours, I've smoked just nine cigarettes, and eaten about three tons of food!!!

I'm gonna be able to breathe again, but too fat to get out of the house.

Bugger.

Hurray, it's the first day of spring.

To celebrate this gloriously sunny day, I've been out walking. Admittedly, I took a rucksack of food with me, but I have been out walking.

I also managed to take a few pictures.... nothing amazing, but they're on Flickr of course!!

There were quite a few things I wanted to write about today.... my mind's all over the place.....

Normal service will (hopefully) be resumed as soon as possible.