Wow, what a day. I only worked a half-day, but it was incredibly productive. I was on a roll – emails, writing, a tutorial, boom boom boom. I left with a sense of accomplishment and confidence. Even knowing that I was headed into three hours at the dentist didn’t seem so bad.
Bright White Clean Smile!
The first two hours were a deep down-to-the-roots cleaning, involving an awfully lot of novocaine that made me feel as though I must surely look like a duck or a platypus. My sweet hygienist said I didn’t look any different at all, but it was very difficult to believe. We actually had a good time, considering, and my dentist had his usual deft and reassuring hand for the last hour. I had three cavities – all minor, but in the front where everything is both visible and sensitive. They had to do the dreaded palette stick – crunch and ahhh ouch! I was glad when I was finally released. The mirror showed a clear improvement. Yay!
Then – when I arrived home I discovered that my recent purchases had all arrived at the same time! VERY exciting!
My path has taken some twists and turns in the last couple of years, and these (albeit material) rewards encourage me to keep going. This is all part of a move to upgrade my day to day life, and to take advantage of having a little more financial leeway than is usual – while I still can. It’s also a reward for keeping it together while going off anti-depressants, and keeping my temper through white flashes of rage, and smiling every day, and not giving up. Next steps…
Electronic Cigarettes!
First of all, I’m trying out the electronic cigarette to see if I can quit smoking that way. I’ve tried the gum and patches, but they gave me too much nicotine and gave me very disturbing dreams. I tried Chantix, which helped quite a lot with the cravings, but had some side effects that I didn’t like (spiralling down…..). This is different. They are very careful to say that it’s not officially a way to quit smoking, but I’ve been asking around and it’s been functioning that way for a lot of people.
I had my first draw on an electronic cigarette earlier this evening. I had one more cigarette after that for comparision, but I may not go back at all to the “analog” smoke after today.
Experientially, it’s very similar – the dragon, the pull, the intake, the feeling of smoke, the exhale – even a little fake light-up at the tip. I have to pull a little more forcefully, but that’s ok. The vapor on exhale looks a lot like smoke; and the feel and pull reminds me of days long past (grin). It’s much smoother than any actual smoking situation, but then again, I started with chocolate, so there may be less bite with that.
It does satisfy my undeniable oral fixation, and I can still leave the room and go outside if I choose to “smoke” – although I don’t have to. I can “vape” anywhere. Like HERE, NOW – INSIDE! Ahhhhh, chocolate flavor! It still delivers nicotine – at the lowest dose – but I also have some cartridges that don’t have any and I hope to transition to those within a month or so.
It’s a big step to get rid of the smoke, tar, and other chemicals, and still preserve the things I like. The starter kit I got online came with various options for charging the battery (the “cigarette” looking part) as well as a variety of vapor (“vape”) flavors (the “filter” looking part). I got “Red/Cowboy” which is close to my Marlboro Gold 100, but also chocolate, coffee, cherry, and peppermint. A guy at work told me it’s not very hard to make up your own formulas. I sniffed a bottle that he made called “Tangerine Dream,” and it smelled just like an orange creamsicle. I think this might actually work for me. It’s very very close to the actual experience of smoking, but without most of the down sides.
I’ve got a coupon for you if you’d like to try it yourself: Go to http://www.v2cigs.com (or call 1-877-37-VAPOR) and get 15% off any starter kit with the code 85561. If you order with my code, I also get a free 5-pack of flavored cartridges! Each cartridge lasts about as long as a pack of cigarettes.
If this goes as well as I think it’s going to, you’ll see me join as an affiliate. At that point, I’ll have to delete the above offer, but there will be a new ad on the sidebar. No kidding, I’m impressed.
Garmin GPS!
I have wanted a GPS for years, so this is my early birthday present to myself. I got a Garmin Nüvi 3790LMT 4.3-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Map & Traffic Updates.
It ROCKS! The research I did before the purchase was well worth it. I think this is about the best one I could have chosen.
It’s bigger but lighter than my current cellphone. I can specify things to avoid, like highways and toll roads (Atlanta highway driving in my car scares me and I try to avoid it). I picked the British Male voice, but I have access to some downloads to others. I’m going to check those out shortly – I’ve heard Darth Vader is an option. There’s a lifetime (of the device) subscription to Maps and Traffic so I can keep up to date. The screen is clear and bright, and it was very easy to set up. The coordiates were a couple of hundred feet off for my house, but this is a weird neighborhood and even Google Maps always has a little trouble finding the real location.
The only thing it’s missing is the ability to download Geocaching files. It’s silly that they don’t yet have a GPS device that can deal with multiple apps. This does cover auto and pedestrian – and a bit of offroad. The Garmin 500 and 550 models that have multi-modes for hiking, fishing, biking and geo-caching are much heavier and don’t include some of the basic features I wanted for driving, so after some comparison I let it go and picked this one.
My website ads allowed me to pay less than half of the sale price for this, and that’s a good thing because it would have been to pricey for me to buy otherwise.
Fun stuff for my Kindle!
My Kindle is getting a lot of use now that I’ve finally gotten used to it. I got a removable sticker-skin from DecalGirl and it worked perfectly. Very high quality word and the kindle looks SO much nicer! I got one for hubby John, too – can’t go wrong with this Van Gogh!
After some looking around, I also decided on a white case with a magnetic clasp and the ability to prop up the Kindle. The Kindle slides in, which is much better than a strap or a four-corner solution. It’s very secure, and it feels more like a book in my hands. This will also protect the Kindle, which still seems a little slippery and therefore easy for a klutz like myself to drop and damage. Some of the cases look like they would break at the spine almost right away – but this one has a good design. It’s worth the extra cash.
So – I’m geeked out, nerded through, and geared up, with a big bright smile that won’t ever quit. Sunshine!
I’m glad that the electronic cigarette is working for you. Hope you will be free from nicotine soon. :-)