Just been playing a bit of catch up the last day or so to find a few little bits and pieces going on, both in the community and in the big wide world. There are some topics that I just won’t look at, not because they don’t interest me but, because I have opinions that I wish to keep to myself. That is all you are getting from me. For now.
I really wasn’t going to write this post today, but having seen some discussions on Twitter last night and again today, it did just send my blood boiling. Let’s have a look at what fired it all off.
Oh yes, keep taking a drug that has some seriously bad side effects never mind about the actual consequences because 1 in 2 will die anyway. Charming.
Now, we all know what kinds of “side effects” Champix can have. It’s pretty nasty stuff. I mean, who wants to take a pill that may induce suicidal thoughts ?
There has been a lot of discussion in all kinds of places relating to e-cig use. Various celebrities vape, and are seemingly criticized in online media particularly in the article comments. We found out recently that Nick Clegg quit smoking by vaping. You would think that with such large A-list names such as Simon Cowell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Katy Perry, Johnny Depp, and so on would help to inspire a whole new generation of current smokers to at least consider switching even if they don’t actually switch.
It is kind of unusual for me to post anything this early in the day as I normally like to sit and think on what I’ve seen before actually writing anything. Today however, some antics on Twitter really upset me. I mean, close to tears upset.
The Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), specifically Article 20 is a God-awful piece of democratic bullshit. Don’t believe me? Read more about it, here and here. I don’t need to, nor am I willing to go into any great detail about it.
OK, so not the most inspiring title ever conceived but I normally only post once every few days. Or try to at least. For once, you lovely folks are getting a double post out of me today.
No, this is not about the plain packs debacle. That one is just full of stupid for me to even contemplate right now. Besides, it has already been covered very nicely by Dick Puddlecote here. No, this one is all about our US friends. Specifically, Minnesota.
As we all know, vaping and electronic cigarettes are under increasing scrutiny. Some of it is surprisingly the good kind of scrutiny, the majority of it is not. We all have our stories as to why we vape. Some of us wanted to reduce harm to our own bodies. Others were looking to give up tobacco cigarettes. Mostly it’s the former.
What doesn’t help us in the ongoing, slow fight against the various regulations and legislation being brought up in the various political arenas is when vendors do stupid stuff. You know. Like this.
It is going to take me a while to compose myself to get this post written as I’m just laughing so damned much.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Mr Roger Bezanis (make sure you spell his name right, he hates it when people get it wrong).
So who is this fine upstanding chap complete moron? According to his Twitter profile he is:
This is a post that I’ve been putting off for a while as it contains a number of personal things. They aren’t necessarily secret things, I’m just not the sort to talk about them publicly.
I was a heavy smoker. Like super heavy, easily going through two packs per day and sometimes three or four depending on the day. I had a routine, wake up then immediately spark up. Coffee and a smoke. Get to work, coffee and a smoke. Four or five smokes before work officially started at 9AM. Regular smoke breaks during the day, two or three during lunch. You get the picture. Most of my smoking was either habitual or as a way to calm down and de-stress (when working on a tech support desk, it can get really stressful).