Smoking

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steingar

steingar

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steingar
I told this to my Introductory Biology class the other day:

If you don't smoke, don't start under any circumstances. If you do smoke, quit right away. Smoking increases your chances of getting cancer of the everything, ruins your lungs, and makes you smell bad. If you see any of your friends smoking assume they're on fire and act accordingly.

If I keep anyone from smoking or get someone to quit I will have done them more good with that than with anything else in the course.
 
It seems kinda strange that one would even start smoking. "Here, inhale these combustion fumes!" Cough cough gag! Never interested me. Note, I am not condemning smokers. I just don't get it.
 
flyersfan31 said:
It seems kinda strange that one would even start smoking. "Here, inhale these combustion fumes!" Cough cough gag! Never interested me. Note, I am not condemning smokers. I just don't get it.
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You look cool and sexy if you smoke. Well at least that is what smokers think. I think otherwise and note they smell bad too.
 
flyersfan31 said:
It seems kinda strange that one would even start smoking. "Here, inhale these combustion fumes!" Cough cough gag! Never interested me. Note, I am not condemning smokers. I just don't get it.
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As a friend once told me... "It's like giving a warm hug to your lungs, on a cold winter's day"

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
It has nothing to do with cool or sexy anymore. When I was a teenager, sure, that's probably why I started (that, combined with my friends, and every member of my family smoking).

Now, I smoke because I'm addicted, and it calms my nerves. Unfortunately, since I work for a tobacco company where I can smoke at my desk (I'm smoking now, as a matter of fact), I probably won't quit until I die :(
 
My Dad was a Chesterfield man for many years -- I remember when a carton was $3.25. One day came that he just quit, cold-turkey. That day was six months before the surgeon general's report "Smoking can be ..... " came out. 20+ years later, when he was ill for other reasons, he had at 79 years some reduced breathing capacity. The latter was diagnosed to be a residual factor of smoking "in the past," though it had been 20+ years since he stopped.

HR
 
flyersfan31 said:
It seems kinda strange that one would even start smoking. "Here, inhale these combustion fumes!" Cough cough gag! Never interested me. Note, I am not condemning smokers. I just don't get it.
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I quit, cold-turkey, in 1986, after smoking for 14 years. I've never touched one since, after smoking an average of 2.5 packs of Marlboro menthols per day. (It's amazingly motivating to watch your father-in-law die from lung cancer. If you ever want to quit smoking, visit a cancer ward.)

Despite all this, not a single day goes by that I don't want a cigarette -- even though I'd probably throw up, and I can't stand to be in a smoke-filled room. It's an incredibly strong addiction.

That said, I think the campaign to ban smoking everywhere is absurd.
 
Jay Honeck said:
That said, I think the campaign to ban smoking everywhere is absurd.
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I agree. It's a personal choice. I agree with getting rid of it in restaurants, enclosed public spaces, because it's also a personal choice NOT to smoke. Banning it outside, the whole witch hunt thing, well, that's another story.
 
If you'll notice, what little advertising that is left, cigarette companies never market to the 35 yr olds. I'm sure there are some out there, but I personally have never met someone who started smoking after 25 (and the older of those were in the military when they did start).

I think it ALL starts with the 'cool and sexy' thing...it did with me. Luckily, my passion for it didn't last as long as many others.

jf
 
JeffFranks said:
If you'll notice, what little advertising that is left, cigarette companies never market to the 35 yr olds. I'm sure there are some out there, but I personally have never met someone who started smoking after 25 (and the older of those were in the military when they did start).

I think it ALL starts with the 'cool and sexy' thing...it did with me. Luckily, my passion for it didn't last as long as many others.

jf
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Get 'em young. :nonod:
 
steingar said:
I told this to my Introductory Biology class the other day:

If you don't smoke, don't start under any circumstances. If you do smoke, quit right away. Smoking increases your chances of getting cancer of the everything, ruins your lungs, and makes you smell bad. If you see any of your friends smoking assume they're on fire and act accordingly.

If I keep anyone from smoking or get someone to quit I will have done them more good with that than with anything else in the course.
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Good for you. I hate riding in the elevator when the smokers come back in from break.
 
I have deceided to quit smoking after starting again 3 years ago. I have 2 cigs left and when they are gone, I am officially a non smoker for the rest of my life.

P.S. The monthly savings of $150+ is a good incentive.
 
SkyHog said:
It has nothing to do with cool or sexy anymore. When I was a teenager, sure, that's probably why I started (that, combined with my friends, and every member of my family smoking).

Now, I smoke because I'm addicted, and it calms my nerves. Unfortunately, since I work for a tobacco company where I can smoke at my desk (I'm smoking now, as a matter of fact), I probably won't quit until I die :(
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Good news! That day will be sooner than if you never started smoking.

That IS good news, inn't it?

Seriously, I know how hard it would be to quit. But I wish you would. I (and others) will miss you.
 
David_L_Wilson said:
I have deceided to quit smoking after starting again 3 years ago. I have 2 cigs left and when they are gone, I am officially a non smoker for the rest of my life.

P.S. The monthly savings of $150+ is a good incentive.
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GO FOR IT. Good luck. Don't look back.
 
Never smoked and never will. I think I'm slightly allergic to the smoke. 2 hrs in certain casinos then the smoke stings my eyes & my skin itches.

Then again, each pack basically says "This will mess you up"
 
SkyHog said:
Unfortunately, since I work for a tobacco company where I can smoke at my desk (I'm smoking now, as a matter of fact), I probably won't quit until I die :(
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Wow, that sucks. That must turn away a lot of potential talented employees.
 
I buried my best friend last Wednesday who died of Lung Cancer at the age of 53. Heavy smoker while we were in the Navy and later while we went through flight school. He quit for several years and started back about 10 years ago.
 
TMetzinger said:
Hear, Hear!

I think grown-ups should be allowed to make their own choices.
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I agree.

However, this could go SZ really quickly if we think about the
relationship with heath care reform, mandatory seat belt use,
etc.
 
I smoked about 3 packs when I was in high school because I thought it was "cool". And one of those was when my mother caught me doing it, put me in a bathroom, and made me smoke an entire pack in a few minutes! :) Never got the bug, thank heavens. My mother smoked, knew it was bad, and didn't want me to get the habit, even though she couldn't quit herself. She eventually did, cold turkey, on Thanksgiving day a number of years ago.
 
jesse said:
Wow, that sucks. That must turn away a lot of potential talented employees.
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Yes and no. A requirement during the interview is that you have to be comfortable working in a smoking environment.

A benefit is that most of the high level IT folk I've met in life either are smokers or were at some point, so I don't think there's a whole lot of lost opportunity. I think the constant fear of bomb threats and zealots wanting to murder you as you step out the door is a bigger deterrent. I've never worked for a place before that actually has bomb drills.
 
SkyHog said:
Yes and no. A requirement during the interview is that you have to be comfortable working in a smoking environment.

A benefit is that most of the high level IT folk I've met in life either are smokers or were at some point, so I don't think there's a whole lot of lost opportunity. I think the constant fear of bomb threats and zealots wanting to murder you as you step out the door is a bigger deterrent. I've never worked for a place before that actually has bomb drills.
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I guess -- but IT and smoking really isn't a for sure thing. I don't think I've observed a higher number of IT smokers than non-it smokers. I know I'd walk if that was the enviornment.
 
I've noticed that too. Why are so many IT people smokers?
 
jesse said:
I guess -- but IT and smoking really isn't a for sure thing. I don't think I've observed a higher number of IT smokers than non-it smokers. I know I'd walk if that was the enviornment.
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Really? I have, and its weird. Kind of like most programmers are into either Jolt or Dr. Pepper, seems most people in IT are smokers, in my experience.

Maybe its just the IT departments I've been around (even when I was non IT, it seems I was always on the smoking patio with IT).

I'm positive that some people stay away because of the environment, but it would be very silly for a tobacco company to ban smoking at its offices, especially one that is a subdivision of one of the largest Tobacco Companies in the world. (#3, IIRC).
 
smigaldi said:
It is all part of plan to get rid of the IT folks so that we may be allowed to make our own technology decisions and have an 8 year old OS foisted upon us a SAFE and EFFECTIVE corporate solutions.

It is starting to work too!!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703567204574499032945309844.html
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You'll be happy to know that the "Santa Fe Way" is to have every user as a local admin on their box. Makes for a LOT of work for us, but our users can never complain about being locked down at least (and to me, that is a good thing in many ways).

But, it also causes some really weird issues that are hard to fix too.
 
SkyHog said:
You'll be happy to know that the "Santa Fe Way" is to have every user as a local admin on their box. Makes for a LOT of work for us, but our users can never complain about being locked down at least (and to me, that is a good thing in many ways).

But, it also causes some really weird issues that are hard to fix too.
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I am a local admin on my corporate approved box as well. I wish instead I could be allowed to choose the technology that works best for me.
 
smigaldi said:
I use that movie to explain to people what I do for a living. I just do it with technology instead of cigarettes.
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... and do it a couple of million times. :smile:
 
I loved the line, "If you argue correctly, you're never wrong"...

My boss lives by that rule.
 
I don't smoke, but it doesn't bother me if other people do, as long as it doesn't get so bad that there is a haze. In other words, I'm not too worried about second hand smoke. I don't like my clothes smelling like smoke either. I guess that I like that people can't smoke in restaurants, airplanes, and public buildings, but when they can't smoke in the park, or outside somewhere, I think it goes a little too far. I had a woman tell me that it bothered her to walk into city hall because people were always standing out side the door smoking. I guess my take on it is to hold her breath when she walks past them then. There are limits to intolerance, as far as I'm concerned. But I guess that I'm not in the majority, because now they can't smoke on city grounds anymore. Anyway, I don't smoke, and that is it.
 
smigaldi said:
I am a local admin on my corporate approved box as well. I wish instead I could be allowed to choose the technology that works best for me.
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I'm sure you can get anything* you want at your company just like the employees at the place I service.

* Item must be in the catalog and you must provide a "business justification" to be approved by your department's director and sometimes the VP. If buying hardware please allow 4-10 weeks for engineering to test, configure, and approve. Please add 4 weeks for processing.

Oh shoot. Now I understand why IT smokes.:eek:
 
If you quit smoking your risk of lung cancer will go down every year for about 15 years where it will level at about twice the non-smoker rate.

Our firm does medical imaging and we participated in Oprah's campaign to get a million people to stop smoking. We prepared the 3D visualizations of CT scans for Dr. Oz that showed emphysemia sign, coronary artery disease and lung nodules in volunteers (who were then filmed outside Harpo smoking to calm their nerves). The issues of screening asymptomatic patients with CT aside, it was chilling that you didn't have to scan very many folks to turn up good material for the episode.
 
SkyHog said:
I probably won't quit until I die :(
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Just know that dieing early is a likely outcome. My friend one office down the line just had a heart attack. He has smoked for 40 years. Suddenly he found the reason to quit.....

-Skip
 
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