Quitting Smoking and RSD

There once was a time when I despised smoking. Growing up, my family and I would sit at the kitchen table that was more like a breakfast bar now. I always sat in the middle and both my parents would smoke. They each had their own ash tray and everything. Mom with the Virginia Slims and Dad with his Pall Malls, would successfully turn our kitchen into this smoke filled bar-like area. Naturally, the smoke would hover right into my face and since I was always the last one finished eatting, the smoke would drive me nuts. I always swore I'd never do it, and then I went to this Summer Travel Camp when I was 14 and that was it. However, I really didn't truly just, balls out, smoke, until I was 15 and then I had my accident and smoking was replaced with tons of Morphine. That is until I went back to school and remembered their was a smoking lounge for students. So now jump ahead 24 years and although I haven't smoked more than 8-9 cigarettes a day for the past 20 years, quitting smoking has proved to be the utmost impossible task that I know of. I know coming off of Morphine was the hardest thing I ever endured. The pain associated with that is just unimaginable. And even though they say smoking has no physical addiction and it's all psychological, to that I say, "Fuck You!" You haven't spent even an hour in my shoes to even make that assumption. Yeah we got the patch, and it keeps you mellow so you're not all antsy and jumpy, but it's not the same really, now is it? My wife was the one buying the cigarettes and since she decided to quit, naturally I have to follow suite. However, the daily BS pain I experience has increased dramatically. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not quitting, I've just changed formats. I've had one of my Grandfathers pipes with me throughout my travels and recently said screw it and started huffing away at that, before I quit smoking. There's something about smoking a pipe and wearing the patch that is utterly satisfying, only today I said screw the patch. I mean really what's the point. My wife, Mrs. Do what she wants thinks she can just go from 21mg to the 7mg patches in 3 weeks, I told her good luck with that one, it takes months not weeks. I give her two weeks after she tries the lowest dosage patch before she's back to cigarettes. Really, she smokes 2 1/2 packs a day!!! I didn't even need to light up my own cigarettes, just finish the ones she would start and she thinks she's going to quit lickity split after smoking like that for longer than I've known her? In the end I guess we all walk alone when it comes to quitting cigarettes, but like I said, I'm just switching formats. I tried it for a couple of days with just the patch and the pain was intolerable. Ultimately, that is what failed me the last time, being in so much pain, that and paying, at the time, $20 more for the patches. In my eyes, inhaled Nicotine vs. Transdermally delivered Nicotine, there's no comparison and my body is blatantly aware of it. All I know right now is I like older cooler pipes and not the cheap shit my Grandfather used to smoke out of. The pipe pictured above, to the left, is a Mid 60's Danish Briar by Ben Wade. I will be getting it from eBay in the next couple of days and I expect to pay a premium for it. The pipe pictured to the right I purchased off of eBay for my friend's Birthday. It too is a 1965 Ben Wade, Sandblasted, Spiral, Briar. A Simply gorgeous pipe and it made his day! So.....If I'm going to smoke a pipe it had better be an old Estate Pipe. My lips won't be touching anything less than a Ben Wade. Even as we speak I'm watching an old 1930's Dunhill, quite nice, I assure you. Looks like Keith has a new hobby.......