My e-Cigarette Experiences…

I had a couple of experiences today that made me appreciate the concept of the e-cig even more today.  I am, of course, waiting for the arrival of mine but as I was driving around today, I seemed to be more aware of the things that I will NOT experience with e-cigs.  Of course, there’s the chemicals, and the smoke, and all of the benefits we’ve already talked about, but this morning I was clearly reminded of the other indirect threats that smoking can put in our paths.  In my car earlier, I decided to have a smoke.  It was a nice day, but breezy, and I had my windows open of course to release the smoke from my car (not that it really helps all that much).  I had to, for a couple of seconds, revert to driving with my knee while I had to use both hands to light a cig.  It’s a practice that I’ve done so many times in the past without thought, that I just had to take pause for a moment today and wonder just how often I actually do it.  And I didn’t realize the real risks until well after my second or third drag.

Then, a little gust of wind blew ashes and few hot embers down the front of my shirt.  One ember even hit my hand on the steering wheel.  A moment of panic of course follows while you have to check to ensure that you haven’t got anything burning, and then back to the focus on the road.  Or, while it didn’t happen today, I’ve had a few scary moments with entire LIT cigarettes falling from my fingertips and dropping into my lap while zipping down a road filled with other perhaps equally distracted drivers!  It actually scared me to think how many times I’ve been lucky to not run into someone during one of those moments.

And of course, again today, the realization that I may be tossing away even more than I had realized in waste.  The actual number of drags I pull off a lit cigarette while driving seems to vary from 4 to 6.  I think that the other half of each king size smoke is going out the window.   And the stupid reflex of lighting up during a short trip, or only a short distance from your destination only to have to crush or discard half of a smoke.  As I consider the day today, the entire $9 pack that I consumed, and the situations around each of those, I am quite certain that I wasted no less than $4 worth of product.  That’s the equivalent of 2 full days of e-cigs!

So I’d like you to consider what you consume, and think carefully about how much you waste in any given day.  If that alone is not enough to make you want to save money on a product that is far less likely to kill you – directly or indirectly – then I’ll be surprised indeed.

More food for thought…

I saw the videos of President Obama signing the Tobacco Bill today.  I’m still looking for good information on the actual impact of this Bill, and I’m sure we’ll all be watching to see follow-up reactions in the e-cig world.  Here’s hoping that this won’t make it any more difficult to get these products.  I have to admit, that in the short time I’ve known about them, I’ve become quite a strong advocate, and have already told a fair number of others that will be watching my progress with great interest, and will hopefully begin to move away from Tobacco as well.

More in the days ahead!  I have to get some sleep now.  G’night!