My e-Cigarette Experiences…

Posts Tagged ‘smoking’

OK… so nearly six hours in and I’m still on my first battery and my first cartridge.  I’ve gone about my day fairly normally except for the fact that I’m not stopping all activities to have a smoke when I crave.  And in doing this I’m already learning something VERY interesting to me.  It seems that I crave a smoke often, but I don’t give myself time to finish the whole thing.   This afternoon, at the office, I felt a craving and I answered it by taking a drag of my e-cig.  Then a second.  Then I was ready to put it away and move on.  I’d have had to stop working – go outside and walk 50 yards from the building, in the back, out of sight – then light up.  Pull a few hard drags off the analog and then snuff out 1/2 of the smoke and dash back into the office.  Even hastier and more wasteful on ugly weather days.  So I think I might actually end up saving even MORE than I had thought.  I’m nearly 6 hours into my vaping experience – no cravings for an analog and still on the first charge and cart!  I wonder how long this first one will go?  So far… I’m 12 analogs into the day.  Stay tuned! 

(NOTE:  Updates will be staggered but quite interesting this weekend as I am at a family function that includes some drinking – so it will be a REAL test of the stamina of the e-cig hardware and cartridges.)

Have a great – tobacco free – weekend!

It’s arrived!  My package from e-cig.com actually arrived!  Those sleek little black batteries and the several boxes of assorted cartridges are all intact and safe in their cute little case.  So far, and it’s only been an hour or so, I’m excited!  I’m getting good vapor and the included sample cartridges have a nice flavor.  Takes a few puffs to get used to it since I’m accustomed to menthol, but I actually find it slightly reminiscent of my duMaurier days.  So the journey is finally underway – and I will be keeping you all posted as I try and learn and experience the changes between smoking and vaping.  Oh… and if there are any local readers that smoke Number 7 Menthol, I just this morning bought a pack that I don’t think I’ll be needing, and the store won’t take them back (and it was only 1/2 hour!).

So my first thoughts…  I have one beef right away.  The kit comes with a short and long battery, and with the long battery attached the unit won’t fit in the little case they shipped it with.  Minor pain.  And the writing on the cartridge boxes that tells you the flavour is TINY!  So out came the sharpie and I’ve marked them so I know which box is which.

I was able to draw a few puffs right out of the box so far, and I’m actually even more impressed than I thought I might be.  They really do emulate a smoke well.  These are the e-cig.com E8 product, which features the disposable atomizer built right into the cartridge, so each new cartridge and flavour is also a new atomizer.  Nice if you like to switch around from menthol, to plain, to flu cured, to cherry (the mix I have for this order) and even nicer in that you don’t need to worry about having an atomizer fail while you’re waiting for a replacement to arrive in shipping.  I was planning to have 3 on hand just to make sure I didn’t suddenly find myself running to the store for analogs.

It’s way to early yet to say a lot more about these, but I will be tracking the life and use of the E8, as well as my desire for a smoke and will be certain to keep everyone posted.  I’m actually… for the first time in a very LONG time, having a puff while sitting at my computer!  Fun!

Cheers all!

Happy Vaping!

njw

Head on over to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/keep-life-saving-electronic-cigarettes-available and get your name on the growing list of signatures on this petition.  We’ve already seen that Health Canada respond to the actions and positions of the US FDA, so perhaps, if we can nudge one of these agencies to change their view, we can see others take note and follow suit.  I’m signature #11,799 on the list, and hope to see it hit a much larger number in the next few weeks!

Get on board to save e-cigs and more!

and still I’m a smoker.  It’s not for lack of trying.  But now I know that I can’t buy from Blu any time in the near future, as they are no longer able to ship into Canada.  And it appears that this will be increasingly true of vendors in the US – and likely other vendors as well.  But I don’t want to get into the whole Health Canada thing right now…  I’ve got a lot more to say on that one later.

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I was advised earlier today, and have just confirmed it, that the Blu e-cig products are no longer being shipped to Canada.  So…  after a three week wait (and if you’ve not noticed, they have extended their catch-up shutdown to August 1), and now this, it’s a REALLY good thing that I cancelled that order.  I’d have waited for more than a month and would just now be told that I can’t get the product, OR worse, I would have received my Blu kit and just found out that I couldn’t get more cartridges or parts from them.

Now… the question that remains is;  will I receive my other order?  Or will the Government that feels that Tobacco is safer force me to be unable to receive ANY e-cig product?  I see SOOO much potential for improvement in my life and health and overall well being by changing from tobacco to e-cigs, and am being told that I can’t.  Starting to smoke was my choice – EVEN WHEN WE WERE BEING TOLD IT WAS DEADLY!  So why are these any different?  Come on Health Canada!  If you want to see Product Safety sheets and such, I can send you to the links – just drop me a line and I’ll be glad to share.

Meanwhile… I’m hoping for some good news soon.  Fingers crossed… as they’ve been for four weeks!

njw

WOW!  I just got the email from e-cig.com telling me that my order has been processed! I just placed that order 14 hours ago, and they’ve already processed it.  I’m already beginning to hope that I might see my first e-cig in time for my reunion next weekend.  And if it does arrive in time for that it will be a killer test and demonstration opportunity for me as I will be in the presence of more than 50 family members, quite a few of which are also smokers, enjoying (hopefully!) my first e-cig in places and at times that they will only be craving a smoke.  So – Mr. Postman – please speed things along and let’s get that package here in the 5 business days or less that is suggested in the email.  Now THIS is getting exciting!  More to come soon so be sure to Subscribe to the feed to stay up to date.

Cheers

I just got off the phone with Blu Customer Service, and I’ve elected to cancel that order.  It’s been 26 days and the order is still pending, so I’ve gone to another source to get started on this journey.  The story is no good if there’s no action, and I just can’t wait any longer to move on.   Now…  I do want you all to know that I STILL like the offering that Blu have come up with, and the price point as well, so there is still a chance that I may try again later when I’m not as anxious to get started vaping instead of smoking.  But that day will be a month or two down the road when I’ve tried it for a while and am convinced that it’s worth the time to try more than one product.  It’s just a shame that I’m not holding my Blu right now (which is about the length of time it SHOULD have taken based on ordering day information). 

Now I know you’re all wondering WHAT I’ve ordered and from WHERE!?

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And the WHO (World Health Organization) and the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and ANY other government funded and run health organization that is going to tell me the risks of using e-cigarettes.  Here’s the bottom line.  I CHOOSE TO SMOKE!  Yes, I’ve tried to quit many times and several different ways to prolong my health.  I KNOW THE RISKS!  You’ve spent billions making sure that we all do.  Yet there are over a BILLION people in the world that still smoke for one reason or another.

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Consider if you will some numbers.

Assume that each ‘smoker’ in these numbers consumes 15 cigarettes per day.
Assume that each e-cig cartridge delivers on the specs and replaces 15 cigarettes per cartridge.

if 1 smoker is 15 butts per day; that is 5,475 butts per year per smoker.

if there are 47 million smokers in the US alone (2006 stats); they generate 257 BILLION butts per year. 

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It’s raining today.  I get wet if I smoke in my car as the rain comes in the windows.  On the upside, I don’t smoke as much when it rains.  But with a serious situation at the day job, I had to head for a couple puffs this morning and that meant walking out in the rain to get far enough away to have even a partial smoke to cut the edge and get my brain back on track for the delicate matter at hand.  And while I was getting soaked standing under that little (useless) tree I was thinking how great it would have been to just stand by the door perhaps and have a puff or two off an e-cig rather than having to deal with this.  There are SO many times that I know I’ll enjoy this concept, and I just can’t wait for my Blu to arrive.  But more things to do so back to the grind for now.  Later!