Greetings all and Happy 2011. My name is Paul and I live in south central Kentucky (transplant) and I just registered on the forum. I've been here for about a week lurking, reading and learning. I'm just getting started with the wonderful world of vaping and I can't thank this forum and it's members enough for helping navigate all there is to learn about e-cigarettes.
My wife and I are both smokers. I've been an analog smoker for close to 30 years and my wife for nearly 10. I'm currently smoking about 15 analogs a day of Marlboro Light 100's and my wife smokes about 8 Ultra lights. I really do enjoy smoking, all the little nuances but I'm really growing tired of the stigma and negatives associated with it and have been thinking about changing things up a little bit....I've even had the occasional thoughts of quitting in the past few months and that's been odd for me.
I was first exposed to electronic cigarettes on the web and in the media but they never really caught my eye as anything other than a gimmick. About two weeks ago I was watching a video of Kathryn Heigl's appearance on The David Letterman show and it really got me thinking. Her story was convincing and watching her and DL sitting their puffing an e-cig sort of opened my mind to the fact that maybe there was more to this than I originally thought. Off I went in search of additional information. My first physical interaction with trying an e-cig was via the mall kiosk in our local mall. A very nice young (attractive lady) owns and operates a couple of kiosks side by side in the mall and one of them sells starter kits and supplies. The type she carried were very basic two piece smokes and cartomizers available in three strengths (24mg, 11mg and 0mg) and she gladly let me try my first smoke there in the mall. I found it to be interesting. It had good vapor and throat hit, had the feel and appearance of a real cigarette (down to the glowing red end) and I didn't find the taste objectionable. It was a little strong for me however as I ended up with a pretty sizable head rush after about five or six puffs. She assured me it was an 11 mg carto but I'm still not convinced. My wife took only one puff and left with the same feeling. This wasn't the best first experience but it didn't dissuade me from wanting to learn more. I'm afraid that it may have done more to turn my wife off than me. I thanked the young lady and told her I needed to think about it more and that I might be back.
I left for home and started doing some research. After a bit of poking around on Youtube and Google I came across this fantastic forum and I've been lurking and learning ever since. After reading a bit here and bouncing about to a few recommended links and vendors I found my way to Vapor4Life. I ordered my first starter kit on Wednesday night along with a few extra five packs of cartomizers, paid for expedited shipping and still saved over $60.00 from the price at the kiosk. Much to my surprise my kit arrived yesterday afternoon. I opened the package, placed my battery on the charger and an hour later my journey was ready to begin. I've been switching back and forth between analogs and my VaporKing and find that I can easily simply smoke the ecig in place of an analog but have still been having some analogs when my wife goes out to smoke. I'm trying to get her to try it again but she has been very resistant. She is mostly a social smoker but is a little more hooked than she believes and I'm afraid that first experience with the e-cig at the mall was a pretty big turn off for her. She just keeps telling me that when I'm ready to quit she'll quit but that she has no interest in the ecig in the interim....lot's of work ahead.
Sorry for the long post but just had a lot to say. Thanks to all for reading and to those that make this forum what it is. I'm extremely active in some other internet forums on various hobbies and interests and ECF has all the makings of a great place to learn and contribute.
Best regards,
Paul
Cliff's notes:
Long time analog smoker, tries first electronic cigarette and finds that he likes it. Surf's and searches until finding ECF (finds happy home). Reads and learns enough to be an informed consumer and heads off to Vapor4Life. Orders starter kit, enjoys it and has been able to all ready smoke fewer analog cigs on the road to possibly dropping the analog habit all together over the upcoming months.
My wife and I are both smokers. I've been an analog smoker for close to 30 years and my wife for nearly 10. I'm currently smoking about 15 analogs a day of Marlboro Light 100's and my wife smokes about 8 Ultra lights. I really do enjoy smoking, all the little nuances but I'm really growing tired of the stigma and negatives associated with it and have been thinking about changing things up a little bit....I've even had the occasional thoughts of quitting in the past few months and that's been odd for me.
I was first exposed to electronic cigarettes on the web and in the media but they never really caught my eye as anything other than a gimmick. About two weeks ago I was watching a video of Kathryn Heigl's appearance on The David Letterman show and it really got me thinking. Her story was convincing and watching her and DL sitting their puffing an e-cig sort of opened my mind to the fact that maybe there was more to this than I originally thought. Off I went in search of additional information. My first physical interaction with trying an e-cig was via the mall kiosk in our local mall. A very nice young (attractive lady) owns and operates a couple of kiosks side by side in the mall and one of them sells starter kits and supplies. The type she carried were very basic two piece smokes and cartomizers available in three strengths (24mg, 11mg and 0mg) and she gladly let me try my first smoke there in the mall. I found it to be interesting. It had good vapor and throat hit, had the feel and appearance of a real cigarette (down to the glowing red end) and I didn't find the taste objectionable. It was a little strong for me however as I ended up with a pretty sizable head rush after about five or six puffs. She assured me it was an 11 mg carto but I'm still not convinced. My wife took only one puff and left with the same feeling. This wasn't the best first experience but it didn't dissuade me from wanting to learn more. I'm afraid that it may have done more to turn my wife off than me. I thanked the young lady and told her I needed to think about it more and that I might be back.
I left for home and started doing some research. After a bit of poking around on Youtube and Google I came across this fantastic forum and I've been lurking and learning ever since. After reading a bit here and bouncing about to a few recommended links and vendors I found my way to Vapor4Life. I ordered my first starter kit on Wednesday night along with a few extra five packs of cartomizers, paid for expedited shipping and still saved over $60.00 from the price at the kiosk. Much to my surprise my kit arrived yesterday afternoon. I opened the package, placed my battery on the charger and an hour later my journey was ready to begin. I've been switching back and forth between analogs and my VaporKing and find that I can easily simply smoke the ecig in place of an analog but have still been having some analogs when my wife goes out to smoke. I'm trying to get her to try it again but she has been very resistant. She is mostly a social smoker but is a little more hooked than she believes and I'm afraid that first experience with the e-cig at the mall was a pretty big turn off for her. She just keeps telling me that when I'm ready to quit she'll quit but that she has no interest in the ecig in the interim....lot's of work ahead.
Sorry for the long post but just had a lot to say. Thanks to all for reading and to those that make this forum what it is. I'm extremely active in some other internet forums on various hobbies and interests and ECF has all the makings of a great place to learn and contribute.
Best regards,
Paul
Cliff's notes:
Long time analog smoker, tries first electronic cigarette and finds that he likes it. Surf's and searches until finding ECF (finds happy home). Reads and learns enough to be an informed consumer and heads off to Vapor4Life. Orders starter kit, enjoys it and has been able to all ready smoke fewer analog cigs on the road to possibly dropping the analog habit all together over the upcoming months.
