The collateral damage from not smoking analogs

[ScooterGirl]

I don't miss cigarettes, not one bit, but I have found some things that have sort of taken me by surprise:

1) Lighters. When I smoked I ALWAYS had a lighter in my pocket and that came in handy. Favorite use? Burning the ticks alive that I tweezed off my cat (for whom ticks have an unending love despite all the Frontline I put on him). Now I have to hold the wretched thing in the tweezers while I go hunting for a lighter and then slap my forehead when I realize there is no ashtray handy in which to dispose of the corpse. Which brings me to...

2) Ashtrays. I don't miss the dirty, stinky ashtray but I do miss the convenience of always having one within reach in which to put the little things I want to throw away. That spare screw that somehow is lying at my foot (where did THAT come from?), the foil from a piece of gum, the little knot of fur I just trimmed from my cats belly, my dogs toenail clippings. You know what I mean. I suppose I could keep an ashtray nearby but that just doesn't seem right and if i use a nice pottery bowl then I'll end up just using that as a repository for small junk I don't really want to throw away. Rock and a hard place, I guess.

3) Smoke. No, not inhaling it but using as a bug repellent. Cigarette smoke came in VERY handy on humid summer days and nights. vaping, I've found, is a bug attractor. Noseeums in particular seem to love it. I guess it's time to break out the picaridin. By mid August I'm guessing I'll stinking not of smoke but of DEET. Fair trade but I'm hoping no one complains I'm trying to kill them with second hand DEET inhalation.

Am I crazy or has anyone else experienced separations from the world of cigarettes that they hadn't exactly thought of?

 

[Max232]

Yea, the lighters for sure. I have carried one in my pocket for 20 odd years, use them to light my torch on the job, now I never have one and have to use a striker.

 

[FatBill]

Hear you Scootergirl... i don't miss ashes on my desk or in the truck. I dont miss cig butts all over my yard. I hear scope mouthwash works good for keeping bugs at bay tho.

 

[Steelrat]

ROFL...very true. The bug thing had me cussing like a sailor today! This past weekend I put in sod, plugs, and flowers for my Mother. I've, naturally, had to go and water everything. I've found myself outside 3-4 times a day and WOW...I don't think I have ever really noticed just how buggy central Florida really is! Any time I had bugs flying around, buzzing in my ear, I just lit a cigarette and they would leave me alone. Not so much anymore.

Steelrat

 

[evilfrog]

Yea, the lighters for sure. I have carried one in my pocket for 20 odd years, use them to light my torch on the job, now I never have one and have to use a striker.

Dude! Do you work in a dungeon?!

I've still got my ashtrays. Use them for PVs. Unfortunately, there is a lot more stuff to keep track of now then just a lighter. I still carry a lighter though.

 

[quittin4mykids]

Yesm all of the above-

There was a tick yesterday, I had NOwhere to put it (NOT in my nice clean ashtrays that I use for my PV) and nothing to kill it with when I found a tissue. and YES, I DID try to put my jeweled end of my 501 on it. and lit it up.. and then I was shocked when it didnt work.... (yes, I am blonde)

Hubby or kids always needing a lighter for the BBQ, the torch, rope at the barn..... and then acting upset when I dont have one and they have to go search-

But the one that gets me the worst is not getting 'done' my 'after dinner cig' turns into a 45 min vape.
"I'll fix you something to drink when I get done with this cig" turns into "OH MY GOD- why did that kid just faint in the 98 degree heat? OOOHHHHHHHH DUH- I didnt make the koolaide 4 hours ago---"


having no excuse to take a break outside at tedious functions- now I just have to be honest and say "well folks, I need to leave for a few minutes before I strangle one of you- *insert smile* see you in a minute" for some reason most folks think this is a joke and just a part of my 'cute sense of humor' and laugh....

 

[knobbysmoo]

"having no excuse to take a break outside at tedious functions- now I just have to be honest and say "well folks, I need to leave for a few minutes before I strangle one of you- *insert smile* see you in a minute" for some reason most folks think this is a joke and just a part of my 'cute sense of humor' and laugh...."

Too funny, this is what I miss the most also!

 

[Nokisu]

I didn't know that e-juice attracts insects! I haven't been vaping long enough for that to happen, so thanks for the heads up! I use the clean ashtray in my car to hold up my PV, it works. I don't carry a lighter anymore either, but haven't had the need for one since I quit analogs.

 

[JumpSteady]

Yeah I agree about the bug thing. But I didn't realize it till I read this post. I guess I thought the bugs had gotten worse the past couple years, but now that I think of it, I would just light up when they started bothering me and they would go away.

I wonder if there is a citrus e-juice that would repel them.

 

[ScooterGirl]

Yeah I agree about the bug thing. But I didn't realize it till I read this post. I guess I thought the bugs had gotten worse the past couple years, but now that I think of it, I would just light up when they started bothering me and they would go away.

I wonder if there is a citrus e-juice that would repel them.

Hmm, there's a thought. I'll get some lemon and give it a try. Can't hurt; I like lemon...and orange...and grapefruit. Maybe I'll make me a citrus cocktail and see what happens. If it works I'll call it "JumpSteady's Bug Bomb"!

 

[Stevew443]

I still carry a box of matches with me at all times. There have been way too many times when I have needed a flame for something or the other.
And those no-see-ums are murder when vaping. But when mowing the yard, the swallows are diving around me eating up all the bugs that I stir up, so I at least get a show.

 

[Chornbro]

Ashes, ashes everywhere... how about burning your self/car seats/furniture? Ever dropped a cigarette in your car while driving? Yikes...

Also, the smell on your clothes and hair.... or smoke in your eye?

 

[bgirlskwerl]

LOL...I guess I havent been vaping long enough either to notice...I never smoked in the house so I never had the ashtray action, and thankfully we dont have much in the way of ticks here in PNW....

It is odd for me to be without a lighter even though I was such a closeted smoker...I am thankful that my smoking buddy has decided to take up vaping...so the both of us are going to be missing certain things.

i dont miss the stink and the mess...even with smoking outside I still had to clean up butts and the ashes...

 

[Coldblooded357]

I tend to miss having a lighter but there isn't one other thing I miss about cigs.

 

[Dani1226]

I miss the "escape"... I actually still use it as a crutch... People haven't really started realizing that I don't really neeeeeed to go out to smoke anymore... even thought they know I don't because I've told them, they just take it as common place when I walk out Hopefully I can hang on to that for alittle longer... I'd hate to have to start resorting to the, "Gonna have to walk outside for a bit before I strangle one of you people" thing... not saying it's not the truth... just trying to stay as civil as possible... >.> It may come down to that one day, though

 

[aziffel]

I still carry a lighter most times,ya never know when it'll come in handy(more than you think)
If you use a cig style pv,wait til you try to light it.

 

[misterhyde]

I still carry a lighter with me, just in case I need one for something. But I definitely do not miss smoke in my eyes or burning myself when I don't realise how far down the cigarette had burned. Nor do I miss burning my overcoat when the wind blows it back into my cigarette!

Do love the stares when you're in a crowd and you take a hit off your cig looking PV and it glows blue! The looks are priceless.

 

[JMC]

I still have a lighter for lighting a candle or splicing a wire. A good thing that has stopped since vaping is...no more balancing the long hot boxed cig and looking crazy for an ashtray before it falls off! Or having to use your hand if you can't find one fast enough. No more waiting for someone to offer you an ashtray. Or using your shoe to put one out and leaving a black mark on the bottom of it then tracking it in your house, or someone elses. No more flicking and landing in the wrong spot. No more saving the long butts just incase. No more suddenly finding a hugh piece of wood in a half smoked one and wondering if it might be a worm. No more having to hold it in your mouth to use both hands and getting wrinkles if no ashtray is nearby cause the ecig is too heavy and you can just lay it down. No more singed hair smell, yours or someones your sitting next to who is'nt smoking. One thing I still can't get over is smoking near others even though I am now vaping.

 

[JMC]

I still carry a lighter most times,ya never know when it'll come in handy(more than you think)
If you use a cig style pv,wait til you try to light it.

LOL! Thats so funny!

 

[bmwjen]

+1 on smoking being a bug repellent!! While bicycling or just sitting on the back deck during the Texas summer heat, I think I used the "bug repellent" on more than one occasion to smoke.

also +1 on the lighter thing...........however, for some reason our electric cables are buried underground, & are about 30 years old, so last summer we were constantly having 2-4 hour power outages while the electric company ran all new wires. I felt so lucky to have my lighter handy while running around my house lighting candles. Not to mention, hurricane season is coming................thanks for reminding me, I need to put some lighters in our emergency kit.