This beautiful deco glass ashtray has been in my family for 5 generations. My earliest memories of the ashtray came as a small child running around my grandparents house where it sat atop my grandfathers desk. Over the decades this ashtray has had approximately 1,000,000 cigarettes in it.

Over time it has survived births and deaths, triumphs and tragedies, and in an odd way had linked multiple generations of family members together. My grandmother was a remarkable woman and prior to her own passing had made out lists of what little treasures she had left and who was to receive them.

Being the only smoker left in the family after my father passed away she decided the ashtray should go to me.

I never put much thought into the ashtray until a friend of mine passed away. We were both 46 at the time and it made me seriously contemplate my own mortality. As I sat having a smoke I started thinking about the ashtray. As I gazed at it I realized a startling fact. My great grandfather, grandfather, and my own father were all smokers. And they had all passed away before the age of 60.

The thought that perhaps I only had less than 14 years or so to live was unnerving at best. I had tried many times to quit to smoking over the years, but every attempt had failed. A few months past and a close friend called and said he hadn't had a cigarette for a month. Years earlier we both tried to go cold turkey and even attended a quit smoking hypnotherapy seminar once. Each time lasted a few weeks but inevitably a night out of drinking or some stressful moment would arise and we both ended up reaching for a smoke.

I was completely intrigued at his news as he went on to tell me that he had started using an e-cigarette. Until that very moment I had never heard of an e-cigarette. I spent the next week and half researching everything I could find on the net. I decided it was worth a shot. I was a little skeptical but figured what the hell if it could work for my friend maybe it would work for me. I ordered my KR808 Starter Kit and told my wife I would give it a try, no promises, no resolutions, no pressures, if it didn't work at least I tried.

My birthday was just 2 months away and all I could think about was, "What if I could quit? That would be the best birthday present ever. My kit arrived in the afternoon and like a kid with a new toy I carefully read all the instructions. It seemed a little hokey to me at first as I contemplated the fact that this little gizmo was hopefully going to help me do something which I had failed doing so many times before.

I ordered 2 regular Auto Batteries in white to fool my brain into thinking it looked like a cigarette. I started vaping at 2:00pm and wanted to see how long I could go until I wanted a smoke. By 5:00 I was thinking, "Hey, this thing just might work I wonder if I can make it until 8:00?" By 8:00 I was getting a little excited, after all I had just gone 6 hours without a cigarette. Scared I might break I went to bed early that night a little fearful knowing how much I crave a smoke after waking up.

In the morning I got up and just like every morning for the last 30 years I made a pot of coffee. Then I stumbled out to my workbench in the garage to have a smoke. There was the ashtray with 5 or 6 butts in it and next to that was half a pack of Marlboro Lights. It became a stare down that seemed to last for a good 5 minutes. Disgusted over how strong my patterning had become I knew this was a defining moment. A battle was raging in my head. Who was gonna win? Was my vaping journey only going to last for 6 waking hours before I would cave in? I grew angry and marched back inside the house, grabbed my PV and started chain vaping profusely.

By the afternoon I was jubilant, I had survived my first morning craving and my wife was shocked. I had gone 24 hours without a smoke. Something I hadn't done in years and I felt re-energized and empowered. The next 3 months came with many tests but I held strong and at one point grew so angry at my cravings I yelled at myself in the mirror. I had finally come to grips that this time...this time I was going to win...this time was gonna be different...it was my turn to kick Philip Morris' ass.

My kit arrived on July 20th, 2010 and I have been smoke free since outside of a few puffs which I will talk about later. The glass ashtray now holds my e-cigarettes....it is my intention that it never sees another cigarette butt again.

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By The Captain 12-17-2011

A Few Puffs along the way…

I have never appreciated people who were overboard with their anti-smoking antics. That is, as long as the smoker in question was polite, exercised good judgment and wasn’t being a jerk.

When friends and family visit I offer them my man cave if they want to light up. At least I can open the door and parts of the garage are carpeted so it’s a comfortable atmosphere.

After the first 3 analog-less months curiosity killed the cat, life is too short, denial is for the weak, I took a hit off my wife’s aunt’s cigarette at a family gathering just to see what it was like. It hit me like a freight train, I flashed back to being 13 and standing behind some benches at the park trying my first cigarette. Didn’t taste like it used to, it was both disgusting and seductively familiar.

The second puff and it all started coming back to me, flashbacks of a 33 year addiction. Although I really hate to admit this.......that second puff tasted really good. It reminded me why analogs are such a measuring stick for vaping. Massive Throat Hit, Flavor was off the chart, and the smoke was awesome…it was literally breathtaking.

But the aftertaste was acidic, I could taste all sorts of different chemicals which I had never noticed before. Puff 3 was not so welcomed, a tight chest, watery eyes, the taste of a wet ashtray coating my mouth it had gone from awesome to awful within seconds. No longer welcomed and I promptly handed the cigarette back to it's owner. It was fun for a puff or two, but there was no doubt that something had changed and the thrill was gone.

A quick brushing of the teeth, a little mouthwash, a tall glass of ice water along with 15 or so vapes and I had recovered. I stood shoulder to shoulder with my smoking peers and took absolute joy that I was vaping my delicious flavors. The tables had turned, after just a few puffs I no longer felt like I was missing out, it was the opposite, I felt they were all missing out.

Given my reaction after just 3 puffs I now have a little insight to those that are highly reactionary to smoke. After a gathering I can smell the smoke in my garage for a week. My chest felt tight for 2 days afterwards, my clothes from that night smelled like an ashtray. I am so sensitive to cigarette smoke now I have become a human analog detector. I now have a lot more empathy for those ardent anti-smokers and can relate to many of their complaints.

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