> George,

 >  GP> That's so adult & responsible.  You know the tv ads/corporations want
 >  GP> you to go wild & impulse buy/splurge, right?

 >   The joke is that the ham radio gear manufacturers are rejoicing, and
 > hoping that the ham radio operators will order new gear from them. Several
 > years ago, there was a "DC To Daylight" rig at the big ham radio event in
 > Ohio for $20,000!!

 >   Now, I (and most other hams) agree that we could "outfit a nice ham 
radio
 > room for $20,000"...but for one rig, that's overkill.

Prices change, yup. I like looking at old Radio Shack ads from the 1970s.

$5,499 for a brand new state of the art IBM PC Jr (8088).

I had a 'high speed' 300baud external modem (once sold as the sysop's choice,
years before I discovered computing); I had it when win98 was current & I did
use it to log on to the internet once!

I also logged onto the net using Windows 2.0 around then, too!

 >  GP> Oh well, I guess you were also raised to understand you don't work 
for
 >  GP> them, eh?

 >   Nope. The most splurging I get anymore is going to a fancy restaurant 
for
 > lunch.

I like that on occasion, but not during covid. . .

Now, if extra funds, after paying bills & filling cupboards & freezer, I 
might treat the family to something good from Uber Eats (A&W, NYFries, &
Freshii are our faves); I'm bored of pizza.

 >  GP> Some things my moderatoin level is zero. (e.g. tobacco -- 18 years
 >  GP> under that devil on my baxck was plenty -- I was freed, PTL, & I'm 
not
 >  GP> going back!)

 >   The only thing I want smoking or steaming is the food on my dinner 
plate.
 > (think sizzling fajitas at Applebee's). I mentioned that at my heart 
clinic,
 > and the young black nurse laughed, and said "That's what I'm talking
 > about!!" .

Good plan! No positives from smoking cigarettes.

It's the hardest drug to quit, they say.  My experience seemed to bolster
that. . . until I looked seriously at my habit & heard the verse, "do
everything as unto the Lord"

Well, I realized that nobody seeing me smoking was going to automoatiucally
assume I was a Christian, so I asked myself what I would need to change
(besides quitting, as I'd marked that as impossible)

I got the clue one day while waiting on a bench for a bus.  I was on the one
far end, & a young boy (11-13?) waas on the other; he sat down AFTER I'd been
smoking, so I figured he made that choice.

I noted hie was lookin miserable & trying to cover his face with his shirt.  
I lifted my cig & asked, "Is this bothering you?"  he nodded so miserably(no
attitude of 'I'll get that smoker'), I immediately tossed it into the rain
drain, & realized I can't smoke even outdoors at a bus bench as somebody 
might NEED to sit, & only sit to save falling, then my smoke could exacerbate
asthma or allergies.  So I took to standing, with my bad leg, behind bus
shelter(in the rain) or a half block downwind.

This was painful, but whsat it weas incumbent upon me to do.

Then I realised that even in my own home I was not sovereign.

When I had guests, I'd ask them if I was allowed to smoke" (freaked a lot
out!)

One neighbour spent 6-12 hours a day just parked in my place, so I negotiated
with him, that I'd cut down to 1/hour & burn a candle beside me during that.
(he had allergies)

Evebntually it became too much trouble to smoke 'properly' & kindly, & I was
truly ready to quit, so I asked God, in prayerr, to help me.

My church(Mennonites) was rabidly anti-smoking(think Baptists), yet offered 
to pay for The Nicotine Patch system (way out of my affordability, at $60 a
set every 2 weeks)

I was out of smokes the first day I picked up the patch kit, as I wanted to
be.  I'd been without a cig foir 2+ hours when I got it, & hid myself in some
u nderground stairs to read tghew instructions & put my first patch on my
shoulder.  WHOOSH!!! Even as addictyed as I was & immune to any noticeable
response to nicotine, that patch contained enough nicotine that I got
momentarily 'high'; that gave me the assurance I needed that this could work
for replacing my high nicotine input habit.

It was still difficult -- I caught myself lighting up occasionally while on
the patch (a good way to have a heart attack)

I prayed for protection, & fought the urges for the 6 week program & actually
fully quit the patch a week early, while on a church outing to the beach up
the coast at a member's home.

Nothing but love for God for this one.  I didn't HAVE to quit -- I could
afford my habit just fine, & I'd come to a truce about it with my church's
leadership. (never on chuirch property or on the same block, even, & tru to
cut back)

But trying to focus on my job as a man of God(unordained at this point) did
the trick, with the Spirit guiding me when & as needed. . .

Hmm. .smoking. . .

Sure, smoking helps you lose weight: one lung at a time!

Doctor to patient do you smoke?
Patient: yes.
Doctor: marijuana, cigarettes, cigars, Vapes?
Patient: mostly brisket, and pork.

 >  GP> How come? I love cheesecake; a friend dropped me off a duble height 
one
 >  GP> when I was 20, expecting it'd last me a while; I returned her pan the
 >  GP> next day!)

 >   It's too rich. There is a small computer deal called a Raspberry Pi 
(there
 > are apparently variations, such as Banana and Orange Pi's), which run 
under
 > Linux...and are in use by amateur radio operators, among others. I tell 
them
 > that "I don't know much about a raspberry pi...but a pineapple upside down
 > cheesecake sounds awfully good". 

I'd try raspberry pie; can't afford raspberry pi.

 >  GP> I use sparkling spring water for punches, so there's no added
 >  GP> flavour(not even the soda water component) to change the base
 >  GP> punch/juice flavour. I buy the 2L spring water for $99 usually. 
(Ginger
 >  GP> Ale same, unless name brand name, then it's $2.35 for 500ml!)

 >   I'm staying away from the carbonated beverages...I'm drinking diet green
 > tea citrus now. The eye doctor said the caffeine won't increase the eye
 > pressure...the "diet" ensures no sugar...and it's also a diurectic, but
 > not as strong as Lasix. The latter has the kidneys working overtime, but
 > that's better than kidney stones...the pain is the closest thing a man
 > can get to childbirth.

Sparkling spring water is natural water, not a soda.

 >  GP> I rarely drink pop -- the occasional Coke just for the caffeine.

 >   I used to drink Coca-Cola and Ginger Ale to settle my stomach...as
 > they wouldn't put me to sleep like Odansetron (Zofran, Promethazine,
 > Phenagren, etc.) does in treating nausea.

Per "Mythbusters" the best treatment for nausea is simple ginger (more so 
than dramamine or even prescription antinausea meds)

I have ginger lozenges of dramamine. (acts quickly & assuredly to kill 
nausea)

 >  GP> I used to drink about 2 ounces of root beer a year & that was the 
only
 >  GP> pop I drank!  Now, with work & family. . . *sigh* (permatired)

 >   There are several brands of root beer...A&W, Dad's, Hires, Barq's, and
 > I've seen some with Kroger and Wal-Mart. But some beverages (especially
 > the Pepsi products) are like I was drinking prune juice.

I used to make A&W root beer from scratch every Saturday morning in '89, 
whebn I worked at one of the lsadt A&W drive-ins in Canada -- fun.

Barq's is the only root beer that contains caffeine(& not much of it)

I drink mainly Coke now, just for the quick-acting wake-up drug in it.

& Ginger Ale when I order meals at NYFries at home.

Your friend,

<+]:{)}
Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
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