Friday, December 08, 2006

Bone Chilling Cold…

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but it is bone chilling cold here tonight with a very blustery wind making it seem all the much colder. My little wireless weather station currently reads 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8.33 Celsius) at 3:18 A.M. We are certainly not used to such cold this far in the Deep South.

One of the hardest parts of my recent stay in the hospital was the cold. Our rooms weren’t heated for some reason causing uncomfortable coldness at night and most days. As you may know, we are all gripped in a mini ice age in the United States these days. You would often see the lucky patients with their warm coats and sweat pants on and the unlucky patients wrapped in those cheap and thin hospital blankets trying to keep warm. It was all rather draconian. Silent Peter spent his whole time at the mental hospital wrapped in two thin, pink blankets trying to stay warm.

I have a busy day ahead of me today. I have to drive down to Opelika, Alabama to talk to my therapist, Barbara. My social worker, Curtis, sent it up for me. He feels it is important that I talk early and often with a professional. I hate having to pay $75 dollars an hour just for me to ramble. I feel I do that on this blog for free and get feedback from you all via the comments.

I still haven’t smoked a cigarette since last Saturday afternoon and for that I am proud. Quitting smoking has to be one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. It is amazing though that my sense of smell has returned and I can breathe through my nose again. Everything in my house reeks of cigarette smoke still. I never realized just really how badly the stuff stank until I quit for any decent period of time. Well, I am rambling. Let me get some more sleep and then get ready for my therapy session. I hope my car will crank in the morning after such a battery sapping, cold night.

9 comments:

Summer said...

It's windy and cold here too. I hate to think of three months of this sort of weather ahead of me. Good luck with your appointment today.

Sue said...

I really don't feel much for you on the weather front... we are currently at -17, and wind-chill of -25.
Congrats on not smoking. I am a smoker and I can say I know it's freaken hard. I had it licked for more than 6 months and re-started. It sure does STINK, but the only good thing about our bad habit is that we kept it outside so the house is not stinky. So...-25 and smoking outside... see how bad that is ;-)

Cheryl said...

Very chilly up here too. Brrr.

Quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I ever did and consider it quite a great accomplishment.

Good luck today.

eSadElBlOg said...

I am also trying -well...actually yet thinking about- to quit smoking but it is hard! You are brave. Good Luck!!

PipeTobacco said...

Hello Sir:

I am glad that you are well and doing better. As you can tell from the comments section, many, many people were concerned for your.

In my neck of the woods, I would be more satisfied with 17 degree days than what we are currently experiencing. But... it is all a part of living in the north, I suppose. It is strange, but true, that over the last few years I have grown to enjoy winter less than I had earlier. I am not sure why. Sometimes I think I should attempt to move to a university in Florida or Texas or New Mexico.

I wish you well on your refraining from your cigarettes. As long as you wish to, I am sure you can be successful. Does your refraining encompass all tobacco, or is your pipe an allowed friend? You and I both know how different the pipe is from other forms of indulgence, but I was not sure of your current stance.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

PipeTobacco

zirelda said...

You are getting the cold we had a few days ago. At one point we had icicles on the house that almost touched the ground.

Good for you for not smoking!

latibug said...

It has been cold here in AZ also. Usually I can stand it...but for some reason this year is tough.

Blessings,
Lisa

Karin's Korner said...

Andrew - I am so glad to see you back. I also quit smoking a year ago at the end of the month. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. I smoked for 26 years and it was like losing my best friend. A HUGE Congrats on that one. Hope everything is going well for you.

austere said...

No such luck here.
Very hot.