WHAT SHALL WE CHAT ABOUT?

[Ruby Slippers]

One of my questions has been answered! I've just seen a post by Winged Isis on the Blue side from this morning, and it looks like she will be back in Egypt very soon! That's good to know and maybe she will come over here to say 'hello'.

[Kiya]

Grandad, hope things in a few months turn for the better for Mrs G

How did she cope getting the injections into the eye ? makes me cringe just thinking about it

[Grandad]

It is done under clinical conditions Kiya and they anaethetise the eye and apply an antibiotic. It is very quick and on the days that they do the injections you go in at about 10 minute intervals. You don't feel anything.

Thanks for your good wishes to her folks, It is looking more optimistic now than a couple of months ago.

[Jayway]

Horus, I do remember the waterwheel post, I said we had many here, I used them weekly. Sadly now most of the wheels have gone, I went to the council and they told me they were not going to replace them as they kept getting stolen. Now we have to drive 30 round trip to the spring in a hill village and yes I will take some photos but you will have to upload them ? Grandad please send best wishes to Mrs. G. very brave of her to go through the treatment - - -

[Choccy]

Flaming shops, I went into a shop today to buy some ciggies and was told it was closed, I said the door is open though, the reply was the door may be open but we are still closed... What the hell does that mean? is this a new type of Egyptian shop? where they are closed when they are open and open when they are closed. The more I see and hear the less I will bother and go to another shop in future for my ciggies. Arthur Scargill must have had shares in the shop his was always closed and then open when he had only a little trade.

[Horus]

It may be a new government initiative to help you to stop smoking Choccy

@Jay, all you need to do is to email them to me and I will resize and upload them for you

[Grandad]

Choccy, have you tried the 'electronic' cigarettes? They are very much in the news here today with the debate as to whether they present any health risk.
I stopped 16 November 1986 and not one ciggy has touched my lips since
Give it a go mate....

[Kiya]

Grandad glad to hear the treatment is all pain free for Mrs G

If they so badly want us all to stop smoking, why don't they stop ciggies/tobacco coming into the country...........no they wont!!!! all to tax tax tax /money money money

[Grandad]

From my previous post

At the moment RS flights with Monarch in October are not bad, around £350.

Just to put the record straight, that should be Thomson not Monarch.

[Ruby Slippers]

Thanks, Grandad!

On the subject of smoking, I have tried absolutely everything over the years to stop, but nothing has worked for me. Making it illegal though - well, quite honestly I believe it would then become a problem on a par (or worse) than the drug problem. We all know the risks but we take them anyway. As you say, Kiya, the revenue lost to the government would be astronomical if we all gave up!

[Grandad]

RS, I had the best kick up the pants at the age of 51 with an MI (Myocardial Infarction, medical term for heart attack). 'Do you smoke', said the cardiac specialist. 'Yes', I said. 'I suggest you stop now', was his reply and I did.

My Bil, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer at home as I held him: A widow lady neighbour a few doors from me, in her sixties and a regular smoker, is dying of lung cancer and refuses to accept any help from neighbours like Mrs G and me and I am sure she will resist hospice care when the time comes.

There are times when I still fancy a cigarette but always resist and now nobody in my family smokes. Some people smoke into their nineties but it is not worth the risk. Make that extra effort and give up I say. Never mind patches and nicotine gum, just stop.

[Horus]

As a long term Ex smoker myself I know that if I as much as puffed on another cigarette I would probably start again, but like Grandad I absolutely resist the temptation. I have been stopped now for that many years that I am deemed to be a none smoker on any forms I may fill in, but I have to agree there really is no alternative to just going cold turkey and stopping altogether, that's it, a hard but simple choice, there really isn't any middle ground.

[Choccy]

i stopped smoking 28 years ago and started again 1 year ago, the trouble is even the light ciggies in Egypt are heavy in tar. I have not seen these electric ciggies in Egypt yet, and if you can buy them can you get the refills. Also are the refill's Chinese or fake, its hard to trust shops especially in Luxor, to sell or provide you with the real thing, and there is no regulation to stop them.

A typical example is Cleopatra Ciggies 50% of those sold are Chinese fakes and if you do not know what to look for you could end up being very ill.

[Horus]

Choccy I am amazed that after 28 years you were daft enough to start smoking again

[Grandad]

Choccy if you don't even know where your ciggies come from for goodness sake do yourself a favour....buy some sweets.. After 28 years all evidence of smoking on your lungs would have gone.....still time to clean them up again...

[Horus]

That's the point I was making Grandad, his lungs would have been the same as if he had never smoked, so with all this evidence showing what a bad habit it was (even though we did not know that at the time we took it up) then why on earth would you just want to start smoking all over again? it's not as if you still had the craving is it. You may have still liked the wiff of a ciggie as it wafted by you, but we all still do that to some degree, but your craving for a nicotine hit would be none existant after all that time and even at the most stressful time of my life I never thought of lighting up again.

[Ruby Slippers]

Now you two are making me feel like a pariah! Do you have no vices at all? My pet hate is alcohol and I would love to see an absolute ban on drinking and driving, zero tolerance, as in some Scandinavian countries! But there - we live on Earth, not Utopia!

[Grandad]

RS, in moderation alcohol does no harm, in fact it can be beneficial. Even modest smoking can harm your lungs. Think about it, if it is proven that inhaling someone elses cigarette smoke can be harmful, think how much smoke is entering your lungs from as few as five a day.

It IS proven, smoking damages your health...so why not join the ranks of the EX SMOKERS You know it makes sense....

[Horus]

I will be the first to raise my hand and say that I enjoy a drink but you will never see me the worse for wear, affable yes, but never out of control.
But RS, neither you or Choccy should feel like a pariah, no one is condemning you, in fact both myself and Grandad used to smoke so we know how hard it is to give up even if you wanted to, we are just trying to encourage you both to do so. Even now I never object to anyone smoking and just so long as it is not when I’m having a meal I don’t usually mind, maybe the reason I am so against it is that had Mrs H been able to give up smoking, then maybe she would have been here today as smoking must have had a contribution to her heart condition. Furthermore I also continually have a go at Keefy to pack them in so you are not on your own.

[Choccy]

I think what started me smoking again was the fact I enjoyed a shisha, not taking the smoke down at all but it must have been some kind of comfort thing, and maybe the price of ciggies in Egypt, regarding alcohol well the amount I drink would not fill an egg cup in a week. But both are a little of a social thing, although maybe not smoking, the amount of ex smokers used to get on my t--s when they used to flare up about smokers.

Incidentally does anyone know of these electric ciggies in Egypt? People say they contain Nick O'Teen but no tar or hidden rubbish like ciggies, It would be interesting to know if anyone has had experience of electric ciggies, and how they work.

I smoke between 10 -15 ciggies a day, normally a 200 pack lasts me 2 weeks. Before when I smoked it was between 40 and 60 a day so I was quite a heavy smoker.