I started stealing cigarettes from my parents once in a while clear back in 1970 when I was 10 years old.
By that time I was already a veteran beer drinker and was also swiping my old mans Seagrams 7 and McNaughtens whiskey and downing it straight
So basically 55 years I have been a documented delinquent.
I have quit smoking a couple of times, once for over a year. That was back in the late 80’s when the cheeky bastards at the convenience stores started putting cigarettes in a cup next to the register and selling them for 10 cents.
One thin dime and I was off to the races again.
I have quit a couple times since but after a while started in again. Currently, I haven’t smoked a cigarette since the morning of my last surgery, March 17th.
I am using a Vape the wife gave me but even with that I am not ingesting even half of the nicotine I was , plus none of that tar and other crap that go with cigarettes.
What may have inspired this post and that headline you may ask?
My damn truck..
Every time I have gotten in that damn thing since the surgery the inside of the truck has smelled like a giant rolling ashtray.
The reek would just slam you in the face every time I opened the door.
I finally couldn’t stand it anymore so today I opened that ashtray up and cleaned it out. Along with several butts and a bunch of ashes all over the place.
I almost feel bad because it was a virgin when I bought the truck but whatever.
So hopefully that stink will be gone now. If not, there are escalating steps that can be taken…
Give the upholstery a good cleaning, too. Maybe a box of baking soda wedged under the seats.
Or a fish..
I’m gonna say it, Phil. Don’t take it like I’m berating you, okay?
Imagine what the insides of your lungs look like.
I’m sure you’d be shocked if you could see them.
I wish I could post some of the photos of the organs and extremities. Massive organ damage, injuries, wounds I have in my operations portfolio, but I am sure all of you would be sicken and never visit the site ever again.. Even Phil would kick me off… Some of the medical charts I audit would induce severe retching and general revulsion that you would never recover from.
The most anti-smoking people I’ve ever met were ex-smokers. Good on you. Keep it up.
+1
That stench is exactly why when I traded in my Ram and bought my Charger 8 years ago I decided it would be not only a non smoking car but also no eating and no drinks that didn’t have a screw in top.
Eric.
P.S. did you get last weekends Nova update?
About the interior?
That;s the last one I remember. Things got a little crazy right after last weekend.
I quit smoking after 33 years when my youngest, at 5, said “dad, you stink”
An ozone generator will take care of it. About $40 on Amazon. I’ve used mine to get the stink out of dozens of cars that I’ve flipped over the years. Every stink from smoke to rotting food to mouse urine. Clean it out, then run the ozone generator for about 4 hrs, then let it air out for an hour. Smells like a new car.
Ozone will take care of a lot of sins.
Same with frankincense, myrrh and garlic…
Ozone generators also kill bugs just make sure to air it out afterwards
Oh, cool – a cassette deck, with sliders for the tone controls!
Congrats on keeping off the cigs. I hope you, unlike myself, can get off the vape as well.
Check out a product called Ozium. They have sprays, and also a can you crack open and stick under the seat, or wherever. Dealerships use this stuff.
I remember ashtrays in cars. Haven’t seen one for a while.
One of my first thoughts was what that cassette is. Don Williams Living on Tulsa Time maybe but I am leaning more towards David Allen Coe.
Something I’ve used successfully is scented dryer sheets. Put a few here & there.
Gets rid of funky smells. If you can find a scent acceptable to you.
Reformed smoker here.
Stench from my dad’s house was so bad, that I just payed a service to clear it all out when he passed away.
Fabreeze will get smells out of fabric. I quit drinking, but I smoke a pipe now after stopping for 30 years. I do not smoke while driving. I also have to keep the radio off to focus on driving. Too many crazies on the road texting these days… . Tom
If you can get your paws on an ozone generator, it will deodorize your truck. Close it up inside with the heater fan running. Shouldn’t take more than 30 mins but you’ll want to cycle the heat selector through all the options to get all sections of the ductwork. Also try to keep it set on recirc if it will allow it. Hold your breath when you reach in to change the selector.
You can also deodorize your house, basement etc if you have the time but you have to stay out during the process and for a few hours after.
Forgot to add that half life of ozone is less than an hour. Leaves behind a mild aroma similar to air after a lightening storm. When doing a home all living things must be removed including fish and plants. High value artwork should be removed as well. Also set you HVAC fan to ON.
Some rental centers rent them.
Congrats on quitting the smokes. Stay away from Vapes. Real bad chemicals manufactured into the cartridges. Many people have died in the last few years from vapes. Including my wife.
Congratulations.
Yep, when I quit smoking the first thing I notice was that my smeller was back, I had no idea how bad I stunk when I smoked. But I can now smell a smoker at twenty paces.
Nicotine is absorbed by the same ascending receptor sites as all narcotics. As the CEO of a tobacco company said we are in the Nicotine delivery business. I worked at a hospital that specialized in lungs. At the end of each ward there was a veranda that patients could sit outside. They piped oxygen out there so patients that needed it could use it. Many times patients with COPD would be out there. They had a tracheotomy (hole in the neck) to breathe. They were smoking in that hole. Funniest thing was a lot of the doctors were out there smoking too. I have seen lungs after removal. They look like cauliflower with charcoal dust all over them. That is what blocks air from getting in (COPD). That smoke is not vapor. It is very very tiny particles. When concentrated it makes…..smoke. When dissipating you cannot see it but you might still smell it. Tiny particles are basically like coal dust. I seem to recall (I think) your wife also smokes. That is going to make it real hard for you to stay clean. You will always have cravings-fewer over time. The smell is a major trigger. Good news is if you stay clean, you body will start repairing the damage. Not fast but a couple years you will be much better. Smoke again and they will have to start whittling off your legs. They need oxygen. Can’t get enough they die in places. Gangrene will start. First toes, then half a foot. Then above ankle. Then above knee. Then at the hip. Then you die. I’m a asshole like Wirecutter’s dog. Be nice until I bite your ass with the bad news. But like I said,, you stop you will slowly improve and might even help you legs to heal.I know you have blockage in your veins, but a contributing factor to those is inflammation, partly connected to smoking.
Ken is spot on about pretty much everything. Except the vein blockage part. Phil may have vein problems as well, but he has PAD (peripheral arterial disease) which is what’s causing the poor oxygenated blood flow to the legs.
Smoking is THE major modifiable risk factor for PAD (age and genetics you can’t do much about…) and quitting does help. Also, for Phil the most obvious damage is in the leg arteries, but the same kind of shit is happening in the coronaries (the arteries that supply blood to your heart muscle — the heart does NOT meaningfully get oxygen from the blood INSIDE the chambers), and in the arteries supplying your brain.
(I’m typing this sitting in a McDonald’s. Not shitting you. ☹️ #hangsheadinshame)
ZEP product Called conquer will get rid of the odor of just about anything, soak a sponge put it in vehicle. Spray it on every surface.
If the smell of it is too astringent, good it means your nose is working again.
Gets rid of curry smells too.
Pull out the carpet, you might find a fortune of lost coins.
An open bowl of lemon ammonia in the cab rolled up windows on a hot day. The lemon smell permeates all the cushioning.
From another obnoxious ex smoker.
Amazon has 4 jars of an ozone ‘purifier’? for $20. Use two for the car and you can use the other two in the bathroom when needed.
Reformed smoker after two major lung infections. I’m a cold turkey type who smoked two packs Marlboro for 30+ years. Lung capacity was at 72% but within
two years it was back to 99%. Never pick one up again but I can smell a smoker from 25 ft. Congratulations on quitting! Stay with it. Play duplicate bridge and we have one player with COPD. He knows he is in late stages but goes out between every round to smoke. Then sits down and coughs, hacks up part of his lungs and next round does it all again. Sad.
When I was about 12, we went visit one of my Grandmother’s Older Brothers.
His name was Waymon. He was several years older than her. He was a Life Long Smoker, and suffered from severe Emphysema. I remember him sitting and talking with us, coughing and hacking every few minutes and sucking on his Oxygen tank. Then he would go out to the back porch to smoke a cigarette and come back to continue talking with us. When would sit back down, he would cough so hard that he couldn’t talk for 2 or 3 minutes. That left a huge impression on me. That was 50 years ago. I’ve never forgotten him, his name or his smoking. I’ve never smoked in my life. I never will.
Good on you for quitting, Phil. My wife quit 32 years ago. She still gets craving when she is stressed out.