These notes are really more for my own benefit than anything, but I thought I’d put them up for all to see anyway.

8:44 AM – First cigarette of the day, enjoyed while standing on my balcony sipping my second cup of coffee. My head swims slightly as the nicotine works in conjunction with the caffeine producing a incongruous numbing and tingling in my forearms. I alternate between sips of coffee and puffs of smoke, watching the birds in our backyard; two bluejays worry out bugs from our neighbors tree while a third lies dead in the yard, a probable victim of our neighbors’ cats. Bowels: Prompted!

10:26 AM – Back on the porch again, with mouth dry from coffee. I’ve moved from American Spirit Lights to Ultra-Lights, which at first I found too hard from which to draw smoke, but am now getting into the even slower smoking pace. Two-thirds of the way through I’m done smoking and do not feel nearly the same rush as I did from my first cigarette of the day. A glass of water sounds fantastic.

Noon – On the phone with my boss, which means the cigarette is lit. I cannot talk on the phone unless I am smoking or cleaning.

2:20 PM – I sat on the back porch and read the EDGE insert about the Wii. This cigarette was prompted by my lack of desire to actual do any work.

5:59 PM – A short jag on the elliptical is rewarded by a cigarette to close back up the sinuses and to signal the end of my work day. (Until someone AIMs me or I check my email and am sucked back in.)

8:12 PM – The post-dinner smoke.

Wow, do I really only smoke about six cigarettes a day? I better pick up the pace!