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How to get a new Mac for free and quit smoking at the same time

cardiac dave

cardiac dave

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 23, 2005
196
0
iToronto
After being a pack-a-day smoker for the last 8 years, and numerous attempts to quit, I think that I finally found the perfect solution.

In the past 5 years I've tried the patch, inhalers, Zyban, hypnotism... nothing seemed to work or last longer than three months and I was right back on the weed. At current prices, a pack-a-day addiction costs around $3000 CDN per year, even more if they keep raising taxes.

$3000 could by a really nice computer!

So I made the jump.

Wednesday July 6th I smoked my last cancer stick - quit cold turkey. A week later, once the shakes :( and mood swings :mad: :eek: :mad: :( wore off, I placed the order for the 20" iMac G5 :D .

And so I don't fall back off the wagon, I've promised myself that if I ever touch tobacco again, this beautiful lily-white reward will be packed up and shipped off to my little brother :cool: . And so, the goal is not to quit smoking... the goal is to make sure I stay clean or risk losing my new computer.
 
Congratulations, on both fronts! That's a good strategy, using the dough you'd spend on cigarettes to buy a Mac. You won't regret it. Everybody I know that has quit smoking for good has done so cold-turkey.

Again, congratulations on quitting, and on your new Mac. Stay clean and you'll enjoy Mac computing for many more years! Good Luck!
 
Nice

Now THAT sounds effective. That is the first innovative stop-smoking idea i've heard in a long time.
 
Please note that I am not, in any way, encouraging anyone to start smoking in hopes of getting a free Mac for themselves. You must already be a smoker for this non-pyramid scheme to work. :rolleyes:
 
Yes, this really is a great thread, and I thank the original poster. I also congratulate you. Well done. Please keep us posted, and keep it up!
 
congrats. i hope it works. you should try a support group, or at least find some friends who are quiting or recently quit as well. i noticed when i quit how social smoking is. if you have some friends that dont smoke its easy to quit and hang out with them b/c you wont be tempted to smoke again. i quit somking cigarets but picked up cigar smoking with my friends on rare social occasions. so i guess thats better than smoking a lot, right? but its a good thing you are doing, and i wish you luck in keeping your new iMac.
 
Mood said:
your lungs have tar in them
Click to expand...

Yeh, dude. :rolleyes:

I think it's awesome.. you know all too well how hard it is to stop smoking. What makes it REALLY hard... is when your friends keep smoking when you try to quit.

They're standing there... smoking, asking if you want one... and you do, and its fun.. and they want you to have fun too. And it's there and its free and oh this once it can't hurt....

Avoid your fellow smokers, rainy cold days, and stress.

You and your mac will be fine.
 
That is a good plan - reward yourself (technically not losing any money) for doing something good. Keep it up man, you will be better off for it...
 
Congrats on the iMac... that's definitely good motivation for staying away from the cigarettes. :)
 
You have done a very brave thing. Sometimes motivation is what's needed to quite a habit. Your lungs thank you, now they can begin to repair themselves. Your name is very appropriate cardiac dave, the damage the smoking does to the lungs also affects the heart. Congratulations. That is certainly an awesome prize.
 
My wife and I quit cold turkey 6 years ago, February 7, 1999. It can be done.
Good luck, and stay strong. Mighty nice incentive you added to the mix. Don't make your brother too happy by failing. ;)
 
OFF TOPIC:
Tahko said:
Here in developing countries smoking is almost only pleasure for majority of population. :(
Click to expand...
Finnland a developing country? Besides isn't sex everyone's favorite pastime before you get TV & Internet?

Love your sig though - very true...

ON TOPIC:

Great idea, going to suggest my mom to do the same - she needs a mac as much as she needs to stop smoking, cause I'm not cleaning it of spyware & virus crap every month indefinitely!
 
aptmunich said:
OFF TOPIC:

Finnland a developing country? Besides isn't sex everyone's favorite pastime before you get TV & Internet?
Click to expand...



I thought it was porn :confused:
 
How 'bout I get a new Mac AND keep smoking? That way (cough) I'd have the best of (couchchoughHACK) both wo.. (HACK!) worlds?
 
congrats, dude.

The iMac is a good incentive for quitting.
I with my father and brother would do it (quit that is).

*applause*
 
Ah the joys of a nonsmoking household, your sense of smell will improve out of sight, that is if it has not already been ruined :) food will taste better, how long you been smoking
 
ahh i can see the ads already.....


the lil switch music is playing you walk up out of a white background

"I used to be a smoker and, by golly it cost me alot of cash to keep up my habit!"

"But then a friend told me about switching, so i put down my pipe" cuts to close up of pipe in hand, "and when out and bought a mac for the price of 6 months of grass!"

"I now make money for designing websites, mainly Truth's website. Would i recommend switching? Well it sure as hell is better than paying my dentist for my past problems...."

Cut to close up of rotted teeth.

Apple logo. end ad.


:cool:
 
Cool

Good for you man! I used the patch myself, quit about 6 years ago. Your plan sounds better though...
 
There are different techniques for quitting that work for everything, but in the end there are a few constants:
1) You have to be doing it for yourself and you have to deeply believe that despite how nice cigarettes are, you are going to be happier for it.
2) You need to avoid stress. Trying to quit while you have other crazy s**t going on in your life is impossible.
3) Stay away from smokers! If you live with smokers then move the hell out. It makes it exponentially harder! If you go out with smoking friends, ask them to hide their cigarettes from you.
4) Remember that every day that goes by it gets easier.
5) Target the places that you smoke most and avoid them for the first couple of weeks. I liked to smoke while I was on my computer, so I banned myself from doing anything online except email. I liked smoking while I was driving (especially when I hit traffic), so I took the train more and had friends drive more.

#1 is really the most important and for me it was that I knew i would feel much healthier if I quit and I love being outside and doing things. I can run up and down on the basketball court now without wheezing! That's a big deal to me and it makes one of the most enjoyable things in my life even more enjoyable.

Another thing that helped out a ton in the first few weeks was Pop-Ice - those little plastic tubes full of sugary goodness. They really helped with the oral fixation.

I've been a quitter now for about 7 weeks - at about 5 packs per week, $6/pack, that's $210 saved. It's a real drain - by month I'm saving 1/2 of a car payment, or 3 cell phone payments, etc.

Anyway, congrats, good luck, keep the big picture in mind. In a couple of years when the smell of cigarettes starts to get disgusting again you will be so proud of yourself. And you will really understand how unecessary and just plain bad of a habit cigarettes are.
 
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