In four hours from now by the Quitnet calculator it will be eight months since I came to my senses.
Right now it’s 241 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes and 42 seconds smoke free, 12092 cigarettes not smoked and $7,744.00 saved. So I guess that’s $7,750 by the time the four hours is done.
But if only I had stuck it out earlier….
24 November 1999 4:15:30 PM
Day off today. No mail. Breakfasted at Cossies in Crown St, read paper and Bulletin which has revelations about East Timor militia and our government’s knowledge of this earlier than we thought at the time. Stopped smoking; some withdrawal but not too bad. No mail.
And then:
Monday, August 28 2000
Looking at the ergonomics of my setup here, and I will have to do something–experimenting moving stuff around. Partly this is some bad aches and pains in the neck and shoulder region. Maybe also the cold snap recently, or some flu-like thing. Who knows? The doctor seems almost as vague as I am about it. Get my neck x-rayed on Wednesday: maybe an old car accident? I had one or two.
Nothing like a few aches and pains to make one feel a bit of a relic, especially at my age. And the TV series Four Corners on ABC-TV (Australia. that is, still blessedly non-commercial and not to be confused with American ABC!) was on 21st century sweatshops known as "call centres": I must say it made me more sympathetic to the people I sometimes deal with after going through the "Press 1, Press 2, Press Star" routine. Here I am on a computer right now–but I’m still a technophobe or pre-hi-tech romantic dreamer at heart. Ah me!!!
Interesting line in the program from a Phil Ruthven: "It’s not our values we have to change; it’s our habits."
Most apt, as another aspect of my present health thing is my blood pressure was way up on its usual normality: so the ciggies must stop (again) and have today. God I stink! So does the apartment. If you don’t, guys and girls out there, DON’T SMOKE! Take it from me–nothing to recommend it, and a bastard to give up–for me anyway.
Promise to be more cheerful next time 🙂
And then, with a bonus:
27 Aug 2001
Snow near Sydney…and Ninglun videoed + questionnaire
It has been so cold in Sydney today–that means 12C maximum, but a cold wind blowing off very heavy snow up the Great Dividing Range and as far north as Tamworth. It is quite moving to see the Falun Gong demonstrators all rugged up continuing their 133 hour sit outside the Chinese Consulate. Whatever the actual merits of their practices, one can’t help but be impressed with their dignity, and some of them are quite old.
The UTS Research project began today and I was subjected to an hour interview which was videotaped, the interviewer being Dr Jenny Hammond from UTS. It took place in "The Cave" (my office, in a manner of speaking) which looks rather different from last year 🙂 It didn’t help that the Library mislaid the Cave key this morning; fortunately the General Assistant found a copy in a mysterious bunch of keys he held.
Yesterday’s entry, I should add, is more tentative than it may have looked; it is really part of a process of getting my own head around the contradictions and tensions that current Australian society presents. Much is good, it should be recalled. Every Saturday in Chinatown I see regularly couples or friendship groups that transcend all kinds of divisions, practical marriages of unity and diversity. That is the way I hope it goes.
Dare I mention I am giving up smoking again? Keep on at me! Wait and see…
Late addition
I received a rather intriguing questionnaire just now, so will fill out some of it (but not all!) here:
FULL NAME: not really Ninglun Wu
BIRTHDAY: 9 July 1943
HOME: Close to Central Station Sydney
EYES: green to blue
HAIR COLOUR: grey
WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN: Cancer
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE?: four times–not always appropriately, but only one has ended in real sorrow.
A SONG THAT DESCRIBES YOUR LOVE LIFE: "to dream the impossible dream" 😉
SAY SOMETHING NICE ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU: I get all warm in your company 🙂
SOMETHING TO THOSE WHO REFUSE TO RESPOND TO THIS: It’s a free country.
THE FUTURE***
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?: Woronora? 😉
FUTURE DAUGHTER’S NAME; FUTURE SONS NAME: not very likely
HAVE YOU EVER…***
BROKEN THE LAW: Yes, but not seriously. EVER CHEATED ON A TEST: no
HAD A MEDICAL EMERGENCY: quite a few
* DO U BELIEVE IN…***
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: It happened once maybe about eleven years ago.
ALIENS: In theory, but it’s nothing I hypothesise about
GHOSTS: You never know.
HOROSCOPES: Only as entertainment.
WHICH IS BETTER?**
MUD WRESTLING OR JELLY WRESTLING? No wrestling.
WHITE OR CHOCOLATE MILK?: Iced coffee. Otherwise light and white–cholesterol!
BLONDES OR BRUNETTES? Darkish
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU**
CRIED? Not long before my mother’s death.
*WHAT…***
IS YOUR MOST PRIZED AND IMPORTANT POSSESSION: My sister’s photo. Bits and pieces of things my mother left me. A certain story.
WHAT IS THE ITEM YOU WORSHIP THE MOST? I try not to worship items.
IS THE WORST SONG YOU HAVE EVER HEARD? I’ve forgotten.
IS THE BEST SONG YOU HAVE EVER HEARD? Beethoven 9 Symphony is pretty good. Sentimentally I like "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
WHAT IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU? The past ten years and the last one in some respects.
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK WHEN YOU WAKE UP?: It was cigarettes….
WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? A mouse!
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE NUMBER? Don’t have one. Be careful of 4 if you are Chinese–it means death!
WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM: dirt
WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO BED: Nothing where possible, unless it frightens someone!
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST REGRET IN YOUR LIFE: Oh dear… Not being about 40 years younger? No, not really. Having more practical sense would have been good at times. Not having the guts to come out earlier? Really, I try not to regret too much.
*FAVOURITES:**
FAVOURITE RELATIVE: My mother’s cousin Irma, my brother, and my Uncle Roy as they all still speak to me!
FAVOURITE TV PROGRAM: The Bill–but I don’t watch TV that much now.
FAVE BAND: It was once Steeleye Span!
FRIENDS: Yes, I have some. PK despite all that people say. I especially like people who say I keep them balanced.
SHAMPOO: Using a Chinese one right now that’s pretty good.
FAVOURITE SOUND: the erhu well played.
FAVOURITE THING TO DO ON THE WEEKEND: Eating with friends: yum cha, lunch, dinner (esp. when someone is cooking) I ripped that off, but it sounds good to me.
FAVOURITE MOVIE: Don’t really have one.
*IF
YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE?: Anything that pays me to sit and read what I want.
YOU COULD HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT AND WHERE WOULD IT BE? I wouldn’t. (Also ripped off!)
WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO GET FOR A PET? Dogs can be nice, but not practical here.
* DO YOU?**
GET MOTION SICKNESS?: sometimes
GET ALONG WITH YOUR PARENTS?: Mum more than Dad, as long as you put that in past tense.
LIKE TO DRIVE?: Certainly did.
SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? No, but he might say yes!
TYPE WITH FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? I’m the world’s second-best two finger typist!
SMOKE? It’s been known to happen, notwithstanding my sincere efforts to give up!
WHO IS YOUR BIGGEST CRUSH RIGHT NOW? Not telling.
WHO DO YOU HATE? Some may think John Howard, but it’s not true. Despise, maybe 😉 No individuals.
HAVE YOU GOT ANY NICKNAMES: Ninglun–obviously!
CONSIDER YOURSELF A GOOD LISTENER: I have been known to talk over people, but I’m a teacher! I try.
RATHER BE OVERLY HAPPY AND POOR OR OVERLY WEALTHY AND UNHAPPY?: Overly happy. I KNOW I don’t have what it takes to be rich.
DANCE?: See above re heart attacks!
LIKE TO TALK ON THE PHONE?: No.
ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT: Sometimes. Perhaps I am afraid they might hit me!
GO ON A WALK OR WATCH TV?: I walk quite a lot.
YOUR DREAM HONEYMOON PLACE?: Well…
*FRIENDS**
FUNNIEST= Ian Smith
CUTEST= He knows who it is.
NICEST= Possible as above, and someone else on the right day! Simon H too.
QUIETEST= See cutest No 1.
LOUDEST= PK
TALKATIVE= PK
MODEST= If I say he might cease to be 😉
*MOST LIKELY TO**
GO TO JAIL: Hmmm…..but he should avoid it! And another one did; he only grows vegetables now.
GRADUATE HIGHEST= Only a few of my friends are in this group–so I would have to say Mitchie.
NOT GRADUATE= As above, but only in that the faculty he graduates from may or not be exactly the one he began in.
BE FAMOUS= Some of my best friends are already famous.
HAVE KIDS= Some of my friends have done this.
IF YOU WERE IN PRISON, WHAT WOULD YOU BE IN FOR? We avoided that
😉
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST IN LIFE? Acceptance.
So many a quit before my heart and Wollongong Hospital precipitated the one that still holds now at eight months! But what a waste of health, time and money before, eh!
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Neil's final decade 