GeekForum.org --- We put the "cock" in "cocktail"

Shaken or stired?

I generally don't open my mouth unless there's onions on that sucker

Lacerda?


(inside joke).
Welcome Prosperina.

I've been busy. Haven't been here in a month. Didja miss me?

I am not going to be here as muh for a little while. Busy changing diapers (we had a little girl) and working on gambling wesbites. But when I get back to work, I suspect I'll be here more regularly. Anyway, just wanted to say hello.

You know, when you google "Homoerotic A-Team fanfic" (quotes included), we're the only site that comes up. But what makes me real proud is to have my name displayed up there in bold.

Great news! Congratulations!

Now you must face the harsh reality of the work place...

For the players: Some have stupid abilities.

Example: Lacerday, the lady human rogue attempts to spot a creature in the woods

Perception check of 19.

DM: Sorry, you didn't spot anything.

DaJuge pipes up! Hey, I'm an elf!!!! starts counting squares... of wait.. you're 6 quares away. I'm still an elf, but had you shifted before you spotted, I would have given you a +1!!!!!

DM:And that would have made a difference! Anyway, you get hit by a poison dart and die.

For the DM:
There's a lot of "round" effects to track and some of these effects are only against some PCs, not all. For instance, remembering when the dragon can use his breath weapon again, or remembering that Lacerday used a special attack that grants combat advantage, etc

Overall, it's not really that complicated, but it certainly isn't simpler are faster, as wizard was indicating. Then again, maybe it's because it's new and everyone needs to get used to the new system. I personally do like it, but my greatest dissapointment is that characters seem less customizable.  Also many many feats are simply useless. No one is ever going to take them.

(finally found the spelling! hooray!)

Excellent! Now if you could just find the shift key you'd be all set.

Hint: There's more than one to be found...

I replaced cigarettes with Skoal Bandits for a month.

I agree. I also beleive that quitting smoking is hard because of the habbit part,moreso than the nicotine dependance part. So substitution for your cigaratte habbit definatly helps.

"Man... I could really go for a smoke... WHO WANTS A FREE BLOWJOB?"

In that case, I change my mind. Piano would be more apporpriate for that setting. I've never seen a harp bar before.

I want to win the lottery. Ain't happening. 

You can do lots of things for 6 or 7 minutes.  Granted sexorz isn't one of them, but not-smoking is."

Yeah really. I mean, what do you do with the extra 5 minutes? 

Having been a smoker for 15 years ro so, having finally succeeded in droping the habbit after oh... 10 or so failed attempts (nobody likes a quiter anyway), here are my thoughts on the subject:

First, there is sort of a soul searching process that takes place. Ask yourself why you first started smoking. Me, beleive it or not, I actually liked the smell. And also, teenager peer pressure, and also "looking cool". So at first, I couldn't even inhale the damn smoke as I would start coughing (That was nature telling me :Hello moron! You shouldn't be doing this!!)

But more importantly, identify WHY you want to quit. My 10 failed attempts didn't work out because I was trying to quit to please others. You can only quit because YOU want to, not because your spouse wants you to. So in order to determine why you want to quite, start by writing down how smoking changed your life in a negative way. Don't focus on what may happen to you if you continue smoking, focus on what has already happened (for now). For example: I used to play a lot of sports and I was very competitive and talented in some of them. Eventually, I just couldn't keep up and ended up droping sports that I loved for the cigs that I now loved more. Also, smoking means you stink. You may not beleive so because you probably can't smell yourself the way others can, but trust me you fuckin stink. Do you think the ladies like to kiss that mouth? You may htink so, but in fact they don't. You know, cause you stink. Other examples: being out of breath when walking up stairs, lying about not smoking when pressured to quit and failing, feeling guilt, etc.

Now, think about future risks if you continue smoking. These are basically health risks that everyone claims to know what they are, but really they are clueless. There is a risk of cancer, which everyone knows about. "Yeah, yeah, I know I can get cancer. I accept the risk" - Typical teenager response. Do you even have a clue what it means to have cancer? What radiation and chemo therapy means? You accept the risk of this infernal suffering, with no guarantess of survival for the pleasure of a god damn puff? Completely irrational. Oh, irrational is somethign to add in the first list by the way. Becuase you're addidcted, you transform your perceptions and attitudes to "rationalize" your smoking habbit.

Understand that quiting smoking is similar to the experience of loosing a loved one. That cigarette has been your best friend for years. When you feeling stressed, what's the first thing you do? Go out for a smoke. When you're angry, you light one up. When you're bored, you smoke. When you're drunk and having fun, you smoke. When you're down, you gain temporary comfort from a smoke. Well guess what, you've created these pattern over the years and it's going to be very hard to break.

In order to quit successfully: Going cold turkey is not for everyone, and it's not the easiest method. Consider a systemic approach instead. Here's what I suggest:

For the next 2 weeks, don't try to quit. Smoke normally, but keep a log with you. Everytime you light up, write down the date and time, and the reason why you felt you needed a smoke, and rate the intensity of the craving, from 1 to 5. Create your "smoking" calendar.

In two weeks, you'll have a full log detailing your smoking habbits. You'll notice that some urges are triggered by specific things (like being bored, stressed, etc), other urges are simply the result of habbit, where you've condition your mind to "need" a smoke at specific times.

In the following week, don't cut down, but change the pattern completely. Never smoke at times when you used to always smoke, and never smoke as a result of these "triggers" you've identified. In fact, avoid such triggers. For instance, if drinking makes you smoke, don't drink. Keep in mind that this is all temporary. You'll find that simply changing up the schedule is a challenge on its own. Now here comes the hard part:

Keep smoking with your whacky schedule, but delay by 1 hour the first time you can have a smoke each day. For instance, if you normally get up at 7 and have a smoke, on day one, you'll get up at 7 but won't smoke before 8. On day two, get up at 7, but don't smoke until 9., keep going until you run out of hours and become a non smoker.

What to do when you're having a craving: There's only two things you can do: Give in, or be a stuborn bastard. Option 2 is the only way you'll ever quit. Force yourself to be rational. Ask youself "What will happen if I don't smoke? Will I die" and of course, the answer is no. Go for a walk, get some fresh air. The craving will pass, I assure you. It's temporary torture, and after a month, it gets a lot easier. The firs 3 weeks are the hardest.

And just so you know, I did this entire process, with a pack of smoke in my pocket. Maybe you don't want to do that... But I did fail once. I got to cocky. I was so sure I had it beat, after having stopped for 3 months, that I decided that a final challenge was required. I wanted to prove to myself that I had conditioned my mind so I light one up. Boy it was goooood! And guess what, all I've managed to confirm was that I was an idiot because I started smoking and had to redo this process again (successfully!). The lesson is simple: If you give up and light up, you're goign back to square one. Think about that when you want to smoke again. Think that by having that smoke, you'll be forced to put yourself trought this ordeal all over again, and you'll throw away all the progress you've made so far. Accept that for the rest of your life, you simply can't handle having a smoke or a cigar. If you can't do this, then you won't quit. It's that simple. Best of luck!