Rick
Here, this'll make you feel better about quitting. I smoke about 1.25 packs per day of Camel non-filters, and have done so for 40 years. The only time my consumption increases is when I think about quitting. I have, as you could guess, a chronic, non-productive cough, which probably means there is something down there needing to come out, but I no longer have the lung capacity to get behind it and chunk it out. Obviously, I'm not much of a jogger.
This last Halloween, I suprised myself, blowing out the candles in the three pumpkins we set out for the trick-or-treaters, but then I felt like sitting down for a while. Don't even think about birthday cakes!
I'm one of those "first thing in the morning, last thing before bed" addicts. My rationalization goes something like, "These little fuchers are killing me. Oh, well."
So, Rick, you could quit now, or you could keep smoking and be in this boat twenty years from now. Or worse.
Happy thoughts,
Ed
Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!