I Am British

BACK TO THE POUND! I am Australian actually. Australia is a former British penal colony settled by Captain James Cook and the first fleet in 1770. Australia used British style Pounds, Shillings and Pence currency until Australia converted to US style Dollars and Cents fifty years ago in 1966. At the time of conversion the new Dollar note was the same size and colour as the old ten Shilling note and equal in value. Likewise the new two Dollar note had a similar colour to the old geenback Australian Pound note and during conversion had equal value to the Pound note. Back when I still thought it was cool to have a tobacco addiction before (Beatle) George Harrison and countless other people died of cancer I could buy a pack of Viscount, Marlboro or Winfield cigarettes for a few bob. Today some people hand over a fistful of dollars for the same thing in regulation plain packaging. I have noticed a similar increase in the price of rum and coca cola since I have been [i]working for the Yankee Dollar[/i]. I smoked for about two years starting when I was nineteen and then quit. I'm so glad I quit when I did. Think of what you could save. What is [b]your[/b] life worth?

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ShockWave1983 · 36-40, F

Non smoker here. I tried it. Hated it. Quit.

will999 · 70-79, M

Hi ShockWave1983 You didn't like it so you quit? That kind of independent thinking can get a young lady into serious trouble. I did not really like it either but I wanted to fit in with all my friends so I tried to get used to it for two years. I [i]never[/i] really liked the taste and it gave me a craving so that I felt like I [i]had to[/i] light up even when I did not want to, which is a strange thing called chemical addiction. Sometimes it made me feel so ill I had to leave the room to hide the fact that I felt dizzy and had a sick headache, from my friends. Giving up was a smart decision. Not taking it up in the first place would have been even smarter. I thought I would lose face with my friends but some of them envy me and ask how I found the "strength". The only real strength I found was the humility to say "God help me beat this" when some Jesus freaks offered to pray with me.

ShockWave1983 · 36-40, F

@will999: I smoked for 5 years before I quit. I quit because I hated coughing in the morning. Hated the smell of my laundry basket with the stink of smoke on my clothes. Hated that rush of dizzy nausea with the first cig of the day. Hated the smell of dirty ashtrays. Hated fitting in with people who smoked and drank. I quit cigarettes. Quit alcohol. And discovered that my friends still loved me. What a fool I'd been. They didn't care if I didn't smoke. And they were happy that I didn't drink. I was a permanent designated driver.

will999 · 70-79, M

@ShockWave1983: Hi again. That's right. I discovered the same thing. After I quit smoking my friends were still my friends so my original reason for taking it up had been bogus. So glad I quit when I did, everything about it pulls you down. How long have you been a "new member". My posts probably still say that somewhere. I started out on Experience Project, probably about 2009.

ShockWave1983 · 36-40, F

@will999: about mid October. I'm not here often because I have no internet. Not even a cell phone. I only get to be here when I'm visiting my friend Serenitree. This week, I'm house and pet sitting at her place. So I have access to her iPad and her wifi. Mostly I visit for dinner every week or two.

I was on EP occasionally, too, from about 2010. Same restrictions. I rarely managed to log in.

will999 · 70-79, M

@ShockWave1983: I don't sign in every day either but those little numbered amber notifications on the menu bar stay there until you read them and I receive notifications about replies to my posts or responses to my stories even if the responses are addressed to another @member. Those little reminders point me towards [i]all responses eventually[/i] when I do log in, even if I see them a few days late. Don't think I could live without the internet, it can be a bit pricey with broadband being the most costly. If you can live without lightening fast speed a slow connection is better than none. The same with cell phones. The new 4G phones are a lot more expensive to buy and register with an ISP and the ISP's are not renewing any of the old mobiles because they plan to shut down the old analog network. I was happy with the way it worked but the market is trending towards mobile internet services so I had no other choice but to upgrade to a 4G phone. For convenience I carry one of the cheapest I can buy and have a prepaid account so there are no surprises at the end of the month.