I've been using Tootsie Roll Pops, but sparingly. I don't particularly care for them, but they last a while and they have that satisfying stick hanging out of my mouth. It seems to kill the urge.

A little over 68 hours now. So fr, it's harder than giving up booze, but easier than giving up my 30-cup-a-day coffee habit. (When you always have a cup of coffee in your hand and then suddenly you don't, the world is a pretty miserable place.)

One thing I've noticed is my mathematical and logical acuity have diminished. The only way I have to gauge this are the Sudoku puzzles I'm doing, and I'm doing a few more of them a day than I used to. Before, I would just do the daily puzzle in the newspaper, and found them relatively easy.

But they seem to have gotten harder. I bought a couple of those Sudoku puzzle books at the supermarket, and I've been working on the easy ones, but on about a third of them I screw up somewhere. Since I don't feel like starting over to find out where I made the mistake, I just start on the next one.

Maybe the puzzles in the book are harder than the ones in the newspaper, but I don't think so. I just think my mind has been diminished somewhat. (That would probably surprise few of my readers here.)

Anyway, I'm sure hoping this is just a passing phase. I would hate to discover that smoking increases one's IQ.

Onward and upward,
airforce