The first time I smoked was in Cuba. My birthplace.
My parents divorced and I decided to live with my father.
Who loved me so much that couldn't control me.
I made him smoke. But he didn't know how.
I was smoking 1 dollar cigars in 1960. At 11.

My mother managed to send me to my aunt in Mexico. At 13.
I swear I still don't know how she separated me from my father.
No father, no money, no cigars.

I started stealing cigars, but no quality. Then Parliament packs.
Something not very common over there. The best selling brand was Raleigh.
I got caught twice, out of a hundred times.

My aunt couldn't control me either. And kicked me to my uncle in Puerto Rico.
I was 17 by now. Got a GED, but I couldn't make enouch money working part time. My uncle charged me 25 bucks a week, and I was making 50 full time.

My uncle kicked me out when my cousin got married.
I found a better job. Making 90 a week. Enough for renting an efficiency and smoke premium cigars from the Canary Islands. Life was good.

I found a run down bar selling Miller beer for 30 cents. And I got to dance
with the barmaid at the sound of a nickel jukebox. Life was better.
I made it my headquarter. We were a group of like 10 and I was the only one
available seven days a week.

Found my 1st wife thru the group. Boy, did I married up.
I started to work for her father, who later kicked me out when his son got his girlfriend pregnant.

I started my own business and the cigars became inconvenient.
I had a lot of stress and changed to cigarettes again.

At this pace I'll be here 'till midnight. At this point I'm like 27.

Fast forward to the present. Almost.

I was smoking for 50 years. They we moved and I got a big screen tv
to watch the Miami Heat really good, I had a few bets here and there.
Problem is no cigar in the new house. I was watching the games thru the glass doors.
Here is when vaping shows up.
Vaping from a measly pen I never smoked cigars again. That was 3 yrs ago.
I was so enamored of vaping that I spend more than 4k in a year.

My mods have puff count. I was taking in 300 to 400 puffs per day. at 18mg nic. 100% VG (vegetable glycerin) as recommended in ECF.
I was choking myself to death. Then I read in the same ECF that VG could choke some people. PG (polypropylene glycol) was the thing now.
Which is super dry. I should know.I make my own liquids.

Went to the Pulmo. And.....woudn't you now it. Emphysema.

Did the vaping produce the emphysema?. Maybe not.
Did it make it better, hell no.
There is no substitute for the real thing. Fresh air.

Emphysema has a comorbitidy with our friend bipolar. Longevity: 68.9yrs.
I have 66 and change. I'm seriously thinking of going back to my cigars.
If I have a couple of yrs left, I wanna go with a bang.

Besides, real tobacco has MAOIs. That why some of us crave the stinkies.
Vapor has no alkaloids. Only nicotine. Even WTA liquid doesn't have the other
goodies tobacco produces.

Now, in my situation, what would you do?.
Not that I'm going to do it. I just want to hear opinions.

THE END (in more ways than one)