@Deleted User They have some awesome programs out there if you're looking to quit. Statistically they say for most people it takes about 4-5 tries

I really don't want to quit, truth be told

That's amazing. Yeah my dad was the same way, some people are just able to put it down while for others it's worse than coming off of cocaine or heroin

I don't smoke in the apt....even if it was allowed, I would still take it outside. The cost is a ton, and that has reduced my smoking. A pack now lasts me three days. I used to smoke two a day in the 1990's

Cigarettes didn't kill my dad. He died in his sleep back in 2014 from an anuerism

Yeah, there's so many taxes and stuff placed on it it's expensive. And I'm sorry for your loss..

The old man was 84. He died in his chair while taking a nap. Not in a hospital. Not some slow, long, agonizing death...........mom died back in 2010, undected cancer. She felt no pain

until it was too late

@Deleted User At least he wasn't in pain, that's the good thing. And yeah cancer is such a silent killer, a lot of people don't realize they have it until it's stage 2 or 3

mom was like that. didn't smoke or drink.......went to her yearly checkup......her ovaries were huge.....she was past stage two going into stage threee. No pain. Six months later. Gone

@KenneticEnergy That is awesome! Good luck. Nursing is an amazing field. Isn't the base pay for an RN like 70k in most states?

that was a shock. dad.......I was happy for him.......died a way that many will never have. Quietly at home. Book in lap. fell asleep, never woke up

@Deleted User That sounds amazing 😉

@Deleted User Wow.. that's crazy. I had a great aunt who smoked like 5 packs a day every day of her life and never came down with any kind of cancer. Died of old age at 98. Sometimes the cards we're dealt with don't add up

@machtyn Yeah it pays pretty well, but I'm not doing it for the money. When I was getting cancer surgery last year and the nurses made me feel so calm, when I was scared out of my mind. That's when I knew what my calling was

I wanna specialize in med-surg, and do either pre-op or recovery

the tech that they utilize now for surgery and recovery is amazing. I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like in another 20-30 years

@KenneticEnergy Wow that is amazing inspiration.

@machtyn anatomy is kicking my butt right now but it's fascinating stuff haha. I take physiology and microbio next semester

Awesome!

@machtyn How about you? What field or career are you in or trying to get into?

My mom was an RN......35 years with the VA........the last ten years of her career was in OR. She dropped a tool......she then realized, time to retire. Loved her work that woman

@Deleted User I always am amazed at hearing stories from experienced RNs, my anatomy prof has been in the field for like.. 40 years or more. Nursing is a selfless career for sure, and it takes a certain kind of person to do it. I've thought about maybe going into the VA too, there's something about caring for vets that seems so fulfilling

In the 1980's there were "movies" and horror stories about the VA.....yet I knew most of them were false.........the VA where my mom worked was clean, well run, caring........though Reagans' Sec of Veterans affairs back then would dress up as a homeless vet and try to get services to see how he was "treated" by the staff.

VA pasy very well for nursing

*pays

I remember once as a teen going to work with her for the day and "interviewing" some of the old guys from the WW II and a few left from the WW I era for a history project in high school....this was 1982 or thereabouts...it was really fascinating

@KenneticEnergy I am 24. I've been in "systems engineering" and "information security" for the past 5 years. I am finishing a role that lets me shadow/work as different roles within a department. I am trying to figure out my niche. I know it's within engineering/math/tech.

@KenneticEnergy I am sorry to hear about your surgery too. Are you all good now?

Kennetic. My mom was a good RN........she said to me in the 1990's "People can't pass the exams today to be an RN, this is why our country has to import them from India now. It's a demanding field, and too many studying to be a RN have zero passion for it. The test should be hard. People's lives are on the line"

@machtyn Ahh I see, yeah that's definitely a good field to get into. You definitely won't have to worry about compensation, it pays very handsomely I'm sure haha

And I'm cured, for sure it was a rare form of cancer called DFSP. I went in for a general surgery and had the tumor removed. It definitely changed my outlook on life for sure. I'm a minimalist, and I live for the small simple things in life now. I also spend as much time with the good family relationships as I can, and try to foster good friendships. Although it's interesting how less of my friends I see as I get older. That's life I suppose

@Deleted User Oh for sure it's demanding. I mean the science classes alone are enough to put anything through the wringer. Anatomy is beating me up right now but im pulling through

I was trained by my udergrad to be an elementary school teacher. After my student teaching in 1988, there was no way I wanted to be a teacher. ANgry women. Bloated administration, loyalty to a Union and the Democratic Party and a hatred of "men"

I went to grad school and got an MS in storage systems

@Deleted User Jeez, yeah the school work environment now is toxic, I mean I can't imagine any guy wanting to get into it now. I tutored for a few years but was always ticked off by how no one wanted to do the work and just wanted answers given to them lol. I could never be a teacher

the "good" teachers today LEAVE

Oh I agree. And the union involvement in the education system is basically like a mafia. Nursing unfortunately has fallen prey to many of the symptoms that prey the education field too

Education today is nothing more than indoctrination. All of my friends through high school and college turned out to be to the left of Stalin. It's like.. what happened to critical thinking?

@KenneticEnergy how old are they?

They're my age, but even in high school our "school debates" were nothing more than shaming anyone who thought high taxes and big gov was not the best thing in the world. I started high school in 08' and graduated in 12'. So the Obama craze was in full swing. If you disagreed with him, you were a racist