Smoking in the rain

It has been raining continuously for a few days now and is forecasted to remain this way until Friday. This means I have to get creative with activities for Aaron indoors.

While Aaron hasn't made it out of the house much, I've kept to my routine of going to the gym each day. This morning, as I left the building where the gym is I walked past a row of people standing outside. Actually, they were all a little bent over and trying to stay dry because there was not much cover. And, they were all smoking.

We have been enjoying the smoke free environment here so much that I think I forgot about smokers. I wonder at the percentage of smokers here vs Palembang but I don't think I'd be able to find any real statistics on it. All I know is that there isn't a place in Palembang that I can go without being surrounded by smokers, indoors or outdoors.

Anyway, I know that people start smoking for various reasons and like any addiction, it is hard to stop. So, I am not judging those people I saw today. I just felt grateful that the non-smoking laws are so prevalent in Australia that it has taken me 2 months to inhale some second hand smoke.

Mike wanted a new numbers person and while I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable as Numeric Life, I managed to find these interesting numbers on what happens after your quit smoking. I got it from the American Lung Association site. I never knew that over time, the effects of smoking could be reversed.

At 20 minutes after quitting:
* blood pressure decreases
* pulse rate drops
* body temperature of hands and feet increases

At 8 hours:
* carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal
* oxygen level in blood increases to normal

At 24 hours:
* chance of a heart attack decreases

At 48 hours:
* nerve endings start regrowing
* ability to smell and taste is enhanced

At 2 weeks to 3 months:
* circulation improves
* walking becomes easier
* lung function increases

1 to 9 months:
* coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decreases

1 year:
* excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker

At 5 years:
* from 5 to 15 years after quitting, stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked.

At 10 years:
* risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers
* risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases
* risk of ulcer decreases

At 15 years:
* risk of coronary heart disease is now similar to that of people who have never smoked
* risk of death returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked