Today is a mixed bag of comments...smoking...not smoking...unemployment. This is an old pic - its from Prince's Revolution days. Remember Purple Rain and Let's Go Crazy. I thought this pic made quite the statement. Prince had about a handful of songs that I liked....and his Let's Go Crazy song (along with When Doves Cry) were probably my faves.
First, I fell off my little red wagon - bought a pack of cigs yesterday and then felt like a wreck. My hubby said something that really got to me - he said, "You have the strong will to do this. You just have to make up your mind that quitting is what you want to do". A part of me wants to quit - a huge part. Another part of me wishes that cigs would go back to a buck a pack again. Better yet - I wish I would have never picked up the habit to begin with. It's neither here nor there....quitting is essential at this point. You don't give up just because you fall off the wagon. You pick yourself back up and do it again. Just like riding a bike - you are never going to learn and DO IT unless you fall a few times, get back up and continue on.
That said, I have seen a couple commercials on TV for
becomeanex.org - a smoking cessation website. The one commercial shows a woman trying to drive as a non-smoker. The second commercial shows a man trying to drink a cup of coffee as a non-smoker. Absolutely hilarious - and it made the point very clear. There are so many things that we associate with smoking - I smoke when I drive, when I talk on the phone, when I drink coffee. So many triggers. Well, their hilarious commercials got me to visit their website last night and I immediately felt encouragement....and empowerment. When I quit smoking my mind is absolutely obsessed with cigarettes. I dream about them - then when I am awake it seems that is all I can think about. The website showed me it is perfectly normal to not be able to focus on anything else but cigarettes the first few days. It gives tons of great advice for quitting - and they have a great support program. So....tomorrow I will jump back in my little red wagon and spend a lot of time at becomeanex.org.
Onto other matters....unemployment. An article came out in our local newspaper about states missing out on extra jobless benefits. According to the National Employment Law Project, many states will miss out on 13 to 20 additional weeks of Extended Unemployment Compensation made possible in the new stimulus package because they haven't tweaked the rules in their state. I have already been to the website, read the press release then immediately wrote an e-letter to Governor Ted Strickland. I recommend that if you live in the following states that you do the same: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Tennessee. The following links will take you to the NELP website where you can view the press release and where you can email your State Representatives.
National Employment Law Project....Find & Write Your State Representative..... If you are unemployed, generally you have 26 weeks of state funded unemployment compensation you can collect. In Ohio, when those 26 were exhausted, there was a 2 Tier program for Federally funded Extended Unemployment Compensation. Tier I gave unemployed workers 13 additional weeks of EUC. Tier II gave unemployed workers and additional 7 + 13 weeks of EUC. The first part of April there will be many unemployed workers whose EUC will be exhausted. If the rules aren't tweaked, we will sit with no money AND no job. I am writing my State Reps to ask them to please encourage Governor Strickland to act quickly to save those of us who are about to run out of EUC. If you live in Ohio, you may contact Governor Strickland at this link:
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland - Mail, Fax, Phone InfoOhio Governor Ted Strickland - Online Email Form Well, I'm off to write my State Reps - then get ready for my clinic appointment. I will try to post more this afternoon. Please consider reading the press release at NELP and contacting your State officials. Hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers, including myself, are counting on you.
First, I fell off my little red wagon - bought a pack of cigs yesterday and then felt like a wreck. My hubby said something that really got to me - he said, "You have the strong will to do this. You just have to make up your mind that quitting is what you want to do". A part of me wants to quit - a huge part. Another part of me wishes that cigs would go back to a buck a pack again. Better yet - I wish I would have never picked up the habit to begin with. It's neither here nor there....quitting is essential at this point. You don't give up just because you fall off the wagon. You pick yourself back up and do it again. Just like riding a bike - you are never going to learn and DO IT unless you fall a few times, get back up and continue on.
That said, I have seen a couple commercials on TV for becomeanex.org - a smoking cessation website. The one commercial shows a woman trying to drive as a non-smoker. The second commercial shows a man trying to drink a cup of coffee as a non-smoker. Absolutely hilarious - and it made the point very clear. There are so many things that we associate with smoking - I smoke when I drive, when I talk on the phone, when I drink coffee. So many triggers. Well, their hilarious commercials got me to visit their website last night and I immediately felt encouragement....and empowerment. When I quit smoking my mind is absolutely obsessed with cigarettes. I dream about them - then when I am awake it seems that is all I can think about. The website showed me it is perfectly normal to not be able to focus on anything else but cigarettes the first few days. It gives tons of great advice for quitting - and they have a great support program. So....tomorrow I will jump back in my little red wagon and spend a lot of time at becomeanex.org.
Onto other matters....unemployment. An article came out in our local newspaper about states missing out on extra jobless benefits. According to the National Employment Law Project, many states will miss out on 13 to 20 additional weeks of Extended Unemployment Compensation made possible in the new stimulus package because they haven't tweaked the rules in their state. I have already been to the website, read the press release then immediately wrote an e-letter to Governor Ted Strickland. I recommend that if you live in the following states that you do the same: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Tennessee. The following links will take you to the NELP website where you can view the press release and where you can email your State Representatives.
National Employment Law Project....
Find & Write Your State Representative.....
If you are unemployed, generally you have 26 weeks of state funded unemployment compensation you can collect. In Ohio, when those 26 were exhausted, there was a 2 Tier program for Federally funded Extended Unemployment Compensation. Tier I gave unemployed workers 13 additional weeks of EUC. Tier II gave unemployed workers and additional 7 + 13 weeks of EUC. The first part of April there will be many unemployed workers whose EUC will be exhausted. If the rules aren't tweaked, we will sit with no money AND no job. I am writing my State Reps to ask them to please encourage Governor Strickland to act quickly to save those of us who are about to run out of EUC. If you live in Ohio, you may contact Governor Strickland at this link:
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland - Mail, Fax, Phone Info
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland - Online Email Form
Well, I'm off to write my State Reps - then get ready for my clinic appointment. I will try to post more this afternoon. Please consider reading the press release at NELP and contacting your State officials. Hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers, including myself, are counting on you.