IS there a way to "instant message" members in the room?

[onewilyfool]

Often when I come online and go to the forum, I see at the bottom of the page "users browsing the forum", and often thought it would be fun to IM them and start a chat....I don't think that is possible is it????

[jefleppard]

yes that would be interesting. it is my guess that gibson would not go for it because it would be a tremendous IT headache and require more code monkeys to monitor it. i think if you put the question to the mods, they might suggest that everyone interested in such a chat, share their msn info with each other and IM that way, running two browsers.

[Johnt]

I seem to remember this has come up before and the answer was NO.

 

Some sort of chat room, do you guys call it a coffee lounge or something like that?

 

You are getting chatty recently wileyone!

 

New prescription?

 

ROFLMAO!

[onewilyfool]

Johnt....You are one of the guys I'd most like to talk to.....did you ever get that Robert Johnson????

[nolongermike@gibson]

Good idea. I think we should definitely add a live chat room here..... and even use it to begin to once again host chat sessions with guests, as well as make a room wide open for the site members. That's how it was in the "old days" (you'll hear that a lot from me, I'm old), and I think we should bring it back. I'll look into some good scripts for that function and add it to the list. THANKS!

[albertjohn]

I think this is a great idea. I, and I'm sure others too, sometimes feel that a particular comment might take a thread completely off topic and so may be reluctant to do so.

 

Personally I think the off topic stuff is great fun and adds to the community spirit which is a valuable aspect of the forum. I do recognise that this can iritate some people, especially when threads are hijacked, but it's easy enough for the originator (or anyone else for that matter) to have a sharp word a bring the kids back into line. I expect all our members without exception would respect this.

 

So my point is, while a chat room is a great idea, I do hope it will not lessen the friendly banter. The forum is a great friend to me and I would not like to see this aspect diminished in any way.

[ksdaddy]

 

Okay, I'm being a smartarse, yep.

 

AJ, I "get" your signature. One of my favorite movies of all time.

[guitarstrummer]

Good idea. I think we should definitely add a live chat room here..... and even use it to begin to once again host chat sessions with guests' date=' as well as make a room wide open for the site members. That's how it was in the "old days" (you'll hear that a lot from me, I'm old), and I think we should bring it back. I'll look into some good scripts for that function and add it to the list. THANKS![/quote']

 

Thanks for looking into this, mike@gibson. Also, welcome to the acoustic side of things. I've read your posts in the other threads and it will be nice to have someone from Gibson contributing regularly to the forum.

[albertjohn]

 

Okay' date=' I'm being a smartarse, yep.

 

AJ, I "get" your signature. One of my favorite movies of all time.[/quote']

 

We all forget how to use these things occasionally.

 

The signature is quite true. I'm on day 3 and the phone won't stop ringing, emails incoming and banks disappearing faster than you can say " hoisted by your own petard".

 

No patches or gum so Cold turkey for supper for a few days yet!

 

My favourite lines are:

 

" How about some more coffee Johnny?"

" No thanks"

[ksdaddy]

"Surely you don't suggest...."

"No, and don't call me Shirley."

 

It's been one year, seven months, and eighteen days for me. I did it with 10 weeks of patches, decreasing the dose as I went along, right according to the book (the book that came with the patches, whose major function is to sell more patches). After the fact I read that cold turkey was the best way to go and they spelled out chapter and verse as to WHY, but I did it, right or wrong.

 

I think this is the link to the booklet I printed off. It was about 150 pages and was good reading, even though I had quit a month or two previous.

 

http://whyquit.com/joel/#book

 

I just woke up one morning and decided to quit. It was that simple and unexplained. I had just finished a big book on the Carter Family and sometimes I think it was Sarah's ghost that yanked the cigarettes out of my hand (maybe so SHE could have a puff).

 

Also I knew I was going to Bozeman in June and there was no way in Hades I would have made the flights without a cigarette. So in a sense Gibson and the Homecoming Crew forced me to quit too.

 

Only sage advice is this: someday soon you WILL have a dream you are smoking a cigarette. It will happen, no ifs. You will wake up mortified because it will be one of those "too real" dreams. You will think "I must really want a smoke!", but the truth is you are hacking up crap from your lungs in your sleep, putting the taste of old cigarettes in your mouth so strongly that you will THINK you're smoking in your dream. Disgusting I know but it's truth and will happen to you.

 

1-1/2 years later I still lust for cigarettes but then if I'm around a lit cigarette I almost choke, my eyes water, and I can barely breathe. You will become intolerant of it in time, regardless of how much you "think" you want one.

[jefleppard]

 

Thanks for looking into this' date=' mike@gibson. Also, welcome to the acoustic side of things. I've read your posts in the other threads and it will be nice to have someone from Gibson contributing regularly to the forum. [/quote']

 

+1 on the input and the participation. welcome, mike!

[jefleppard]

"Surely you don't suggest...."

"No' date=' and don't call me Shirley."

 

It's been one year, seven months, and eighteen days for me. I did it with 10 weeks of patches, decreasing the dose as I went along, right according to the book (the book that came with the patches, whose major function is to sell more patches). After the fact I read that cold turkey was the best way to go and they spelled out chapter and verse as to WHY, but I did it, right or wrong.

 

I think this is the link to the booklet I printed off. It was about 150 pages and was good reading, even though I had quit a month or two previous.

 

http://whyquit.com/joel/#book

 

I just woke up one morning and decided to quit. It was that simple and unexplained. I had just finished a big book on the Carter Family and sometimes I think it was Sarah's ghost that yanked the cigarettes out of my hand (maybe so SHE could have a puff).

 

Also I knew I was going to Bozeman in June and there was no way in Hades I would have made the flights without a cigarette. So in a sense Gibson and the Homecoming Crew forced me to quit too.

 

Only sage advice is this: someday soon you WILL have a dream you are smoking a cigarette. It will happen, no ifs. You will wake up mortified because it will be one of those "too real" dreams. You will think "I must really want a smoke!", but the truth is you are hacking up crap from your lungs in your sleep, putting the taste of old cigarettes in your mouth so strongly that you will THINK you're smoking in your dream. Disgusting I know but it's truth and will happen to you.

 

1-1/2 years later I still lust for cigarettes but then if I'm around a lit cigarette I almost choke, my eyes water, and I can barely breathe. You will become intolerant of it in time, regardless of how much you "think" you want one.[/quote']

 

i quit drinking cold turkey. no program etc... it was time. am i saving money? lol. i'm easily spending the cash on music gear. but everything has changed for the better so i guess the decision was a good one. one year, 2 months, 4 days, 6 hours...not that i'm counting......

[albertjohn]

"Surely you don't suggest...."

"No' date=' and don't call me Shirley."

 

1-1/2 years later I still lust for cigarettes but then if I'm around a lit cigarette I almost choke, my eyes water, and I can barely breathe. You will become intolerant of it in time, regardless of how much you "think" you want one.[/quote']

 

Shirley, I mean KSD. Can't tell you how supportive your post is. 1-1/2 years seems a along way away but I know what you mean. I gave up for a couple of years once and became intolerent very quickly.

 

I've been a roll up man for many years and hate the smell of your regular *** (UK slang for cigarette, not the other thing) It's the whole process of rolling a ciggy that I really miss so I'm making lots of tea for the troops as a substitute.

 

I'm ashamed to say the straw that broke the camel's back was news that a very good friend of mine and Mrs AJ had just been diagnosed with the works. My habit was less than 10 a day, never at home or around the kids etc but that means nothing I know.

 

I have a contract with Mrs AJ so that she will no longer complain about guitars and the related paraphernalia in return for my giving up smoking, so that's something I suppose.

[TWilson]

I was planning to quit smoking the day after New Years' but I got the flu real bad on New Years' Eve. I mean, the kind where you wake up and have to go change your T-shirt and sweats as they are sopping wet from sweating. Anyway, I quit, left a half pack of cigs on a chair for 3 months without touching them then threw them away. When I tried quitting before, did it for a whole year and started again, I always panicked and went searching through coat pockets, hunting vest, tackle boxes, anywhere I may have left a partial pack. This time, I knew I could just grab one out of the pack in plain sight but never did. Sort of a "Break Glass In Case of Emergency" situation. That was December 31, 1995, almost 13 years ago. KSD is right about the dreams. I still have one once in a while but I get pi$$ed off because I would then have to start my time of not smoking all over again. Now I just fill my time with different things like robbing banks, taking heroin and gang warfare. OK, I made that part up, the other stuff is true. If I can quit, so can you AJ. I also only drink one cup of coffee now as I loved to fire up a lung buster the very second after my first sip of java in the morning. One thing you'll notice for a while is how funny fresh air smells! lol Good luck, mate!

[albertjohn]

 

i quit drinking cold turkey. no program etc... it was time. am i saving money? lol. i'm easily spending the cash on music gear. but everything has changed for the better so i guess the decision was a good one. one year' date=' 2 months, 4 days, 6 hours...not that i'm counting......[/quote']

 

Cheers Cunk. More power to yours and KSD's elbows mates!

 

I was a reasonably heavy drinker myself a few years ago but the body told me to slow down. I can limit this to a couple of pints on a friday night in the local and the occasional business glass of wine. Mrs AJ likes it because we don't argue about who drives anymore when we go out to dinner.

 

Mike@Gibson - we'll need an agony aunt at this rate!

[albertjohn]

I was planning to quit smoking the day after New Years' but I got the flu real bad on New Years' Eve. I mean' date=' the kind where you wake up and have to go change your T-shirt and sweats as they are sopping wet from sweating. Anyway, I quit, left a half pack of cigs on a chair for 3 months without touching them then threw them away. When I tried quitting before, did it for a whole year and started again, I always panicked and went searching through coat pockets, hunting vest, tackle boxes, anywhere I may have left a partial pack. This time, I knew I could just grab one out of the pack in plain sight but never did. Sort of a "Break Glass In Case of Emergency" situation. That was December 31, 1995, almost 13 years ago. KSD is right about the dreams. I still have one once in a while but I get pi$$ed off because I would then have to start my time of not smoking all over again. Now I just fill my time with different things like robbing banks, taking heroin and gang warfare. OK, I made that part up, the other stuff is true. If I can quit, so can you AJ. I also only drink one cup of coffee now as I loved to fire up a lung buster the very second after my first sip of java in the morning. One thing you'll notice for a while is how funny fresh air smells! lol Good luck, mate![/size']

 

Good grief. Nik we'll need a collective noun for reformed criminals!

 

The habitual element for me is work. Whilst the office is non smoking, I enjoyed the rolling and stepping outside because this was valuable thinking time without someone on the phone or member of staff bleating. I spent the day in and out of meetings in London yesterday - no problem. Sat down at my desk this morning and I got very jumpy!

 

Thanks for the support TW, it's greatly appreciated.

[Thermionik]

Albertjohn - I too was a roll-up man, liquorice paper and Old Holborn (Johnt will tell you.....).

 

4th July 2000 I woke up and didn't have a cigarette, and haven't since. Before then I tried many times but never succeeded for more than a few months befor caving in. Tried is the key word, it's a zen thing (by accident, not design). This time I didn't try. I carried 'the makings' with me for a couple of years, and even have my trusty Zippo (Harley-Davidson plain brass case in a Zippo 'holster') clipped to my belt to this very day. If I want to have a cigarette - then I will, my call, no other bugger is going to tell me one way or the other. And it has worked - eight years down the line and not a smoke on the way.

 

The humidor and it's load of cigars tempts me occasionally, but I just sniff them, close the lid and do something else, usually involving strings and valves. So keep it going Albertjohn, keep it going..... though you could have picked a less stressed time on the trading floors of the world=d>

[albertjohn]

Thanks Nik. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. I am/was rather partial to a liquorice paper myself but a Golden Virginia man.

 

Apologies to OWF for the string hijack.

[nolongermike@gibson]

I quit when I realized I could buy a new Les Paul every year with the money I was firing up and inhaling. A new cigarette tax hit the first week of a new year several years ago, and I stood at the counter at that convenience store and started muttering like Rainman, "Um, that's exactly $1825.00 a year, yes, definitely $1825.00 a year.... $1825.00 a year."

[ksdaddy]

I quit drinking in Dec 03 as part of a diet but I also don't have to inventory the previous night's activities to see if I need to apologize for something or cancel a check. I didn't drink a lot but it got to where the hangovers would last all freakin' day...

 

As to smokes, I stared in 1972, pack a day at 12 years old. In 1980 I switched to non-filter (Luckies, then Camels). To this day I can look anyone in the eye and say I never once coughed because of cigarettes. I felt fine, everything functioned, i was seldom even sick with a cold. Which made it that much harder to just up and "quit" something that seemingly had no ill effects. But i knew that ONE day I would go to the Doctor and come out with an oxygen tank strapped to my back and then it's TOO LATE. Too friggin' late.

 

A gun goes off by accident, you can't make the bullet go back into the barrel.

 

You run over a kid with your car, you can't just throw it in reverse and make it not happen.

 

A guitar falls over and snaps off the headstock, you can't un-do it.

 

The Doctor says "you should have quit ten years ago".... you're screwed.

[onewilyfool]

KSDADDY.....I've never smoked (cigarettes that is.....mispent youth) But my brother was a smoker. He told me quitting cigarettes was easy, he'd done it hundreds of times......so it can't be that hard.

[jefleppard]

 

A gun goes off by accident' date=' you can't make the bullet go back into the barrel.

 

You run over a kid with your car, you can't just throw it in reverse and make it not happen.

 

A guitar falls over and snaps off the headstock, you can't un-do it.

 

The Doctor says "you should have quit ten years ago".... you're screwed. [/quote']

 

nicely said, ksd. huge lyric alert here!

i learned that it wasn't being drunk part that hurt the most, it was the comprimised social skills for the day that followed while my body and mind scrambled to get back to normal. i burnt alot of bridges. alot.