Save tax - see Bruges
The only place in my home town where I can go for lunch these days is the hotdog stand. I've been quite a regular for a while now.
The only thing I hate about it is that the old Tourist Information centre next to it has been converted into a sexually transmitted infections and quit smoking centre. I guess they think all smokers must have the pox as well as a "filthy habit".
I like to stand outside of the door with my pocket ash tray, enjoying my roll up, while taking in the offensive and abusive posters plastered on the windows.
The latest shows they have brought back that jolly persuasive wheeze of saving smoker money for a nice little holiday. I haven't seen that one in a while.
"You Do The Maths" it proclaims while suggesting that we'd save up to £2000 in six months if we quit. I tried it HERE but couldn't work it out because it doesn't allow for tobacco smoking, only packs of cigarettes.
So I did my own maths and found it remarkable how much I'm saving and how much I'm enjoying my trips abroad by boycotting the tax on buying in the UK. My own rough calculator revealed I'm saving £336 every six months with still change left after my trip to save towards the next one.
I'm not great at sums, so I hope this is right, but I figured me and my other half smoke less than two packs of 50g each week between us - but allowing for two at £11 each - I worked out for six months at £22 for 100g it would cost us £528. In Bruges the price is £3.80 for 50g which I rounded off to £4 - £8 per week - and ended up with a cost of £192 for six months supply.
I've just booked a return boat trip to Bruges for £45 and that includes the cabin price so no cost of accommodation to add. It's a beautiful city that I remember being about beer and chocolate.
I went once before my tobacco buying days. I used to buy mine from the local family run tobacconists in town. Generations had served from behind that old wooden counter and it had been there almost as long as Lincoln itself - it became a victim of cheap black market sales a few years ago.
I think buying abroad will soon be the only way to get tobacco if you want to avoid the criminals as the unrestricted authorities are moving ever onwards towards the tobacco display ban.
I am sure the appeal against that by legitimate business is no more than a fly in the ointment of unrestricted denormalisation.
One of the commentors in that great debate points out that the eradication of tobacco by any means, the destruction of culture and the stigmatising of legal consumers is all part of the puritans' plan.
Here it is Baroness Dr. Elaine Murphy on smoking.
"You and many others have completely missed the point about smoking and health. The aim is reduce the public acceptability of smoking and the culture which surrounds it. We know that legislation which discourages all public smoking will have the better impact on public understanding and perception of smoking as an unacceptable habit.
Hence fewer people will smoke, hence health overall will improve."
They still claim it's about health but they don't even need so called "evidence" any more. Lies are acceptable now to achieve an ideological aim and spread prejuidce and hate.
It appears because we smokers just won't do as we are told, Nanny's had a fit and now she's set her Big Bully Brother Nudge on to us.
If my ribs are already feeling bruised from Nanny's gentle touch, then I'm in for a few broken bones with Bully Nudge. I suppose it won't matter that even the main stream media is saying this won't work. It's about hate not health so it won't move the bigots one inch.
Meanwhile, I'm surfing to find out what we can do in Bruges, where we WILL be able to smoke inside, and enjoy the feeling of relief at Bully's Jackboot off my neck if only for a little while.