Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it hundreds of times.

I've always liked the above quote from Mark Twain, it sums up everything non-smokers need to know about the difficulty with which we self-afflicted junkies kick the habit.

Whilst not into the hundreds yet, I'm currently in the throes of what I believe is my 6th attempt in 2 years to quit the demon weed. This time around it's going pretty well - the only time I've done better was my first attempt back in spring 2009 when I gave up for 6 months before starting again in Sicily "because I was in Italy and all Italians smoke". I've had one cigarette in 6 weeks, and that was only because I got over excited talking to Jimeoin the other night. 

Tomorrow marks a downgrade from Elephant-strength nicotine patches to something akin to a Silk Cut once every couple of hours. With it will come short-temperedness, moodiness, aggression and sulking. Whether anyone will notice the difference is open to debate.