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this is a blog for the smokers on CS - the social, the regular, the trying-to-quit, and even those who call themselves non-smokers but turn up for meets reekin' like a lum, or keep bumming 'just one' from you.



And no, we are not convening this meeting behind the stinking garbage bins. That's partly what this is about. We're being hustled, so we are. I don't think any countries allow smoking indoors in public buildings or any public transport any more. Public open spaces are under threat. Laws are coming in making it illegal to smoke in a house or car if there is a child around. Some countries already have them, so the kiddies have to sit down and think about their options. Do they shop mommy or daddy or the grandparents to the authorities, and likely get cut out of the will? Or did they remind themselves that shutting up will mean mommy / daddy / grandparents will die all the sooner, making them rich rich RICH in the shortest possible time ...



My blog, my rules - this is only for smokers, and our special places to smoke. In fact the importance of having a special place to smoke. Whether you have one or two cigs a day, or a few a week, or whether you smoke thirty or more every day - it's time to make a special place, or talk about the special place you already, the haven where no-one can get on your case.



Any non-smokers who feel the urgent need to say smoking is unhealthy / a disgusting habit / they quit cold turkey from 100 a day and never looked back / any other hostile, pompous, boastful or unpleasant comments, should go look at a handy blog Harbal has up for unwanted comments. Our lungs, our choice. When we want to make it your choice we will ask for your opinion. Thank you for respecting our rights.

Okay. We all have to survive in this world. It would be a little better if you can thrive so as we can create comfort for ourselves down the road. In this ever changing technological world, I cannot help to think about what tools would be essential for creating comfort.

The first tool that comes to mind is knowledge. I think an obsession with knowledge is just as bad as not having any knowledge. There has to be a balance. In my opinion, the balance is created with knowledge and real life experiences.

The next tool that comes to mind is a network of friends. I was once told, it is not what you know...but who you know. I think in order to become part of a network, you need to have something to contribute within that network. With that said, that saying I heard is partially true. It helps to know something as to not become a sponge to that network...but to also contribute and become one of its assets.

The third tool that comes to mind is reputation. It is difficult to thrive in society if you have a bad reputation. Especially with social media, it is easy for your reputation to get spotted. Treat people with respect is important.

The forth tool that comes to mind...actually has to do with the mind. A healthy and happy mindset allows you to perceive reality clearer and have the motivation to achieve comfort. Not to mention, the capacity to better understand (coupled with knowledge).

The fifth tool I can think of is the ability to manage your finances effectively. It don't matter what sort of money you make, if you spend it as it comes in your wallet....it will be difficult to create comfort down the road.

The sixth tool....the ability to discern friends and lover(s). This comes with some knowledge and some experience. I have always said, allowing the wrong person in your life can create a hell on earth for yourself. However, it is said that humans are social creatures and yearn for companionship. So be careful, but yet...allow people in your life.

Are there any other tools you believe have helped you in life that you would encourage somebody who is entering this world to use?

Happy Sunday to you all.

I was thinking how much better life is these days compared with when I was younger. Things that used to be mildly pleasing are now awesome , and things that I once couldn’t even be sure warranted the slight raising of an eyebrow have become amazing. In the 70s it took something like a star man waiting in the sky to blow our minds; nowadays a bit of extra chocolate dust on top of frothy coffee is enough to do it. Then, just as now, people lusted after the finer things in life, such as expensive cars and houses, but unlike now the cars and houses back then weren’t worth dying for. Going even further back to my parents’ generation, to OMG was merely to invoke thoughts of one’s giddy aunt, now, no less than God would be adequate to express the sentiment.

Just read this online:


The quality to which you were initially helplessly attracted to a person often becomes the primary reason that you can no longer stand them.( Hotspur)

My question is: Is it true? Does love really turn to hate?

In Chinese and other Asian societies, a red envelope, red packet, lai see or hongbao is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions such as weddings, graduation or the birth of a baby.

Chinese people love the color red, and regard red as the symbol of energy, happiness and good luck. Sending red packets is a channel for sending good wishes and luck. Actually, the significance of red packets is the red paper, not the money inside. Wrapping money in red packets is hoped to bring more happiness and blessing to the receivers. Hence, it is impolite to open a red packet in front of the person who gives you.

The amount of money contained in the envelope usually ends with an even digit.

During Chinese New Year, red envelopes are typically given by the married to children and the unmarried, regardless of age.

-The Internet

Since my kids have an Indian for a dad and a Chinese mom, I decided to give them an Indian and a Chinese name!

My daughter is named 'Rue Yi'


Meanwhile, my son got 'Tzer Xiang' or 'Ji Xiang'


One of the most common Chinese lucky slogans is 'Ru Yi Ji Xiang'. Ru means ‘according to'. Yi means ‘your innermost wishes or desires’ while Ji and Xiang both mean blessings, luck, auspicious. The phrase is usually translated as, 'Heaven grants your wishes' or 'As you wish, so it shall be'.

However, the phrase is also sometimes written in reverse order, 'Ji Xiang Ru Yi'. In this case the meaning becomes, 'As heaven’s blessings, so your desires' or 'Your desires match what heaven has given'.

Throughout the years, I've been collecting hong baos that have these Chinese characters on them. I'd love to give my kids these hong baos with their names written once they leave the nest.





Today is the first day of Chinese New Year and I'd like to wish everybody Good health, good luck and much happiness throughout the year.

Throughout my life, my association with the Church has been very casual. I daresay I must have been christened in one, but I don’t remember anything at all about that. As an adult, it seems difficult to avoid churches altogether; lucky, in deed, is the man who has never been required to attend a christening, wedding or funeral. In my experience, the goings-on in churches can only be described as dreary.

Given what I have said so far, one might reasonably conclude that I don’t very much like churches, but nothing could be further from the truth. I love churches. Not all of them, of course, some are ugly and uninviting, but most are interesting. I very rarely pass a church without giving it a similar degree of attention as many men give to a shapely young female walking along the pavement. Although I like to think my reaction to the view is less unwholesome.

I like older churches that stand in graveyards the best. Particularly if the graveyard is slightly neglected, and the gravestones are all leaning in various directions, at various angles. I can’t say I usually give much thought to what might be beneath the stones, just as I don’t give much to what might be happening inside the church; it’s all about aesthetics, really. I just like the way it all looks.

In the future children will be raised believing it is their duty to seek a happy life, with just one proviso*. They will be taught from the beginning that this life is the only one they have and when it is over, it is over. They will be raised to understand their options in life, but they will not have to attend school unless they seek knowledge. They can stop studying any particular subject, or even leave formal schooling, whenever they have had enough, if they are clear they understand how this could affect their futures. If the hopes and dreams of their parents differ from their own, they will be expected to consider their parents’ wishes, but not forced to obey.

They will not have to follow the laws of any religion, because there will be no religion.

They need only obey those who have earned their respect, or whose rules make sense to them.

Children who are uneasy with pressures put on them can move, for as long or short a time as they wish, to communal places of safety where they will be housed and fed. There will be no automatic blame to the parents and no need for the youngster to defend the decision – no justification needed, no questions when they come and no questions when they leave, the option is open to all.

*The only proviso all in the future have to obey – and it is an absolute – is that they cannot harm others, or maliciously interfere with any other person who is seeking another path to pleasure.

Parents can therefore explain their ideas of the best possible future to their child, but cannot enforce them.

All these future children, when they are grown, will, like all adults, earn a basic minimum wage, enough to support them, in return for working 15 hours a week. If it is their pleasure to work longer and earn more, that is fine, they can find their path and follow it. They are free to love whom they please, for as little or as long as both wish. Again, the only universal rule is no deliberately harming others. Harm does include deliberately causing distress so they cannot lie, cheat or defraud without earning the status of social outcast for breaking that one simple rule.

Utopia, or chaos?

Do you have any strong life principles and beliefs that you do not violate under any circumstances? a kind of personal code of ethics. Do you want to share it here?
I believe that this set of principles and values shows who you are and who you are not.

I don’t hide under the bed quaking, but at any one time there can be at least one thread of fear running through my head. Some come from the media and their faithful acolytes on social media. Some come from the experiences of others. Some just crop up randomly on their own. Some last seconds, some can build up until I have to talk myself down. The early hours of the morning is the time most of them drift up, although some are triggered by what I am doing, or unexpected noises.

Random examples

Will my brakes fail on this hill, will I crash through the barrier and bounce into the ravine 500 feet below?

Why hasn’t X (friend, relative, or person of interest), responded to my message / email / whatsapp? Dead? Sick? Pissed off with me and will never be in touch again?

Was that creak at 2 am a door opening, or the first sign the house is falling down? Will I survive its collapse, but be buried in the rubble to suffocate slowly in excruciating pain?

Will I be burgled? Mugged? Attacked? Beaten-up? Shot? Maimed? Killed? Acid thrown in my face?

Will I try to draw cash and find my bank account has been frozen or emptied? Will I lose my house, be unable to buy food, have to kill my pets before they starve to death so I can boil their bones to make up soup?

Will I be alone forever, die alone and be eaten by said pets because no-one even notices? Will I fall downstairs, break my neck, be unable to move until I starve to death, ditto, ditto? Or if I try to avoid being alone, will I fall in love, be conned, bankrupted, and left heartbroken? Will he murder me? Which would be worse?

I also sometimes have to stop myself thinking of floods, global freezing, solar flares taking out satellites, an international collapse of the power grid, hostile skirmishes, raids, nuclear war, the collapse of the economy, losing my job, the rise of the bullies, and being targeted because I am an outsider.

Most of the time, I’m completely relaxed but the fears – the fears seem to hiccup a little more often in these gloomy days as the media vultures teach us to wail their songs of terror at the moon. Will I eventually be after all hiding under the bed quaking?

Jump in any time and tell me to stop being silly, everything will be all right. I won’t believe you – in fact I’ll think you’re alarmingly naïve never ever to fear anything will ever touch your life – but jump in anyway.

I am self-diagnosing a need for food and maybe even a bubble-bath. I'm really not a basket-case. But man I can imagine up a world of troubles for myself sometimes.

We all know about dying wishes, how they must be strictly followed and are sacrosanct. It is against all the laws of nature and various belief systems that such rules are followed to the letter, and so after much soul searching I have decided on my dying wishes, which are as follows- I want my ashes scattered right through the Sorbent toilet paper factory, in particular all the fillings and shards of bone to be spread around the production line with a leaf blower. I'll work out what to do with all the money and houses later.