The Dreaded First Post: A Testimonial

   Starting a blog really has to do just that, START. Somewhere. Anywhere. Find a sentence without too many cliches and just go. Unfortunately, this blog will have all the cliches and all the puns. Sorry, not that sorry. My name is Oddysey, has been since I was about twelve years old and couldn't stand going by my original name (No, I won't tell. It's a secret!) 


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   Currently, I manage a vape shop and have too much free time on my hands. That's not entirely true, but I have always wanted to start a blog. With so many opinions and thoughts going through my head on a daily basis, this venture should make all my previous English teachers and professors cringe just a little bit. I must apologize in advance, I do NOT intend on constantly having proper grammar in this medium. I can, however, promise mostly proper grammar and plenty of tangents. You're welcome...

   As far as the vape shop comment goes, I started vaping in 2013 and almost immediately went right back to cigarettes. My closest friend at the time took me to a local shop to get me away from the lung killers and bought me an Aspire kit (no idea which one) with an internal tank. While the guy who helped me pick it out and set it up was really sweet, I was beyond clueless about what we had bought or how it even worked. All I was certain of was that the device was SUPER CUTE and at some point I was going to have to change something they had called a "coil". Once I tasted the burn and attempted what seemed like a full heart transplant, I was already giving up. Trying to figure it out on my own had me needing a cigarette. 

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    FAST FORWARD a few years (like 4 months ago), at this point in my life I have found the man I plan to marry and had begun building, with him, the life we wanted to live. A conversation was had that I did not want to hear. It was time to quit smoking. We had already tried the "cold turkey" approach which had us begging each other to just go buy a pack. Just one more pack. This time it had to be for good. My fiance suggested we vape. 

    WHAT?!?! He wanted me to try and figure that thing out again? With all the little parts that need changed and the dangers everyone was talking about! I let him buy me an Innokin Coolfire mini. Of course, he knew more than I did. Still, I had to know what I was doing this time and began my research. 


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This is what I found and have learned the past few months:

The health benefits totally outweigh the frustrations. 

 With over 7,000 chemicals in ONE cancer stick, there are generally only FOUR in e-liquid. The worst chemical being NICOTINE. That fact is why we call vaping HARM REDUCTION THERAPY. Sure there is still harm in putting nicotine in your body, but multiple studies show that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes. 

The cost of vaping is much cheaper than being a pack or two a day smoker.

   If you have ever heard the phrase, "Cheaper in the long-run", that's vaping. The average cost of a carton of cigarettes where I live is about $50. My fiance and I could go through one in a week. That's $200 a month. Now the average vape set-up in my area is $100. Add on your liquid ($20/bottle) and a pack of coils (another $20/ 3-5 pack). Realistically, you are looking at about $250 for the first month of vaping. BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! (I warned you about cliches) That set up, if treated right with proper battery care and minimal clumsiness, could last you months or even years. That brings your monthly vape cost down to about $50-$100 a month. So that's HALF if not more than half the price of being a pack or more a day smoker.

   Those two points alone were enough for me to put away the "ashtray smell". Still I wanted to know how it all worked. What exactly is a coil? How do mods blow-up in people's pockets? Why is everyone so deathly afraid of something that really should be praised?

  { Originally, I had planned on including all of that information in this post, but the fruits of the labor I put in really deserve a separate post with diagrams and pictures. Maybe a gif or five.}

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   The most important thing I learned (besides what the hell I was doing) was how much of a waste of time and money the Juul device had become. It was being sold at every gas station. It was constantly in everyone's mouths because of how often they caused trouble with the FDA and schools. The worst part was the cost of the stupid little pre-filled cartridges. 

  Let me just add a side note here. If you have a Juul and love it, I'm happy for you. Really I am. Just know you are still giving your money to a tobacco company. 

  In case you live under a rock with the other starfish, Juul was bought out by Altria. If that doesn't spell it out, Altria owns Phillip Morris. I'm sorry that's not specific enough. THEY MAKE THEM THERE COWBOY KILLERS [said in perfect southern twang]. Marlboro. The cigarette that had me stuck in an endless loop of trying to quit and coming right back to committing long-term suicide. 

   If all that drama wasn't the be all end all, the cost had my head spinning. Again if the long-term cost is cheaper than the right now cost, spend the big bucks now and DON'T regret it later. 

Along my research journey I found many reviewers and advocates for vaping that gave me much more knowledge and longing for a hand out of the cancer hole. I will most definitely be giving them shout-outs and credit in later posts. As far as what I'm vaping now, I have a pretty cool sub-ohm set up.

This is the GeekVape Aegis Legend with the Fireluke Mesh purple resin with an acrylic expansion. So, in other words, this is my abuse resistant mod.

Feel free to attempt to find me on Facebook if you haven't already. I will also be creating a few other social media profiles for this blog and will be adding those at a later time. If you have made it all the way through my first post without leaving, congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the head and keep coming back for more.