Day 6 - Evetech and I Make Friends

Monday. I'm tired, grumpy and uncomfortable. It's the second day without a nicotine patch or gum. The patch makes me itchy and the gum makes me feel sick. The good news is a cigarette would make me feel even more sick so I'm not tempted to have one.

I've never really suffered from insomnia so the inability to get to sleep, the waking up at 5am and the purgatory hours of lying awake are all really bothering me. Hopefully it'll all pass soon enough. And if it doesn't... well I have a lot of reading to do anyway.

Evetech and I were not friends today. I finally read the last email sent to me on Friday and it turned out to be obnoxious, ridiculous, whiny and rude. Eventually I replied to say that, while I understood how frustrating it can be to have a customer who doesn't seem to understand the things you find painfully obvious, his response to the situation still made him a giant prat. Amazingly I got an apology email in return, which of course embarrassed me immensely.

There's more to follow but to be perfectly honest, I've had a long hard day and, while yes, I have a new PC now, the last thing I feel like doing is being creative on it. I'll write more tomorrow.

Day 5

Very little to report today. It's my Dad's birthday and I was able to tell him I haven't had a cigarette for 5 days. The nicotine patch made me itchy so I've skipped using it for a day. Haven't had gum either. The weekend is passed and with it the worst of dealing with temptation for awhile, as now there's no smokers around. Hopefully I get my PC tomorrow. All is well. In honour of Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee, here is a picture of her:

God save the.. Oh. Nevermind.

Day 4 - Hello, Insomnia

It's 5:30 am and, technically, day 5. This pamphlet my Dad gave me about quitting smoking promised extra energy within days of quitting. Turns out that's how they market insomnia.

Oh well. There are worse looks than The Insomniac.

I spent almost all of yesterday re-dying my blue hair. When I dyed my hair blonde, I'd put the bleach on for an hour, wash it off and be done. Now I have to bleach my roots before applying the dye, and then I have to leave the dye in for hours. Bleaching roots is a harder task than it sounds. Brandon had to paint them with bleach for me. Then I had to wash the bleach out, dry my hair and let him paint again, this time getting the spots he'd missed before. Finally I was able to put the dye in. I washed it out again before going to bed, but the tips of my hair is definitely green so I have more dye in again. You'd think this would kill my hair but thankfully Manic Panic is a lot kinder to hair than bleach. Apparently some people sleep with it in. I would too but I don't fancy blue-stained sheets.

It's been hard to resist smoking. Cobus visited last night, and he's always been a smoking buddy, so I was on edge from the moment he arrived and had to stop myself from telling him he smells really nice several times. (Ah the choking scent of smoke. Only ex-smokers really appreciate it.) Even after he left I wanted one. Eventually I got sick of craving a cigarette and went to bed. At no point was I craving nicotine. It's just the damn habit. 

Still, I've broken my own record. Usually I can't get past day 3 without having at least one cigarette. Pretty impressed with me.

6:30 and I'm definitely not going to get back to sleep. If this happens a lot I'm gonna have to get a hobby.

Day 3 - Patches Are Awesome and Evetech is Rubbish

I finally managed to hunt down possibly the 2 remaining boxes of Nicotine patches in the country. So far I'm a big fan of the patch. Before, cigarette cravings would trigger both when I did something I associate with smoking and when a sudden need for nicotine would was over me. Right now, I only crave a smoke during the association times. This is an improvement and makes things easier. Unfortunately I used to smoke a lot. Coffee? Have a cigarette! Driving? Have a cigarette! Just eaten? Have a cigarette! Woken up for no reason in the middle of the night? Have a cigarette! It is nice I didn't have to get all dressed up in ridiculously warm clothes. disable the alarm, unlock the house and go outside in the cold, I'll admit that much.

I did feel a bizarre wave of depression this morning only to have it disappear completely - so that was the patch.. or it's the withdrawal from the smoking.. or I'm just crazy.

I'm sad to report my hair does not smell of shampoo. It smells of boiled cabbages. The kids have lice so I'm wearing a spray in an effort to not catch it. So being able to smell is not a plus today.

Today is day 3 - the day I usually crack. To make matters worse, a friend of mine who smokes like a chimney is visiting. I wont break, I know that much, but I may become very sad inside and go through a lot of blackberry flavoured gum.

The other bad news is I won't be getting my PC today. Evetech, who insists 2-3 days delivery time all over their site, now tells me they mean that's after they build the PC. At first I asked if I could pick up the PC tomorrow from the people who are delivering it, knowing they don't deliver over weekends. The email I got back was dismissive and patronizing, as if I'm some stupid child who doesn't understand the fact that Ryan, (the customer service guy), really couldn't care less about me, the customer, since I've already given him money. I replied to say I was sad about that because, after all, today is the third working day since ordering. I got a very annoyed email explaining that by 2-3 days they mean 5-6 days and I should obviously know that. By now, irritated with this guy's attitude, I gritted my teeth and carefully didn't tell him where he can go jump, but did point out that their site is misleading. I received an very angry email in return filled with capital letters. "IT'S TWO TO THREE DELIVERY DAYS THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE BUILDING THE PC". Yes, Evetech, I get it. I also get the fact that your customer service guy is an obnoxious git and that you do bare minimum for your customers, then talk to them like you're vastly above them when they ask you simple questions. I get that doing a little bit extra for your customers or being extremely clear on your site is violently against company policy. And, by the way, when I phoned on the first day I was told 2-3 days meant I should get the PC today, maybe Monday at the latest. You know, it's really simple. Don't promise things you can't deliver.

So Monday it is. Maybe Tuesday. Wednesday on the outside. I really hope I get it before the week after next week. Last thing I want is to deal with Scumbag Evetech again.