First Week

[DWEIRICK]

Day 127

When to leave KTC (September is past HOF so we are bound to lose a few....)

This has been bounced around so many times, but I thought I would touch on it as I myself have struggled with staying the course in the past….
 
When is the best time to leave KTC? Although you might think the answer would be simple, it's far from that. Most of us came here because we had no other option. We tried all kinds of methods and other ways, and we failed each and every time. Only when we found KTC and the quitters in these halls were we able to break away from this addiction so why would you leave if it is working? Personally, I know for a fact that if I was not here posting daily and was solely relying on myself, I would fail. I know this because I have done this and I have failed. For me it is simple - leaving here lets the door open for nicotine, leaving here puts me at risk for another day 1 and leaving here after the only cost I pay is a daily roll post is probably one of the most idiotic things I could possibly do next to caving. I’m sure many are able to leave and stay the course, but for me I am not willing to risk my quit. I will continue to post each and every day as a reminder of the life I left behind. See you tomorrow on roll call!!

[DWEIRICK]

Day 119

War On Nicotine

Each of us wages war on this evil and destructive substance day in and day and unfortunately much like war and the battlefield we will lose brothers/sisters. It is an almost unpreventable event no matter the number of days we have stacked up. We mourn the fallen, but we keep fighting for each other, but more importantly for our individual freedom. Take a second to remember them even if they lost this battle on bad terms (cave, leaving with no explanation or straight up ghost) we can learn a valuable lesson from these losses. Our fight wages on until the end of time as there is no end date to addiction. We continue to win battles, but for us the war will always wage on. Make sure your quit is armored and protected as best as possible. Do you have digits for others? Do others have your digits? Do you show up each and every day? Are you here WUPPing or are you strolling to the battlefield at the end of the day while your team has been waging the fight all day long without you? Are you someone your team can lean on when shit gets heavy? Are you willing to be held accountable when you are not protecting your own quit? If you are slipping in any of those areas, you are leaving the door open for the Nic bitches sneak attacks and believe me she’s full of them….

I let myself get “got” by her twice here and I was graced enough to survive and continue this fight. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that door is bolted, welded and sealed shut. No more cracks in my armor…

Don't ever forget that is a daily thing. I often lost sight of it over the years, but anytime that I felt disconnected, I would double down on the basics and pick up a few new quitters.

Absolutely Candy!

[Candoit]

Day 119

War On Nicotine

Each of us wages war on this evil and destructive substance day in and day and unfortunately much like war and the battlefield we will lose brothers/sisters. It is an almost unpreventable event no matter the number of days we have stacked up. We mourn the fallen, but we keep fighting for each other, but more importantly for our individual freedom. Take a second to remember them even if they lost this battle on bad terms (cave, leaving with no explanation or straight up ghost) we can learn a valuable lesson from these losses. Our fight wages on until the end of time as there is no end date to addiction. We continue to win battles, but for us the war will always wage on. Make sure your quit is armored and protected as best as possible. Do you have digits for others? Do others have your digits? Do you show up each and every day? Are you here WUPPing or are you strolling to the battlefield at the end of the day while your team has been waging the fight all day long without you? Are you someone your team can lean on when shit gets heavy? Are you willing to be held accountable when you are not protecting your own quit? If you are slipping in any of those areas, you are leaving the door open for the Nic bitches sneak attacks and believe me she’s full of them….

I let myself get “got” by her twice here and I was graced enough to survive and continue this fight. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that door is bolted, welded and sealed shut. No more cracks in my armor…

Don't ever forget that is a daily thing. I often lost sight of it over the years, but anytime that I felt disconnected, I would double down on the basics and pick up a few new quitters.

[DWEIRICK]

Day 119

War On Nicotine

Each of us wages war on this evil and destructive substance day in and day and unfortunately much like war and the battlefield we will lose brothers/sisters. It is an almost unpreventable event no matter the number of days we have stacked up. We mourn the fallen, but we keep fighting for each other, but more importantly for our individual freedom. Take a second to remember them even if they lost this battle on bad terms (cave, leaving with no explanation or straight up ghost) we can learn a valuable lesson from these losses. Our fight wages on until the end of time as there is no end date to addiction. We continue to win battles, but for us the war will always wage on. Make sure your quit is armored and protected as best as possible. Do you have digits for others? Do others have your digits? Do you show up each and every day? Are you here WUPPing or are you strolling to the battlefield at the end of the day while your team has been waging the fight all day long without you? Are you someone your team can lean on when shit gets heavy? Are you willing to be held accountable when you are not protecting your own quit? If you are slipping in any of those areas, you are leaving the door open for the Nic bitches sneak attacks and believe me she’s full of them….

I let myself get “got” by her twice here and I was graced enough to survive and continue this fight. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that door is bolted, welded and sealed shut. No more cracks in my armor…

[DWEIRICK]

Day 110

Ten days post HOF for most of us the celebrations are winding down and now we are just facing another day in this never-ending fight. I know from my past experiences here adding a banner to roll call and asking people to sign up for the next floor was something we all looked forward to! A way of not letting those first 100 days be forgotten or the only milestone that needed celebration. Every win deserves a celebration in this battle! For some the wins seem few and far between at times, but they do come I promise! If you’re Pre-HoF or Post it doesn’t matter at the end of the day as we are all in this fight together, but it’s important to stop and take a minute to reflect and truly appreciate what this community does for people who have no other options! It’s important to pay it forward with your stories both triumphs and what you feel might be a loss.  You have no idea how powerful your story could be to someone who’s either on the edge or doesn’t know how to keep fighting!

A few of the members of September 25 have branched out and started posting support to the new groups and that is awesome! Good on you and I hope it helps your quit as much as it does mine!

1st floor for the third time was great and all, but I won’t be seeing it ever again. Here’s to the 2nd floor and the wins and losses we will face together as a group!!

[DWEIRICK]

Day 108

Last night I got hit with an awfully realistic cave dream. I was in my shower when I realized I had a dip of cope wintergreen in, and I immediately spit it on the shower floor. My mind was racing with how it got in there in the first place as I didn’t remember opening the can or putting said dip in. Then I was trying to figure out how to explain this event to my group and all the people who dropped their guard to support a retread. I was terrified and I was trying to come up with all these ideas on how to handle it. I moved from the shower to my couch where said can fell out of my pocket and it was a can of beef jerky that was wintergreen flavor which was really weird, but what I found even more disturbing was the fact that it looked, felt and smelled just like cope wintergreen when I opened it up. My mind then went to someone is playing tricks on me and changed out my fake with the real shit. I then woke up and was soaked in sweat. I had to go downstairs for a glass of water and to collect my thoughts. Holy shit that sucked….

[DWEIRICK]

Day 100 - I could spend all day thanking quitters, but the ones that I owe the biggest thanks to are the ones who called my addict ass out and made sure I stayed accountable. This place is built on accountability and without that none of us can break free! I promise to keep my word; I promise to keep fighting even when I have nothing left and I promise to always hold others accountable! NAFAR!

Few days late in here but congrats on 100 man, honored to have you on the train with us

Thank you!! It was an honor to have you as one of our conductors!!!

[BigRedDog]

Day 100 - I could spend all day thanking quitters, but the ones that I owe the biggest thanks to are the ones who called my addict ass out and made sure I stayed accountable. This place is built on accountability and without that none of us can break free! I promise to keep my word; I promise to keep fighting even when I have nothing left and I promise to always hold others accountable! NAFAR!

Few days late in here but congrats on 100 man, honored to have you on the train with us

[DWEIRICK]

Day 100 - I could spend all day thanking quitters, but the ones that I owe the biggest thanks to are the ones who called my addict ass out and made sure I stayed accountable. This place is built on accountability and without that none of us can break free! I promise to keep my word; I promise to keep fighting even when I have nothing left and I promise to always hold others accountable! NAFAR!

Congrats on 100 sir!!

Thanks, Brother!!

[MN_Engineer]

Day 100 - I could spend all day thanking quitters, but the ones that I owe the biggest thanks to are the ones who called my addict ass out and made sure I stayed accountable. This place is built on accountability and without that none of us can break free! I promise to keep my word; I promise to keep fighting even when I have nothing left and I promise to always hold others accountable! NAFAR!

Congrats on 100 sir!!

[DWEIRICK]

Day 100 - I could spend all day thanking quitters, but the ones that I owe the biggest thanks to are the ones who called my addict ass out and made sure I stayed accountable. This place is built on accountability and without that none of us can break free! I promise to keep my word; I promise to keep fighting even when I have nothing left and I promise to always hold others accountable! NAFAR!

[DWEIRICK]

Day 99

Things are different this time around and I know that because anytime there is a slight inconvenience or a rough patch on the road that I am on I don't immediately think to myself that I need a chew, or I need a dip. It feels good to finally embrace the quit life and to actually learn how to navigate life's obstacles and wins without finger bangin a can. I will always regret the decisions that landed me here and on another road to 100, but I will not let it define the future of my quit! NAFAR

[DWEIRICK]

Day 95

Last night I had a huge craving for some reason, and this was the first major one since I decided to truly quit for good this time. It was a weird sensation as I laid in bed last night. I was having trouble shutting my brain off to sleep and there she was whispering in my ear. "You know you miss me; don't you remember all the times we spent together and how I "made you feel better?''  I thought about it for a second before the angry quitter in me lashed out at her. In my mind I proceeded to throw everything in her face. You never made me feel better and by giving in to you I only helped the withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine never helped me get through any situation I faced any better or with a clear mindset. You are lying to me like you always do, and I don't need you anymore. Try as you might to sink your claws back into me, but you should know I have the full armor of KTC on my side and my will to live is stronger than your desire to slowly and painfully kill me. After everything Nicotine robbed from me this bitch thought she had another shot, well she's dead wrong... I have the tools, I have the knowledge, and I have the brotherhood all I need to do on my end is stay committed to the fight! 

[DWEIRICK]

Day 88 9/12/2025

Went to Derm/plastics for a large lump on the back of my head/neck area. I have had this lump for a few years, and it had recently grown in size. I was supposed to have it removed just prior to Covid, but once that hit, they put the removal on the back burner, and I left it go. On Friday I finally had it removed and it was relatively painless. Most important it was confirmed non-cancerous and was just a mass of fat thankfully!  Another win from quitting! I was truly terrified it was something much worse thanks to 24 plus years of nicotine abuse. I am sure I am not out of the woods, but I am so glad to be done! NAFAR....

[MN_Engineer]

Day 84

I watched someone walk into Dec25 today to post up another day 1 after failing to use the tools provided here. They had my number and many other quitters' numbers but only reached out after they decided to cave. I look back on the past and my status of being a retread myself and I have to be honest here and say there are so many quitters on this site who have been through so much worse than I have, and most others have and they have remained quit. See that is the difference here in quitting and stopping. Those who make it through the trials, shitty days, almost losing everything and not knowing if they will come out on the other side, but still never faltering on their quits are the ones who survive here simply because they bought in. They know that nicotine will not solve any of the problems at that moment, so they stick to what they know and that is their promise to themselves and their group.

Losing a battle to a dead plant in a can is a lot more embarrassing today for me and maybe that’s because I have grown and matured. Maybe it’s because I finally realized that I am in control of my actions and also my lack of them! I have learned that caving will never be an option for me again. I can’t betray my brothers and sisters again and most importantly I can’t let myself down. Someone in my group (Ribbons) has a great saying they like to drop “Love yourself enough to quit” and I think that speaks volumes. If you won’t quit or won’t stay quit then you clearly do not love yourself enough to save your own life. We only get one shot at this life, by the time you wished you would’ve quit or stayed on your quit it could be too late. You only have to quit for today, tomorrow can wait. It's today that matters most!

Not to get too philosophical here but in conversations with a licensed therapist I was talking about struggles to forgive myself for past mistakes while also struggling with loving people in my life that are hard to love. And he pointed to the command in the Bible to "love your neighbor as yourself". And what he pointed out is that if we don't love ourselves, respect ourselves, forgive ourselves, etc., we won't be able to truly then follow the command to love those in our midst. And it think this plays heavily into what we do here at KTC. It isn't until we are able to love ourselves and our new identities as quitters that we are able to then turn and help those who are struggling to forgive themselves and embrace their new life of being nicotine free.

Don't know if this makes any sense but thanks for letting me ramble on your intro!