Experiment, day 3.

I'm bored with this. Still, I said I'd do it until Friday so I will. I have none of the fidgets or short temper (well, no shorter than usual, it is an Italian temper and the world is full of idiots) so I've convinced myself there's no addiction.

I'll keep it going until Friday anyway because I said I would and because there are other interesting effects. The fatigue is wearing off, the coughing has all but stopped and - amazingly - there is no trace of yellow stain on my fingers. It seems that just washes off after a few days when you stop topping it up. The yellow stain might be more associated with rollies than readymades, I think.

I'm also staying off the whisky because whisky and a smoke go together so well that it's like having beans on toast without the toast. I bought some brandy instead. No association there, because brandy isn't a regular tipple. It is becoming associated with nicotine-free Electrofag which is going to be weird in the future. I'll have some brandy with the cigars on Friday night. That'll fix it.

Sense of smell - no noticeable difference. It's been muted by years of working with infected faeces anyway so an improvement in my sense of smell might not be particularly advantageous. Ease of breathing - no noticeable difference. I've never been anywhere near anything you'd call 'athletic' and treat gyms as though they are Dracula's lair. A few days off the smoke and my breathing is as normal as it's ever been. Those things might show a difference in others, but I'm not seeing any change in me.

Experiment ends 7 pm Friday and the first thing to do is to check whether I can taste nicotine. I have nicotine-free Electrofag and the same flavours containing nicotine so I can check whether there's a noticeable difference in taste.

Then... a cigar.