Author Archives: Rob Ellard

On when the one you love says “Goodbye”

When the bombshell was dropped I was lost for words. Those who know me understand what a rare occurrence this is, only beaten by my daughter’s inability to draw breath in order to add punctuation to her seemingly endless monologues. Staggered. Shocked. Sad. Wave upon wave of sadness.

I guess if I think back now I can point to indicators that this was coming but while the good times are rolling you don’t take time out to plan for the worst. At least I didn’t. I don’t have a pre-nup, I’d made no provisions for this and I own no insurance. I do own an impressive music collection and it has been in the bosom of Kirk Brandon I’ve sought solace this afternoon.

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

Vikings, out of all actual cool people that really existed, must top my list of things I wish I could be. Clearly, being a vampire or a person with superpowers would beat being a Viking but we have to remain fixed in reality here. Wanting to be a vampire is just stupid – for a start your shopping experience would be limited to 24hr supermarkets and late-night kebab shops, neither of which carry a good range of blood. No, definitely a Viking.

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

Vikings, out of all actual cool people that really existed, must top my list of things I wish I could be. Clearly, being a vampire or a person with superpowers would beat being a Viking but we have to remain fixed in reality here. Wanting to be a vampire is just stupid – for a start your shopping experience would be limited to 24hr supermarkets and late-night kebab shops, neither of which carry a good range of blood. No, definitely a Viking.

The Fear

I can still remember the feeling of dread washing over me the first time I dismantled an Evod with the intention of doing my first recoil and wick. I can still recall the fear of shorting the battery or flooding or dry hitting. The worry of not being able to do something I’d never attempted before, despite knowing what it was I was embarking on and that I had my Vamo still didn’t help.

I think sometimes we lose touch with that as we proceed through our vaping journey, reaching a level of comfort that stops us exploring further. Clearly some people are natural born tinkerers (a title for a story Quentin Tarrantino rejected) and relish this aspect, for others of us it remains a daunting task.

Tobacco is good for you

There, said it.

For all these years we’ve had the dangers of tobacco rammed down our throats as if Satan himself created the plant. It takes some doing to appear so evil in the public consciousness that one can only assume the poor piece of vegetation must have hired the same PR team who look after the ghost of Jimmy Saville, Rose West and the reputation of estate agents the world over.

Fashion

When the iPhone was launched in 2007 I watched television reports covering queues stretching around the outside of Apple stores and shook my head. Not only did this product seem to be as gimmicky as the bells in a boy-band Christmas single but also the willingness of people to act like sheep to hold one baffled me.

In 2007 a phone was a damn phone – albeit with the brilliant ability to play music and take picture that made the world look as though it was covered in cellophane and steam.

Winning the ASHes

The Action on Smoking and Health charity (ASH UK) carry out annual reports, starting from 2010, examining the use of electronic cigarettes in the UK. From 2013 the survey was expanded to include children and teenagers. The most recent report was released last week, 24th April 2014.

The research was carried out using YouGov and the sample size was extrapolated to indicate the picture of national habits, opinions and behavioral trends. A total of 14,447 people were surveyed.

Vaping Types

There have been a number of articles recently purporting to help you find what subset of vaping you fall into. You may well have found that all of them have glaring omissions due to the fact that they are trying to sell you something and don’t want to upset you. It’s Friday – we’re going to put that right. Here begins Part 1 of a seventeen part collectors series.