CLOUD CHASING THE E-STOGIES

Well now, finally I get to type this out and there is now plenty to talk about, or type rather.

This all started one day in my local pharmacist while collecting my long list of prescription medication. In this store I had noticed some time beforehand that they sold these electronic cigarettes and had wondered if they really worked?

I was not completely oblivious to vaping at this juncture because a friend of mine, whose on my Facebook list, had shown me his kit a few times and stated that I should try it.

Now I had stopped smoking for two years and I am not sure whether or not he informed me about the vaping while I was off cigarettes or not. If I was off the smokes it might be why I did not look into it at the time?

So there I was and I made the fatal error of asking if they worked while pointing at the Liberty-Flights starter kit. I had already picked up a couple of leaflets, one with all the different e-cigs and one with all the flavour e-liquids. There were a couple in the store right behind me who both had one of these each in their hands. They were very chatty and friendly, if somewhat seemingly spaced out, and started to explain to me how it all worked. I was told that if I purchased one I would feel it was the best thing I ever bought.

Something of an over-statement.

However, it did not turn out to be too far from the truth!

So I decided to purchase one, asked if they had any higher up models and was told no and bought the £19.99 Liberty-Flights Premium starter kit. I thought then that 'Premium' was an odd name for a starter kit. I think it is downright laughable right now!

Anyway I got it home, with its free charger and Tobacco flavoured e-liquid, charged it up, filled up what I was told was the cartomizer and a couple hours later I was puffing away.

Now to get anything out of it was something of a struggle but even so I never lit up a rolly all night until the battery died. I was told the battery would last all day. It did not. I then looked into the matter and discovered that the e-Go battery with the starter kit was a paltry 650mah battery. Making the kit cost somewhat pricey for what you got in all honesty.

I started to look around for a better one and intended to end up using the Liberty-Flight one as a back up, or one that I take out with me during the day.

I returned to the pharmacist the following day with a friend and asked about one in the leaflet called a Liberty-Flights Cloud Chaser. Me being into Mountain Bikes, and Fishing Rods, I like the lightness and the look of carbon fibre. This model they called the Cloud Chaser had a battery 3.5 times more powerful that the Premium model and was wrapped in carbon fibre.

They explained to me that they had had one up until the day I had bought one and had sent it back because no one was showing an interest in the dearer models. Typical. I was also in there because a flange had come loose on the one I had bought and the e-liquid had leaked all over my hands. While the pharmacist was changing the cartomizer over for me a man behind me suggested that I went to a proper vapour store to see to my cartomizer until I explained I had just bought the e-cig in the pharmacy the day before. I said that I would look around though in the coming weeks.

The pharmacist said that they would get the Cloud Chaser model back in the store and I gave them my phone number. They did not call.

A couple off days later I was in Waltham Cross with the intention of buying some tubs of Earthworms, not for my sandwiches you understand but for my Fire Salamanders, when I decided to cut through the shopping precinct. As I walked into the rear of the precinct I spotted a shop immediately on the right hand-side that looked like it could be a vape shop, with rows of little bottles on a shelf behind the man in the store.

Looking like it could be a very small 'Body Shop' type store aimed at women I decided to give it a close inspection before I decided to enter. It was called Mirage and right under the name it stated 'Electronic Cigarettes'. Cool. I wandered in.

There was this black guy behind the counter talking to a very old gentleman who certainly did not look like someone who vaped. At the back of the store was a glass cabinet complete with different types of vape kits and I gravitated over to it. Rigght there on the right hand-side was something similar to the Cloud Chaser by Liberty-Flights I was waiting for a phone-call for! Except this one had a tank and atomiser on it that was black and not silver like the Cloud Chaser. I liked the look of this one, a KangerTech Sub Tank Mini, but wished it was in silver.

I waited for the old man to leave the store and then said to the sales guy, called Owen, “surely he is not into vaping?” gesturing at the guy pigeon footing across the mall. “Oh yeah” was the reply and I showed a surprised look on my face. He laughed.

I got talking, the vapour kit was bought out and I ended up shelling out money I had not planned to spend.

A young lady walked in and showed some interest, pointing out that her boss had quit smoking by going over to vaping. I explained I had only been doing it fort a few days but was already back in the store spending £60 on a better one. She was reluctant to take a puff on one when offered, poiting out she did not want to look like a twit to the two of us by coughing. We told her she would not, not realising we were both about to prove this would be the case.

Owen asked me what flavour I wanted and I said Tobacco, as I had already had that and it had a sweet kind of butterscotch flavour to it. He asked what strength nicotine I wanted and I asked what strengths he had. One of them was 2.4% and I asked for that and he asked if I was sure as it was very strong. I said I was on 1.8% currently and it did not feel enough. He put the juice in the tank for me and asked to me take a chug on it to see. I did and it was extremely strong in flavour as well as bitter and I coughed and spluttered all over the shop to the sound of laughter. I laughed too and said “bloody hell, man! That IS strong!” Owen decided to place one of those rubber mouth pieces on it and give it a go. He said he did not use nicotine any more having come off it many months before but would see how he found it. He took a chug and ended up coughing and spluttering all over the shop and we all laughed. I turned to the young girl and said “see? You can't feel silly now for trying it?”

I grabbed my stuff and made my farewells and left with my new gadget...here it is...

I had a look around on the Internet to see what other stores were around that catered for vaping.

I found a number of them about the place and after ending up back in Mirage's store in Waltham Cross, because charger's do not come with the batteries for some reason, and ended up at one in Edmonton near the North Circular Road and A10, Great Cambridge Road junction.

I had previously been in a store in Enfield called Krayzee who prevviously did computer parts but not very good at that, now into vaping gear and not very good at that either, getting a “oh its just a disposable one” when I showed them my Liberty-Flight Premium and after the carbon fibre wrapped ones. Despite the fact that the carbon wrapped bit I now know to be the Aspire CF VV, Aspire CF Sub, Aspire CF Maxx and Aspire CF MOD andd very popular they had never heard of any carbon fibre batteries.

And as for their so-called website? The less said about that the better! I have been scratching my head trying to figure out just how they got started and how they made enough cash to expand?!

The mind boggles but I had a theory or two.

Yes so, I digress.

I should point out at this stage I tried two other flavours and went back to Liberty-Flight for this as I liked their Tobacco. I purchased Twisted Melon, French Vanilla and another Tobacco. The Twisted Melon did taste like Melon, to be fair, but its twist was that it was a little bitter. OK, but not mind-blowing. I love Vanilla but found their French Vanilla far too strong and overpowering. Oh dear.

So I ended up at this shop in Edmonton called the Juice Shop. Not much to the store but it really did not need to be. After a customer was dealt with got chatting to a guy called Scott, if my Fibrofog allows me to remember correctly? They offered for me to try several flavours of tobacco and after that bitter stuff at Mirage I was a bit weary. However I was surprised when after trying several none of them was as awful as the Oasis Tobacco at Mirage's store! Next I was handed one to try I was expecting to be another Tobacco, took a chug on it and actually spoke out loud “Oh..my..God!”

That was their Cosmic Cloud Champeach!

Cosmic Cloud is their variety juice that has a higher content of vegetable glycerol to poly...whatshernames. With this ratio of the two, 70 to 30, you get more vapour which is kind of something I was chasing! A little a any rate.

I was having a bloody bottle of that!

I also spotted a carbon tip and decided to get a bottle each of the RY4, Black Honey Tobacco and the Champeach flavour of their Cosmic Clouds.

We got chatting and I told the sstore guy about what I do, about my corruption blogs and other subjects. He said “Oh? Your a bit of a conspiracy theorist then?” and I pointed out that I am but on the factual side of things. He said “Wait there!” and disappeared momentarily before returning with a tablet PC.

He had a web-page of his own regarding the same kinds of things I cover.

His page can be found at …

www.youthinkitsajoke.com

Nice title, I like that. Grabs naïve people by the short and curlies. Nice.

I wrote down my details for him and said I would write a piece on my corruption blog about going in their, their stuff, and the chat we had.

Here it is! Lol!

Oh, I want tea...

Kettle on!

I explained that despite the fact I had not done much of late that I was working on a couple of things at that time and that I had nearly reached 300,000 visitors in total and .. CRAP! Forgot to upload something!

So yeah I explained that I had secretly recorded almost everything, got several Doctors lying on tape and had amassed over 100GB of data and that the passport office grinding to a halt was over us and went through what happened.

It was at that point he slid a complimentary slip towards me and a pen! Lol.

I paid for my stuff and said I would probably be back and he said that sounded disappointing so I corrected myself and said I would definitely be back. He had wanted me to buy one of those mods that make you look like your carrying a very bad mid nineties phone! I am not really into that look and like the carbon fibre e-stogie look myself. The Kangertech SubBox is not too bad, if I am honest but I am not entering any competitions for chasing clouds, I only started ten days beforehand for Christ's sake! Lol.

I did later discover there was something they did not have on show, despite the fact I rather liked the look of the Aspire Triton Tank/Atomiser there was something else they had. Something on 'special offer' too!

I called my Aspire CF Sub paired with my KangerTech Sub Tank Mini the E-Stogie due to its size and colour. What I was later to discover was they had something … bigger and better!

Something I had failed to realise existed because I simply did not spot it!

I was about to fall in love!

Umm, well after I found myself back at that Juice Shop two days or so later!

It seems that Aspire made a bigger battery than my 2000mah Sub ohm battery and was a whopping 3000mah battery called the CF Maxx. This came in a kit with an Aspire Atlantis, ohh the name, Mega Tank and Atomiser! Ooh boy!!

Promising myself no more money on vape kit for at least two weeks I was back in a very packed Juice Shop a few days later...hmm two to be precise!

The E-Stogie Mega …

After screwing up priming and forgetting to place drops down the side I got the thing gowing and I am pretty sure this is what they used and the smoke exhaust on the train in the children's Christmas film, The Polar Express! LMAO!

Ten days later and I simply cannot believe how this past time has taken me by the scruff of the neck and refuses to let go!

No more smoking, well not normal cigarettes, no more tobacco drenched clothes, house, tooth stains, lung cancer and much more cash in my pocket!! Umm … well once I manage to stop purchasing bloody vape harddware?!

Well I have … umm … except for that Aspire Triton Tank … which really should have its own battery …

God darn it!!

EDIT: Forgot to mention and it did not occur to me, being a die-hard fan and all, but a friend's wife said "It looks like the Doctors sonic screwdriver!" LOL!