Danny, like most of my friends, it appears you are half-mad. I saw that Chiarella article. It made for great beach reading (in Cuba) last year.
Well, I’m back from another Cuban holiday. This time with a pile of cigars, ostensibly to give out to friends. I hope I don’t go off the deep end and start smoking in my 40′s, like a certain someone.

Here’s an article by someone in Esquire who started smoking at 46. It’s an interesting article, and it sounds like he had pretty much the same experience.
http://www.esquire.com/features/learning-to-smoke-0308

Danny, what always bothered me, especially when I worked for a big company like American Airlines is that any of the smokers could simply announce that they were going on a smoke break and they would be allowed that.
We non-smokers were not offered anything similar.
Once I went to my supervisor and asked if I could have 6 days added to my vacation. That’s the amount of time I calculated a smoker spent during the year back in the smoke room at AA.
Regards,
Dave

Apart from the health issues, the worst thing is the way it makes you smell.