A)It's true. I didn't start on my current path until 2007, at Central Oregon Community College. Before that, I mostly worked jobs like shoe salesman, furniture delivery, restaurant work and other jobs .
2) I've seen (pictures of) you smoking "the cigarettes". Don't you know they're bad for you?
A) As a human being living in the early 21st century, I'm well aware of the dangers of cigarette smoking. I'm also a recovering alcoholic who first began attending AA meetings in 1999. Back then AA meetings were held not in rooms, but in smoke chambers (that's a joke for any old head AA people who remember the "an ash tray for every seat" days of AA). It's not a good choice, but it's a lesser of 2 evils thing. Like voting for president.
I DO make attempts at quitting (or at least cutting down) often. In my early 20's, I used to smoke upwards to 3 packs a day. Now I barely break a pack a day. Right now I'm trying to replace w/ e-cigarettes. I've tried gum and patches, too. So far e-cigarettes have been the best replacement method. Moving very far away from my "family" and not having contact with them has also had a very positive effect on my ability to cut down smoking as well.
Sometimes (especially if I relapse on drinking) I'll end up smoking lots of cigarettes again. But I do always make a concerted effort to get my cigarette intake back down to "baseline" levels. Not too long ago, I relapsed on drinking and was back at almost 40 cigarettes a day. But I got dry again , and after that, I was able to start taking steps to reduce my cigarettes to the point where I'm back to less than 20 cigarettes a day. My hope is to one day quit for good. But if I could/can sustain a "5 cigarettes a day or less" habit/addiction, I wouldn't be too mad at myself for not being able to quit completely.
Q) So you won't get a drink with me/us?
A) Nope. I'm a "one drop of alcohol is one too many" alcoholic. If I have even one beer, I can (and usually do) end up drinking heavy within a day or two and it always becomes an unmanageable problem that takes me months (if not years) to remove myself from. Sometimes I feel strong enough in my sobriety that I can sit and chit chat with people who are drinking, but usually (read: almost always) I try to avoid alcohol and places where people are drinking. I go so far as to basically cut ties with people that... there's people I've been good friends with, but so much of our interaction was based on alcohol and such that sometimes I just have to say "I need to move on from this friendship" because otherwise I'll end up drinking a bottle a day again. My alcoholism has, more than once, led to me getting to the "750mL bottle of hard liquor every day" level. That's NOT a good place for anyone to be.
3) What techniques you use for mind-calming?
Myself, I like to sit somewhere in the woods in isolation. Usually by some flowing body of water. For whatever reason, it "takes me there". I spent a day on the rocky shores of the Skykomish River before my talk at NUMS '15, and before NUMS '14 and '16 I went out to areas near to home (but their locations are secret, to preserve their wonder and non-garbage-ness from too much foot-trampling). Nature takes me out of my head as much as I can be.
I also like to cook as a form of mind-calming. Sometimes just getting some ingredients together and making something (hopefully) delicious is enough to relax my mind.