Your story reminds me of something that happened to me once very shortly after I quit and made me realize how deeply ingrained the HABIT of smoking was.
I was pulling out of my grandmother's driveway in my car, which had a standard transmission. My cigarette pack was usually stashed in a little "nook" just behind the shifter. I shifted from first gear up to second, then pulled the shifter back to third, and automatically reached for the pack. It wasn't there, and near about pulled over to conduct a more thorough search before I remembered [b]why[/b] it was not there.
I realized that every time I got in my car, I would reach for my cigs as I was clutching to go from 3rd to 4th, and I had never recognized that habit before----but I had known for a long time that shortly after getting into my car I would have a lit cig in my hand and not even recall having reached for it!
My father also quit smoking years ago, and he said there were cigs anywhere nearby he would have one lit before he realized what he is doing. A good reason to make sure you're nowhere around them for now.
They say it takes 21 days to FORM a habit. In my experience it took about the same amount of time for those little habits to start fading. Hang in there.
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B] 6/3/2005
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 590
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 17,728
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2950
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 42 [B]Hrs:[/B] 21 [B]Mins:[/B] 18 [B]Seconds:[/B] 32
