A daily diary following reporter Mike Ribbeck as he bids to mark the new millennium by giving up smoking.

"WELL, it has been 24 hours since my last cigarette and I have not murdered anyone yet, although I will admit I have been close on a couple of occasions.

Members of my family and friends have been warned to treat me with kid gloves over the next couple of weeks but it is only a matter of time before I take my wrath out on some poor unlucky soul.

This is not the first time I have tried to stop smoking so I know that there is a lot worse to come.

The trick is to keep myself busy and not dwell on the lack of nicotine in my system."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.