Smoking V New Hobby

I have smoked since the tender age of 16, and at the fourth attempt and 20 years later, i have managed 'so far' to kick the habit.
it's now been 3 weeks 2 days, 22 hours and 3 minutes. And to be honest it hasn't been as difficult as i thought.
Don't get me wrong I'd happily light up again if in a beer garden with a beer, so socialising is out for a while!
So for many years i have had an interest in kiting, more to accurately, power kiting or land kiting.
As i have successfully quit the habit i decided it was time to reward myself and start the hobby i have been interested in for some time.
Basically you get a really big kite, hang on and see what happens.
When it comes to this kind of thing i am quite spontaneous, i don't research, simply buy the equipment and dive straight in.
Bad Idea..
The little initial research i did do was on ebay. i quickly noticed that the bigger the kite the dearer it was (obviously you might think). And as usual most of the like for like was half the price on ebay USA, so i found the biggest kite i could on the USA ebay, emailed the seller for a shipping cost and 1 week later i was the proud owner of a 14 metre kite.
The owner said it was a 2004 kite and had only been used 2 times. it looked fantastic in the pictures and i was very happy when it arrived.
It was just the kite i purchased, so i had to buy the lines and the bar to be able to control it.
I started looking on ebay for a particular bar, as because it was a large kite you have to have a larger length handle. Well this is where the sport becomes expensive. I couldn't find a handle or lines that were at a reasonable price. In fact even the 2nd hand ones were fetching prices twice as much as i paid for the kite.
This is wear i decided to start some proper research. I found some kite forums and joined a couple of the busier ones.
I posted an add for advice and help regarding the type of kite i had purchased, explained that i wanted to do some land kiting, to be able to get some air and do some jumps etc, and added a photo of the kite i have purchased.
It only took a few hours for the replies to start coming in....
most of the replies, No that's wrong, All of the replies had the same theme.
You Muppet your gonna kill yourself!!
Currently there have been 25 replies all with the same kind of response!
Turns out that this kite i have is for use on the sea. Kite surfing requires a bigger kite because of the friction caused by the board and water etc. To use a 14 metre kite on land although ok in very low winds, would be suicide for an amateur. Plus it being a 2004 kite, it doesn't have a certain safety feature that all new kites have which allows you to 'de power' the kite giving you much more control of the kite.
The guys on the forum said that if i paid more than 50 bucks for the kite then i was ripped off and that by the time i have spent hundreds on a new bar and lines it will be much cheaper to buy a new safer kite. Dohh!!

So after Much more research i have now purchased a brand new kite that has all the lines and handles included.
it is also quite a large kite coming in at 9 metres, but it is a proper land kite and a new design.
So last night i took it for a spin down at a local park.
Far from impressed i took the wife, helping me untangle 25 metre lines, unpack a huge piece of fabric in front of dog walkers, joggers and local youth playing football, all who seemed to be looking forward to a spectacle of an imminent kite launch.
After about 40 minutes of untangling and preparation i was ready for launch.
There was hardly any wind, but i was confident as my buddies on the forum said that as it was a large kite it required little if any wind to launch.
So the wife held the kite and i pulled.
Nothing!!
Again..
Nothing.
Unsure if the kite was positioned correctly we turned it around, did the classic trick of throwing blades of grass in the air, wetting the finger, sticking it in the air. Yep we were facing the right way, everything seemed correct.
By now the dog walkers and youth were losing interest, as was the wife.
So we tried again, this time i started running, which resulted in the kite being dragged along the ground. i was becoming fearful that my new toy would become damaged, and there was a overwhelming stench of manure that part of the park had been sprayed, and i really didn't fancy the kite being dragged through that.
So we gave up.
What a waste of time..
I tell you, i really could have done with a smoke after that.....