New Job; Drug Test Imminent

Stats: 42 yo male, 5'9, 177 lbs. Typically 165, all excess weight gained in last year.
Light but regular smoker (6-7 evenings/week, one or two tokes from a pipe).
I think I last smoked August 26, but it's possible it was a few days earlier than that.

I have been offered the job I've been working towards for the past 5 years, and have already had to give notice at my current job. I was pretty sure a drug test would be involved (which is why I stopped smoking in August), but for some reason I thought I would be able to wait for the drug test until I actually start the new job, more than a month from now. Now it seems like I'm going to have to face the music later this week, likely Thursday. That would be (again, I think) the 25th day.

I have a couple of questions. The first one's related to At-Home Drug Tests. I did a First Check test today, and I didn't think I'd passed it, because I couldn't see a line next to "Drug", after about 5 minutes. However, when I, freaking out, pulled it out of the trash to check after almost two hours, there was a red line. The directions say the results are no good beyond ten minutes, so I doubt I should take much hope from that, but can anyone corroborate that the red line will typically show up the longer the test is exposed to the urine, even though it's a "positive"?

Second, I'm thinking I'll do the dilution thing -- bought creatine and Vitamin b12 today, and figure I'll drink lots of Gatorade day of. Also plan to dry run the process and do another test tomorrow. My two questions about dilution are (1) can I assume if I get a "negative -- too dilute" test, they'll just have me retake the test? Will that happen right away, or can I get a couple more days out of that? These people recruited me, so they're definitely going to be interested in my passing. (2) I've read all over the place that I should take the at home test first thing in the morning, but I didn't do that today, and I still don't think I passed. I can try that tomorrow, but won't it be even less likely I'll pass the at-home test? Wouldn't it make more sense to try to recreate the amount of fluids I plan to have ingested when I take the real thing?

Finally, I haven't really been exercising, but just this very morning I started the P90X program. Then, this afternoon, I read in a couple of other threads that I should STOP exercising the week of the test! Awful. Assuming I stop now, will it make any difference that I exercised fairly heavily this morning and my muscles are now sore, and will be likely to be sore for the next couple of days?

In case you can't tell, I'm freaking out. Thanks for any suggestions/answers/encouragement...

I can help you with the reading of the OTC test. They are all time-sensitive and any reading beyond the designated time is meaningless. As to dilute testing through lab you should understand that dilute samples can still be tested. Any reading below 20 mg creatinine will usually be noted as dilute. But we test down to 5 mg. Therefore in the range of 5-19 mg the test is reported negative dilute or positive dilute*.

In relation to the lab test the above applies to private employers (non-regulated testing). There is a different set of rules for DOT and federally regulated testing.

*this is recommended lab practice but is ultimately determined by the ordering party. In addition some labs may require <20 creatinine and low specific gravity to class as dilute.

I think you got the right idea,and you could sub too,if you got non smokin friends.

Here is what I did,when I used to sub.i would get a travel size shampoo bottle with toe Warmers.there are also these little stick on thermometers you can.by from Walgreens.they are kinda gay lookin cause they Re in butterfly shapes,but they will give you an accurate reading.instuffed it in my sock,and it worked like charm.

Thanks, DrBill and Newme. I tried another test this morning, and pretty much the same thing. I think I've slightly convinced myself that you could very very barely see a line at the 10-minute mark, which got a infinitesimally more visible over the next few minutes, but there was nothing there at all in the first several minutes beyond the 5-minute mark.

I'm going to try the dilution method over the next several hours and do another test this afternoon. I'm hoping that because the first morning piss is stronger, I'll get better results in the afternoon after drinking lots of fluids (which will be the case when I take the test).