Sunday, September 19, 2010

Saturday at the Hut - 9/18/10

At The Tobacco Hut on Saturday, I enjoyed a bowlful of Tinder Box Reserve 1928 in the Cassano I bought in Boston a couple months back. The Reserve 1928 is a wonderful blend of three Virginia tobaccos - Red Virginia, Orange Virginia, and Virginia Flake - and a touch of Burley. It has a great flavor and very pleasant room note. I've written about Reserve 1928 before, and I'm proud to say I worked for the gentleman who was instrumental in its final formula. Mike Spicer was my manager when I worked for Tinder Box in Columbus, Ohio many years ago. He is still the manager and a great guy with encyclopedic knowledge of all things pipes and baseball. I think I still have an unpaid tab that he hasn't written off yet (inside joke for Mike if he's reading!). Joe, you'd love him - he introduced me to NPR!

Speaking of NPR, Joe brought his iPad into the store when we needed to look something up on the Internet. I bought one for Paula for her birthday a couple months ago and she loves it. I get to play with it a little once in a while, but it's tough to get it away from her. Anyway, I borrowed Joe's iPad at the store and knowing how much he loves NPR, I thought I would do him a favor and download the NPR app. I wanted to surprise him with it, so tried to do it surreptitiously, but got hung up when it asked for Joe's password. I confessed to Joe what I was trying to do and he was very grateful that I, in fact, was not successful in my endeavor to open his mind. I'm sure Faux News has a "fair and balanced" app for the iPad, Joe!

Peter arrived and reported his success with his church fundraising auction last week. He also re-told some of the jokes that the hired entertainer, a Greek comedian, presented. A couple of the jokes were about butts and made us all a little uncomfortable. Just kidding. They were actually quite funny, especially the one about the coffee grounds (ask Peter to tell it when you see him). BTW, Lou donated a sampler pack of cigars for the event and Peter said that it garnered a $50 bid.

Looking forward to seeing New York Vic (now "Florida Vic"? "Bradenton Vic"? Palmetto Vic"?) who reports that he'll be visiting the Hut soon on a Saturday. Vic, let me know in advance if you can, and I'll spread the word that everyone's favorite retired corrections officer is visiting.

It's too bad Barry didn't show up. He would have seen Peter in rare form. Derek "Cheater" Jeter was brought up and Peter launched into a tirade about the Yankees captain, spitting expletives from his mouth like so many rotten watermelon seeds. Perhaps I've employed a touch of hyperbole, but safe to say that the respect Jeter has enjoyed throughout his career has lessened a bit.

Peter will be in Boston next Saturday and Joe's heading to Pennsylvania, so will have to wait a couple weeks before seeing them again. Paula and I might be furniture shopping so I may not be at the Hut either. Don't pout, Lou, you're always firing your best employees anyway.

BTW, we're shopping for a fold-out chair and a half to replace the daybed we want to get rid of. If anyone needs a nice day bed w/trundle, let me know!

Until next time...
 - Bob

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Saturday at the Hut - 9/11/10

Today at The Tobacco Hut I brought one of my David Jones handmade creations, a dark tan colored sandblasted billiard that always smokes nice and cool. I loaded it up with Tinder Box Reserve 1928 and settled in for a relaxing afternoon of pure tobacco delight.

Lou and I were joined late in the day by Barry and Steve. Steve and I discussed finishing up the website I'm re-designing for him. Shouldn't be long 'til it's ready to go - I'll make sure to announce it here when it's live. In case nobody was aware, Steve owns his own landscaping business, S&B Lawn Care. In the spring, Steve and his crew did a fantastic makeover of our front and back yard, installing new sod, plants, and hardscaping. We've had numerous comments from neighbors about the resulting transformation. Thanks Steve!

Joe took the week off as he had a dental procedure done a couple days ago and the dentist advised against smoking for a few days. Having had a tooth pulled several weeks ago, I can understand why he decided to skip this Saturday. Peter was AWOL, but he was probably DJ'ing at the local Greek radio station, or doing a live remote from Tarpon Springs or something. Now that he's back on the air, we'll probably never see the guy anymore.

Barry paid a visit, and he came bearing gifts. Well, a gift. For me. He had traveled to Ohio recently and picked up an Ohio State cap for me. His timing was perfect as he entered the store right at the opening kick-off between Ohio State and Miami. I immediately put on the hat and I'm sure it brought the Buckeyes good luck as they went on to beat the Hurricanes (no real surprise, of course, as OSU was ranked #2). Thanks for the hat, Barry. I appreciate it!

A shout-out to Scott who's on his way to upstate New York for a high-school reunion. Safe travels, my friend. Also, speaking of the Empire State, we're expecting a visit soon from New York Vic who recently sold his house and moved to the Bradenton area. I guess we can't call him "New York Vic" any longer. Barry said he called him "Cracker" as he's now a Florida resident. I think I'll just call him "Vic."

Until next week!
 - Bob

Monday, September 6, 2010

Saturday at the Hut - 9/4/10

Sorry The Sweetest Smoke is back to your usual humble narrator after the guest blogger, my son Ryan. I know from the feedback I got at The Tobacco Hut this past Saturday that most of you would prefer to read his scribbles more than mine, but alas you're stuck with me.

This Saturday saw myself, Joe K, Peter G, and Lou enjoying our cigars and pipe. Peter arrived looking very dapper, sporting a very fashionable shirt, his fedora, and some stylish sunglasses. He was getting into character for his radio gig later in the day. That's right, if you don't know, Peter has an extensive background in radio and was using his on-air skills at a Greek radio station to promote his church's fundraising efforts. Fifty thousand watts of FM power, coast to coast! Well, maybe a thousand watts from Clearwater to Port Richey, but it's for a good cause. Hope it went well, Peter!

The highlight of the day was the intense negotiation between myself and Joe. See, about 18 months ago Joe began to see the light in the computer world and bought himself a Mac. And not just any Mac. This was a screaming 24" iMac. Frankly, it put my little Mac Mini to shame and I was more than a bit envious. Of course, envy is one of the Seven Deadly Sins so I was careful to - oh, hell let's tell the truth. I was green with envy, I was dripping with envy, I wanted that machine so badly I could taste it.

Over the year and a half, Joe didn't really use it as much as he would have liked, and I - sometimes subtly, sometimes not so subtly - would make mention that he could always sell it to me. Well that day arrived on Saturday. We both arrived at the Hut ready to "talk turkey". Peter and Lou both got into the spirit of the negotiations as Joe and I began the "dance". In fact at one point, Lou got so into the spirit, that Joe and I both told him to shut up.

In the end, a fair price was agreed upon and I am now the proud owner of a screaming 24" iMac. Joe has taken immaculate care of this beauty and I spent the remainder of the long holiday weekend cleaning out Joe's files, erasing the hard drive, reinstalling the operating system, installing my applications, and transferring my documents. By the way, Joe, I found some, well, how do I put this, um, awkward files that I'll put on a CD for you...just kidding! Actually, being a Mac, the erasing of the hard drive and reinstallation of the operating system took about an hour tops.

Anyway, a huge thank you to Joe. Your iMac has found a good home. Below is a picture of it, all set up in our recently remodeled office.

Saturday at the Hut found me enjoying a pipeful of Lou's new English tobacco, Baker Street, which is a perfect blend of Virginia and Latakia tobaccos. I smoked it in one of the Crown Viking freehand pipes I got from Lou a couple years ago.

After Peter and Joe had left, a new customer came in around 4 o'clock. He was a kid in his mid-20s wearing a Publix shirt, talking on his cellphone non-stop, and the first thing I heard him say on the phone was that he had just been offered a $450,000/year job, but he lost the guy's contact information. He was in the walk-in humidor by the time I quit laughing. Unfortunately, Mr. Narcissist stayed 'til closing, regaling Lou and I with tales of how he's trying to get into management at Publix but they just don't see what he brings to the table. And though he's never smoked a pipe, he apparently knows a lot about them. And cigars, of course. For those that remember the Red Bull kid, this one had about the same demeanor. I was never so happy to help Lou close up shop.

We're all looking forward to New York Vic's arrival. Hopefully, he'll make his triumphant return on a Saturday so I get a chance to see him. Safe travels, Vic! Looking forward to seeing you.

That's all for this week. Cheers!

- Bob