When I pulled into the parking lot in front of The Tobacco Hut, I was pleasantly surprised to see Joe K's truck in its usual spot. I had expected him to be in Atlanta visiting his son James. It turns out Joe canceled his trip and I soon discovered why. Immediately after I arrived, he donned a shirt slamming my beloved NPR for their firing of news analyst Juan Williams earlier this week. This fine T-shirt was handcrafted by Joe and Val (mostly Val from what I hear) and Tom L snapped the picture you see here (click to enlarge). Probably the best reaction to the shirt came from Peter G who practically danced a sort of Greek jig in celebration of it. When asked of my reaction to Williams' firing, I admitted that the way he was let go wasn't the best, but that I agreed with the decision.
Joe and Tom both tossed many barbs my way throughout the day regarding NPR, although in a reply to Peter, I pointed out that the network itself was running news stories and commentary about it. Their reporters, analysts, and ombudsman aren't afraid of reporting on NPR even to say that mistakes were made. Obviously NPR values a diverse range of opinion (when it's rightly in line with their contract provisions) while, say, the Fox News entertainers march along in lock-step, not unlike a certain German political party active from 1919 to 1945. But I digress.
We had a new, hopefully regular, guest in our midst, a pipe smoker named Dravin. I'm hoping that I spelled his name correctly. He seemed to like the new English tobacco that Lou has whipped up, Baker Street, as he tried it and bought an ounce or two of it. He stayed for awhile and joined in the fun and hopefully will return.
Steve B came in we talked about my doing some more graphics work for his landscape company. It is also with great pleasure that I can announce that the S&B Lawn Service website I built for him is now live. I encourage everyone to check it out and keep Steve in mind if they need any landscaping. He and his crew did an outstanding job in transforming our front yard this past spring from being the shame of the street to the pride of the neighborhood with new sod, mulch, shrubbery, flowers, gravel, and more.
Adrian is back to his old self - he rushed in, grabbed a cigar, threw down some cash for it, and dashed out. On his way out the door, he did take time to apologize to Lou for sitting in his chair and also noted Wisconsin's upset win over Ohio State last week. You know, Adrian, if you're going to be an Ohio State hater, perhaps you should just keep breezing in and out! Kidding, of course.
Paula and I went over to Tom and Amanda's for a small dinner party later in the evening and I was shown Tom's Holy Grail. A large humidor filled with dozens, nay, hundreds, of 15 year old Opus X cigars. Every year around Christmastime, Tom comes up to the Hut bearing gifts as he passes out some of his prized Opus's to the guys. He also wanted me to "rub his pork", but I won't go into that right now.
Cheers!
Bob
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