Saturday at the Hut - 8/22/09

Compared to last week, this Saturday at The Tobacco Hut was pretty tame. Joe K did present Lou with a bill for $140 as a result of having his car detailed. This came, of course, because Lou let Joe sit in a chair that had been crapped in earlier in the day the week before. Lou ignored the bill and Joe said that that was okay, he probably had lifted more than $140 in cigars the last time he worked at the shop.

At one point a middle-aged couple walked in and while Lou was ringing up the husband's purchases, the wife walked in front of the TV to look at the Zippo lighters. At that moment, Joe was watching the golf game on TV and exclaimed, "Nice putt!" after witnessing a long putt. The woman, not realizing there was a golf game on TV, heard "Nice butt!" and whirled around to look at Joe, who immediately recognized what had happened, turned a little red and explained. All three of us laughed about it as she and her husband left the store and we told Lou what happened. And not to put too fine a point on it, but I think it's been awhile since the woman has heard anyone say "nice butt" to her, so I'm sure she was more flattered than insulted anyway.

Peter arrived, then Barry, and I'm surprised that nary a mention was made of the Yankees beating up on the Red Sox the day before 20-11. Maybe the rivalry between the two teams isn't that important after all.

Barry began to re-tell a story he told to Peter, Lou, and I the week before for the benefit of Joe who wasn't there at the time. Halfway through the story, just as he's building up to the climax, Lou launches into his own story - seemingly unaware that Barry is talking. An awkward moment follows when I point out the obvious to Lou, that - in fact - perhaps we should wait to hear Lou's story when Barry is done with his. Lou pouts a little but acquiesces. Barry does offer to cut his story short, noting that it is Lou's name on the door and ownership of the shop trumps all. Lou reluctantly tells Barry to go ahead with his tale. When Barry is done and we've all had a good laugh over it, Joe asks Lou for the story he was going to tell. Lou tells it, and when he's done, Barry looks at him and says, "Yeah, that was worth the wait." I almost blew the tobacco out of my pipe.

Peter and Barry began discussing the finer points of baseball shortly after Joe left and I helped guide a new customer with a pipe purchase. He's new to pipes - my favorite kind of customer - and Lou and I got him into a nice Peterson, along with some of Lou's premium blended tobaccos.

Steve B arrived and I think Joe left too early for Steve had a number of good computer questions, mainly having to do with workflow, the benefits of an aircard for his laptop, networking, etc. I also did a little proselytizing for Mac. Not sure if it's the solution that makes total sense for Steve, given the existing hardware he already has, but whenever I can spread the Mac gospel...

I enjoyed a Ben Wade pipe that I had gotten from Lou a couple months ago. My bowl of Frog Morton tasted especially nice. I have two Ben Wades and both are solid little pipes, consistently offering a nice smoke.

I won't be around for the next two weeks as my son is visiting from up north before he makes the big leap and heads off to college, but will resume my visits and reporting after that.

Cheers!
- Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 4/11/09

Another relaxing day at The Tobacco Hut with the gang found me smoking some G.L. Pease Maltese Falcon in a Ben Wade poker. I'm down to the final few bits of tobacco in this tin and it had gotten a little dry, so it wasn't the best smoke I've had. Another reason could be that I don't think I had thoroughly cleaned the pipe after the last time I smoked it, which is never a good idea. I'm usually religious about cleaning my pipes, but for some reason, I didn't. And yesterday I paid the price. So in fairness to Greg's fine tobacco, the fault may have lain with me.

For most of the afternoon the group consisted of Lou, Joe K, Peter G, and myself. Peter and I discussed what his website should look like and some other ideas about his new business. Joe still seems pleased with his iMac, so he probably won't be gifting that to me anytime soon. Joe and Val and Paula and I went to dinner last weekend at Rusty Bellies in Tarpon Springs, and had an outstanding meal and a great time. So to Lou, if you're reading this, I heartily recommend it. So does Peter!

Oh, and this was a shocker, while we were at dinner last week, Joe stripped off his shirt and did a little show on the deck of the restaurant for everyone. I caught a quick photo with my camera phone for everybody to enjoy...scroll to the bottom to see why we got kicked out of Rusty Bellies!

We tried to come up with some more ideas for James K's homecoming. Joe's son is breezing into town for a limited engagement and is eager for us to embrace him like New York City did for Captain Sully after landing his plane on the Hudson. By the way, for everyone planning to attend James' wild homecoming bash (both of you), the date is actually Saturday, May 9, 11am-1pm, at the Hut. The flyer in last week's post had the incorrect date.

Zoning laws prevent us from erecting a circus tent in the parking lot, and good taste prevents us from hiring the kind of "entertainment" that James would probably want. So, we've hired an out of work ventriliquist. Hope that'll do, James!

Steve B came in toward the end of the afternoon and brought a newcomer in with him, Brian. Nothing too exciting or controversial was discussed and we steered clear of politics. Maybe this was in deference to Brian's first visit. Subsequent visits will reveal our true nature!

Everyone had a good laugh about Lou's picture from last week's post. Peter wanted to know which Greek gentleman in Tarpon Springs Lou had stolen the giant cross from and Lou insisted that his Speedo was red, not black. Of course, it was a black and white photo, so I'm not sure how Lou knew it wasn't his Speedo.

New Jersey Ed came in and sat down and smoked a cigar with us (not to be confused with Ed B). I don't know New Jersey Ed's last name, so he's stuck with that moniker for now. NJ Ed was a pipe smoker for a long time but has since switched to cigars and it seems a little strange to see him smoking one. I get the same reaction when I'm smoking the occasional cigar at the shop, since I'm almost exclusively a pipe smoker.

Five o'clock arrived before we knew it, the smoke cleared, and the door was locked. Until next Saturday...

Cheers!
- Bob

Santa Came Through

Yesterday I opened not one, but two, little packages under the tree that each contained that most wonderful gift, a new pipe. The first I knew about, since I had in fact picked it out myself. It's a Ben Wade Town & Country, slightly bent, smooth, with what appears to be a mother of pearl band. To my wife, all pipes look the same and this one was no different. Of course, to a pipe smoker, there are a myriad of differences between this pipe and all others in my collection.

My wife however, surprised me with a beautiful Cavicchi rusticated volcano (pictured). Wow, this is a thing of beauty! It has a large chamber and fits in my hand perfectly. I can't wait to fill it with a bowlful of Frog Morton (also courtesy of my wife) and fire it up. Available exclusively at The Briary, I've had my eye on a Cavicchi for a long time and from the reviews I've read thought they were a great value. No connection to The Briary, just a satisfied customer.

One thing I won't be doing as soon as I had thought and that is adding a nice banner to this blog. My hard drive crashed, taking Photoshop with it. The hard drive has since been replaced but I haven't had time to add the Adobe suite. The photo of the Cavicchi was processed via iPhoto, not my favorite photo editing program, but it will do.

Cheers!
- Bob