Blizzard Tales - On Topic - sort of...
T-boy
Just wanted to pass this on.
As some of you with TVs and newspapers may know, the D.C. (Washington)
area was hit with something like 18 inches of snow. Now for you
northerners, this ain't nothin', but down here, a foot and a half of
snow in December is a record breaker.
That said, I live in an 'active seniors' community, and, to put it
bluntly, some of the seniors ain't that active.
So, this morning I loaded a "The Pipe" with Voodoo Queen, borrowed my
handicapped neighbor's sno-blower (he brought it w/him when he moved
in) and started my way to all the folks on my street who really
shouldn't be out with a shovel in 1/2 yard of snow. Got about three
other healthy neighbors behind me doing clean up work and de-snowed
about eight driveways and sidewalks. One neighbor, who I barely know,
said he recognized me as 'the guy with the pipe.' In truth, there were
two of us 'brothers of the briar' out there hurling snow.
Two points: 1. It really felt nice helping others during this season.
2. "The Pipe" (that unloved attempt to 'manufacture' a smoking
implement) gave yeoman service in the blowing snow and wind. Frickin'
thing is almost indestructible and did provide a decent smoke.
Oh, and Voodoo Queen WILL hold up in the outdoors under stress.
Admittedly, it's sort of an 'almost English,' but a damn good smoke,
IMHO.
Regards, and Season's Greetings to all my ASP friends. May your hearts
be light and your bowls be full!
Travis (just outside Manassas Va)
McBaren's Natural Flake in a no-name bent
Mouse
You are a good man, Travis. I just got in from shoveling and, at 61
years old, have finally decided I need to buy a snow blower. I'll
remember your story and emulate it. Thanks for sharing.
Mouse
Bert Olton
Travis,
I'm sure you've received the thanks you deserve, but if not, on behalf
of all those you helped in this record breaking blizzard, thank you!
One of my six kids was visiting with his girl friend's family in Albany,
NY and the gang of them flew down to Annapolis on Friday. He called me
Saturday morning with rental car trouble questions in the midst of the
snow storm...what a hoot. My best advice to him was use good old
"Yankee ingenuity". That caught his attention and they're all fine.
My Dad had one of those "The Pipe"s and I sure wish I could find it. He
worked at Raytheon Corp. back in the bad old days of the late 1960s and
early 1970s...smoked it a lot back then but never said much about it.
Knowing my Dad, it was probably Prince Albert from the can...
Bert
--
Si vis pacem, para bellum. To all who have served or are serving the
cause of freedom whether in peace or in war at home or abroad, thank
you. "Let's roll!", Todd Beamer, United Airlines Flight 93, September
11, 2001.
Ed Duncan
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Thanx for passing along your BoyScout story, T-Boy. Good on ya! I'm
68, have a Troy-Built mini one-stage that does pretty good long as ya
don't try to go thru more than about 4" fairly light snow at a time.
Othewise, just lift up & take it down a little at a time. No
driveways, but do try to keep the sidewalk areas clear for the two
elderly women on either side of me. In the city here, there is a
sidewalk plow that comes around when it really gets deep, but
homeowners are supposed to make some kind of effort to keep the
sidewalks on their frontage reasonably clear. It's good exercise for
me & a modest side cash income too. In summer, cut their grass. Yes,
it's nice to do what ya can for others. I usually try to have one of
my yard pipes filled with heavy latakia while doing all this, as wifie
can't handle said blends in the house.
Ed Duncan, Batavia, NY
pipe since '62, brain addled/mindless forever
G Thomason
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I remember The Pipe, I had one, don't remember what color. As I
recall, you can put in the dishwasher to clean it. Terrible pipe.
T-boy
Terrible Pipe? Ummmm, yes and no.
You could smoke tins of Erinmore and Mixture 79 in the thing, wipe it
out (run it through the dishwasher) pull a pipe cleaner through the
stem and shank and never know the pipe was abused.
Disclaimer: I LIKE Erinmore, and Mixture 79 WILL hide the odor in a
dirty cat box!)
The soft rubber stem is great for 'clinchers.' In truth, I bit through
a stem on a 'garden pipe' when the sno-blower 'bucked' on me. I defy
anyone to bite through a "The Pipe" stem!
'Course, the 'rocket nose cone' lining of "The Pipe" absolutely WOULD
NOT absorb liquids, so it'd gurgle like a 10 month old baby, and if
you didn't frequently run a pipe cleaner through the stem, well, we've
all sipped on "Tobacco Tea", am I right? 8*(
With the snow blowing 'round and backwash from the blower, I had no
fear of ruining the thing.
So, "The Pipe" won't replace my beloved briars, but it DID what it had
to do in some really sh*tty conditions.
Regards, T
PS Bullseye in a Sav Punto Oro
Charles
I was shoveling a neighbor's walk who has a bad back,along with
another
neighbor. Went to shovel some more the next day & my eldest son beat
me to it.
He & his family are here till they move to L.A. on the 26th. been
cooking my butt off &
enjoying it.
Funn
jlruble
"T-boy" <T-...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:eaati5l7sk6k2af5s...@4ax.com...
I had one of "the pipe" once a long time ago. Don't remember where or how I
got it, but I remember being very happy when I ran into someone who
collected them at CORPS. He gave me $15 for it. Probably the only time I
ever sold a pipe at what seemed like a profit.
SCOTTY
Al Lanman
Bert,
I have seen "the Pipe" offered often on eBay, and they generally sell
for about $10. They actually sold at a premium when they came out,
the material making them all modern and space-agey. They were made
for a ong time, and their is a neat site on the web about them, the
history of their manufacture, and the various companies that produced
them , and the comparison of the British and the American companies.
Sorry i don't have the web site on this computer, but it was quite
interesting, and one of my favourite sites to use in any argument with
pipe snobs like "Max", when he tries to say only handmade pipes with a
comma in their price can abe the subject of a "collection". My nephew
has several of the rather infamous "hippie cammo" version, which are
painted in a sort of "tie dye" patterns.
My one is "basic black", and it has the advantage of being a pipe you
can take into the most threatening situation, and being almost
impossible to damage, and you can change tobaccos simply by "washing"
it out. Only threat to the pipe is losing it, or breaking the stem.
I am not sure what you would have to do to it to crush the bowl, it is
tough.
A little on the heavy side and can smoke a bit hot, as one of its
virtues is not rapid heat dissipation, just too dense
Al (in Canada).
T-boy
As for breaking the stem, it's some softish rubber material. I doubt
"I" could bit through it - but I'm pretty gentle on stems.
T