It's been a couple of years since I found this group and started
reading and posting. When I started reading this newsgroup, I was pretty much a
novice at pipe smoking, never having smoked anything more than a $30 pipe, and
nothing more than bulk aromatics.  Since I found this group, I have spent at
least $3000 on pipes and hundreds more on tobacco. Reading this newsgroup can
lead to curiosity, and we all know that old adage "Curiosity killed the cat".
             Oh, it started innocently enough. Questions about tobaccos.
Questions about pipes. What's a good latakia blend? What's the deal with
expensive pipes? You mean people *collect* pipes? And the answers to those
questions can slowly, quietly, unobtrusively drag you into the depths. Oh yeah,
you think you're alright, at first. Nah! I'll never spend more than $ x for a
pipe, or more than $ y per ounce for tobacco. Those guys must be snobs or
something!
                 And then one day you have some extra money and say.... ok,
I'll spend a few extra bucks and then see what happens.
                And then it begins. You're hooked. You find that you are
overcome with an overpowering desire to procure as many high grade pipes as you
can. And then you find a particular maker that you favor over all others, and
start buying his pipes, whenever possible. And accompanying your descent into
the pit, you are smoking myriads of blends, finding that you like the more
expensive stuff more than the other tobaccos that come in plastic bags. Oh my,
the wonder of tins. And you start to "cellar" tobaccos, especially blends on
the way out of the US of late "What do you mean, you only have ten tins of the
stuff ?!?!?!?!???".
                  Recent threads have mentioned PAD (Pipe Acquisition
Disorder). I too suffer from PAD. I have also, thanks to ASP, acquired  TAD
(Tobacco Acquisition Disorder). Both diseases are expensive to maintain, and
the sufferer rarely ever wants to give up these disorders, and doesn't see the
need in paying a psychiatrist for treatment when that money could be better
spent on pipes and tobaccos.
                    So, Newbies Beware!!!!!!!! This newsgroup can be costly!!!