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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,052
27,196
New York
Its a windy day here at Condor Towers and in-between work I was reflecting on things one misses. When I visit London I am always sad to see the demise of so many old and venerable tobacconists that after 100+ years have now been replaced by a Starbucks or worse still a head shop. I miss walking into those places with their traditional smell and truly awesome display cases with counters loaded up with tins of tobacco and glass jars. I can name half a dozen names from around London that has disappeared in the last 15 years. I also miss the old smoking carriages on British Rail trains or those welcoming pubs where you could sit by a roaring fire on a damp winters day and drink a pint and smoke your pipe whilst warming your feet by the fire. I particularly miss foggy evenings in London when the smell of open coal fires mingles with the chilled air and the dark haze of the street lamps. It was almost as if time had stood still and you half expected to get run over by a horse and carriage, especially if you were attending a funeral at Highgate cemetery as Swains Lane had hardly changed since Victorian times. So many tobacco blends that evoked moments in my life have vanished and now with the new FDA rules I am sure many more will simply vanish, killed off but the head long rush to total conformity. What do you lot miss?

 

tbradsim1

Lifer
Jan 14, 2012
9,100
11,058
Southwest Louisiana
I miss the old feed stores, replaced by Tractor Supply, clean shiny stores and very good stores but sadly lacking in character. My old feed store was a cotton gin and rice mill , went there as a 5 yr old with my Grandfathet , old gravel road in a 40 Ford pickup. Returning to my home roots in 2002 I passed a Building that said Feed Store on the outskirts of Maurice La. I told myself I've seen that Building before but not there. One morning I went there, several old Farmers sitting drinking coffee, rearrangeing the World. I found out it was 1/2 of the Building I went to as a 5 yr old. Cut in half and moved. Made my introduction and they were surprised I talked French. One old mans passion was to bring obscure tools and a contest was started, What Is It? I had seen most of them on my Grandfathers farm.,my favorite thing was to take a contairy view about the Political view they abspounded, they would get so mad they would spit. The smells of the feed, the coffee pot at the ready , the cypress wood smells , I even envisioned my Grandfather there. Last year it shut down Tractor Supply had done its job.

 
Oct 7, 2016
2,451
5,195
I miss the lunch breaks at Peachtree Center in Atlanta back in the early 80's when you could sit outside in the courtyard during lunch hour, smoke a pipe and watch the many sweet young things who worked there pass by.

 
I miss being able to sleep the entire night without having to get up to try and piss. I miss my hair, or at least I miss where it started before it migrated South. I miss being able to stand up without having to groan. I miss being able to eat till I am full, and not gain any weight. I miss the days when going to the bathroom wasn't so... filled with anxiety. I miss not having to wait on colonoscopies. I also miss a few teeth.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,724
27,320
Carmel Valley, CA
I miss Burlington Arcade, both the arcade in London and the tobacco of that name which ceased several decades ago. (That one was by Harry A. Tint and Sons, Philly. )I miss the Wilke shop in NYC, and several unnamed (names not remembered by me) shops in London that you'd pass by just walking around St. James, Piccadilly, etc.

 

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
I miss simpler times, being able to leave my car out unlocked at night with the window open, neighbors who did not have floodlights on all over the place and it was actually dark at night and I could see the stars.
I miss good meals by friendly people that was wholesome and fresh and I could have a nice dinner for only eight bucks.
I miss 29 cents a gallon gasoline and cars full of chrome. I miss being able to go anywhere I wanted without 99 fricking cameras at every city block corner, bridge, store and restaurant taking pictures of me everywhere I go that I never approved their taking.
I miss being able to call somewhere without an area code, and they answered and you got a live person in a few rings, and they did not feel the need to record my conversation for quality assurance.
I miss McDonalds with 19 cent hamburgers and twin arches over them. I miss long hair and free-wheeling music and great concerts with iconic bands that I could go see at the door with no advance purchase and get great seats right up front for only $5.00.
I miss police waving and smiling relaxed as the friendly local officer rather than looking like paramilitary inside a car with $9,000 worth of high-tech looking lights and computers and 45 different packages around their waist and about their body.
I miss cool, thick, tall, fresh milkshakes with a banana in them or a float at the local Isaly's with lots of great chipped ham and other deli meats on display.
I miss those younger than me being polite and respectful and looking clean-cut and not actually having their nose in a smartphone all the time, and those older than me looking happy And peaceful like life had been good to them and they were enjoying the world around them greatly.
I miss good movies at a drive-in where they actually had good actors and great original story lines and not Hollywood assholes who apparently see everything from inside some false bubble of total narcissism with no acting skill other than to be themselves and the other 88% of the movie filled with CGI crap at 78 speed that couldn't possibly ever happen in this universe.
I miss people who know what 78 speed actually is.
I miss turntables that had a 78 speed selector on them.
And I miss my parents, all my pets, and a whole slew of family and friends I have not seen in years and will never see again.
I miss being able to fill out an application on paper and getting a real handshake in person. I miss people who actually were not confused about which bathroom they were supposed to use and you knew you could take them at their word.
I miss the local family church where people got dressed up and went out for pleasant times and friends, then afterwards you took a nice long drive in the country and had a good meal.
I miss being able to go out during the day and everywhere you go it's not jam packed with traffic. And I miss everything being closed on Sundays that folks actually had time to relax and maybe go visit their family.
I miss writing letters on paper and not instead getting them over emails, I miss the milk man, the gas man and everyone else who used to come by, I miss people having the time to talk to you and I miss having a mailbox that was within walking distance of my house.
I miss trusting people that were friendly and polite that if you couldn't pay them, they wouldn't worry about it and would tell you to just catch them next week when it was good for you, and I miss being able to buy things at the store without having to produce a store card, answer 16 questions and go through 12 hurdles or wait 10 minutes for the person ahead of me, after waiting in line for 15 minutes that I could just hand them a few bucks, and the sale range up on metal cards behind a glass window with a CHA-CHING! and the cashier smiled and told you not to worry about having the exact change.
I miss variety shows with singing and comedy skits that were actually funny by talented people that were NOT reality shows and I actually had to get up and walk over to change the channel on the TV to one of the four or five that were on the air, and you only got a commercial break every 15 minutes for a couple minutes long that you had to hurry back not to miss something after the break and once you watched it, you never saw it again until maybe next summer.
Yeah, I sure do miss simpler times.

 

jackswilling

Lifer
Feb 15, 2015
1,777
24
I miss high flow shower heads

I miss high flow toilets

I miss gas cans with plain nozzels

I miss mail order firearms

 

fitzy

Lifer
Nov 13, 2012
2,937
27
NY
Toob very well said.
I miss the time when families would have dinner together and then all sit down to watch tv after and not be distracted by technology.
I miss being able to smoke my pipe in central park at lunch.
I miss not being grilled like you're a terrorist by cops. They have check points here sometimes where they ask where you're coming from and where you're going to and I tell them none of your business.
I miss Ed Burak's Connoisseur pipe shop which coincidentally I found by accident while wandering around underground in one of those corridors connecting the office buildings on 6th ave to Rockefeller center.
Most of all I miss Europe(Particularly France) before it was ruined with freeloading terrorists. (Sorry for this politically charged comment but I had to let it out there)
Also this post is for the future when I say "I miss $2 an ounce bulk and $8 tins of pipe tobacco."

 

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
I miss high flow shower heads

I miss high flow toilets

I miss gas cans with plain nozzels

I miss mail order firearms
You know, I still have high flow heads. Just gotta keep those guys around! And high flow toilets. If I ever move, I'll take them with me and put new low flow ones in. I even have one that is corner mount.
Ditto with the gas cans. I have both metal and plastic. The new ones are ridiculous and you can't get gas in or out of them. Same with water heaters. My gas water heater is from about '96. I keep it operating. New ones have all kinds of safety restrictions because some dumb ass somewhere blew his house up because he was an idiot. So now all new heaters have all kinds of gov. mandated safety restrictions that double the price of them.
And my last AK-47, I bought off the web. :mrgreen: Best new one made. Milled receiver.
I miss being able to smoke my pipe in central park at lunch.
I miss not being grilled like you're a terrorist by cops. They have check points here sometimes where they ask where you're coming from and where you're going to and I tell them none of your business.
Most of all I miss Europe(Particularly France) before it was ruined with freeloading terrorists. (Sorry for this politically charged comment but I had to let it out there)
Just can't understand whose business it is of anyone to tell you that you can't smoke a pipe in the vast outdoors of a park! But then, it is NY. :crying: And no, without probable cause, what business is it where you are coming from or where you are going, unless you fit the description of someone they are looking for? Things are getting crazy.
Nothing 'political' about talking about murderers which are destroying our western way of life. Look at London now. If we can't even discuss the threat, we sure as heck will have an even tougher time defeating them.

 
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