How to Quit Cigarettes – Smoke a Pipe!
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Kevin Godbee - Oct 26, 2010
- 5 min read
The anti-smoking crowd loves to say there is no safe alternative to cigarettes … but are there better choices? Yes, there are. One of the best alternatives to cigarettes is pipe smoking. Why do I say this? Well, first of all, as you’ve probably guessed, I am a pipe smoker. I get great enjoyment from smoking my pipe. At the same time, I have heard from many former cigarette smokers that have taken up pipe smoking. Everyone of them is glad they did, and for several reasons. It’s cheaper (on a per smoke basis), healthier, and more relaxing.
There are such a wide variety of different types of pipes and tobaccos that it turns into an enjoyable hobby with frequent new experiences. There is also a camaraderie enjoyed between pipe smokers that does not exist with cigarette smokers.
If you’re going to consider trying a pipe, you’ll need to know the similarities and differences between smoking pipes and cigarettes. First, the similarities, since there aren’t many. One, you are still smoking tobacco, and two, you still have some nicotine intake. A third possibility is if your smoking habit goes along with an oral fixation, then pipes will help cover that for you too. That’s it.
For the differences, let’s start with the quality of the tobacco. If we compared them to food, cigarettes would be dog food and pipe tobacco would be a filet mignon, (or a sushi-grade tuna steak for you vegetarians). Generally speaking, most mass-produced cigarettes use the lowest quality tobacco, and have lots of nasty chemicals added to them. I’m not going to get into all the bad ingredients and tell you how bad cigarette smoking is. We already have way too many people doing that.
I think the entire anti-smoking crusade is one of the foulest, misguided trampling of our rights by the biggest control freaks using flat out lies and manipulation in the worst way that has gone much too far. Smoking is bad for you and so are 1,000 other things, blah, blah, blah. If you enjoy cigarettes and don’t want to quit, then don’t. Do what makes you happy and live your life. But if you’re the least bit curious as to what the most pleasurable tobacco enjoyment is, then please read on. This article isn’t to tell you to quit smoking cigarettes. Some pipe smokers smoke both pipes and cigarettes. However, if you have a loving spouse or some other person in your life nagging you to quit, or you just want to quit, but it is difficult, or want to try something new … then let’s learn more about pipe smoking.
There are some more differences to be aware of.
– Cigarettes are inhaled into the lungs. You do not do this with pipe tobacco. You pull it into your mouth only, and then blow it out. You can exhale through your nose which sometimes enhances the flavor with some pipe tobacco blends.
– Speaking of flavor, taste is a huge difference too. This goes back to the dog food vs. steak comparison. Pipe tobacco actually tastes good. I’ve never heard anyone tell me that cigarettes taste good.
– Cigarettes are really about getting the nicotine fix. I’m not criticizing, but we should be honest.
– Many pipe tobaccos smell wonderful to passers-by. Has anyone ever complimented you on the smell of your cigarette? Never mind, it’s a rhetorical question.
It is actually a pretty common occurrence that a pipe smoker will be complimented on what his pipe smoke smells like. (This is not always the case, but it is never the case with cigarettes.)
Getting back to the nicotine – generally speaking, most pipe tobaccos have less nicotine, and less is absorbed into your system because you are not inhaling it into your lungs. Cigarettes are designed to give you a large, quick dose of nicotine. Pipe smoking is not. However, everyone that smokes a pipe says it relaxes them. You shouldn’t really look for pipe smoking to deliver a lot of nicotine, but there are a few exceptions. A few pipe tobaccos are heavily loaded with nicotine.
Pipe smoking is not all about the nicotine. It’s about relaxing and enjoyment. Pipe smoking is about taking time for yourself, to unwind while enjoying the different sensory delights of taste and smell. Some of the other senses get some enjoyment too. You touch the tobacco when loading your pipe, which is a neat little ritual in itself. Many pipe tobaccos look quite interesting as well. There are so many different types of tobaccos and processes used that make for many different appearances. As for the ears, you may hear a little crackling when you light the pipe, but hopefully you won’t hear any gurgling.
Are you ready to try smoking a pipe? Let’s do it!
I don’t want to overwhelm you with all the options and a bunch of instructions. I just want to make it easy for you to start, then you can come back here and post in our pipe forums and get tons of advice. (Everyone is friendly and helpful and there are no dumb questions.)
Finding a pipe and some tobacco
Going to a physical store –
If there’s a real tobacconist that sells pipes near you, that is your best bet. It’s great to walk into a store and be able to hold a pipe in your hand and talk to a specialist before buying it. Check out the Pipe Store Locator. If you’re lucky enough to find a pipe & tobacco specialty retailer, ask them if they have a few different blends you can buy small samples of to see what you like. Some will even give you a bowlful to try.
If there’s not a real tobacconist nearby, you can consider going to CVS, Walmart or somewhere similar and getting a Corn Cob Pipe or a Dr. Grabow Pipe. These are easy to get, and the lowest cost pipes you can find, and they will smoke just fine for a beginner. (Anyone that says different is entitled to their opinion, but you know what they say about opinions.) While you’re at CVS or Walmart, grab some Captain Black pipe tobacco. You’ll need a soft-flame lighter, and a tamper and pipe cleaners too. The tampers and pipe cleaners may be missing from the chain stores. You need a tamper to occasionally push the tobacco down to tighten it up a bit while smoking. You can try using the handle of a small screwdriver or some other round, flat object if you have to.
Ordering Online –
Here’s a great no-brainer way to quickly and easily start enjoying smoking apipe –
We have coordinated with 4 different online retail tobacconists that have put together special Beginner Pipe Smoker Starter Sets.
These are all extremely good deals that are available for a limited time only. Experience the pleasure of pipe smoking now!
Cup O Joes |
PipesandCigars.com |
4noggins.com |
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
There’s a pipe in my collection that I cannot bring myself to smoke, though I’ve had it for more years than I care to recall. It’s old, or shall I say, well experienced; that experience, that oldness came to it long before it was in my possession. The pipe is an old Comoy’s Grand Slam from the 1940s. The shape (#93), a slightly canted, stack billiard (sometimes referred to as a Belgian) is right up my alley, and it’s a beautiful example of it. It came to me with some wear and tear; nothing unusual for an old pipe, but more the signs of one that has been well loved, smoked a lot, treated as a favorite tool, cherished, in a sense, by frequent use. It’s the pipe equivalent of a vintage car that’s been driven a lot, enjoyed fully and maintained adequately, rather than one kept in a spotless garage, dusted and detailed weekly, brought out only for leisurely Sunday drives, or to be ogled behind the ropes at the next Concours d’Elegance. When it arrived, those uncounted years ago, it wanted a little restoration. Nothing dramatic needed to be done to it, but the stem was oxidized, the finish a little dingy. The cake was even and fairly thin, and the airway was relatively clean, both signs that its previous owner cared for it, but the bowl’s surface was a little drab and dull. It took little effort to reveal its beauty, to show the lovely contrasted stain and interesting grain beneath the old wax. I often think I should do before and after photos of pipes that I work on, but those thoughts always come after the work’s been done. This one would have been a great illustration of how years of handling that can sometimes make a pipe more beautiful, can other times make it just look grungy. Once I’d cleaned up the externals, it was time to address the inside bits. I approach this a little bassackwards, I realize. It would be more sensible to take care of the inside before addressing the outside, but it’s how I roll. If an old pipe isn’t pretty to look at, it’s unlikely that I’ll care much about it, and cleaning is usually the hardest part, or at least the most boring part of any restoration for me. Alcohol and pipe cleaners. Lots of pipe cleaners. That’s why I leave it for last. Sometimes, I’ll even give a pipe a test smoke before a deep cleaning, just for a point of reference. I gave it a sniff to get an idea of what I was up against, and it stopped me cold. There in that bowl was an aroma that I had not smelled in decades. My head was instantly filled with memories of being in the back room of a fabled Berkeley tobacconist’s shop where I stumbled upon a few jars of long discontinued blends. One of them, a blend called Forty and Eight, had the most engaging and unusual scent of any tobacco I’d stuck my schnoz into. It was sweet, but not in a candy store way. There were none of the usual vanilla, cherry, berry or anise notes of typical aromatics, nothing that could be compared to aftershave or deodorant soap, but something almost musky, a little earthy, something exotic. The shop’s owner couldn’t tell me what was in it, how, or where it had been produced. The old blend had been retired before he’d bought the place. The printed catalogue gave no clues, either, other than being overprinted with the word “DISCONTINUED” in bold, rubber-stamp type. (And, I don’t recall it as being “highly aromatic” as the description indicates.) There was still quite a bit in the jar. Being, at that point, an intrepid explorer of all kinds of tobaccos, whether I thought I’d like them or not, I had to give it a try. It was burly based, but also comprised a good measure of virginia leaf, and maybe some other varieties; I didn’t have enough experience at the time to really pick it apart. But, that aroma was unlike anything I’d experienced before or since. It was something now completely lost to time. Until it wasn’t. Memories are powerful things, and there is no sense more tightly bound to memory than our sense of smell. One whiff was all it took to carry me back in time, conjuring a vivid recollection of something long submerged in the inky depths of a subconscious mind. Look, I know as well as anyone that pipes are meant to be smoked, and that many feel it almost sacrilegious to have a pipe and not set it to its intended task. In this case, I simply can’t. I won’t. Ever. Rationally, I am fairly certain this pipe would probably be a great smoke. It was too well loved by its previous caretaker to be anything less than that. My choice not to smoke it is an emotional one, not something rational. Of the thousands of pipes that have passed through my hands over the years, this is the only one to create such a singular and vivid, almost Proustian recollection of temps perdu, of lost time. It revivified a long dormant memory that is mine, and mine alone, and that’s enough. I keep it in a drawer with other old English pipes. In some ways, it’s nothing special, just a nice old pipe. I don’t lavish it with any particular care that arguably befits the hidden treasure that it holds. It’s not in a special box, or displayed preciously in a glass cabinet. Every once in a while, I take it out, point my nose bowlwards, and every time, those memories return just as powerfully as they did the first time. I have no idea how long it’s been since its last owner smoked it, but in the years I’ve had it, there seems to have been very little degradation of the aroma, and that’s […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 635. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with James Ravenwood. James is the boutique tobacco blender of Ravenwood Blends. His blending started out as a fun hobby, and he now has professionally packaged commercially available products with some great tin art. Part of his interest in pipe smoking goes back to fond memories of a retired Navy Veteran that lived on his street while he was growing up that would sit in his driveway smoking a pipe all day. Later, in 2011 he began smoking pipes and soon after started experimenting with mixing different tobaccos. His other hobby, that he has been doing for 30 years, is photography. He takes wonderful photos of outdoor spaces, and still life pictures of pipes and tobacco. You can see them on his Instagram @thebriarfellowship. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big one—Christmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. It’s in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. It’s aromatic! Or perhaps it is that sense of satisfaction knowing and appreciating you made it to another day. With the world in a kind of rinse-and-repeat history, reminiscent of a Shakespearean play, it is perhaps a good moment to remember some of Pipedom’s philosophers whose cogent thoughts brought light to clear a path in the mists of confusion and confounding opinions. Ok. No gloom and doom. Just some down-home thoughts. Think of times in the past when history was running off the rails. It took our pipe-smoking thinkers (the mind workers of the world) to speak of better pathways to more light. Think for a moment, with a pipe in hand, these wizards of the world and word: Albert Einstein, J. R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edwin Hubble, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All learned and enlightened. They offered wisdom instead of storms of meaningless roads to nowhere. All while smoking their pipes! Maybe especially with the help of their pipes in the art of thinking and philosophy. Recall the words of Mr. E=MC2 when he said, “I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.” Amen and amen! Dealing with world-rattling events takes a calm and objective view of things, to the Pundit’s way of summing it up. You just don’t go messing around with quantum physics without a calm and objective approach, methinks. Or as the extraordinary physicist Robert Oppenheimer said after he and a team in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Labs developed a way to split atoms into bombs during World War II. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” said Oppenheimer referring to the development of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. It must be pointed out that Oppenheimer was more of a cigarette smoker than a pipe smoker. Nonetheless, pipes were part of his personality. Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ain’t easy to turn on the lights in Pundit’s rock pit head. Now it’s time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Good article, Kevin. I’m always for recruiting new pipe smokers, be they cigarette smokers or newbies. My “famous American pipe smokers” montage for my still-born “National Pipe Smokers Day” idea is still good, no?
CLICK (or coup/paste) link: http://img.villagephotos.com/imageview.aspx?i=26655678
Corncob pipes are also appreciated by many veteran smokers, not just beginners.
Also, a wooden golf tee makes a good, cheap tamper.
Take care.
Jimbo
Good points Kevin. Pipe smoking has a
lot to offer those seeking quality leisure
experiences.
An excellent job Mr. Godbee. The artical speak’s for itself.
Myself, I was lucky enough to have not one but two local tobacconists, both of which had people on staff who were happy to help a newbie. Admittedly, the tobacco that they sent me home with is no longer in my rotation, but it didn’t scare me away, either.
Nice article. I like the look of those starter packs from the e-tailers.
Simon
I love tobacco. There, I said it. Smoking a pipe is one of the great pleasures in my life.
It should also be mentioned that snuff is another great alternative to smoking if what one is after is just a hit of vitamin N. Indeed, there is no known incidence of cancer caused by nasal snuff in the past 300 years (according to articles I read), and it’s a delightful hobby in its own right. I’ve been very much enjoying the line of Fribourg & Treyer snuffs, which are exceptional. http://sharrowmills-online.com/snuff/f-t-snuffs.html
“I think the entire anti-smoking crusade is one of the foulest, misguided trampling of our rights by the biggest control freaks using flat out lies and manipulation in the worst way that has gone much too far.”
Kevin, you’re sooo equivocal !
It looks like the vendors have bent over backwards to provide kits that transition newbies and cigarette smokers into our world. Great idea. I wish something like that was available when I started.
Wow, when I started smoking a pipe there was no internet! I had my father who influenced my pipe smoking career. Nice article for getting started!
Good post. Reminds me of a video I posted on Youtube a while back. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzlWYOaTZOw
And I ditto Jimbo on his cob recommendation and on the golf tee tamper too. Scott
Great infomercial for those who wish to learn alternatives. Nice to see the support of your sponsors. Now to hit the conversion trail like a “witness”.
good article on stoping cigs and changing to a pipe; the info is very informative and useful.
I disagree on one item and that is starting with some Captain Black. This is not good tobacco and for a beginner pipe smoker or one changing from cigs, it is most important to select a quality tobac. That insures a pleasant smoke and eliminates the fire in the mouth that often discourages a beginner. I would suggest a light to medium English blend, especially from a local tobacconist who can discuss the different blends and give samples.
As an on-again, off-again cigarette smoker; I am glad to say that I am set aside coughin’ nails forever.
For those skeptics that don’t believe it… Smoking a pipe is a hobby, and one with all the intricacies of building ships in bottles, or it’s as easy as whistling.
I whole heartedly recommend that those who are tired of cigarettes, pick up a pipe and enter a whole new fraternity and world of leisure contemplation, and pleasure. You’ll be glad you did.
Great article Kevin!
Thanks
A great article Kevin. The starter kits look awesome and it is most excellent that the 4 internet stores put together these fine looking kits. I do hope that they attract the cig smoker and the new pipe smoker alike.
Go Kevin, Glad you included a female example of the briarhood. Let your curiosity get the better of you, ladies! Take it from me, Pipes are elegant, delicious, calorie free, and delightful.
Sorry, I posted the wrong video. That one’s not bad, but this one addresses stopping cigarette smoking by smoking a pipe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-zV8qsJ_kU Scott
since i quit smoking butts and took up my pipes (10 years ago) i never, ever cough at night when going to bed like i heard my father do, i sometimes would smoke 2-3 packs a day, nasty!!
Excellent..
I converted many months ago and I feel waaaaaaaayyyy better !!
My fingers, lungs, clothing, and hair, ALL thank me !!
Pipes and pipe tobacco are in !!
No need to “quit” cigarettes. Learn to control them – take a month to finish a pack. Take up a pipe; you’ll find it far more soothing than a cig. Why does smoking have to be addictive? Behaviorally addictive – maybe, chemically addictive- NOT! Much junk science has been purported around “nicotine addiction”. I’ll never buy the science –
Good article.
Two years ago the anti-smoking group here in Hawaii were able to past a no smoking ban in public parks and beaches. One of their arguments were based on the large number of cig butts found. They had school age children collect butts in glass jars and present them at the hearings. I feel cigarette smokers have the right to smoke, but it is good to show them an alternative.
mauikava,
I remember hearing about that. It seems to me the problem with cigarette butts on the beaches is the FILTERS. All other parts of the cigarette as well as cigars and pipe tobacco ashes ARE BIO-DEGRADABLE, will soon be “gone” and shouldn’t be any more bother than dead fish and other things that that one finds on beaches.
I started smoking pipes over 40 years ago while in college, unfortunately I quit my pipes and switched to cigarettes for convenience. I finally was able to quit the cigarettes a few years ago. I have just started back on my pipes this last year, the experience is totally different from cigarettes, no craving for nicotine and the relaxing time i experience while smoking a pipe is well appreciated. I wish I had some of this information years ago.
Terrific article, which I hope will draw some positive attention and alert its intended readers to the advantages and pleasures of the briar. I second the suggestion to recommend a “starter” blend other than Captain Black. I think a lot of us start out with CB and similar mass-market pipe tobaccos, which often deter newcomers to the hobby from sticking with it. Another demographic that the article might appeal to would be those who have dabbled with tobacco and who might be weighing the decision to take on a habit (i.e., cigarettes). A lot of younger guys I’ve spoken to about pipe smoking have told me that they’re drawn to tobacco (or at least want to give it a try), but their exposure to tobacco is confined primarily to cigarette smoking, the hazards of which they know only too well. For a lot of these prospective pipe smokers, enjoying tobacco is an all-or-nothing proposition (don’t smoke at all or develop a nicotine addiction). It comes as a pleasant surprise to these “considerants” that it’s quite possible to enjoy pipes (and cigars) as they’re intended to be enjoyed without developing a chemical dependency.
I think your article is great, and my own recent experience would seem to bear out much of what you have written in it. I started smoking cigarettes nearly 15 years ago. For approximately the latter half of that time, the cigarettes I have smoked have been hand-rolled, which (assuming the use of filters) are not as unhealthy as pre-rolled cigarettes. I was on about ten per day, and thanks to my new found hobby of pipe smoking, I have in the last couple of months cut down to only four or five per day… and it’s getting easier to cut down further with fairly strong pipe tobaccos such as Peterson’s Irish Oak.
First post and first article read on this excellent web resource by myself, Gregory Lee from London, England. Have smoked a pipe for around four months now, never looked back and now have the comforting activity of visiting London’s various tobacconist, some of which have traded for more the 100 years. Pipe smoking has tempered the previously aggressive fixation I had with tobacco through cigarettes and I can honestly say, there is nothing quite like relaxing for 1/2 and hour or so with a flavoursome Cavendish whilst listening to BBC Radio 4 on my balcony. On a separate issue, rest in peace Don Van Vielt, AKA Captain Beefheart. Friend, poet, painter, visionary, global music ambassador…genius. Bless you Don and best wishes to Jan Van Vielt
I recently gave up cigarettes with help from the pipe. For me it was sudden. I started the pipe only three months ago but haven’t had any cigs for two months and don’t miss them at all. I’ve smoked cigarettes for years and thought I would never be able to quit them.
I do have a preference for high nicotine content in pipe tobacco but I suspect that will change with time. I no longer caught my lungs out every morning, haven’t had my morning hack since shortly after I decided that the pipe would be my only method for absorbing nicotine.
I have never really enjoyed cigarettes, I was just addicted. Suddenly I’ve discovered the joy of real tobacco. My local tobacconist has cured me of interest in drug store tobacco except as an emergency resort.
Part of the cig habit is oral and the fiddling with it. The pipe is Much better for those parts and I genuinely relax when sitting with my Peterson and a bowl of good English blend. Had my first bit of Virginia flake recently and take great joy from that as well.
I love my pipe and the many tobaccos available. I never actually enjoyed cigarettes and do not miss them at all.