I was going to simply post in the "What Are You Smoking" thread but feared I might get a little long winded as I have a bit to say about this smoking session.
Let me begin by saying yesterday was my birthday. Now I'm not looking for a bunch of "Happy belated birthday!" However, I'll happily take them if you offer them! You see, I had an early work day yesterday. I woke up at 4:00 AM, made my coffee, shower, out the door, and then I'm at work and clocking in at 6:00 AM. I'll be out by 2:00 PM, do some quick grocery shopping, and I'll be home by 3:30 PM at the latest to enjoy the rest of my birthday, have a nice meal, speak with friends and relatives, and of course enjoy a good birthday pipe, or two, or three. It will be a GLORIOUS day! I'm a butcher and manager in the meat market of a major grocery retailer, by the way. So I start my day, setting up the counter, already having to start cutting because we're low in product from the day before. My help calls in, nothing new, and then I also find out I have no closer... leaving me with nobody to relieve my shift. It's still morning, and I'm already busting my tail, and from the amount of customers already shopping my counter it's going to be a busy day (understatement of the century). We get a truck delivery. I now have four very large pallets of meat to downstack. Meat is heavy. Meanwhile, I'm also on and off the phone trying to get someone to come in and work the closing shift. Nobody wants to work on thier off day of course. Finally I'm at the point of, "Come on, it's very busy, I really need the help, and it's my birthday. I don't want to have to be here all day, which is answered by a, "Oh... uh... I'm in Oklahoma... uh drove up here with girlfriend's family. I'm at the mercy of when they decide to leave..." Yeah. Ok. So all I can do at this point is keep on working. A pipe would be good right about now.
So the day goes on, we're getting extremely busy. I have customers asking for steaks, roasts, beef, pork, lamb, stuff I haven't been able to cut yet, stuff that's still on a pallet I haven't been able to finish downstacking yet... stuff I never even heard of. All I can do is keep on working. A pipe would be great right now...
The day goes on. Getting busier. It's Sunday so a lot of people do thier shopping after they get out of church. It's already been a fight, but it's about to get real. I have knives in hand... cut, tray, wrap, tag, run it out to the counter. I run ten items out to the shelves, twenty disappear. I'm running meat through a saw... cut, scrape off the bone dust, trim, tray, wrap, tag, run ten items out to the counter, twenty disappear. It's a losing battle. I know that already. But I keep at it. That's all I can do.
Those of you in retail know how some customers are when they can't get what they want when they want. I'll just leave that... at that.
About 2:00 PM, my scheduled time to leave, I finally take a break. I walk outside and just want to sit down. The parking lot is packed and I'm watching crowds walk in, and crowds walk out with shopping carts... many with meat of course... Thirty minutes later I'm back to work. A pipe would be amazing right now....
I'll cut the rest of it short. Things didn't get any better. I hadn't even gotten to the busiest part of the day yet. I was just one man trying to hold the bridge against the horde, sword held high in defiance only to be finally, inevitably, shot down by arrows. But it was a glorious death! Right? Wrong. It sucked.
Finally, I called it a day. Took apart the saw, took apart the grinder, cleaned them, cleaned the cutting tables, the floor, the walls, mountains of bone and meat trimmings, blood... some of which may have been mine. I finally clocked out at 9:00 PM. Made it home sometime after 10:00 PM. Limped in through the door, slowly peeled off my clothes, and took a long hot shower to wash away all the blood and grime. It's a dirty job on a good day.
Now I'm not looking for sympathy, but I'll happily take it if you offer it!
I stood there in the shower for quite some time, holding myself up against the tiles on the wall, thinking about my day. I had just given that job every bit of myself and more. I was beaten down. Exhausted. And I had just turned fifty one years of age. I'm getting old. Happy Birthday to me...
Now I had a few highlights to end my night, mostly from friends and family wishing me a Happy Birthday via Facebook and Messenger, including one of my favorite authors (Dennis L. McKiernan), and one of our fellow forum members (thanks Embers), and had a chat with my lady friend and love of my life. Just hearing her voice made me feel better.
A pipe would have been... I honestly didn't even care to smoke a pipe at that point. I was just too tired and it no longer appealed to me in the least. I just wanted to eat and sleep. Which brings me to this morning.
I'm off today, and I hate to say it, but I could care less what happens at work today. Let them handle it. I don't often get a morning smoke, but I filled a pipe. Nothing special. No nice briar pipe. No nice high grade Nording, or high grade Peterson with spectacular grain and silver bands and spigots. Just a small, simple, humble, corn cob pipe with Kramer's Blend For Cary Grant. An easy smoke to help me relax, and to help me clean the rest of yesterday's dirt and grime from my mind. An easy smoke in which the aroma will bring me some comfort and peace. It will be my therapy to help me erase a previous bad day. And I will let today, the day after, be my Happy Birthday.
My friends, may your pipe bring you comfort in your hard days as well.
Let me begin by saying yesterday was my birthday. Now I'm not looking for a bunch of "Happy belated birthday!" However, I'll happily take them if you offer them! You see, I had an early work day yesterday. I woke up at 4:00 AM, made my coffee, shower, out the door, and then I'm at work and clocking in at 6:00 AM. I'll be out by 2:00 PM, do some quick grocery shopping, and I'll be home by 3:30 PM at the latest to enjoy the rest of my birthday, have a nice meal, speak with friends and relatives, and of course enjoy a good birthday pipe, or two, or three. It will be a GLORIOUS day! I'm a butcher and manager in the meat market of a major grocery retailer, by the way. So I start my day, setting up the counter, already having to start cutting because we're low in product from the day before. My help calls in, nothing new, and then I also find out I have no closer... leaving me with nobody to relieve my shift. It's still morning, and I'm already busting my tail, and from the amount of customers already shopping my counter it's going to be a busy day (understatement of the century). We get a truck delivery. I now have four very large pallets of meat to downstack. Meat is heavy. Meanwhile, I'm also on and off the phone trying to get someone to come in and work the closing shift. Nobody wants to work on thier off day of course. Finally I'm at the point of, "Come on, it's very busy, I really need the help, and it's my birthday. I don't want to have to be here all day, which is answered by a, "Oh... uh... I'm in Oklahoma... uh drove up here with girlfriend's family. I'm at the mercy of when they decide to leave..." Yeah. Ok. So all I can do at this point is keep on working. A pipe would be good right about now.
So the day goes on, we're getting extremely busy. I have customers asking for steaks, roasts, beef, pork, lamb, stuff I haven't been able to cut yet, stuff that's still on a pallet I haven't been able to finish downstacking yet... stuff I never even heard of. All I can do is keep on working. A pipe would be great right now...
The day goes on. Getting busier. It's Sunday so a lot of people do thier shopping after they get out of church. It's already been a fight, but it's about to get real. I have knives in hand... cut, tray, wrap, tag, run it out to the counter. I run ten items out to the shelves, twenty disappear. I'm running meat through a saw... cut, scrape off the bone dust, trim, tray, wrap, tag, run ten items out to the counter, twenty disappear. It's a losing battle. I know that already. But I keep at it. That's all I can do.
Those of you in retail know how some customers are when they can't get what they want when they want. I'll just leave that... at that.
About 2:00 PM, my scheduled time to leave, I finally take a break. I walk outside and just want to sit down. The parking lot is packed and I'm watching crowds walk in, and crowds walk out with shopping carts... many with meat of course... Thirty minutes later I'm back to work. A pipe would be amazing right now....
I'll cut the rest of it short. Things didn't get any better. I hadn't even gotten to the busiest part of the day yet. I was just one man trying to hold the bridge against the horde, sword held high in defiance only to be finally, inevitably, shot down by arrows. But it was a glorious death! Right? Wrong. It sucked.
Finally, I called it a day. Took apart the saw, took apart the grinder, cleaned them, cleaned the cutting tables, the floor, the walls, mountains of bone and meat trimmings, blood... some of which may have been mine. I finally clocked out at 9:00 PM. Made it home sometime after 10:00 PM. Limped in through the door, slowly peeled off my clothes, and took a long hot shower to wash away all the blood and grime. It's a dirty job on a good day.
Now I'm not looking for sympathy, but I'll happily take it if you offer it!
I stood there in the shower for quite some time, holding myself up against the tiles on the wall, thinking about my day. I had just given that job every bit of myself and more. I was beaten down. Exhausted. And I had just turned fifty one years of age. I'm getting old. Happy Birthday to me...
Now I had a few highlights to end my night, mostly from friends and family wishing me a Happy Birthday via Facebook and Messenger, including one of my favorite authors (Dennis L. McKiernan), and one of our fellow forum members (thanks Embers), and had a chat with my lady friend and love of my life. Just hearing her voice made me feel better.
A pipe would have been... I honestly didn't even care to smoke a pipe at that point. I was just too tired and it no longer appealed to me in the least. I just wanted to eat and sleep. Which brings me to this morning.
I'm off today, and I hate to say it, but I could care less what happens at work today. Let them handle it. I don't often get a morning smoke, but I filled a pipe. Nothing special. No nice briar pipe. No nice high grade Nording, or high grade Peterson with spectacular grain and silver bands and spigots. Just a small, simple, humble, corn cob pipe with Kramer's Blend For Cary Grant. An easy smoke to help me relax, and to help me clean the rest of yesterday's dirt and grime from my mind. An easy smoke in which the aroma will bring me some comfort and peace. It will be my therapy to help me erase a previous bad day. And I will let today, the day after, be my Happy Birthday.
My friends, may your pipe bring you comfort in your hard days as well.
