Cheap Tobacco, Cheap(ish) Beer

[Dave4211]

I've smoked all kinds of tobacco through the years, from drugstore blends to some of the high grade stuff. I even cut up Mammoth Cave Twist chewing tobacco for a couple of years and smoked that almost exclusively. I fell in love with Virginia and vaper flakes along the way, and The fell out of love with Latakia, though I don't hate it.

I don't smoke aromatics and I hate propylene glycol in any heavy amounts.

I love nicotine.

Anyhow, nowadays I smoke cheap, high nicotine tobacco that I can get locally in one pound bags.

The better ones for me are Golden Leaf, Cherokee and Today.

All of them cost around $10 per pound.

Smoke 'em slow. You'll get your nicotine and a decent flavor. I inhale smoke constantly, too. I always have.

In the old days, I smoked 3 to 5 packs of Camel nonfilters a day. Now, they're too expensive.

There are certain more expensive blends I will splurge on when I have money for them. Borkum Riff Whiskey because of my Granddaddy. Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake or Orlik Golden Sliced because I love them so.

Any good Virginia, I can learn to love. I love Burley, too.and Perique.

But, I am satisfied with my ten dollar tobacco. It rolls into cigarettes nicely, too, if need be. Sometimes I roll one up when somebody asks me for a cigarette.

Beer is about the same. I drink pretty regularly. Budweiser. It's affordable for me and locally available.

In big cities, I like micro breweries. Played a lot of shows in them. Drank a lot of good beer. But...a lot of it was free.

Catawba Brewing in NC makes Farmer Ted's Cream Ale. Smooth as glass fizzy enough, 6% alcohol, and tasty. But, it's forty bucks or more for a case and nobody is stocking it down here anyhow.

Budweiser throws me a discount every now and then. I always keep a case of it in the fridge. 20 to 25 dollars a case.

In my own haphazard, artistic way, I've found a balance between frugality and luxury, or maybe frugality and excess.

But, I enjoy it.

Some of that cheap Tobacco is really good stuff. Some of it really sucks.

The three I mentioned, at least for now, are pretty good.

That's what works for me these days.

I have kids and cats and pipes and guitars to feed.

I also have my soul to feed.

It all balances out in the long haul.

Pipes...I have some good factory pipes and one that's probably considered handmade. Savinelli makes a good pipe. If somebody asked me which kind to buy, and if they knew very little about pipes, I'd send them down here to William's Tobacco here in my town and tell them to ask for a Rossi or a Savinelli to look at.

There's a comfortable consistency in the product, and the quality seems to meet the price.

But, I have a mix of pipes.

Y'all take care.

I love all of you.
Love and grace.
-dave

 

[Dave4211]

Forgive me my typos. This is a new phone, and it has my thumbs tangled up. I'll get it all straight soon. Maybe.

 

[Dworkin]

Dave,

Great post. Telling it like it is.

D.

 

[Dave4211]

Dave,

Great post. Telling it like it is.

D.

Might as well. It is time to pee and get another beer and find my lighter fluid and record a new song. I really like this forum. Mostly, I just like to search on it for random stuff about pipes.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

 

[anotherbob]

Forgive me my typos. This is a new phone, and it has my thumbs tangled up. I'll get it all straight soon. Maybe.

that cat is almost as cute as mine

 

[Dave4211]

that cat is almost as cute as mine

Bob, this particular cat is nuts. She got hit by a car, and she thinks I saved her. I just cleaned her up. It knocked most of her teeth out and scared her pretty bad, but she's fine now. All I did was clean her up. Then...

A dog attacked her. Damn near bit her leg off. So, I got some betadine and tended to all that. Almost took her to the vet, but she healed up fine. Now, she thinks I saved her again.

The irony here is that now I have a worshipper, a nagging beggar who demands ham and turkey and cuddles 26 hours a day.

She thinks I saved her life twice, but, from a clinical perspective, I believe she would have survived without my intervention. Now, I reduced the chance of infection by putting iodine in her wounds and giving her a bath, but it may not have been necessary. It just made good sense at the time.

There's technically not much wrong with her but she's super clingy now. And she stays out of the road and away from the neighbor's dog.

We have five cats, and this one is a hot mess. She's my baby, though.

I think she'll settle down in her mind some after awhile. Two of her lives got used up pretty close together.

Talk about a fighter, though. She fights as hard as she loves. She's got sand, as they say.

I think she'll be here for the long haul.

 

[Dave4211]

that cat is almost as cute as mine

You have one hell of a pretty cat. <3

 

[alaskanpiper]

Fancy, cheap, it all has its place to varying degrees by individual. No matter which way you lean, having one from time to time can often make you appreciate the other for what it is.

 

[mso489]

Dave, welcome aboard from central N.C. That is a fine looking cat with a dramatic life story. We had three, two Maine Coon lookalike rescued brothers and a petite little queen bee. She lived for 18 years, born in the Pine Barrens of Long Island, resided for practical (human) purposes in Greenwich Village NYC, and eventually came South. Intensely focused and loaded with energy, radiated more intellect than most people. She was a mom of three while still a kitten, and lived outdoors and became astute and smart, stalking voles, groundhogs, snakes, deer, guinea hens (who stared her down), etc. We thought we were nearing having to put her down, but no. She chose her time and died in my arms, my wife stroking her head, made a little announcement and went on. I felt honored. Better than some high and fancy human prize. Anointed by an eight pound cat. The boys have taken over our supervision, growing into the job.

 

[Dave4211]

Fancy, cheap, it all has its place to varying degrees by individual. No matter which way you lean, having one from time to time can often make you appreciate the other for what it is.

I agree 100%.

 

[Dave4211]

Dave, welcome aboard from central N.C. That is a fine looking cat with a dramatic life story. We had three, two Maine Coon lookalike rescued brothers and a petite little queen bee. She lived for 18 years, born in the Pine Barrens of Long Island, resided for practical (human) purposes in Greenwich Village NYC, and eventually came South. Intensely focused and loaded with energy, radiated more intellect than most people. She was a mom of three while still a kitten, and lived outdoors and became astute and smart, stalking voles, groundhogs, snakes, deer, guinea hens (who stared her down), etc. We thought we were nearing having to put her down, but no. She chose her time and died in my arms, my wife stroking her head, made a little announcement and went on. I felt honored. Better than some high and fancy human prize. Anointed by an eight pound cat. The boys have taken over our supervision, growing into the job.

Mso, thank you for the warm welcome.

Cats, and raccoons, for that matter, I think they're smarter than science says they are. There's some things that can't be chalked up to imitation or idiosyncrasy.

I don't know if it's in the mind or the soul or both. But there's a knowing in them. Some animals have it. Some human critters have it, too.

 

[mso489]

Dave, I think you're correct. People say cats (and dogs, horses, etc.) don't talk. It seems to me between their many and various vocalizations, their highly mobile ears, their episodic eyes, postures, fur standing, tail signaling, teeth baring and intricate facial mobility, the problem is so much communication you can't take it all in. It's like hearing twelve people talking at a time, from one small animal. Oh yeah, the life of the mind at the SPCA, all the time.

 

[krizzose]

Free Beer

 

[Mr.Mike]

Alot of times when I drink, I'll have something like a Budweiser before or after an expensive beer. I like the change of pace.

 

[anotherbob]

You have one hell of a pretty cat. <3

and he's also had a hell of a ride. In fact I did save him. Though he's the biggest lap cat ever and loves playing hard (flips and rolls when chasing toys, except laser pointers, he doesn't like them for some reason).

 

[snagstangl]

Have you tried any daughters and ryan tobacco? Picayune would be up your alley. Never inhaled it but a couple puffs in and I would get Nic sic, stomach flip, pukey feeling.

 

[Dave4211]

Have you tried any daughters and ryan tobacco? Picayune would be up your alley. Never inhaled it but a couple puffs in and I would get Nic sic, stomach flip, pukey feeling.

I haven't, snagstangl, but it sounds nice. Surely there's a point for everyone where a tobacco is simply too strong. Maybe that one's representative of yours. I've smoked twist chewing tobacco, as I said, and some of the Gawith and Hoggarth twists in the past. Nicotine is one important aspect of smoking for me, but there's more to it. There's a Peterson flake, though I can't remember the name(maybe it was University Flake) that was really too much, but I liked it. Oddly,it smelled a lot like Mammoth Cave Twist in the tin. I'm assuming there was a fair amount of Burley in there.

 

[bullet08]

Now, talking about cheap beer, Beast and Keystone used to be my favorite. Busch used to be ok, but had a really bad case of hangover with it. But those were when I was still in school. Don't drink as much. But starting to get a taste for Everclear. Got it to clean the pipes and ran out of other stuff.

 

[rushx9]

Welcome from NC! I used to work down the road from Catawba Brewing, and might have gigged some of the same breweries and taprooms as you over the years. I second the recommendation for D&R. When it goes on sale the prices aren't too far from your Cherokee, and most of their brands are dual use for ryo too. My domestic brew sleeper favorite is Old Mil (NOT beast), cheaper than bud, but tastier than pbr or Busch. Really not that far off from Farmer Ted, which most fans don't realize is just a "craft" version of the extremely cheap Genesee Cream Ale.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Welcome from NC! I used to work down the road from Catawba Brewing, and might have gigged some of the same breweries and taprooms as you over the years. I second the recommendation for D&R. When it goes on sale the prices aren't too far from your Cherokee, and most of their brands are dual use for ryo too. My domestic brew sleeper favorite is Old Mil (NOT beast), cheaper than bud, but tastier than pbr or Busch. Really not that far off from Farmer Ted, which most fans don't realize is just a "craft" version of the extremely cheap Genesee Cream Ale.

You might still be able to get pint of Genesee cream ale at bars in upstate New York for $1. Went buying a six pack I think it often was around .70 a can.