Hello from NC, and On the Road
- Thread starter Pipingntrucking
- Start date
Howdy and welcome aboard from Ohio. I spent quite a few years as an OTR driver. If you get the opportunity, Boswell's (6481 William Penn Hwy; Alexandria, PA) welcomes drivers to park alongside the shoulder and visit their location. I stopped there many times in my rig. Very friendly & quality tobacco.
Depending on the routes you normally run, I can give you other suggestions. Anyhow, happy smokes & stay safe.
Depending on the routes you normally run, I can give you other suggestions. Anyhow, happy smokes & stay safe.
Awesome. I'm in the area around Archer Lodge and Flowers.
Welcome from central N.C. Yes, the smoke shops on the road are pretty spare on pipes and pipe blends. In Raleigh there is a real independent pipe and cigar shop, Pipes by George, which, though small, is one of the premier pipe stops in N.C.
Years ago, I used to haul out to J&R discount near Smithfield and found some good deals and a fair amount of inventory on what are now the Peterson pipe blends and some traditional blends like Granger and Carter Hall. They had an expansive cigar section. How they are these days, I do not know. Then, the cigar humidor and pipe shop were in the center, almost like a separate store, with a huge discount store around it, a little like the old K-Mart only more so.
I hear truck driving is an ever-changing scene these days, a key link in the supply chain that can be lucrative or not from day to day. Be safe.
Years ago, I used to haul out to J&R discount near Smithfield and found some good deals and a fair amount of inventory on what are now the Peterson pipe blends and some traditional blends like Granger and Carter Hall. They had an expansive cigar section. How they are these days, I do not know. Then, the cigar humidor and pipe shop were in the center, almost like a separate store, with a huge discount store around it, a little like the old K-Mart only more so.
I hear truck driving is an ever-changing scene these days, a key link in the supply chain that can be lucrative or not from day to day. Be safe.
Pipes by George was the shop I was referring to with little to no parking. Every time I ride by the little 6 spot lot on the side is sometimes even double parked. JR's is nothing more than a cigar refuge. They have very little in the way of pipe oriented things. Best I can tell the rest of the building that used to be an awesome spot for travelers to stop and buy cool random things. Is just sitting there taking up space.
Luckily I am a company driver. I kicked around the idea of Owner/Operator but I was honest with myself. I cant even keep up with grocery receipts, much less be able to deal with a company with all its paperwork. I'll take the pay cut and let someone else deal with that. That and truck repairs are on the company too. Which is the biggest risk for an O/O.
I wish I knew about that location when I was OTR. Spent a lot of time in the PA area. However since I have changed over to a dedicated lane that runs from NC to GA . Much easier on the stress levels without having to worry about where I am going to shut down. I had tried some Boswelll blends early on. Only liked one. But to be fair that was within the first couple of months into this journey. May have to revisit them again sometime.
I'm on Jordan Narron off 96. It was a dirt road when I moved out here. I don't go into Clayton if I can help it. The missus and I go 96 to Zebulon to go shopping most of the time unless its groceries and I go to the Food Lion on 42.
You drive right past my road then.
. I have watched many a neighborhood pop up. Even now they have ruined my road. Used to be nice and secluded. They are adding 50+ more houses at the end. Sad to say it's the typical 1/4 acre jam them in and Charge them $300k nightmare developments. I know you have seen more than your share of them around Flowers. Is fine. Once they drive my property value up more than they already have.... .I might be able to sell and afford somewhere along the Blueridge.
I think most of us would prefer to have at least some Brick and mortar action. Browsing online is fun, especially the first time (and you get to see a lot of things you never knew about) it doesn't compare to a wall of pipes and cases of tins. You don't meet interesting people shopping online either (usually you don't, there are a few friends I have from buying from their stores online, but that's rare). And in one sense brick and mortar has more legal protections less likely to be regulated out of existence. I also take nasal snuff and honestly the PACT act (a pile of lies and shit with unilateral support) only didn't eliminate online snuff because of two merchants and their teams (not sure how big, but I don't know their lawyers) both saw the loop holes. So you know one more selfish reason to support the Brick and Mortar.
Oh at this point most of my money isn't hard earned. I am a janitor and it's not a hard job most of the time. Why is something a job? Because other people either don't want to do it or can't do it (or a bit of both), cleaning is a people don't want to because they have no stomach for it. Oh and you can listen to your own music, which is a huge plus for me.
And I personally think if people tried to appreciate what they have and all the people that make that possible, life would in general be a little nicer. And the fun part is you can still complain and see things that aren't good and right while admitting that somethings are great.
P.s. haven't finished my coffee yet so good chance I didn't make much sense.
Made perfect sense. For me it's a job due to being something that I don't completely enjoy but enjoy well enough to keep the lights on. Trucking was plan B to get away from turning wrenches and having to "be nice" to entitled car ...."renters" and occasional owner. It got hard seeing males come in and not even knowing how to check their own air pressure much less the oil. And folks that seemed to think all car repairs have a popcorn setting for repair times.
The good is now I am in my truck in the middle of the night listening to whatever I want and not deal with many people. The downside. I am not home much and miss being able to enjoy hobbies like wood carving and riding my motorcycle. One of these days before retirement I may be able to figure out the golden ration but until then I am mostly good with what I am doing. It has purpose other than enabling bad attitudes.
I do wish we could get away from a consumer economy and get back to things that were made to last and could be repaired. Not gonna lie it irks me a bit to see the folks brag about $200 shoes that they toss because the next model came out where as I spend twice that for boots that can be re soled and can almost last decades. Craftsmanship seems to be lost in a lot of things. I guess that's one thing I hold onto with piping.
I don't know much about cars. I got my license in my 30's. In the town I live in having a car didn't make sense. I can walk 45 minutes get a pipe in burn off a little bit of the gut and not deal with the idiot drivers. Side note though I don't get the people that where like oh big trucks are hard to drive (not like you drive, but like the one my dad has). Though I could check the air pressure and oil since I was a little tyke.
Dealing with people at a job is a huge part of why I have the job I do now. I see mostly co-workers who I can usually avoid if I feel like it, and except for three of them they're all decent folks (and funny fact more diverse then any other job of had).
Things are nice and great even. But people are too into the loop of get stuff, get bored with stuff, get more stuff. Including companies. Who absolutely should be profit motivated but while also having some pride in what they make and consideration for larger things then just how much they can make now. Why cause life is pretty short and has a lot more to it then the things we get fixated on. God I need to start getting shoes that can be resoled. I hate buying new shoes.
Dealing with people at a job is a huge part of why I have the job I do now. I see mostly co-workers who I can usually avoid if I feel like it, and except for three of them they're all decent folks (and funny fact more diverse then any other job of had).
Things are nice and great even. But people are too into the loop of get stuff, get bored with stuff, get more stuff. Including companies. Who absolutely should be profit motivated but while also having some pride in what they make and consideration for larger things then just how much they can make now. Why cause life is pretty short and has a lot more to it then the things we get fixated on. God I need to start getting shoes that can be resoled. I hate buying new shoes.
