I had a bit of a time deciding where to post this. Originally, I was thinking I'd post in the accessories thread to show off my holiday gift to myself. As I gave it some thought, it became more than just sharing an item.
I bought myself an IM Corona Pipemaster and got it in the mail today. I ordered the gold engine-turned version. I'm a silver guy myself, but I wanted to go full on 1920's bling as I've been watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix recently. I'm getting it engraved with some Parisian font initials later to go all in. I opened the package and was blown away. I immediately held the weight of it in my hands. I could tell I was holding something quality. So, I lit up some Balkan Saiseni in my Eric Paulson billiard. The lighter worked smoothly and I was pleased. I tumbled the thing in my hand and inspected all the details. My thought as I held the lighter was "I don't deserve this." I know to some the price for one of these isn't anything grand. To me, it just seemed too foreign to shell that out on a pipe accessory. My dad got me into pipes, and for 7-8 years I've been using bics and a zippo he gave me. When I started, I could barely afford tobacco. All my money from three jobs was going into my education. Pipe smoking just gave me the time to sit and think. I think it helped me get through some really stressful times. I used cheap estates and basket pipes I could find. Not saying any of those things are inferior, but it just occurred to me how far I've come.
Since I've started, I've gotten married, had a son, bought a house and a car, and have a good job in my field of interest. I've gone from scrubbing train cars and throwing unruly drunks out of bars for the bare minimum to a fairly cushy 9-5 that allows my family to live pretty comfortably. I guess sometimes when you're in the middle of things it can be hard to put things in perspective. I have been a bit down lately (which was why id decided to treat myself to a nice lighter). Life has seemed a bit stagnant and routine...like I'm not moving forward. Sometimes it just takes a pipe (and a nice lighter) to get you to really look at things for how they are.
I bought myself an IM Corona Pipemaster and got it in the mail today. I ordered the gold engine-turned version. I'm a silver guy myself, but I wanted to go full on 1920's bling as I've been watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix recently. I'm getting it engraved with some Parisian font initials later to go all in. I opened the package and was blown away. I immediately held the weight of it in my hands. I could tell I was holding something quality. So, I lit up some Balkan Saiseni in my Eric Paulson billiard. The lighter worked smoothly and I was pleased. I tumbled the thing in my hand and inspected all the details. My thought as I held the lighter was "I don't deserve this." I know to some the price for one of these isn't anything grand. To me, it just seemed too foreign to shell that out on a pipe accessory. My dad got me into pipes, and for 7-8 years I've been using bics and a zippo he gave me. When I started, I could barely afford tobacco. All my money from three jobs was going into my education. Pipe smoking just gave me the time to sit and think. I think it helped me get through some really stressful times. I used cheap estates and basket pipes I could find. Not saying any of those things are inferior, but it just occurred to me how far I've come.
Since I've started, I've gotten married, had a son, bought a house and a car, and have a good job in my field of interest. I've gone from scrubbing train cars and throwing unruly drunks out of bars for the bare minimum to a fairly cushy 9-5 that allows my family to live pretty comfortably. I guess sometimes when you're in the middle of things it can be hard to put things in perspective. I have been a bit down lately (which was why id decided to treat myself to a nice lighter). Life has seemed a bit stagnant and routine...like I'm not moving forward. Sometimes it just takes a pipe (and a nice lighter) to get you to really look at things for how they are.
