DOG ROCKETS

Well that's the other exciting news this week, my order from Thompson's TCC (10 days)arrived. And over all I can't complain, but the POWER25 sampler turned out to be a bunch of robustos. I went back and they were advertising a nice looking selection with Torpedoes, Churchills, and Longsdales. Disappointing or deceptive, not sure. Hey, but at a buck a piece I really didn't expect anything but dog rockets.

All this started again with the SCHIP tax. I had put away my humidor last year and had just been buying the occasional pack of Garcia-Vega Whiffs at $1.99; but they went up overnight to $2.79. At which point I figured why smoke the cardboard shit anymore when I can get better for less.

So after placing my order, I took out the humidor and went to set it up. The first thing I noticed was cedar wood resin. Hey, like it's a $100 crap-a-dor, so now I understand why the CIGAR GODS/ CIGAR SNOBS insist on $500 and up ones. Anyway, I scraped and sanded out the resin, because I mostly smoke cigarillos and I'm not going to be buying any boutique stoggies.

If I remember correctly I didn't start smoking cigarettes until after I had become a pot smoker. Gee, the great things you learn in College: doping and binge drinking for instance. Though, my first introduction to cigars might have been from some former 60's antiwar bigwig I met in So. Cal. during the 1980's.

I eventually turned to handrolling cigarettes, and even experimenting with adding herbs like coltsfolt to pipe tobacco. Then I started in with the real imported cigarillos and the occasional cigar. Some of it was economics and some of it was a search for the 'real' tobacco experience.

And when I say 'real' I mean just plain old tobacco. A lot of people don't know what "homogenized tobacco product" really means. That's also called "sheet tobacco" in the trade. That's where tobacco leaves ( and I assume stems, pieces and roots) are thrown in a vat with water, sugar and who knows what else and is pressed into 4' x 8' sheets like plywood. This is then shredded and put into cigarettes and little cigars. Just look for "homogenized" and say: "BARF ! No thank you..."

Spend a little extra for real tobacco products and you'll save money in the long run because you won't be getting the additive 'addictive' chemicals either.

So anyway, I did find my ice pick which will work as an improvised draw-poke, so you'll be hearing about the dog rockets eventually.