THE QUESTION THAT STARTS THE DAY

Sometimes context is everything. This is especially so when the other person or people can be presumed to be in the parsha, so to speak. A word may be used that is shorter than complete clarity required, an abbreviation, or specialized. Familiarity with the context or terminology provides comprehension.

Yesterday evening, upon returning from work, I saw a question.


"Does the old boy leak fluid if left untouched for a couple of weeks?"


So I glibly answered: "For a second there I thought you were asking about a deceased relative. In really cold weather, no. As soon as it gets closer to bearable room temperature, yes."

Anyone even passingly familiar with the County Morgue, or Stephen King novels, would have done the same.

It was posed in a pipe group, and it took me a second or two to think of Old Boy pipe lighters. Even though I had handled several of them over the weekend.
The Old Boy manufactured by Corona is a very reliable product used by many pipe smokers. And much loved. I myself prefer matches, however, eschewing fancy contrivances.


Someone else, also a pipe smoker, wrote: "Oh yes. Dribbling is common with age." He appears to be a young man, and might have been thinking of someone special. Other relevant riffs on that theme were "if you give him the remote and a ham sandwich not so much", and "I believe age definitely contributes to my dribbling".

Many of the members of that esteemed group are in their forties or worse. Nothing last forever, both the hardware and the software start breaking down in disconcerting ways as one gets older, and we realize that we should have got the extended warranty. The old boy definitely starts leaking if ignored for any length of time. Leakage is natural. Life is a bog.


It is so refreshing when a youngster picks up the hobby.
Their voyage of discovery is entertaining to watch.
Frustration, joy, fascination, obsession.
Followed by occasional leakage.



The handsome pipe pictured above is older than I am, and of a particular shape which is dashing and refined. It exudes both venerable age as well as high standards of manufacture, attention to line and proportion. It harkens back to an age when good quality products were taken for granted.

I'll probably smoke it after lunch and a cup of tea.
Day off. Should be enjoyable. Nothing planned.
Only reading, smoking, and leakage.

TOBACCO INDEX


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