UNOBJECTIONABLE THINGS

In this building it is impossible to sleep past seven nowadays, because earthquake retrofit work is being done, and the sounds of repair resonate throughout. Drilling, sawing, hammering, and for concrete the occasional jackhammer or infernal device. A large power saw for metal or sumpin'.

Which is okay. I'm fine with the building not falling on me.

I cannot smoke when my apartment mate is around.

And it's raining outside.


While I was in the kitchen pretending not to smoke, a voice in the airwell, over the sound of squealing machinery, uttered a statement.


"OH,THIS BIG *INTERCOURSING* ULTIMATE PIPE!"


And, remarkably, I too was dealing with pipe. I found my missing Peterson Pot (shape 606) last night in my bed, underneath one of the stuffed animals.
No idea how it got there. Perhaps the frog stole it when I was tired. He has been hiding it for weeks. This morning I was using microfibre on the rim.

No, this is NOT the big effing ultimate! But it is a mighty fine pipe indeed, and I shall be smoking it later down in Chinatown, where people do not object to middle-aged gentlemen indulging in tobacco. My apartment mate is un-Chinese in that regard, having grown up here. Despite her heritage, she does not act very Asian. Mostly that is a blessing -- especially when it comes to cheese, Mornay Sauce, for instance -- but she lacks a certain tolerance for smoking old farts that her kinfolks have.

That is to say, she tolerates me, and I smoke, but she does not tolerate me smoking inside the apartment. Which is why I would wish to have a patio with an overhang or roofed area and perhaps a comfy wicker chair in the corner, where I could shelter from the elements while indulging.

Fortunately there are awnings in front of empty commercial properties along Washington Street, as well as recessed areas in several other places.
So, quick lunch, perhaps milk tea, then out into the cold.

嗰個老番做乜呀？

A curiosity for the little children.
The indignity of the modern era.


You know, years ago experts recommended that you smoke after (and during) a meal for your digestion's sake, and repeated national surveys showed that more doctors, all across the country, in all branches of medicine, smoked Camels than any other cigarette.
Pipes are better than that.

Bertrand Russell credited his long life to pipe smoking.

Mostly Virginia mixtures and Flakes.
Fribourg & Treyer, McConnell.
Excellent for digestion.

Some Virginias are perfect for cold days, as they create hardly any smoke in the room, and you don't even have to open the window.


The sound of power machinery hitting at concrete below in the airwell is a constant. My apartment mate is in her room, asleep. She had some banana cake and a warm caffeinated beverage, and then went back to bed. She is, obviously, capable of putting up with a lot of things.
But not smoking.

TOBACCO INDEX


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