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Showing posts from March, 2025

Death of a Computer

 I had a cheap HP computer that died on me the other night.  And I decided to replace it with a fairly cheap iPad since I have an iPhone and I watch.  All my architecture is Apple, but feel Apple computers are over priced.  I can get by with an iPad.  I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles.  At night I enjoy watching YouTube vids if they are mindless enough.   I have a lot of old computers lying around but feel I don’t need a computer.  I have books in my head and need an internet connection to work on them.  I used to do stuff on my on when it came to fixing computers.  But these days, while I have the time, I don’t have the patience to fool with it.  I think it would cost more to take it in than the thing is worth. A ten inch screen is a lot smaller than 17 inches, but I had a tablet I used all the time and decided I can do without a computer.  I like to watch old vids that predict the year 2000 back in 1950.  Those vi...

One Reason

 It’s about how I feel about the importance of every Human Life regardless.  It’s that “regardless” that matters most.  No one has a right from God to take a Human Life regardless.  I’m emphatic about this.  When it comes to sin I’m a believer in Karma.  In this regard I’m very Buddhist in my beliefs.  The church today would struggle with my theology.   It only took me 25 years after my experience with my Angels to figure it out.  Sin is sin, but the ultimate sin is the taking of a life including one’s own.  This is where I draw the line of salvation.  But not everyone sees this stark contrast of my Angels.  But I say others don’t argue with me but with God.   It is MY belief yes, but I say this is what my Angels told me.  Churches have a hard time with Angels but not with demons.  However, I’m comfortable with my theology.  I’m comfortable saying my beliefs are similar to Buddhism.  In fact, while I mi...

The Worst Thing?

 My wife’s cousin’s husband said that he was told that the worst thing in life is to be born a child of a minister.  My siblings might not say this but I will.  They are more unusual but they wouldn’t have survived in life without the church.  I’ve struggled without it.  But it’s a curse I didn’t wish on my kids.  No regrets.  Not now anyway.  I’ve had my doubts and without help from my Angels I am convinced I wouldn’t be here.   But is it that bad for children of ministers?  It depends.  Every profession has its hazards for family.  But I look at life now and say what is is.  I can’t change anything at 73, but I can change HOW I see life.  I see life so differently now.  I FEEL differently about life.  I see life differently from most.   But to say it is a curse might be stretching things a bit.  I had something written for this morning and decided to delete it.  I don’t delete often, but onc...

How to do It

I was asked by my brother as to the success of fifty years of marriage.  What is the secret?  I jokingly said you both have to live long enough.  But it all comes down to caring for and about each other.  I suppose there are no secrets.  We agreed long ago to never go to bed angry with each other.  But it’s not just one thing but many.  Having a short memory helps.  Forgiveness is a key. But to say it’s just one thing wouldn’t be true.  It’s many things.  I wish life were simple.  But it isn’t.  You go through the complexities together.  It’s the two of us against the world.  Fifty years of marriage requires many things.  But I might say the big thing is determination.  We didn’t let any one thing come between us.  We simply knew we were meant to be together and didn’t let anything separate us.   But how do you do this?  Love?  Partly.  You have to like the other person.  It sta...

A lot Going On

 Actually, I don’t spend a lot of time going over the news of the day.  I’ll read headlines, then quickly go over what is being said on X and that is about it.  Lately my wife has caught me many times watching carpet cleaning ASMR vids on YouTube.  Family was here for our anniversary and I turned on one of the vids and everyone was fascinated.  Everyone wondered how these rugs get so dirty. But it’s fascinating to watch a coal black rug being transformed into a thing of beauty.  It’s not just a pipe that keeps me relaxed.  I need to put my phone down after a while and just think about something else.  If I felt my wife could do without me for a while I might do something else, but right nowI’ll stay put.  My heart health always comes first.  But I’ve had no chest pain since my heart attack.  I have nitro pills available if I need them, but I am on an aspirin regimen as well.  I work hard at making sure my BP never goes out of w...

Heart Health

 My cardiologist told me back in December of 2011 after my heart attack to turn off the news of the day after five so I could relax vefore going to sleep.  He said I needed a good eight hours of sleep per night.? But lately, the news during the day gets to be too much.  I tend to dwell on one or two things a day and I need to quit doing that.  By evening I need relaxation.  But during the day I find smoking my pipe keeps me relaxed.   I shared my theology with him that isn’t really mine, but I claim it as mine since my Angels are too much to explain to most anyone.  I have a very simple theology.  God is forgiving of all sins including unbelief except for murder and the taking of one’s own life.  In essence everyone is born saved, and remain that way unless one takes a life.    But that kind of theology is stressful.  There is too much of both in this world today.  I need to find ways to relax.  I do it with my pipe. ...

Seeking Relaxation

 No one can avoid stress.  Stress comes from living.  I’ve found thinking too much is stressful.  I kind of got side-tracked yesterday by writing too much about something else.  Smoking a pipe while thinking keeps me calm.  What is important is that I don’t smoke too much.  This is key for me.  I’m sensitive to too much nicotine.   In fact, I could say that I am sensitive to too much of anything.  But maybe I am sensitive to too much thought.  By now I have reached the point in life where I can say I don’t care.  But the fact is that I can’t just quit caring.  Some things I care about and some things I don’t care at all.  Maybe I CAN say I care about fewer things these days.   I care about what matters most.  I have fewer priorities.  But this is what most anyone over 70 might say.  Except for maybe my wife.  Her priorities have changed.  Mine are fewer.  But maybe I could say the fe...

Too Much Thought

 I’ve decided to quit thinking.  I saw a quote with a glass of wine that said that I used think drinking was bad for me and decided to give up thinking.  I wish I could say this.  And some days I want to say that I just don’t care.  Maybe some day I’ll quit thinking and decide I just don’t care.  I have decided to quit reading or watching the news, but these days news is hard to avoid.   But thinking?  Can I give it up?  Maybe I smoke a pipe too much, but I’m not sure which is worse—wine or tobacco.  I don’t avoid wine and maybe according to my wife I smoke too much.  But she knows what I know.  Smoking tobacco in a pipe relaxes me and it’s a cheaper alternative than wine.  Although still I haven’t given up wine.   On our anniversary I had a glass of wine followed by a glass of Bourbon.  I was a bit tipsy after the Bourbon.  It takes me about a year to go through a bottle of Rum.  But I very seldom have...

Savinelli Favola Churchwarden

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  I wasn’t going to write today and started the morning with my Angel pipe and decided on this one after a couple of bowls and the morning progressed. So, today’s pipe is my Savinelli Favola Churchwarden pipe.  Favola in Italian means fable.  I don’t have a lot to say about this pipe except that the stem is very unusual.  My wife helped me pick out this pipe.  The Favola line was introduced by Savinelli in 2023.  I was shopping for a new Churchwarden pipe and happened to see this one on the Smoking Pipes website.   I immediately fell in love with the unusual acrylic mouthpiece.  I had a similar Savinelli Churchwarden pipe, but was close to burning out so I wanted a replacement for it.  I saw this one on the website and showed it to my wife.  She loved the stem.  It is a very unusual pipe and I have smoked this one in public a few times and received compliments on it.   A Churchwarden is perfect for when I am reading on my phone...

The End Times?

 I don’t call it that.  In fact it’s the opposite.  It’s a New Beginning.  In fact, all the pieces are in place.  It’s just a matter of time.  We are there.  But when does it begin?  The world is being set up for the coming of the Messiah.  And this is all I am going to say.  But it it not the end.  I sound like the old man holding up a sign that says, “The Ebd is Near!”  Prepare he says.   No.  It’s not like that.  My Angels prepared me for this time.  I AM prepared.  I might not look like it as I sit and smoke my pipe, but I’m prepared.  I have been waiting for 31 years to say it and believe now I can.  All the pieces are in place now.  But instead of gloom and doom, it’s the opposite.  It’s about the world being prepared.  And if I felt differently I would say so.  I had to wait. Which is why I am not changing my y FB cover photo.  If I felt differently I would say ...

Meditation is Key

 I wrote about this yesterday.  It doesn’t matter what one thinks about while meditating.  For some it might be Bible verses.  For some it might be thinking about reading material they can reflect upon.  But time alone is key.  I lost some of my time this past month due to celebrations.  But now I have more time since the celebrations are over.   My Angels gave me a lot to think about.  I’ve had too much on my mind lately.  But I am getting back into my groove.  I have a lot to meditate upon.  But now I am thinking my wife and I have reached our golden years in life.  Do I feel differently now that we are there?  In a way I do.  My mind isn’t as sharp and I’m noticing a slight decline.   My wife enjoys going over old photos.  I enjoy reflecting on the past 31years.  I could wish I made more money in my life.  But that is wishful thinking.  I try to spend my time looking forward and not ba...

What Matters Most

 You get a pipe.  You pack the tobacco.  Then what?  One word:  Relax.  Sit back, smoke it, and relax.  It matters not if it is a ten buck Missouri Meerschaum or a thousand dollar Dunhill.  The effects are the same.  Relaxation.  And if that isn’t the effect, it’s not the pipe or tobacco; it’s you.     I have said I’m not an evangelist for pipe smoking.  I am an evangelist for relaxation.  In fact I would go so far to suggest meditation is relaxation.  It’s the time you spend on yourself.  Everyone needs time to themselves.  I see a pipe as a tool for both relaxation and meditation.  Most don’t need the tool or a tool of any kind.  Some don’t need a couch or a chair.   Maybe some can do it standing up.  But meditation and having quiet time to oneself is important.  I meditate in what my Angels told me.  And I listen still.  My pipe is a tool for meditation and my pipe ...

Dunhill Tobacco Pipes

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  It is a goal of most every pipe smoker to own at least one Dunhill tobacco pipe.  Dunhill is a British pipe manufacturer since Alfred Dunhill first opened his pipe shop in London in 1907.  I read that Dunhill is no longer making pipes but they changed in 2017.  But they are now called Dunhill White Spot pipes.  They were big in tobaccos, but have since given most of their names and tobaccos over to Peterson which now makes their tobacco blends. But Dunhill has been the luxury standard in England since their founding in 1907.  Dunhill was big in having their own cigarettes.  But now the Dunhill company isn’t quite what it used to be, but they have always put a white dot on the stem of each of their pipes to signify that the white dot meant Dunhill.   Dunhill became synonymous with what used to be the most luxury of all tobacco pipes.  They used only the best, the hardest, and the most aged of briar in the manufacturing of each pipe.  An...

Life Back to Normal

Maybe it’s all downhill from here.  But life is back to normal.  March is full of celebrations but maybe now I can look forward to March Madness although I am not sure why.  It will mostly be the SEC vs. the B1G, although really it could be any usual suspect.  But at least life is back to normal.  The only difference is that my wife and I made it to 50 years.   I can get back into my spiritual groove interrupted by the occasional college hoops game.  I’m not filling out a bracket as I have not done in years.  I just don’t care  enough to pay much attention to March Madness.  My Angels gave one date and I’m looking forward to April 12, which is Jesus’ birthday.  But since I seem to be the only one who knows this it’s no big deal.  Most scholars seem to believe Jesus had a Spring birth. But I won’t make a big deal out of it.  I’m thinking we are on the verge of a New Beginning, but it would be foolish of me to say it will be...

Peterson Barrel Churchwarden Pipe

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  Peterson has two styles of mouthpieces with this one having what is called a fish tail mouthpiece.  Their other one is called a P-lip because the smoke comes out on top and not from the front.  It is perfect for reading as the pipe can be smoked slightly from the side and is not heavy in the mouth and can be held loosely by the mouth and does not require a hand for holding like a traditional pipe might require.   It is a lightweight pipe that can be smoked easily without a lot of effort for holding.  This style was introduced by Peterson in 1947and in spite of its smaller size is a very popular pipe from the company.  The barrel shape is the most popular shape as it will sit upright when placed on a flat surface like a table.   Not much else to say about this pipe except for the stamping in the buckle band indicating that it is an official Peterson pipe.  I’m smoking my Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipe this morning with Ild Professor pipe tobacco a...

A Spiritual Journey

 I’m not sure another woman would have put up with me for fifty years.  But today I am thankful for friends and family.  It has been a long journey for 31 years.  There are a lot of milestones I can mark this morning.  None more important than 50 years of marriage.  But perhaps it’s my spirituality that  most keeps my life together.  Without it I’m not even sure I would be alive today.   It has given me a personality that kept my wife in my life.  I’m not so sure without it what kind of person I would be, if indeed I was still alive.  My Spirituality is my life blood.  It is what keeps me connected to the world.  It is my life force if you want me to be succinct about it.   I really can’t describe it in any other way.  It is what connects me to others.  It often tells me to be quiet when I wish to speak.  It keeps me calm in all situations.  It makes me accept all things as they are.  There ar...

Savinelli 320XL

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  The above is my Savinelli 320XL.  The XL means the bowl is extra large.  This 320 style has many different names, but I know it as an Author pipe.  It is called a nose warmer or a stubby, because it is fairly short.  But back in the day before computers or even typewriters author’s would smoke such pipes because they stayed out of the way when a person smoking them was writing.   Calling it an author pipe these days might seem rather archaic since that is no longer the reason why pipe smokers smoke this style of pipe.  This particular pipe I bought in the late 80’s and is one of my earlier pipes.  I always wanted to be able to be an author, but never had the discipline to write books.  But beck then more than likely I would have been using an electric typewriter and not pen and paper. There isn’t a whole lot more I can say about this pipe except to say it is a favorite from that period of time between the late 80’s to the early 90’s when I ...

Not Sure What Happebed

 Previously in my social media accounts I cared too much.  Now I hardly care.  I decided to just lay it out there for the world to see, and decided others can seek me and not the other way around.  I simply cared too much.  But what happened in the years I was off social media?  I decided I would do what I felt I would do and if the Spirit wants me to do more, I will.  But until then I feel I’ve done enough. But how did I reach this decision?  I’m not sure, but I did.  I’m not shy about sharing about Angels, but don’t feel it or they have to be the center of it.  Before I did.  But what changed?  I did,  I simply don’t care.  I feel the same way about all politics and about all religion.  My Spirituakity is my own and is related to my own path in life without feeling I need to impose anything on anyone.   I state what I feel not caring about what anyone thinks.  It is my own path without evangelism or i...

A Bit More Research

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  I decided to post a photo of Professor Moriarity’s pipe and I dug a little deeper into the Sherlock Holmes series of pipes.  The series was introduced by Peterson in 1987.  The pipe above is about $160US retail, but I can get it for about $125. .  It’s in the style of a kind of Peterson pipe, but Basil Rathbone smoked a Peterson pipe in the movies where he portrayed Sherlock Holmes from 1939-1946.   I could say the Peterson Sherlock Holmes series really is a popular series.  Because I own a pipe from the series, I have written extensively about it.  An apprentice will train for a year under a master silversmith to be able to work with the details of the silver stamping. The last time I wrote about a Sherlock Holmes pipe I bought it, but not so sure about the Professor’s pipe.  It is a nice pipe and would go nicely with my other pipe from the collection, but I’m not so sure this time around.  But today it is my Gettysburg pipe with some Old ...

The Power of Silence

 There is too much noise in the world today, and I blame the Internet for most of it.  There is power in listening and being quiet.  If I could claim a super power it might be the power to be quiet.  We can listen.  Everyone is talking.  But the best power comes from listening and being quiet.   Can I prove this?  Not so sure I want to prove it.  So many believe God speaks through them.  Gos speaks best when we are quiet and listen.  No, I can’t prove it.  Except by both Peace and Love.  These two words describe God at His best.  But no, I can’t prove this.  But I believe it.  We are at our best listening and allow fools to speak.  I like what C. S. Lewis says about smoking a pipe.  A pipe closes the mouth of the foolish.  I am not an evangelist for pipe smoking, but this world has convinced me we need more pipe smokers. But too often fingers do the talking and not mouths.  Daniel Webster...

The Sherlock Holmes Series

 I won’t collect them all and maybe I’ll just have the one Sherlock Holmes pipes.  But it just might be my favorite series of pipes and if I collected them all it would take years for me to do so.  The other series is the Dracula series also by Peterson but I have no interest in the Dracula pipes.  I have my one Sherlock Holmes pipe, but what sets them apart is that they each have a silver band with the Sherlock head stamped on each one.   This makes each pipe different and although they might be similar to other Peterson pipes, each Sherlock Holmes pipe is very distinct and different.  If I were to get another pipe in the series it might be the Professor’s pipe so named for Professor Moriarty.  Each style was smoked by a character either in the book, on stage, or in the movies about Sherlock Holmes and his various enemies.   Each pipe is different and unique and comes in price ranges from about $125-$300.  I’m not interested in the more expe...

Getting Ready

 We have guests arriving for the weekend.  Saturday my wife and are celebrating 50 years together.  We need to get the house ready for guests to arrive.  We’ve invited a few close relatives that can come to celebrate with us.  I mentioned yesterday that maybe a new pipe would be nice to replace my broken Savinelli Champagne  pipe.  Maybe I’ll just throw it away, but I haven’t decided yet to do that.   I was thinking this morning that I wasn’t sure if I bought my first pipe in the fall of ‘73 or the Spring of ‘74.  All I recall is that my then fiancé, who is now my wife, was with me.  It’s been a long journey and yes, I’ve broken a few pipes along the way.  I’ve kept every pipe, but I probably need to clean out my collection of old and broken pipes.   For example, I have an old Ben Wade pipe that is about to burn out on the side wall of the briar.  But still it looks so good in my display case.  It was a gift from a fr...

Brittle Stems

 I wasn’t sure I would write today, but yesterday after  posting about my Savinelli Champagne Canadian pipe, I was smoking it and after letting it cool, I was removing the stem to clean it with a pipe cleaner and didn’t realize how brittle the stem was.  It didn’t just break but shattered.  My wife suggested I just throw it away, because the cost to fix it would be more than the pipe was worth. In 50 years of pipe smoking I have broken more stems than I have in the past few months.  My pipes are getting too old and the stems break too easily.  I can get them fixed and at least one I have repaired myself.  But my pipes aren’t so valuable they need to be fixed.  But we’ll see about the Champagne pipe.  There might not be a stem available for it.   But today is Sunday and I’m smoking my Nording Angel pipe this morning.  I owned this pipe for about a year and had smoked it once during that time, but wasn’t sure I wanted to smoke it. ...

Definitely an Early Pipe

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I catalogued my first three pipes here, but after that I didn’t acquire any more pipes until the late 80’s on.  I can’t say the above pipe was my fourth pipe, but what I can say about the above pipe is that it is a vintage Savinelli Canadian pipe called Champagne, which is now a Savinelli classic and is quite rare.  As to whether it is a collectors pipe, the condition is average for its use, but is a rare pipe.   I had a friend who was a tobacconist at a pipe shop and his favorite pipes were Canadian.  A Canadian pipe is described as a straight stem pipe and is a style of pipe.  The name comes from Canadian lumbermen who favored this style of pipe.  The shank is oval as opposed to being round that defines it as a Canadian pipe.  The name goes as far back as the late 1800’s to identify this style of pipe.  No one really seems to know how the name stuck with this style of pipe, but the shank is typically twice as long as the bowl. Savinelli chose th...

What is Spirituality?

 First of all, it’s not a religion.  It’s not really a belief.  It’s a willingness to be alone by oneself.  But it is NOT loneliness.  One might say that Spirituality connects us to the universe.  One can be an Atheist and still be Spiritual, although I might argue for a belief in a Supreme Being.  But I would argue it’s not necessary.  I can only define Spirituality from my own understanding without imposing it on others.   It might best be described as a state of being.  And the closest I can describe it is a state of Peace and Love including inner peace of the self.  But how is this achieved?  What about life?  We need time for ourselves.  How much just depends.  I have the luxury of a lot of time and some might argue including myself that I have too much of it.  But the one thing Spirituality demands is time. Christians might argue that it is time alone with God.  I argue that it is time alone with ...

Tobacco and Spirituality

 I can take my time to write about my various pipes, but this morning I thought I’d say something about my tobacco choices and my Spirituality.  It seems I can relax with most any pipe, but I enjoy having various tobaccos I can choose from.  I told my wife yesterday that I can probably meditate very well without a pipe, but she suggested after some fifty years of smoking a pipe and given I have smoked so much in the past number of years she suggested it might be hard for me to give up my pipes and she might be right.   I had a budget of about fifty dollars a month for tobacco and my purchases have been at least a couple of times closer to seventy or seventy-five.  But is a pipe necessary?  Pipe smoking is a hobby, not an addiction.  If there is an addiction it might be more psychological than physical.  Some tobaccos have a higher nicotine content than others.   But what is it about a pipe and can I do without it?  I could probably save ...

Battle of Two

 Do I like Constellation better than Old Professor?  This is a question I am asking myself this morning.  And my answer is:  It just depends.  Old Professor is my first choice, but lately it has been hard to come by.  If when it comes time to ordering Old Professor is my first choice if it’s available, but my second choice is Constellation.  And my third choice is Haunted Bookshop.   I’ve not reviewed Constellation so, let me say some things about it this morning.  If I compare the two together one is simply like an old friend and the other is a seductress.  I can’t speak from experience in describing Old Professor, but it is like a college grad having a talk with his old college professor.  It might even be a bit boring if one was to overhear the conversation but the familiarity is there.   Nothing has changed.  Same familiar wood paneling and same old leather chair.  The only difference is that the old Professor is ...

Dug a Little Deeper

 I did some more research on my Rungsted Danish pipe yesterday to see if I could find out more about it.  It seems my pipe from yesterday is a very rare pipe and was made in the 70’s not by Erik Nording but was made by Preben Holmes.  I have one of his pipes with his name on it, but evidently my Rungsted pipe is quite rare as many have never heard of it.  I wish I could remember more as to how I acquired that pipe, but I simply don’t.   There is a Seafarerer’s line by Rungsted and the name Driftwood is all I have for a name for it as it is stamped on the shank of the pipe.  But evidently it is a rare collector’s item.  I actually had no idea.  I can’t find anything much about Rungsted as a pipe company except the pipe says it was made in Denmark.   I saw that one person on Reddit restored an old Rungsted pipe that he bought on EBay that he said was almost in mint condition.  But he didn’t say how much he paid for it.  It was thought...

Rungsted Driftwood Pipe

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  This is my third pipe I added to my collection.  It is made by a Danish company called Rungsted, which is known for its freehand designs.  All I know about Rungsted is that Erik Nording was one of their designers before he started making his own pipes under his name.  But I can’t tell you much about this pipe or how I acquired it.  I vaguely remember my wife was with me when I purchased this pipe and she liked the freehand design of it. I tried to find out more about Rungsted pipes, but all I found were several Rungsted estate pipes for sale.  I’m not even sure the company exists any longer but their line of pipes were called sea farmers hence the name driftwood for this pipe.  I tried to find out if such pipes were for sale, but all Rungsted pipes have a kind of nautical theme.   This pipe could be an early design of Nording and I tried to find out if other similar pipes could be found.  But I found nothing on the pipe nor could I find out...

Pipe Number Two

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  In 1976 my wife and I moved to Minnesota so I could go to seminary.  In the winter of that year we visited a Tinderbox store.  Tinderbox had a store in practically every mall back then.  Tinderbox was the place to go for anything related to pipes and cigars.  I didn’t get into cigars until the late 80’s, but I had my only pipe for a few years and really enjoyed it.  I was thinking I could share my new hobby with others. If someone wanted to smoke a pipe with me I needed a second one.  I knew there were pipe smokers who had many pipes and I was on my way into collecting pipes, but knew I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on my collection.  In fact I believe it was around Christmas and my wife thought a new pipe would make a nice gift.  There was a music store next to the Tinderbox and I bought my wife a guitar there for Christmas. We told the tobacconist there how much we wanted to spend and he showed us this particular pipe.  It was ...

Put Some Moisture In

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 I’ll continue with my pipe a day, but last month I bought some Good Stuff Gold.  I found it too harsh at first.  I could hardly retrohale it through my nose.  But I decided that it was too dry from the bag.  I took a moist paper towel and put it in the humidor over night.  And now it is perfect as a fine pipe tobacco.   I was going to write about another pipe this morning, but thought I would review the Good Stuff Gold because it deserves a review.  Good stuff is not like Ganbler or some of the other bag tobacco.  The Red is excellent for blending with a Cavebdish but like the gold is excellent by itself.  The Gold like the Red is just great by itself.   It is a Virginia Burley blend that is pure tobacco.  The Menthol has a minty taste, but I’ve found Good Stuff to be my favorite off the shelf tobacco.  I really like it.  I’ve learned to just add some moisture to it.  Good Stuff has good flavor by itself no matt...