So, um ...

[craig]

Hi.

I haven't been here for a while. I haven't had a cigar in a long, long, time.

Had some shit happen in my life, but life seems okay now. Lots of changes; lots more coming. For example, I used to really, really, really dislike the taste of coffee; now I have two espresso machines and three coffee grinders ... and I have enrolled in barista school - I start that in January.

This weekend I plan on going through the humidors/coolers - untouched for months - and start getting some moisture back in there. All the RH meters have dead batteries so I have no idea how things are.

Not sure if I will start smoking cigars again; I will try something this weekend to see - probably a Party 898; the varnished box should have protected them.

Hope all is reasonably well with folks here, and best of the season to all.

Cheers,
-Craig.

[kingbeefy]

Nice to hear from you, dude. Glad you have discovered a taste for coffee, it is absolutely fantastic! I've been thinking about diving off into the deep end with it as well lately.

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy your cigar, hope you then enjoy many more, hope life gets/stays smooth for you, and I hope you have a lovely Christmas.

[TheGreekTitan]

I was wondering where the heck you've been! Great to see you Craig. Hope you enjoy the cigar, and I look forward to some coffee / cigar pairing suggestions in the near future.

[ashauler]

Damn, so surprised to see you I don't even have a smart-ass remark. I think that's a first.
Don't be a stranger.

[Cigarbear]

Welcome back!! It sounds like you're not too far from getting a roaster too

[badwhale]

Good to hear from you, craig. I think i sent you an email.

Will

[buzz]

Nice to see you back Craig, enjoy that cigar! We got an espresso machine earlier this year and have absolutely loved it.

[kevin7]

Welcome back Turd

[CptnBlues63]

Hi.

I haven't been here for a while. I haven't had a cigar in a long, long, time.

Had some shit happen in my life, but life seems okay now. Lots of changes; lots more coming. For example, I used to really, really, really dislike the taste of coffee; now I have two espresso machines and three coffee grinders ... and I have enrolled in barista school - I start that in January.

This weekend I plan on going through the humidors/coolers - untouched for months - and start getting some moisture back in there. All the RH meters have dead batteries so I have no idea how things are.

Not sure if I will start smoking cigars again; I will try something this weekend to see - probably a Party 898; the varnished box should have protected them.

Hope all is reasonably well with folks here, and best of the season to all.

Cheers,
-Craig.

It's good to see you back Craig. I was just thinking a day or two ago that it had been a while since I heard from you and VancouverMark and I was wondering how you guys were. I'm glad to hear you're ok and sad to hear you've had some shit happen.

Stay in touch my friend..........and stay well.

Oh, and I hope your cigar tastes as good as it should!

[FordRaptorFiend]

It can be hard to find the time to partake in activities we thoroughly enjoy. I haven't smoked since October and I miss it dearly.

[craig]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

FRF- The weird thing is that, right now, I have no desire to smoke a cigar. I don't miss smoking, but I know that I sure used to enjoy a cigar. I know from my notes and records what cigars I thought back then should be good to smoke right now, but that's about it. To be honest, I will be smoking mostly out of curiosity... I will post a review for the fun of it, too - with a coffee pairing, GT.

Will - I don't remember getting an email from you... when was it?

CB - roaster is on deck for the spring - I don't want to roast indoors as I have no stove vent or chimney.

KB - get an Aeropress. Bestest cheapest coffee maker ever. $25. You have to spend 10x that to get anything that will work better. Just don't develop a taste for espresso like I have - the expense is incredible (for 'real' espresso. Most machines you see in stores produce 'fake' espresso - kinda like the difference between machine-made and hand-made cigars - if you had to roll your own cigars.)

Buzz-thought that there would be someone into coffee here.

K7-

Ash-

Blues: good to see there are still Canadians here - especially one somewhere colder than here!

[badwhale]

I don't remember. It might have been a month or two ago. Sending email from this forum doesn't show up in my sent items at home.

[buzz]

Buzz-thought that there would be someone into coffee here.

Mark (mrtr33) is big into coffee too, but I think his daughter flushed his computer down the toilet cause I haven't heard from him in a while...

[craig]

A big thumbs up on the awesomeness of beads. No charge in Rh's in the coolers, which I kind of expected as the coolers have closed-cell foam tape to seal the lids. The old-school desktop wood humidor (real wood, not MDF) came in at 59% (was 65%). The empty quarantine humidor (a good-quality Chinese MDF) came in at room Rh, but it had no beads, only an active humidifier that had long dried out.

Moral of the story is that if one usee beads, then the 'dollar bill' test is obsolete.

Now, on to smoking :-).