2009

[badwhale]

<snip>

Contest:
Give us a little run down on your experiences here at Csmokers, a kind of "Best of" for 2009. Things you have learned, people you have met, cigars you have smoked. Entries in the form of Haikus will be immediately disqualified, other than that, it's pretty
much wide open.

Contest will close on January 31, 2010 at midnight CST, and I'll choose the entry that I enjoy the most. Winner will receive a selection of smokes from my cooler.

Thanks for yet another contest Jamie!

Let's see...Things I've learned:

1) My Oasis XL wasn't broken.
2) Some Consuergras are pretty GD good, others may "lick balls"
3) If I sit on chat long enough, someone will join me.

People I've met:
irish79, factoredreality, & Smoked! if we're strictly speaking in person. Lots of you guys & gals I feel we could walk right into a real life meeting, and pick up like long friends. I can add to this list after the herf coming up in Feb.

Cigars or Cigar brands I've smoked (that were new to me since I joined. I'll try to list them from memory, but seriously, this board has really, REALLY, brought me out of the cigar doldrums I was in):
Anejo, Oliva, AVO, Camacho, LFD, Famous Nic 3000s, Opus X, Padron (yeah, belive it or not, I never had a Padron prior to this board), ISOM, Tatuaje, Don Tutos, Cerberus, Taboo, Pirate's Gold, Hemmingways, Man O War. I'm sure I'm missing something, and I hope I didn't slight anyone that sent me something cool in a trade or a bomb.

A lefthand thanks to the douchecranks that join the board and give us some good entertainment while they meltdown.

Thanks to everyone who's made me feel at home, and that's what it is for me. An extension of good friends who happen to like to smoke cigars.

Will

[ndv21]

Thanks for doing this Jamie!

There is so much to say about my newfound hobby in smoking cigars. I started off smoking about 2 per year on social events without really knowing what I was smoking or how to properly smoke them for that matter. It wasn't until my wedding day that my father brought 3 boxes of cigars to the reception (one for his table, one for my father-in-law's table, and one for me and my friends). Of course, these were really good cigars that he brought straight from Honduras so I only gave them to my closest friends. Turns out I kept about 10 of those which led me to the idea of getting a humidor for safekeeping.(I promised myself to keep these cigars and smoke one on each anniversary.) That is how I got to CS.com while doing some research online.

After checking out the board for some time, I decided to create an account and join since I very much enjoy forum discussions. I am also part of another forum for my other hobby, scubadiving, and I have met some really wonderful people there. I am sure my involvement here will have the same results.

My cigar stash grew from 10 cigars to about 200 and now includes a 2nd humidor (which is about to burst as well). This is the result of the kindness of members of this board like :slcraiders, ashauler, mangyrat, memphisfred, edgeman, mailman, roger, buzz, etc. Each having their own little story: i.e. my wife hates ashauler cause he sent me an atomic bomb and I blame him for spending more time in my garage, slcraiders was extremely generous in the newbie sampler he sent me, mangyrat sent me some sticks I had been craving for a long time, memphisfred allowed me to try some cigars we suckered him into buying , mailman just wins contests and takes everyones sticks....lol..., roger sent me some sweet cigars for FREE, and edgeman and I are doing a boxsplit on some gurkhas. Buzz and I are also working on a box split of Nica Libres and he always adds entertainment to the discussions.

Things to look forward to:
-Feb. 5 2010 - I get to meet (personally) a fellow BOTL from this board, Edgeman while we Herf it up in Austin.
-Online chat sessions, planned or random, with several members here. Especially when we are having a conversation and somebody barges in asking why the place smells like sex...you know who you are, you are prone to suffer from SPS "Sleepy Pussy Syndrome" Shit, that might be my next contest, "Who can guess which BOTL suffers from SPS??" I gotta plan that one out soon
-Puro Pot Pass III. I have been training like a champ eventhough I guess I am bound to lose since Ashauler gets to send me a naked puro. Knowing you, you'd probably send me some kind of Sweedish Acid tasting blend you bastid!
-Badwhale's reviews. Always very informative and educational. Thanks for this brother, it really helps me out at picking cigars.
-The meltdowns...ahh the meltdowns...these make me appreciate the fact that I was blessed with a sense of logic and respect. I do get a kick out of them, I believe they add flare and avoid monotony.

Why I like CS aside from other cigar forums:
Aside from the fact of sharing a common interest in a specific hobby, I have to say that what really impresses me the most is the true sense of community I feel when I log on and post/chat with other members of the board. Badwhale said it right in his post about people in this board are considered your true friends and even if you have not met them in person, if you did, you could carry on like if you had known them for years. Thats very true man. But I have seen how everyone reacts to specific circumstances that for better or worse happen to other members i.e sickness in the family, family member passing away, prayers being sent, purchase of a new home, baby being born, passing exams, etc. That indeed means a lot to me and its one of the main reasons I have chosen to stay. A sense of family and belonging thanks to all you knuckleheads!

Thanks again Jamie for doing this.

Nelson

[ashauler]

Good stuff.

[badwhale]

Someone reminded me that I met funkycold5 in person too. Sorry I skipped you Andrew!

Will

[ashauler]

Alright, the contest is now closed. Thanks to all the entrants, I enjoyed reading them all, so much so that my decision will be a tough one. Maybe I won't even announce the winner and just launch the prize package.....keep some suspense going and all.

[ashauler]

I've run into some issues that will keep me from getting the prize out until next week.

[SirPuffsAlot]

Ooooh yet another suspense builder...lol!