Back when the 'Bay was first starting to get popular... Small side note... Here's a little fact that a lot don't know... WAY WAY back in the day when Ebay first started out, it actually started out as a "Ham" equipment auction site (i.e. Amature Radio)... I remember when I first started using it there was NOTHING but electronics and stuff on there... Funny to think about how much they've expanded...

Anyway, back on track... In the early days I used to sell a boat load of crap on there... When it really started to expand and get crazy I started to notice some strange things about the stuff I was selling...
So much so in fact, that I actually started changing the way I sold things...

If I went out looking for junk to sell, I'd always buy the broken stuff... Why? Because it was really cheap...

Now here's the real kicker... If I had stuff that wasn't broken, most of the time I'd sell it as if it was...

I proved this out time and time again... I could sell two hard drives... Let's say 9GB Seagate Cheetah drives... I could post up two auctions... both exactly the same... EXCEPT... One would state that I couldn't get the drive working... Installed but wasn't recognized or something like that...

In other words, not a straight out "This thing is smashed into a thousand pieces", but more of a "I plugged it in and don't think it did what it should have"...

Meanwhile the other drive would state it was in 100% perfect working condition...

The "broken" drive would ALWAYS bring a higher price than the working one... Same thing held for all sorts of stuff... printers, motherboards, whatever...

Even if it was working perfectly I'd state that "something" was wrong with it...

It would ALWAYS bring a great price, and usually much higher than other similar items in working condition sold by other sellers...

How could people be so stupid? My theory is that it's a psychological thing... People would see something for sell that was "broken" and would immediately think that they could buy it "cheaper" since it was broke, and most likely I just "didn't know what I was doing" and they could get it to work, or fix it if not...

Sounds silly but it's the absolute truth... The "concept" that they might "gain" something by "fixing" it made them much more willing to lay down the bucks versus another item that they could potentially "lose" something by getting it and finding it doesn't' really work... Even though it cost more for the broken, they perceived it to be a better "bargain"...

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Luko:

Just keep in mind if you do, you're pissing off a dude who shaves with a sword.

Yeah, people are funny that way. Not funny haha, but headscratching, eyes rolled back in the head funny.

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When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

Thomas Jefferson

j0z3r:

Yeah, people are funny that way. Not funny haha, but headscratching, eyes rolled back in the head funny.

So true ..

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

How 'bout an update, maddy? How's your pipe experience going?

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Well I think I've smoked about six or seven bowls now. So far I thoroughly enjoy it. I like being able to smoke a little set it down and come back to it later.
I'm getting better at keeping a bowl going without relighting. I will tell anyone thats interested, pipe smoking takes patience and work. Even if you get a bowl burning and don't have to relight you are still having to tamp it fairly often to keep it going.
To me though, the pipe has been unbelievably relaxing. One cool thing, with the cold weather rolling in, its nice to hold that warm pipe in your hands while sitting outside.
Also when I smoke a cigar my mind is working the whole time, trying to evaluate the burn, the flavors and just in general 'rate' or 'grade' a cigar. So far with the pipe I don't do this and its refreshing. I can just smoke and think about anything I want or nothing at all, just enjoying the art of smoking the pipe.
I haven't had the moisture problem, so far(I have been told this problem comes from smoking to quickly, packing to tightly or a poor quality pipe), that many people talk about but I have occasionally pulled a piece of tobacco into my mouth. The next pipe I get for my rotation will be a filter pipe like a Savinelli or a Kaywoodie Drinkless. I'm particularly liking this pipe right now.

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

Maddy -

My mother still has 2-3 of my grandpa's old pipes, as well as one that belonged to my great-grandfather. She's also got a small round tobacco humidor that belonged to my great-grandfather. My grandfather also had a meerschaum of which he was quite proud, but rarely smoked. He didn't want to crack it, because he smoked very hot. He also didn't care for the flavor from that pipe. The meerschaum is in the custody of my aunt, and would require extensive, arbitrator-facilitated negotiation to pry it from her hands. My grandfather was a coal miner with a wooden leg, and that pipe was one of his most prized possessions.

Thanks for bringing all this up... Nice trip down memory lane for me. I can almost smell the pipe smoke as I sit here and type. I may have to get my hands on those pipes and give them a whirl.

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My foot hurts

Thats awesome duty. Interesting. My great-grandfather was a coal miner as well, my grandfather joined the Army-Air Force to get away from the coals mines of West Virginia/Kentucky. Most of my grandparents relatives moved to Ohio and I know you said you have family there. Do you know what Coal mines you grandfather worked in? and where?

If you're really interested lemme know and I'll send you everything that has been sent to me on restoring/cleaning/smoking. Its actually quite simple.

Those meers can be quite elaborate and beautiful. Another reason your grandfather may have rarely smoked from it is that you aren't supposed to touch the meerschaum. As you smoke the meer it turns from that milky color to a brown fairly evenly from the inside out. If you touch the meer the oils from your hands interfere with that process and will cause blotchy coloring.

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

Maddy -

I don't know the name(s) of the mines where my grandfather worked. I know that they always lived in the same old house outside Alliance, OH.

I'd definitely be interested in seeing the info you've got on the hobby. My mother could prbably explain quite a bit of it to me, but I have a feeling my grandfather smoked a bit differently than I would. For starters, this business about "tamping" -- my grandfather did that with his thumb. I remember him packing the pipe, tamping with his thumb, and he would even tamp it with his thumb while smoking. Combine this with the fact that he apparently smoked it very hot, and that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the man :)

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My foot hurts

Thats cool I was just curious.

Many pipe smokers tamp with a finger or thumb, but the fact he smoked so hot makes it quite different, i'd think.

PM me your email addy.

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

PM Sent :)

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My foot hurts

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, maddy. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the blends you got, but I don't want to put you in an analytical frame of mind while you're enjoying just kicking back and smoking.

That's a nice looking pipe you linked to. You'll still get some dottle, even with a filter pipe, but less often. A churchwarden has the advantage of usually being a nice cool smoke, thanks to the long distance from the bowl to your mouth. Not the most convenient to carry in your pocket, though. ;)

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

So far the blends I've been smoking are very sweet and heavy on the cavendish. Other than the sweetness I haven't analyzed the tobacco at all. Its been extremely simplistic anyways. I'm thinking of ordering some Frog Morton. The same site I linked to for pipe sells a sampler of Frog Mortons.

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

That Grey Havens is good stuff, too, btw. And I see that my memory ran 2 different Latakia blends together: "And So to Bed" is an Esoterica blend, and Dunhill's is "Nightcap." The latter is what I've had; strong stuff. I've also tried Peterson's University Flake and McClelland's Christmas Cheer (still have an unopened tin of the 1996 edition), but never quite figured out how to smoke flake tobaccos.

Like I said before, I'm a fan of Perique, so Grey Havens and Esoterica's Dunbar are the 2 I see on that site that I remember particularly liking.

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Perique is the tobacco grown in Louisana isn't it?

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I don't wanna hold a job down if its just to make ends meet. I prefer rapid rise and faster falls, I wanna die the American dream.
~~ Josh Martinez

Yups.

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.