Sunday Morning News from the dining room table

[Vince]

its not bad coffee at all, I have had better cups & a lot less expencive coffees , but it was worth the try , we eat & drink a lot of stuff as humans in different parts of the world, if you ever watch the strange foods that Andrew Zimmer eats on his TV show you know what I mean, the stuff he eats just amazed me , I dont know if I would be eating some of that stuff!!!!! as far as the cigar with that coffee i havent had it as yet !
Enjoy, Vince

[cwood009-cl]

DeNucci is definitely a fun guy to meet. I have had the chance to meet him several times through a friend who has worked in the wrestling business for as long as I have been alive. I used to work the small local shows here in Pittsburgh (as a referee) and hearing stories of the these two would tell when they were together made hanging out in the locker room more fun than actually going into the ring.

As usual, a great read here, Vince.

-Chris

[Vince]

Dominick DeNucci livs a few homes from me , his daughter & my daughter went to school together & since he is a cigar smoker we get along well ! Enjoy, Vince

[doblemaduro]

I enjoy your Sunday posts Vince. I just wish I could hear you clear your throat as you do on one of my favorite podcasts!

[Vince]

If I had any idea how to include an audio file I would post it here, but I am lacking in computer skills so you will just have to fake it
AAAAHHHHHEMMM

hahaha
Enjoy, Vince

[Vince]

Good morning it is Sunday 28 December 2008, Christmas is gone for an other year & it is Unseasonably warm here in da Burgh 66 F this morning , but the cold front went through with some very high winds & it is down to 57 all ready , our normal high is in the 30's so this is a winter bonus , lower heating bills this month hahahaha ............ well this is the first sunday posting since Christmas , & I hope you all had a good visit from Santa , things went well here with the grandsons , lets just say they are not going to need much of anything for some time to come , even with the economy down , with a little summer buying & stocking stuffings when the stuff was on sale , they did just fine, but at 11 & 13 now , they are just not as much fun as they were when they were 5 & 7 ............ for you guys & gals with little kids , PLEASE ENJOY THEM NOW, they grown up so fast, my daughter is now 36 ( older than a few of you readers) & it seams just like last week she was holding on to me with a death grip as I sat her on santas lap at the mall . ............. kids they grow up so fast, I feel like it was just a few years ago I was sitting on santas lap , I can remember the christmas back in 54 or 55 , hey could have been 52 or 56 for all I know, well some time back in the 50's anyway , we wole up to a white blanket of snow , about a foot of snow fell the morning was fantastic, nothing was moving outside, no one was getting up to go to work the streets were untouched by the snow plow & all the trees had this flocking of snow , across the street the bushes & pines were burried in snow & the cars were covered , , it reminded me of a blanket dropped from the sky , words cant due justice to what I see in my minds eye , over 50 years later it still is etched in my mind , what little mind I have left hahahahaha ..............
sales were some what disapointing this month , a surge on Monday & tuesday with an early close on Wendesday , we didnt come close to last years numbers , last year we started to hit mega sales about the 15th & it kept up right untill close on the 24th , but this year it was a Bust , down over 35% from last year , after Christmas 20% off sales on all the stocking stuffers I have in stock, I picked up give aways & still have some of them left as we didnt get the foot traffic I had hoped for , a few new faces were in , "I know nothing about Cigars here is 50 bucks I need a gift for my boss," well I had a great time with those people ............... But not enough of them came in this year , we did a cupon ad in the local paper , Buy 2 get one free with the cupon, , spent over 500 bucks on the ad , got back 12 cupons .............. & 8 were regulars, it generated 4 new faces , , , , a real money looser on the ad for sure , you cant beat word of mouth, its the best & its FREE ! ............. Now if I could just find a way to market it for free hahahahaha , I Give out cigars to everyone I run into when I am out shopping or running to the bank,, post office & to pay the parking tickets my customers get & I get a better responce to the free cigar than I do to the paid Professional ads that I have been buying from the news paper , did a few radio spots , GOT ZERO RETURN on the radio spots, ,,,,,,,,,, so i will just keep passing out cigars & business cards .................
Well so much for the BS , lets get down toi some news from the burgh,, , ,, , ,,,,,,, ,.,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,
dammmmm nothing new from this end hahahaha , gearing up for new years , I guess I will just add the word POST to the Christmas sale signs , & give away a bottle of champange ( cheep domestic) for the amiture night to hit on the 31st, I stay home , h3ll I drink anything & anytime I want, some of these people just drink one night a year & this is the night, I dont need some 185 pound lady kicking my @$$ in some bar or hotel flexing her beer musles ..... I am way to old for that hahahaha


I made a ham for Christmas , looks like we will be eating HAM for some time to come, , lots of ways to make it , & we will try them all till its gone, all ready this morning , I have made ham biscuts with red eye gravy for breakfast , lunch with a grilled ham & swiss on dark rye , & supper will be left over ham & sweet potatoes with green beans in a sour cream sauce , ham , Ham , & more ham , different from Turkey but a lot of left overs no matter how you slice it , the ham bone is in the freezer with some fat & will be soup , Soon ! , maybe some time next week or next MONTH !!


well lets see, Santa was very good to me as always .... a few cigars & a bottle of Lapgroaig Qtr.Cask & a new humidor ( I stopped counting them years ago ) I have given more humidors away than I have now, but this one is a BEAUTY , the wood work is superb , the seen on the box is a cigar bar with people sitting at tables & sipping wine with the waiter holding a humidor open for a customer to pick thier smoke , lots of detail in the back ground of the carvings , needless to say it is all ready Full of cigars GEEEE I wonder how that happened ???
Now before I get off the computer & head out to the Qtr.Deck for my Sunday morning Don Carlos #3 & my pot of kona I want to say some thing about Clutter, JUNK & stuff we save from year to year & never use it, well I plan on tossing a TON of crap out this year, some to the Salvation Army, some to Goodwill & some to the trash, , welllll thats my plan anyhow, when it happens I will let you know hahahah Enjoy, Vince

[Vince]

Good morning it is Sunday 4 Jan 2009............ we made it through an other year , still on top of the grass still not looking at the roots ! , it is a chilly day here in da Burgh , we have a light coating of snow on the ground but you ee a little grass popping up here & there, the bird feeder is getting a lot of visitors & from the looks of the tracks in the snow we have a fox in the area , or its just a BIG house cat, I havent looked at my Boyscout handbook in years so I just dont remember the difference between a fox & a cat print , for all I know it might be a small dog but I dont think a dog will be hanging out hiding by a bird feeder looking for a dove , the feathers in the snow & the blood trails show some one had a good hunt .......... that life in the big city or country field, the strong will survive , yea the ants & roaches will last longer than all of us !!!
I hope you all had a safe & some what sober new years, I spent the evening with the grandsons they were playing the new wii game, lots of fun, I was content to sit & watch 007 on the small TV in the computer room , just me & the Dog, or horse , what ever he is , he was snoring so loud with the game being played in the other room I had to turn on the closed captioning to hear waht they were saying, as if I couldnt do the dialog from memory I have seen the 007 movies a few times hahahaha.
There is a good deal of Pork & sour kraut left over But today I am getting the left over Christmas ham out of the freezer & cutting up some cabbage , yea with all that kraut like I need more cabbage in my diet , I just feel sorry for who ever is behind me in line at the bank or the grocery store , the gas has been let us just say OVER THE TOP ! , Burns the nose & the eyes ! hahahahaha , so this morning I added fuel to the fire with a sourkraut , Tofu & swiss cheese omlet .............. it wasnt the greatest combo I have come up with but a little of the good old Hinze Ketchup EVERY THING tastes better hahahaha

the coffee this morning & since it is Sunday is Kona , but I have a pot of Margoheppie waiting to go on as soon as this one is done . I still havent had time to roast the Jacu Bird coffee , & today we are supposed to get to 45 F so I might just fire up the grill & get some of it cooking , I think I will go for a med.Light roast on this one , I want to taste the coffee & not the roast, kind of like the way I do my Kona , I havent made any espresso in some time , so I might roast up some today if I do get to the Jacu bird coffee , I have some Columbian & brazillian santos & I could mix the 2 & take it to the limit with the expresso roast ,,,, , the darker the roast the lower the cafine , so heres to EXPRESSO , fire it up again !

I hope you all had a safe & fullfilling years end & the beginning of a new year will be filled with Good things for you & your familys ......... we had a last minute dash to the cash regester but the numbers didnt make what we did last year, with the smoking ban here in Pa , ( a NEW NANNY STATE) , our personal freedoms are slowly being worn away by the "DO GOODERS" who are just "looking out for us ", HEY I look out for my self, if I want your help I will ask for it , thats why I belong to the auto club, I get a flat I call for help, if I need a cup of coffee I make it my self, I dont call for a delevery, but wait thats not a bad idea, the local Pizza shop has a delivery service , BUT I MAKE MUCH BETTER COFFEE ! hahahaha , damm lost my train of thought, , seams like the tracks are getting a bit slippery ! hahaha Oh yea the smoking ban, well you cant smoke in the bars, or resturaunts , BUT if its a Private club , your ok since we are a smoke shop we are OK so far, & since we dont sell food or beverages ( we give the stuff away ) we dont fall under the bus & get run over, I thought the ban would be good for sales but it was just the opisite , I thought the guys would be filling up the place bring there own bottle & sit here with a cigar instead of a dark & dreary bar , but I guess they likes the atmosphere & have stayed there watching the paint dry on thew walls sipping there waterdown booze & warm beer paying 5 bucks to get a burgher & frys at the bar when they could be sitting here with a good crew of guys & gals well lit , BYOB & have your food delivered ,,,,,,,,,,,, just no strippers on a dimly lit stage , No Fights , No cops & no Drugs other than, cafine, nicotene & Scotch ! , with all the political unrest in the state legeslature , the Nannys got one poassed , with the witch hunt out for all the graft recievers , givers & back room deal makers the nannys got the smokng ban passed , every one that had opposed the ban was heaeded for the tall grass & looking for a place to hide, will they his so well it came back to bite us on the @$$ , Things are not going well in the land of Lincoln , nor are they doing that good here in the Keystone state fast eddie rendellie( pa Governer & former mayor of Philly ) is to smooth to get caught on tape by the Feds , dammmm he probaly had the feds line tapped hahahaha ......... dont think the Government power is in harrisburg ( capital of Pa ) or in Washington DC ( the nations capital for you guys who are Geographicly challenged ) the government power is in the hands of the MOB, the banks, & wall street, looks like the senators & congressmen have been influncing the latter , our congress has spent money that our grandchildren will be paying for , & now they want to spend even MORE, had the Government kept there nose out of the banking industry & not MANDATEDF the Sub prime lending , we would have never had to face what we are up against today CAPITILISUM is the ROOTS of this country work had, make a few bucks & KEEP what you earn, thats how the industrial revelution happened, sure they did take advantage of the workers , management will do it when ever they can , I kow I have been on both sides of the stupid desk in negoations , I see both sides with equal clairity , BUT when I was the boss I had to deal with with the profit & loss of the catering company , but when I was just a worker & had to do ALL the work to make the money for the catering company I looked at it as being paid a fair & slightly above what I was worth hahahahaha , Fire the book keeper & work it out of your right front pocket all cash , No tax No records , it seamed like I always had a good cash flow, never wondered how much I was making because I didnt care all I knew I was flush , & had no outstanding bills , , then I tryed to go legit, keeping records & paying with checks & paying taxes, dammmmmmmm BIG MISTAKE , No cash flow, no spending money No cigars on the catering business's dime , the coffee i could get away with , but the cigars well if the client wanted them fine, But I was used to just getting them anyway, dammmmmmm Bookkeepers & accountants , they would talk to the client & mess everything up, so I got rid of them , shut down the catering business & am as happy as a PIG IN $HIT at the cigar shop, NOW if I could just figure out a way to be on the radio & talk about food, cigars, jazz & work in the shop all at the same time, welllll dammmmmm that would be HEAVEN On Earth ......... Enough rambling this morning I need to get in the kitchen & get the heat turned on out in the Qtr.Deck , its time for the Sunday Morning smoke , & it is what else BUT a Don Carlos #3 ............... old habbits are hard to break, so what is your Go to Morning Smoke ? inquiring minds would like to know ! hahaha Enjoy, Vince

[Vince]

Good morning it is a COLD SNOW COVERED Sunday 11 Jan.2009 here in da Burgh , we have about 8 inches on the ground all ready & it is still comming down, the trees holding the snow well & so far no power outages from down trees, but it will be hitting soon if its dosent let up, the National weather service calls for a COLD week, nothing above 35F for the entire week & 2 days not getting above 25 F for the High , dammmmm thats Cold , the Qtr.Deck is insulated to about 20F & I can still get the temp up in the mid 60's , which is comfortable with a flannel shirt & Blue jeans , I just drink a lot more coffee then, but that is self defeting, as the coffee consumption goes up the OUTPUT also goes up & since there is no toilet in the Qtr.Deck & its way to cold to go out behind a tree , I need to come back in the house to get rid of all the coffee, well you open the door & all the heat gets out, so I guess I will need to take a Can in the Qtr.Deck ( one with a tight fitting lid ) or JUST be uncomfortable & Hold it ! hahahaha, Not going to happen, . . . all I know is my next smoking room will have a full bath room !!!!! I have noticed as I get older I need to go more often, & I might as well be comfortable in my OLDAGE , how ever I dont see me building a new smoking room anytime soon, UNLESS I hit the lottery BIG , I have the property all picked out & the design in my head for the new house , garage , walk in Humidor & smoking room , BUT the wife will have final say on what we spend the winnings on , looks like I will have to stick with what I have for now, ( which aint shabby at all ) , & I guess I should start getting more lottery tickets to help my chances of hitting hahahahaha, cant win with out a ticket hahahaha ..........
the wife & I went to the grandsons last night , we were "Baby sitting " the 11 year old , , Not that he needs a sitter, with the Mastave in the house, all 140 pounds of him, twice the sze of my grandson , but my daughter took the older one ( he is 13 ) to see some piano player at the local High school for preforming arts , I didnt catch his name but if I heard it again you would know the name, the Boss is in the shower or I would ask ........... Hummmm I wonder if she wants me to wash her back??????

well that was a fruitless effort, not only did she not want her back washed, she didnt remember who the piano player was either , OH well better luck next time hahahaha
With the snow comming down & it being COLD out I didnt get a cigar in my mouth all day long yeasterday, , cant believe it , NO Cigars in a 24 hour period, , gotta make up for that today, I will be heading out to turn on the heat in the Qtr.Deck as soon as I get this posted , & then a few hours to build up the heat & some time this afternoon I will be sitting in my over stuffed easy chair , complete with heat & message with a cigar in one hand, a MUG of coffee in the other & a Laphroaig Qtr.Cask in a snifter sitting beside the ashtry .
Breakfast this morning was a quick & simple thick cut bacon & eggs & I found some more frozen Christmas ham in the freezer so today it will be ham & potatoes , but how I havent even thought about it yet, maybe ham & noodles , , hummmmmm I better ask the Boss what she wants just to be safe ! hahahaha , & since I just finished the Sunday morning pot of Kona , I have some Medium dark roast Brazillian Santos to brew up next , I still have the green Jacu Bird coffee sitting here, just havent had the time or the right weather to roast it ( if you dont know what Jacu bird coffee is google it , I dont want to spoil the suprise by telling you , But if you know about the KOPI LUWAK coffee from Indonisia , you get the idea, hahahaha
I have a Flat tire on the wifes car, I dont look fwd to changing a tire in the snow ( or anytime ) so I will just wait till Monday & call my buddy who has a repair shop & have him fill it with air & drive it to his shop & fix it , as I have been told maytimes , if it has Tires, Tits ot Testicals it will sooner or later give you a problem !!!!!
the shop was FULL last friday Night , a few New faces with there buddys , it was a rocking joint , No chairs to spare, I even got the 2 out of my trunk, dammmm there were cold, well once you get your fat @$$ in the seat it will warm up, well we had a good night & I hope it was a good saturday, I didnt go in to check, I do need a little time with the wife, ( a verrrrry little time ) hahahaha but today I will call & check up on the status of the humidors & the condition of the help, some of the guys get a little carrired away with the drinking during the playoff games Nothing worse than a drunk clerk trying to make chane with a drunk customer , Just take the money & forget about the change, it will help the bottom line hahahahaha

I have a Camacho Select from the Pre release blend, an all red band with out the black center , it was given to me by one of my better customers ( anyone who gets his cigars direct fro Christian Erolia is a better customer ) hahahahahah well he was selected years ago to sample this cigar before the final blend was established & given a box to try & evaluate , well a few didnt get smoked right away & today I will be firing one up, I am excited about this stick, a lot of Humidor time on it & I have a whole afternoon to work on it , Looks like the God Of Fire will need to wait till next Sunday (unless I have it Monday ) hahahaha

over the past few years I have always had a Thursday night in the Qtr.deck as that was the night my wife went to Bible study with the grandsons ( she has her time with them & I get mine ) I wonder who they have the most FUN with hahahah ............. welll its not the amount of time we get its the quality, hahahaha, yea they do go & enjoy them selves with her as well as the arcade time with me , one is good for the soul & the other is good for the hand eye cordination & the Laugh factor, you need Both in your life, a study of the bible might sound a bit boring but it will build a good solid man out of the boys & the time I get them well I am just a big kid with a drivers licence ..... & we have FUN. well lets get back to the Thursday night thing, , it was changed to Tuesday Night , so Now I have my regular buddys here on Thursday & since the new night is Tuesday I get 2 Nights a week in the Qtr.Deck, she still get her Thursday night with the boys & I get a second night out in the Qtr.Deck works for me !
Thats about all I have this week from da BURGH , if anything develops I will get back to you all ENJOY, Vince

[shortstory5]

Vince, I just started reading the recent stuff and I really enjoy this thread.
Keep it up! Even though you show no signs of slowing down!

[Vince]

Originally Posted by shortstory5

Vince, I just started reading the recent stuff and I really enjoy this thread.
Keep it up! Even though you show no signs of slowing down!

Jonathon, I have been writing this BS for a few years, it started on Cigar aficanado , migrated to Amback , now its called eotec, & its now here & a few other sites , I try not to miss a Sunday Morning Posting, I have been known to post late saturday when I cant get it done by Sunday Noon.

there have been a few people who comment here & there & I enjoy the feedback & postings of what everyone else is doing , lets here about your weeknext time !

[cwood009-cl]

Vince,

Love reading the posts. Finally catching up this week. You are making me feel better that I got 72 hours notice that I had to travel to Dallas for the week. So I may have missed the football games due to my flight, but I got warmth now. Not really looking forward to getting off the plane on Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by cwood009

Vince,

Love reading the posts. Finally catching up this week. You are making me feel better that I got 72 hours notice that I had to travel to Dallas for the week. So I may have missed the football games due to my flight, but I got warmth now. Not really looking forward to getting off the plane on Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

The shop in Monaca ( 1106 Penna . Ave ) is open till 11 PM on Friday, just a few minutes from the airport , I get there about 3 PM , there will be coffee & single malt ! Enjoy, Vince

[pit bull-cl]

Great posts Vince. New to the site, but to let you know I found out about it while listening to you on the podcast.

Keep up the good work and I'll smoke one for ya

[Vince]

Originally Posted by pit bull

Great posts Vince. New to the site, but to let you know I found out about it while listening to you on the podcast.

Keep up the good work and I'll smoke one for ya

Glad you enjoy the pod casts,
our next one will be recorded live at Alleghney Smoke Works in Blawnox Pa on the 24th, it will be the anniual Nog & Grog, I will be firing up the still & plan on finishing it Thursday night , for consumption on Saturday, No reason to let it age any longer than that hahaha Enjoy, Vince

[cwood009-cl]

Originally Posted by Vince

The shop in Monaca ( 1106 Penna . Ave ) is open till 11 PM on Friday, just a few minutes from the airport , I get there about 3 PM , there will be coffee & single malt ! Enjoy, Vince

I would love to but I was a nice guy and stopped and picked up a co-worker on the way to the airport and I don't think she will appreciate the experience. I do intend to make the trip from Plum out to your shop at some point though.