From: ??????????????? (MICHAEL R.STANLEY)
Subject: introduction

Steve,and everyone else;
Hello,My name is Mike Stanley,I've been "lurking" since PD 190 as
??????????????????????? My address has since changed to
??????????????????????????? which bouces my mail to address you see at the
header now that I've gotten my feet wet on this Internet thing...anyway. I
really enjoy reading allthe posts from pipe and cigar smokers around the
world. I'm kind of the odd man out in my circle of friends . I don't really
"hang out" with anyone who currently enjoys a good pipe.
    I'm a 32y old ,married with two great Sons(Paul 6 and Neil 3 1/2). I'm
employed as a Suburban Cleveland Police Officer (9yrs) and I've just
recently discovered the wonderful world of computing with a MAC LC II.
Kinda outdated but it suits my needs.
    As I said ,I don't have any friends who smoke a pipe,my Father did
years ago but he's since become an anti smoking nazi type so he was no
help. My Grandfather(rip) passed before I began smoking anything. He always
smoked Amphora in a brown pack. He also used one Dr. Grabow for bout 6
weeks and threw it out for a new one. I waited until I was married and had
a Son to start smoking a pipe because I thought you had to be older to
smoke one. I figured the afore mentioned qualified me as older. Went to the
local drugstore,purchased a pipe some tobacco(Amphora brown,what else) and
proceeded to burn the bejeezus out of my tongue on a regular basis! I did
this for about  a year before I even knew you could buy pipes and tobak and
a store specializing in such things. While learning to use my local
librarys' new computer card catalog,I punched in the subject Pipes.
Well,there they were,people had written books on the subject!
I was now on my way with a copy of "Pipes and Tobacco" by Carl Ethwa(sp) as well
as Rick Hackers first book. I since have read what I believe to be every
available book on pipes and my tongue loves me for it. I got all the back
issues of "The Compleat Smoker" from Theodore Gage,really a shame that
publication went under. I received  a bunch of photos of pipes from a guy
named Barry Levin, it seemed like a great way to get a nice,high quality
pipe at a price I could afford. Unfortunatly,by the time I poured over the
photos,every pipe I picked out was sold. I think after my third or fourth
mailing I was sucsessful. I'm smoking a Comoy tradition pot style filled
with Sofisticate I purchased from Barry as I bang this out.
    My tobbaco tastes are heavily influeced by the Personal Reserve
series,my favorite being Bombay Extra. I had several interesting
conversations with Barry over next the eighteen months with him,his passing
was terribly sad.
    I discovered the Internet Pipes Digest by way of The A&M Gazette, I
reaaly enjoy the fiction it. I also faithfully watch Sherlock Holmes
Mysteries on A&E.
     Well,that's me in a nutshell. Looking forward to future issues of
PD,hope I did,nt bore too many. Smoke'em while you can.


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