From: ????????????????????? (David S Chesler)
Subject: A gift of Meershaum (break it in or return it)

 My wife has decided that I should smoke in style, and bought for
me a beautiful Meeshaum pipe.  It's a "major" gift, meaning it's
not only for Father's Day, but for my birthday and the next few
occasions.

 If I keep it, what should I know about breaking it in and caring
for it?  I know I've seen this discussed in the digest, but a
quick search from the web page didn't tell me much.

 Is this going to be worthwhile?  Right now I'm satisfied with
a corncob pipe, or even, when I don't have the time (which is usually,
see below) a Nat Sherman cigarette.

 What's a good setup for a room in which to smoke?  We have two
kids under the age of two at home, so I'd like to be isolated from
the rest of the house.  (Both to isolate them from smoke, and to
isolate my stuff from them.  Ideally the room will be outfitted
with a comfortable chair and some reading material, but these days
there's little point in getting comfortable anywhere unless I have
a baby in one arm and a bottle in the opposite hand.  That, and
changes at work, are why I've returned to smoking more earnestly,
and I need the peace of a bowl of tobacco more than a nicotine
hit to retain my sanity.)  Unfortunately the most likely spare space
adjoins the area where we wash and store the laundry.  Any ideas
short of walling off the furnace/tool shop corner?  (That would
require adding ventilation, because of the lack of basement
windows.)
 I see that Tony Casciato bought a Honeywell air cleaner which
was "not cheap".  How not cheap was it?
 Do ionizers do any good?
 (It's late spring in North America, so I've got several months
of good outdoor time before I'd need to implement anything.)

  - David Chesler (?????????????????????, etc. http://world.std.com/~chesler)


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Quote of the Week:

"The primary source of [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons] in air is
the incomplete combustion of wood and fuel for residential heating."

		- U.S. National Institute of Health
		http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/htdocs/ARC/ARC_RAC/PAH.html

		[ PAHs are cited as secondhand-smoke baddie by the
		  EPA. But I guess this means we should outlaw wood
		  fires and oil heaters first. ]


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