Good morning it is Sunday the the 24th day of August 2008 & it is time for the Sunday morning smoke ahhhh yes the Sunday morning smoke , what a great day of the week & a time to sit back & reflect on the past weeks accomplishments & blunders , welll not a whole lot of either , I have been feeling better than I was a few weeks ago , but my WEIGHT is UP to 234 , way to much pasta & bread, not enough tofu , so this morning I skipped the egg & bacon breakfast sandwich & went back to the tofu , I am NOT going to fall back intot he eating till I drop mode , thats just CRAZY to put myself through all that, got to nip it in the bud ! , coffee this morning (after the sunday Morning Kona) is a local roasters first attempt at a Moca java , a medium dark roast & very aeromatic , cant wait to get it in the Press pot & let it steeeeeeep a few minutes, , I did make a pot of Ice coffee this past week, just dump the coffee in the press pot with COLD water, let it set over night , , press it out & chill the coffee , it did get a little cloudy but with a shot of Tia maria over ice it was NICE hahaha , hey anything wioth a shot of Tia Maria in it is nice hahaha , next time I might try a shot of Irish whisky, in the cold coffee , but that might just kill the fine taste of the redbrest single malt Irish whisky , , for mixing I think I will just pass , afterall the distillers art is lost when it is Mixed , thats why I like my whisky at room temp & in a snifter, to allow for the aroma to be trapped in the glass & all the volitile esters of the drammm be allowd to "tickle" the taste buds & the tiny little aroma receptors in the nose , I LOVE the taste & the aroma but not the effect it has on the sence of Balance & self control, as it was said in vino varitas, ( in wine there is truth ) , some people will say anything to anyone whith enough wine in them, beer musles & beer goggles are all to common in some of the local bars, I guess thats why I like to drink at home , dont need to drive & no one to challenge you about anything other that the taste of the cigar & the complexity of the pairing with the coffee 7 the booze to match with the Fine old Hand rolled Stogy

I did spend the entire day with the wife yesterday, we havent been hanging out together all that much, I have been going one way she an other so saturday we slept in a bit & went to the bank, the grocery store & the mall, ( GOD that was a Tuff one ) & took a drive up to Slippery Rock Cigars & traded a box of Camacho tripple maduro for a box of Makers mark cigars , but thats what my customer wanted & Joe at SLC needed tripple maduro , so every one wins but me as I had the 45 minute drive up the interstate to the rock & a 45 minute drive back with the Boss telling me to watch my speed the entire time we were on the road, , BUT she is a happy camper today & I lived through the event , & was able to sit a few minutes at the mall & watch the sights go by, & dammmmmm there were some sights, I wonder if some of the people ever look in a mirror & are not scared to death by the reflection, you know its like a car crash , you just got to look, & DAMMMMMM its down right scarry at times , there was this one young lady , had to be 350 pounds shorts up in the crack of her ass, , No bra & a T-Shirt that was made for a light weight , bare midriff & just rolls of skin & her thong showing above he shorts in the back just under her tramp stamp tatoo , dammmmmmit hurts my brain to even think about it again............... But I did stare in wonder whjen I say her, "WHAT THE HELL IS SHE THINKING " , well I guess if you got it flaunt it & dammmmm she did have it , I dont know what it was but there was a LOT of it to go arround !

I have a few ears of corn to go on the grill with the porterhouse to day , Beef its what for supper, the boss is a beef eater, she was a child of the 40's just like me ( the 1640"s hahaha you smrt ass's I said it before you had a chance to ) & grew up on roast beef & meat loaf, no one ever taught her mother how to cook , 'TILL I CAME ALONG , well I have been tring to break the beef habit for almost 40 years now & have gotten her to eat veal & pork a little fish at times, ham , bacon & sausage are just for brakfast unless its easter then a ham is OK , but no lamb or any shellfish & the beef still needs to be well done, dammmmm it is a loosing battle !!!

18 Year old John Challis was laid to rest yesterday , he just graduated Freedom High scholl this past May & has been fighting cancer for the past few years, he was a baseball player for the HS team & had a 1 for 1 batting average, one at bat , one hit , a clean single to left field on an outside Curve ball , he got to first & a pinch runner was put in for him as he was winded from the run, he got to meet Mario Lammue of the Pittsburgh Penguins , all of the Steelers , Pirates & a good amount of the NY Yankess when they were here in da burgh , his foundation, stared with the help of his coach 7 a few private benifactors established a way for HS athletes that are terminal with any malidity to be able to finish there sports carrier with class & dignity , John Challas was a lot older & wiser than his 18 years on this earth lead you to believe .

Thats about all I have from the burgh this week , keep reading & posting to some thing you like or dislike & I will get back to you asap ......... Enjoy, Vince