At What Age Should Your Mindset Change From Long Term Cellaring To Smoke Away & Enjoy

ghostsofpompeii

Little did I realize that my first question on long term cellaring would expand into a three part trilogy: "The Flawed Logic Of Long Term Cellaring", "Is Your Cellar More Of A Pantry", and now my final question - and the longest title of the lot - geared more towards old timers like myself rather than younger smokers: "At What Age Should Your Mindset Change From Thoughts Of Long-Term Cellaring To 'Smoke Away' And Enjoy The Fruits Of Your Labor"? And future be damned!

This isn't one of those "learn to be happy with what you've got" sort of rambles or a "come to Jesus moment", but something for someone receiving a monthly Social Security check to mull over next time you cellar a tin of tobacco with the mindset "this should be really good with five or ten years aging".

This June 23rd. I'll be 67 years old. That's three years older than either of my Grandfathers were before they passed away. But on a positive note my Father who will be 94 just six days after my 67th. birthday, is still doing fairly well for his age. Were it not for difficulty hearing and the normal aches and pains associated with arthritis that many of us seem to be afflicted with by the time we reach the age of fifty-five or sixty ... he's probably on less medication that I am. His mind is sharp as ever, and can still captivate me with tales of being a young soldier in World War II - occasionally letting slip some ribald tale of trading chocolates and cigarettes for liaisons with older French women. And considering Dad was an on-again-off-again Lucky Strike cigarette smoker for about thirty years, as well as a welder in the steel mill for over forty-two years - breathing God knows what fumes - that gives me some hope for a long and happy life. 

But I also learned quite early in life that our next breath isn't guaranteed. I have many friends and family members much younger than myself who have passed on unexpectedly. Before I reached the age of ten my Aunt and Uncle lost a two month old baby girl to what we now refer to as S.I.D.S. (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). It was traumatic for the entire family, and the first time I'd experience the death of someone who wasn't elderly. And just a few short years later a very close cousin just a few years younger than myself suffered a massive brain embolism and died on the spot. Just seconds before stepping into a car she complained about having a terrible headache - dropped to the ground - and was gone. And two out of my six inseparable neighborhood buddies passed away before reaching the age of fifty. And as for fellow steelworkers I've worked with during my thirty-five year career ... sadly, I've lost count of those no longer with us.

It's a cliché to say, "enjoy each day because it may be your last"; but it's very true. Yet it need not be a pessimistic point of view on the fragility of life. But more a celebration of "living in the here and now". And taking every opportunity to enjoy what you do have to the fullest.

This overly long prologue now brings me to the point of this discussion. Realistically speaking, at what age should your mindset change from stocking your shelves for long-term aging, to simply grabbing a tin off the shelf and smoking to your heart's content? What age do we stop planning five or ten years into the future for that perfect smoke when a six, seven, or eight year old blend currently lies in wait in the cellar? Are we talking sexagenarian (60s'), septuagenarian (70s'), or octogenarian (80s)? Anything after that we'll call an eternal optimist?

After all, once you're gone you can't take it with you. Although I suppose arrangement can be made to have both you and your tobacco cremated together.        

Woodsman

Upon Hearing the "Trump of Doom". Oh! Wait, I'm 75, I guess I should begin now and start making out final instructions.

1. Keep my sword handy to assure entry into Valhalla.

2. Keep using assisted respiration on me till the bowl is finished.

3. Cease all PAD and TAD unless that Savinelli is going for under $40.

4. Crack open that Balkan Sobranie.

5. Now is the time  to start breaking in that Peterson 65 with that massive bowl.

6. Cancel that overdue order from P&C.

7. Hurry up and finish coloring up that Meerschaum.

8. Gather up my deceased Dog's ashes to mix with mine so my favorite pack will be with me.

9. Cancel my Subscription to American Aardvark Review.

10. Order that Viking Longboat.

11. Tell my friends at the SCA to start practicing for accuracy of  shooting Flaming Arrows.

12. If the Longboat is delayed, find a contact with the Staten Island Ferry. 

13. If the Ferry doesn't work out, open negotiations with the Egyptian Government on carving my Epitath on the Great Pyramid.

14. Upon arrival in Valhalla, open a channel to all Hells, Hades, etc., to ensure that all FDA "Deemers" have reserved seats, chains, or anything else nasty.

I'll add to the list as things come to me, but the answer to the question is; Pantry.

'

ghostsofpompeii

@Woodsman If you happen to get to Valhalla before me could make sure there is a smoking parlor. I've instructed my wife to have a few pipes in my pockets, and like a vampire, instead of a layer of dirt in my coffin I'll be resting on about 200 lbs. of vacuum sealed aromatic blends. 

I love American Aardvark Review ... especially the monthly receipt section.    

daveinlax

At the rate I smoke I could have quit buying tobacco 15 years ago and my wife would have plenty left over to deal with. I'm 54 but I still make a 4oz purchase every time I hangout at the shop.

xDutchx

Our goal should not be to guarantee that we smoke every last bit of tobacco in our cellars, but rather to leave a legacy of fine collectible briars, and an impressive representation of our favorite aged tobacco's. Imagine the delight, when someone 40 years after our death, cracks open a tin of Christmas Cheer, savors the aroma, and delights in the anticipation of the charring light.

It is truly the definition, of goodwill among pipe men.

ghostsofpompeii

I'm afraid once I pass away and my two boys are left to clean out my house a majority of what I consider to be my legacy of prized collections will be loaded in a dumpster along with what-ever unsmoked tobacco remains. You know the old expression one man's treasure is another man's trash ... I get impression they don't share my sentiments. So that 'goodwill among pipe men' you mentioned will be more akin to a Goodwill truck backing up to the garage door to haul away my CD and DVD collection to the resale shop, along with all the other bric-a-brac I've accumulated over the decades. Hopefully they'll have the good sense to realize the value of my pipe collection.  

xDutchx

@ghostsofpompeii, I am assuming that it is probably too late to give the two of them a good spanking.

Deadpool57

@Woodsman ~~ Hahaha that post is epic!

PappyJoe

@ghostsofpompeii - Our two sons are also pipe smokers. They are the reason why my cellared or pantry tobaccos are kept locked up when they visit. In the past I have gone missing tins after a visit. They have been told to divide the pipes and tobacco equally upon my demise. 

I've also told them to have a get-together with some of their friends and sit around and smoke cigars and drink in my memory.

ghostsofpompeii

@PappyJoe My older son still smokes cigarettes and I've often mentioned switching to a pipe instead. So there is still hope.

Woodsman

My son is also into cigarettes, I've given up trying to turn him.

daveinlax

"I'm afraid once I pass away and my two boys are left to clean out my
house a majority of what I consider to be my legacy of prized
collections will be loaded in a dumpster along with what-ever unsmoked
tobacco remains. You know the old expression one man's treasure is
another man's trash"

Yeah and after all the years of telling Mrslax that my pipes only cost $50 bucks (I don't know if she believes me) I have been slowly schooling one of my kids in the value of my beloved collection and how to handle it if I can't.
 

xDutchx

[quote]Yeah and after all the years of telling Mrslax that my pipes only cost $50 bucks (I don't know if she believes me) I have been slowly schooling one of my kids in the value of my beloved collection and how to handle it if I can't. [quote]

It will be at that point, Mrslax will contemplate what would have become of Bill Gates fortune, had he been an avid pipe collector.

ghostsofpompeii

I just schooled my wife on the value of a few of my CDs, and where she should sell them if and when as the prayer says ..."if I should die before I wake". For the most part rock CDs are selling for dirt cheap, and in many cases you can't give them away now that a majority of people stream their music or download it onto a device. But many of my limited edition soundtrack CDs are still very valuable and going for collectible prices provided you know where to sell them. Places like 'Screen Archive Entertainment' buy and sell soundtrack CDs and they can be pretty pricy. Of course like anything else collectibles are only worth what collects are willing to pay ... but when going through their catalog of used CDs for sale I discovered a few in my collection, and all I can say is when I showed my wife what they're selling for her eyes lit-up. So it's not a bad idea to let our loved ones know that certain things - be it pipe related or some other hobby we may have - may be of considerable value and worth researching before casting it aside when downsizing becomes a priority following our demise.