Category Archives: Photos

The big difference between cigar.com and cigarsinternational.com [PHOTO]

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Saying I have a “thing” for cigars is like saying Cookie Monster has a “slight predisposition” to cookies. I love cigars. Loooove cigars. To paraphrase Will Rogers, I never met a cigar I didn’t like.

Unfortunately, the local specialty “cigar shop” is full of overpriced, mold covered, dried out, busted drek. Literally. Check out these photos…

 

Local Cigar Shop 01

Local Cigar Shop 01

 

Local Cigar Shop 02

Local Cigar Shop 02

 

Blasphemy! Sacrilege! It should be illegal to beat down cigars like this, I tell you.

Since I have no local shop to rely on, I’ve been buying everything online at either at cigar.com or cigarsinternational.com.

I haven’t had any kind of problem whatsoever with either website. Both have outstanding customer service, both have great everyday and sale prices, and both deliver their shipments a day or two earlier than promised. Both have great weekly deals, and between the two of them, I can get just about any cigar I’m craving.

I will always go with cigar.com first, though. No contest.

With absolutely everything else being identical, here’s why cigar.com is the king…

 

Cigar.Com Shipping

Cigar.Com Shipping

 

Every shipment from cigar.com, regardless of the cigar’s retail price, has a HumiCare pillow in every thick-walled heavy-duty ziploc.

A HumiCare pillow is like a mini-humidifier. It has hundreds of little beads inside that absorb distilled water and regulate the humidity in small enclosures for a brief time. You can reuse those little pouches as many times as you want by just opening the HumiCare pouch, dipping the inner “pillow” in distilled water for a few seconds, letting any extra water drip off, and putting it back inside the HumiCare pouch again and again and again.

A little portable pouch is no replacement for a real humidor, but when I open that outer ziploc from a new cigar.com shipment, the cigars smell fresh with a capital F. The temptation to not smoke one right there and then? Almost impossible to deny.

All because of that little well saturated HumiCare pillow.

Cigarsinternational.com shipping?

 

CigarsInternational.Com Shipping

CigarsInternational.Com Shipping

 

A wafer thin plastic baggie with no HumiCare or humidification packet at all.

If UPS or FedEx delivers a cigarsinternational.com shipment at the end of a typical south Texas summer day, I usually smell cardboard packaging looooong before I smell the cigars. Sometimes the ziplocs pop open inside the UPS box, too, and I find loose cigars all over the shipping box.

Don’t get me wrong. The quality of the cigars from both companies are outstanding. Give a Liga, Ave Maria or a Cohiba from either company after a weeklong dip in my humidor, and I couldn’t tell you which one came from where.

Can cigar.com save some time and money by not including a “prepped” HumiCare packet with every shipment? Definitely. But knowing my cigars, regardless of price range, will always arrive fresh and in good condition? That’s worth the “first view” when I go shopping every single time.

Suddenly I have a craving for a cigar…

Weekend skies in South Texas [PHOTO]

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20120917-020206.jpg Just a pic of the South Texas skies this last weekend.

Iron Mitsubishi?! [PHOTO]

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20120821-001659.jpg

Good Morning [photo]

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The last few weeks summarized in one morning photo…

20120820-083442.jpg

January 2011 medical warehouse fire in downtown McAllen [PHOTOS]

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I forgot I had some photos of a fire in downtown McAllen.

Back on January 26th, there was a fire in one of the medical supply warehouses in downtown McAllen.

I was on my way home when I saw the smoke and pulled over to take a photo.

McAllen Medical Warehouse Fire Jan 2011 A


Fortunately most of the fire was put out quickly.

McAllen Medical Warehouse Fire Jan 2011 B


Photos of the February 2011 Texas Valley freeze [photos]

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Just some quick photos of the big freeze here in the Texas valley. It doesn’t look like much compared to what I’ve seen when I lived in Dallas and Oklahoma, but to the original residents of the valley, this is epic.

2011 texas Valey Freeze 01 photo


All car windshields were iced over.

2011 texas Valey Freeze 02 photo


Hats to cover your head with? Gone (@ the local WalMart).

2011 texas Valey Freeze 03 photo


Gloves? Nothing but one or two non-insulated work gloves left (again @ the local WalMart).

2011 texas Valey Freeze 04 photo


Ice scrapers in the Texas valley do not exist. The closest things you can use are putty knives or hard rubber squeegees (and both of those were sold out.)

2011 texas Valey Freeze 05 photo


We’re due for one more day of freezing weather, but this weekend we’re back in the 60s and the coming week is forecast for low 70s.

Hugh Jackman says he does look like Clint Eastwood

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Way back in November 2010, my gorgeous wife noticed that Hugh Jackman looks a lot like a young Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood and Jackman

Eastwood and Jackman

Today Hugh Jackman said he noticed that too in an interview with Geoff Boucher of the LA Times.

———

GB: How much you weighing?

HJ: Right now, I’m at 210.

GB: Wow, so you’re going to be bigger this time? Last time, you looked about, what, 190?

HJ: Yeah, right, I was 190, something like that. I don’t know how much I want to give away about it, but Darren said with the last one, ‘Hey you looked great, but you’re so tall that in those long shots you looked kind of like Clint Eastwood, and that’s not Wolverine.” He said that Wolverine, in the comics, is powerful, stocky, you know, he’s short and thick. So he said, ‘I want you to go there, get bigger.’ He’s going to come down after he gets done with all the black-tie events over and done with.

———

I said Hollywood needs to remake “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” with Hugh Jackman as the Man With No Name back in November. Any bets on how long it will take the studios catch on they’re sitting on a blockbuster with Jackman?

Ketchup, HFCS, Heinz waffling, and other critically important things

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I have a confession. I love ketchup. Love it. Between ketchup, Tabasco Sauce, HP sauce, Louisiana Hot Sauce, Cattlemen’s BBQ sauce and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, I’m good for most meals.

So when it was time to reload on Ketchup, I noticed Hunts had a semi-new “no HFCS” variety on the shelves.

Ketchup1380


Go Hunts!

Heinz, however, has two different brands of ketchup, neither of which are clearly labeled to distinguish the difference in product. Heinz’s “normal” ketchup label looks like this…

Ketchup1382


…and it still uses HFCS.

Ketchup1384


The second ketchup product label from Heinz is almost identical to the first label, but an additional “Simply Heinz” banner on the label…

Ketchup1386


…means this product uses real sugar and has no HFCS!

Ketchup1388


Come on Heinz! Quit waffling! Grow a pair! Put a big honkin’ label that says NEW NO HFCS CRAP IN THIS MONKEY! Calling it “Simply Heinz” says to me the HFCS lobby has you guys scared.

Anyhow, I thought such critically important matters deserved a Friday blog post, so here we are!

A drive through (and pick up a drink) store called Hit and Run? [PHOTO]

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I’ve been on the road again this week, and recently I was passing through deep (deeeeeep!) southwest Texas when I saw this awesomeness off the road. A drive through and pick up a drink store called “Hit and Run”.

Hit & Run Drive Thru


Stores like this are all over the place in Texas. Drive up, grab a drink and some snacks, and keep on going! But I don’t think I’ve ever seen one quite so ballsy, though. (pun intended)

Cold beer! Getcher cold beeeeerrrr! Cold beer!

Is it me, or does Hugh Jackman look a lot like a young Clint Eastwood? [PHOTO]

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So my gorgeous wife and I were enjoying being in our new home this weekend, and as we were flipping through the channels, we found the Clint Eastwood movie of all Clint Eastwood movies was on… “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”.

As we were watching the big finale, my wife does a double take, grabs her laptop, looks up a few images in Google, and says “Hey! Hugh Jackman looks a lot like a young Clint Eastwood.”

I looked over at her laptop…

Hugh Jackman = A young Clint Eastwood


… and damn. He sure does.

Hey Hollywood! You’re so jazzed on remakes, how about remaking “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” with Hugh Jackman as the Man With No Name? I can totally see Hugh nailing this part. And there hasn’t been a good western out in a few years, so a big budget movie like this would probably pull in some major moolah.

And in case you haven’t seen the movie, here’s the big finale….

Whaddya’ think?