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Busy as Heck

Tuesdays and Wednesdays have turned out to be the busiest days of the week for me this Semester.  A lot of time is spent with my research students on those days as it fits in best with their schedule.  I also have very heavy lecture loads for both days.  

BBC said me a variety of things in my comments section that I wish to answer, but I will only hit on a few of them right now, unfortunately: 

1.  You are right in that I should not call my pipe smoking, a "hobby" even though I have usually viewed it as such.  And, I still feel it is a wonderful hobby, if truth be told, deep in my psyche.

2.  I cannot remember a time when I did not relish pipe smoking, and pipe tobacco.  Perhaps that is a sad thing to say, but it is true.

3.  There is a lot more than "nicotine" keeping me in the "hobby".  I wish I understood it (or my motivations) better.  Of course, I do enjoy the nicotine.  Yet, there is so much more to it.  Unfortunately, I am not able to put it in words right now.  It is just outside of my mental grasp at the moment.  

4.  While I will smoke a cigar or two every month, pipes are my avocation.  I have never gravitated towards cigarettes, ever.  I think across my lifespan, I have smoked less than one total pack (aka less than 20) of cigarettes.

5.  Am I a "Type A" personality pretending to be a "Type B" personality?  That is a very interesting question, indeed.  I am not sure if it is true or not, but it did catch me by surprise.  I had never thought of that idea before and, it *could* be accurate.  Yet, the odd thing for me, is that I have never thought of myself as being a "Type A" personality type.  But, I am not, by any stretch of the imagination a "happy-go-lucky person either.  Does that mean, I did not realize I am type A, or does it mean I am something else other than A or B?

6.  Billy asked me if I ever smoked marijuana.  I am a bit chagrined to say that the answer is NO.  I have never tried marijuana in any form.  I find that a bit embarassing, but perhaps more than anything, I find it a bit regretful.  But here is the backstory: 

Marijuana use was in its heyday while I was in college and graduate school.  I probably had at least a dozen, if not two dozen social situations occur where I had been offered some or could have shared some with others at the "scene".  But, I never participated.  Why?  I often ask myself why, now, but here was my reasoning......  I never tried it because I was afraid of my inherent laziness.  While I was in college and graduate school, I did not want to fail or flunk out.  Because of this, I did not want to risk trying marijuana, which I suspect I would greatly enjoy,  because I did not want to risk tipping the scales where I would become lazy enough to give up or fail at college or graduate school.  Back in the day, the idea that marijuana makes you unfocused and lazy was quite prevalent.   I have always felt I was too damn unfocused and too damn lazy to begin with. I did not need to risk becoming an even more worthless bum than I already was.   Smoking pipe tobacco and drinking alcohol were all "ok" for me to do while in college and graduate school because... hell, most everyone of my "heros" of the day did the same (smoked and drank)..... Huxley, Lorenz, Steinbeck, Hemingway, vonFrisch, Tinbergen, Einstein, and on-and-on..... they all made it, they all made a real contribution, they all were authors or professors or scientists that I greatly admired, and they smoked and drank... so inside, I knew I could too with minimal if any risk. 

Now, I face a different conundrum.  I regret not trying it.  I regret not knowing what is like.  It is akin to a sin of omission.  Perhaps I should visit Washington?   They have legalized it now.  Just to try it out. Although it is an option, I doubt I ever would do it (sigh).
   
Goal for today (Tuesday) = 4 bowls

 Monday Goal = 2 bowls

Actual Consumption (Sunday) = 6 bowls

PipeTobacco