Pipe Mishaps

 

From my writings yesterday, Pat asked me if there were instances where I had some similar malady occur with any of my pipes.  I thought I would reminise a bit about that here today:

In my many beautiful decades of indulging in the art of pipe smoking, my innate "absent mindedness" has indeed come into play on occasion.  I do find it somewhat interesting in regards to my "absent mindedness" that it is NOT that I FORGET things.  In general, I tend to have a very astute memory.... so much so that my wife has often commented that "you never forget ANYTHING" when I sometimes surprise her with some bit of arcane knowledge I recall or when I sometimes aggravate her with my recollection of some specific details (often minutia) of a past event that has occurred.  

No, in general, my "absent mindedness" is more akin to having my mind wander into its own thoughts in such a way that I am not as "aware" of my surroundings. I have been told a number of times by different folks that they were waving at me, or trying to get my attention as I was walking somewhere in a hallway or somewhere across campus, and apparently I did not notice, as I was thinking about something or other in my own head.  And, it is not even just visual stimulation that I sometimes lose sight of (pun intended) when I am "in my head", but I have been told of at least a few times where folks were vocally trying to get my attention somewhere perhaps down the hall or somewhere a bit afield on campus, and I was so immersed in thought that I did not notice.  I think when this happens, it may be because I often, while walking about, will be remembering some form of music, or even a musical part that I "play" in my mind while I walk. 

This "absent mindedness" comes very naturally to me.  Now, do not get me wrong.  I can, and I regularly do "shut it down" when I am needing to focus on someone or something.  But, when I do not have a purposeful need to pay attention (like when I am walking by myself across campus), my mind easily wanders, and enjoys meandering elsewhere.... and is perhaps a tad "stubborn" in regards to being coaxed back into on the external world unless the stimuli are robust. :)

But, back to my pipes:

• Probably due to the rounded shape of most pipes, I have never had a similar "flyaway" experience with a pipe like I did with my phone yesterday.  
  

• However, I recall one time where I DID leave one of my pipes on the hood of my truck, and as I started to back out of the garage into the driveway, I saw it roll off the hood and clank onto the concrete driveway.  Fortunately, it was a "beater pipe" and was well worn and a few minor scuffs only added to its already rough patina. 

• I also do remember one time where I was out camping, and because it was a dry time of the year, I did not want to rest my pipe on the ground as the pipe was hot and had a very warm ember inside (it was a bowl I had ignited only a minute or two before).  I did not want to risk having the pipe roll over and the ember (or more likely a part of the ember) potentially fall out and ignite the grasses on the ground.  So, I "wisely" rested my pipe on the windshield of my truck and lifted the windshield wiper up and slid the pipe under it and held it in place with the wiper. I then went about the task I needed to do and forgot about the pipe.  When I next wanted to smoke my pipe, I had forgotten about placing it there on the windshield.  After rummaging around the tent and other various locations for about an hour or so, I remembered where the pipe was and retrieved it.

• The one more tragic pipe story related to a vehicle I had when I was quite a bit younger.  As was the norm when I was a young adult (seemingly not so today), most young adults had veritable "jalopies" for transportation.   I was no exception, and for a few years in graduate school I had a wonderful, but well worn (old) VW Beetle.  In one of my projects, I was doing two different tasks, 1) working on riveting into the rusted floorboard in the backseat, a replacement piece of sheet metal, and 2) trying to "gussy-up" the looks of the beast by newspapering and taping the tires, and sanding and priming and spray painting the rims the same color as the body (considered "cool" by many of us back in the day). When you put the Beetle's tiny hub cap back on afterwards, the color keyed rim accented the vehicle well.  Somewhere in that work, I laid down my pipe (stupidly) on the pavement by the tire/rim I had just painted and walked over to the next tire to tape it in preparation for painting as well.  Well, unfortunately a roommate  came out of the house and wanted to leave in his car and he did not have quite enough room to back out around my vehicle.  So, I got in and started my car and was going to back it up a few feet so he could easily get around me..... and you can guess.... I ran over the pipe, causing it to break into multiple pieces.  Fortunately, it also was a very well worn, "beater pipe" so it was not horribly tragic.  But, it was a very nice smoking pipe, and I do think of it occasionally still to this day.    

The above represents all the specifically foolish vehicle-pipe interactions I had.  But, of course, I can also EASILY suggest I have misplaced my pipes probably close to a hundred times somewhere inside my vehicle.  Most often, a cold pipe may roll of a seat and between the seat and the center counsel or find its way under the seat. And I may not figure out for days where it went.  I have misplaced pipes in the trunks of vehicles I had, and have on a number of occasions found an errant pipe in the spare tire wheel well.  Typically, I have a few pipes rolling around in different places in my vehicles anyhow, so if one is temporarily missing, it is usually not a huge problem as I know I will eventually find it again.  

And, there are the many numerous occasions where I lost track of a pipe somewhere in the house, the garage, or in my U offices or laboratory.  I think I wrote about two of them previously here.  One was a wonderfully good smoking pipe (again, well used) that I used in the garage and while doing yard work.  Somehow it rolled around on my workbench and wedged between the bench and the wall, and I did not find it for several months.  It was one of my favorite outdoor pipes and it was greatly missed during that time.  And, I had feared it may have fallen out of my pocket and potentially gotten destroyed by the lawn mower when I mowed the lawn.   

The other long lost pipe that was eventually found happened to be in my lab.  For some forgotten reason, I had somehow wedged my pipe in a really odd spot that I do not normally use in my lab for other than some analysis, poster development, and storage of supplies.  It too was a pipe I was extremely fond of, and I felt its loss during the several months where I could not find it.   

But, I run into pipes everywhere where I live, I have them in drawers throughout the house, in drawers in my office(s) and laboratory, in the rodent colony room, etc.  So, when one is temporarily misplaced, unless it is for some reason an especially prized pipe, I would simply grab a nearby alternate to indulge with, until the errant one returned. 

There are of course, in addition...  the "pretty, more 'special occasion' pipes" that I enjoy (enjoyed, sigh) when I would be more professorially attired.  I keep these on the pipe rack in my den at home, and the pipe rack I have in each of my two U offices.  So, when one is temporarily misplaced, unless it is for some reason an especially prized pipe, I would simply grab a nearby alternate to indulge with, until the errant one returned.  

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