ehowton ◾ Standard of Living (Reply)

For those of you not in the know, my wife is pursuing a certificate in dental assistantry (were that a word) and I've never seen anyone as excited about anything in my 40+ years walking the crust of this earth, as she is about learning. Her excitement fuels my own; I'm excited for her! And there's something else - that which is fairly elusive for the majority of us - she greatly enjoys what she's doing. I don't suspect even she understands how important that is in anything you set your hand to, let alone a career.

Bad news? Its prohibitively expensive. Good news? We're paying for it out-of-pocket, excepting a $3500 0% interest loan which will put us "debt free" again if you will in February 2013. Something like 90% of our not-insignificant "disposable" income is going toward her education without the need of a loan, and this is wonderful, wonderful news. We laugh because having had children later in life, having traveled Europe in our youth, and the direction or our careers compared to the majority seem "backward" and yet we've found the benefits of such (though we may discover a roadblock later) significantly advantageous.

In parallel news I've developed somewhat of a routine - a nightly ritual which focuses me, elevates me, and decompresses me. I smoke a cigar and imbibe a measure of Scotch in my Kansas garage - replete with 2.1 stereo tunes & a laptop. Its truly been a refuge and rehabilitative thing. I count this time amongst some of my most sacred, whether my wife joins me or not. As this is not an exceptionally inexpensive endeavor, I've started testing blended Scotch - (as well as Irish Whiskey at the behest of

somebritinmass). Now I'll admit I'd always ignorantly assumed Irish Whiskey was a nasty "poor-mans" Scotch. This is no longer the case as I have since empirically proven it. Regardless, after having tried many, many bottles, I've seemingly settled upon Cutty Sark as an inoffensive single-malt replacement.

I have a long history with cigars beginning in 1993 (thanks to

photogoot's dad, right before the boom (my box of preferred smokes, Hoyo de Monterrey "Presedente" (8x52) doubled in price from $75 a box to $150 nearly overnight)). But I'm nothing if not resourceful, and for reasons I'm unable to entirely articulate, my closest friends often provide me with entire boxes of premium cigars. I have rarely ever been without. In the last several months however, I've managed to run through my remaining "daily smokes" (the last of my Thompson, Macanudo "Portfino" and non-Cuban Montecristo - thanks to

celtmanx for those!)

Needless to say, all I have left is half a bottle of 18-year old Macallan and several dozen Cubans (although I did find myself alone for several hours Friday night an enjoyed a $20 Oliva V and a finger (or two) of that Macallan). That being said, I've done the math, and until I'm back on my feet again, I have a list for Santa: