El Hoze

I never knew many Dire Straits songs other than the mega hits. These popped up on my Spotify recently, fantastic stuff.

Another stressful day smoking cigars watching horses.

I do not know how widely known this is but Lewis Hamilton is very into deep powder snowboarding, which often involves helicopters. My funny story is about 10 years ago I ended up in a group heliboarding with him in British Columbia. I had no idea who he was, I do not follow F1 at all (clearly). Someone actually said, “he’s Lewis Hamilton” and my response was, “I’m sorry, that name does not ring a bell.” Everyone got a good laugh out of it. Now I feel it even funnier hearing you say he is the GOAT. To this day if you asked me who the greatest race car driver of all time was, I probably would have said Mario Andretti. I’ll now say Lewis and tell my story.

Have been to Carbone in NYC and Miami many times. Those guys know how to run a restaurant.

Kelly Slater for sure. I now live about an hour south of Cocoa Beach, I grew up surfing in NJ and never fully appreciated the surfing legacy from Melbourne to Cocoa until I moved here. Pretty cool. God status for Kelly. I had the pleasure of snowboarding and hanging out a bit with Travis Rice, arguably on the very short list (IMO) as the GOAT in snowboarding and still absolutely ripping (I grew up thinking Craig Kelly and Terje were the biggest studs ever so I can play all sides of the argument).

Two highlights of my FOH year are @SigmundChurchill’s winter and summer family vacations. I am already wondering where we’re going skiing this year.

BR 109. I am staunchly against the reckless act of smoking cigars ROTT but this thing was on a USPS truck about 15 min ago. With the horses racing at Saratoga risk taking is in the air today. I look forward to getting to know these!!

I agree 100%, I talk about this all the time. My wife and I both have Rivians as daily drivers but I also have a few gas guzzlers in the garage that will no doubt ensure my place in hell. The Rivians are really fun to drive, but I look at them as completely different animals vs something like a Ferrari or an Aston. Like comparing a Garmin watch to a Patek. Maybe a Bentley I could see with a battery? Like the diamond studded Cartier with quartz? But for me Aston and Ferrari I just can’t get my head around an EV version even though I am sure they would be fun to drive.

Nudie Queen Coronas. I love all of the F5 and BR cigars but the QC size and flavor has made it a new go-to. The one I just reach for. I was looking at inventory a bit recently and realized I smoked 100 Queen Coronas in a year. Certainly has made it into my rotation!

When we were in college we used to have a competition of who could do the “biggest bong hit.” I think these guys might have actually found something even sillier (and certainly less entertaining).

2017 CE yesterday, definitely on... Queen Corona today. I got these cigars delivered almost exactly a year ago. They are REALLY coming around. Love the orange thing lately. I normally always drink light beer with cigars but I am on a health kick. Fresh squeezed orange juice and sparkling water is fantastic. The orange really does work well.

Thank you! Yeah the paint job and fit and finish on it is really something. I still smile looking at it. The last time the car was waxed and detailed was a guy who is super good, he prepares cars for car shows, etc. If you know what you’re doing you can get the paint and chrome on the car to look incredible. I baby it so much that I have rarely needed do much to clean it…under my watch it has not even seen wet pavement! I am OCD, I don’t even let a speck of dust get on it (part of the reason my wife will cry tears of joy when I finally sell it).

I have a Shelby 427 continuation built in 2008 with a Ford FE side oiler that I really should sell but I have wanted this exact car since I was probably 10 years old and finally pulled the trigger four years ago. Never been so attached to a car. But prices have skyrocketed and my opportunity cost has gone up with higher interest rates and I just don’t drive it very often, this is a beast not the kind of thing you take to the grocery store…but I just can’t bring myself to have a truck come pick it up and haul it away. When I do sell I will go through a middleman, not just the hassle but people will pay up for a car underwritten by a reputable dealer. I feel like it is the right move on a net basis when you’re into the higher end stuff.

I try to keep the spirit alive, I probably smoke 3-4 prominentes a week. And in fairness when I don’t I am generally breaking it up into 2-3 smaller cigars depending on my schedule. I am lucky though, my wife loves cigars and I can smoke inside as my house has great airflow and I live in Florida (summer is a different story). I am thinking of following Max’s lead on having a little glass of tequila with lunch every day (incredible tequila he is drinking btw), but most times I start drinking hard stuff before dinner I wake up alone in the guest bedroom with an angry wife so I stick to light beer mostly.

Like most I love 50 cabs. I also smiled when I heard Max say he doesn’t like box pressed cigars. I am the same way. I have a very strong preference for a round cigar, another reason I love 50 cabs. Some with really aggressive shapes like Fuente sharks I just can’t get comfortable smoking at all. I remember hearing or reading one time that Max has some insane number of Partagas Lusitanias 50 cabs he smokes from on a regular basis. He is definitely a cool and classy guy.