Another FNG


gfoster

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Hi all, just wanted to introduce myself. I'm both new to FoH as well as new to cigars period. Just picked up the hobby/addiction/madness a month or two ago and am casting about trying to soak up knowledge like a sponge. I got referred to this site and it seemed like a *great* place to pick up knowledge.

A little about me... I'm 43, married, a computer programmer in the republic of San Francisco by trade but an absolute luddite by inclination (which confuses the hell out of my wife sometimes). I roast my own coffee, grow veggies and raise chickens in the backyard, shave with a straight razor, brew my own beer, smoke BBQ and cook quite a bit. I'm hoping to retire, leave californica and buy a small hobby farm before my job kills me but I'm not optimistic about that ever happening ;)

I'm a member of CA also, but I hope you all won't hold that against me (heh). I know almost nothing about cigars and have been buying lots of singles and pestering the owner of my local B&M (who is really a good sport about it) for recommendations. So far I've fallen in love with all the Fuente cigars I've tried, especially the hemingways and the 8-5-8 maduros. I've also had some RPs and I have a few montecristo #4's that I picked up in Canada and later found out I'd been raped on the prices. Great cigars, but at the prices the Canucks charged me I'd be better off smoking my paychecks. I've discovered that although I am a newbie, I tend to not care for overly mild cigars like the macanudos and such and lean more towards a bit fuller body.

I love good beer (I brewed competitively for a bit and have had some mild successes in that area) and end up brewing non stop 3 seasons out of 4 to keep my friends supplied for weddings, retirement parties, BBQ's, etc and during the winter I get to catch back up on my own supply. I tend to favor English style ales such as bitters and milds, with brown ales being my personal specialty. I also love good singlemalts (mainly Islay malts) and good coffee. Good cigars seems to fit right in there, and since my wife exploded and threatened divorce when I picked up the pipe and bought me my first box of cigars instead, I decided discretion was the better part of valor and who am I to argue with a woman who buys me cigars and sends me into the backyard with the dog to get out from underfoot :ok:

Let's see, what else... I'm ex-military (6 years in the navy on nuclear fast attack submarines), have lived in Europe, have visited every single state in the good old U S of A, spent two years as a cross country truck driver, and have visited at least a dozen foreign countries including Hong Kong, Japan, the Philipines, Korea, and a good swathe of Europe. I'm an unabashed dog person, and my wife (sometimes affectionately, most times vexedly) calls me her "GOM", short for Grumpy Old Man. I think that pretty much sums everything up.

I try very hard to listen and read first before I open my fat mouth but I will warn you in advance I'm not always 100% successful in that :)

-- Gary F.

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Whats up Gary! Welcome aboard.

Thanks, Ozz and thanks for the pointer to here. It's a good thing my boss is away today and tomorrow, I can spend some quality time reading ;) Now if I could just smoke and drink at work, life would be grand :ok:

Maybe I should "work" from home tomorrow, lol.

-- Gary F.

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Welcome to FOH. Lots to learn here and great people. FNG or not, you are always welcome and encouraged to put in your $0.02. Hope to hear more from you.

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What a great intro, Gary!

You fit right in with this gang of opinionated, free-thinking, life-loving rascals!!

Welcome to your new virtual home.

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