The Red Brick Times

Why is tobacco so addictive? Nobody argues that the practice is harmful. Nobody denies that the expense is painful. About half of the retail cost (over the "factory" price) is due to taxation and middle-man markup. No one disagrees that there is very little control over what the processors add into the mix, since anything that is not expressly prohibited is fair game. There are hundreds of compounds added by manufacturers. What to do? Go organic. Get a hobby that helps to pay itself back. Grow your own tobacco. All you will have to worry about is random acts of roaming-animal fertilization. And the sheriff's deputies won't be raiding your little personal plot (unless you try to go commercial). Just don't brag to envious smokers about your stash. They may slither in of a moonless night like marauding raccoons and reap an early harvest. You may not quit smoking, but the growing plants may help to equalize personal carbon emissions and to reduce fuel used in transporting the commercial products, while the drying leaves can act as a natural insect repellent.
Posted 12:39 AM by Andy (4) comments

       Comments:

Caution! Raccoons will eat your nose!

# posted by  Andy : May 21, 2007 1:13 AM
 
Raccoons. They're so cute and bright eyed! I want them dead. All of them. Dead dead dead.

# posted by  whatley : May 21, 2007 6:52 AM
 
Fortunate that they stayed in your attic. Dog presence may have helped you. A neighbor once went away for a summer trip. When he returned, the place was wrecked. Cupboard doors ripped off. Bedding shredded. Soot and ashes all over. Draperies torn down. Flour, molasses, other foodstuffs strewn and tracked everywhere. Raccoons got in through the outside ash clean-out door beneath the masonry fireplace, through the fireplace floor ash dump, and into the house, where they held sway for weeks.

# posted by  Andy : May 21, 2007 11:20 AM
 
Let's see now:
Bedding shredded - check
Soot and ashes all over - check
Draperies torn down - check
Flour, molasses - don't have
Other foodstuffs strewn and tracked everywhere - check

No, all that's pretty much the norm around here.

# posted by  whatley : May 21, 2007 12:43 PM
 
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