Ahhhhhhhh yes, it's that time of year again, when us folks in the Northeast and many others have already long since begun discussions of our annual dilemma. Yes, that time of year when temperatures, tempers, humidity and pollution levels rise, and our cigars become subject to ever closer scrutiny.
Indeed, during times of elevated temperature and humidity levels, closer scrutiny of one's cigars is required. And why is that, assuming there is perhaps one "newbie" among us? Well, that is because once temperature and humidity levels rise, unless you are careful, you will soon, . . .
Meet The Beetles!!!
No, not those guys who wrote I Wanna Hold Your Hand, but the kind who want to eat your cigars. Yes, imagine not checking your humidor for the early part of the summer, and then you walk your dad and a couple friends proudly over to your 150 count African Mahogany desk top, lined with Spanish cedar, and open it up to find . . .
BROWN POWDER!!! Yes, the kind of brown powder that would prompt you to call the wife over and ask her if she decided to just dump one of the new spices from her collection into the humidor and throw out your cigars.
BUT NOOOOOOOO, it's not aromatic ginger, or rich genuine cinnamon, not even paprika, that brown powder sitting there IS . . .
YOUR CIGARS!!!
AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Hey wait, Bloof, that's no laughing matter.
Indeed, but it's just what I envisioned when I began to figure out life in my new apartment. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my new apartment, a nice, small, but extremely well and beautifully designed, 475 square foot, one large closet, two bedroom apartment overlooking a busy, fascinating, but peaceful and attractive block in Astoria, Queens. I pay a fair, right with the current market price, a price that will be looked upon as dirt cheap in a couple years, with what's happening to this neighborhood. I'm near the bottom of the current market price range for a two bedroom in Astoria.
I really live in Long Island City, as I'm just over the border from Astoria, but over here, we still call our part of the neighborhood Astoria, because culturally and design wise, it really is, and no one corrects us. We also KNOW that the post office says we live in LIC, hee, hee, heee!!! I live on the top floor of a three story, five apartment building, and THEREIN lies a new cigar keeping dilemma.
Life is fine being The Man Upstairs, but it also has its drawbacks. The apartment has great natural light and air circulation, with three windows facing the front, and a total of four windows on the side facing the alley. The kitchen window being a double, I keep one open with a large screen in it, and the three windows in the front of the apartment are all open, all the time, VERY wide from the top. I keep the bathroom window open most of the time, especially in hot weather, and I keep the back bedroom window open at least a foot from the top, at all times.
GREAT air circulation, right? Yup, especially with some windows open as much as two feet from the top. Plus, there's a brand new ceiling fan which the landlord put in with the rest of the renovations that were done within the past year. BUT, the big problem is the roof. Ahhhhhhhh, the roof, baking me from above, because once the old sun gets the NYC temperature up to 85-100 degrees for even a day or two, it can take some pretty low temperatures a pretty long time to make this place bearable again.
HEY BLOOF, GET AN AIR CONDITIONER!!! Yes, I already know, and which one I want, how many BTU, where it's going to go, blah, blah, Bloofy Blah, but it STILL costs money, . . .
that I don't have. Sooooooooooooooo, I've begun to notice that with the temperatures in the rooms rising as high as the low 90's and dropping to no less than 84, 85 at night, the humidors are staying quite hot inside. I've also noticed that they seem to go down to about 58, 59% humidity but not much lower, so I don't have to recharge them so much. And with beetles appearing when temperatures hit about 72, 73 and humidity levels that go above 70, it's probably best for me to try and keep those humidity levels down unless and until I get AC.
That will mean instead of my usual and preferred humidity range of 62-66%, perhaps 57-61%. My cigars have been tasting just fine. When I took the El Cobre out of Desk Top IV last night, it was at 59%, with the temperature in the 80's, and you all know how that cigar kicked my ass.
Life ain't easy being The Man Upstairs, but it sure is fun and interesting, hee, haw, haww!!!
Indeed, during times of elevated temperature and humidity levels, closer scrutiny of one's cigars is required. And why is that, assuming there is perhaps one "newbie" among us? Well, that is because once temperature and humidity levels rise, unless you are careful, you will soon, . . .
Meet The Beetles!!!
No, not those guys who wrote I Wanna Hold Your Hand, but the kind who want to eat your cigars. Yes, imagine not checking your humidor for the early part of the summer, and then you walk your dad and a couple friends proudly over to your 150 count African Mahogany desk top, lined with Spanish cedar, and open it up to find . . .
BROWN POWDER!!! Yes, the kind of brown powder that would prompt you to call the wife over and ask her if she decided to just dump one of the new spices from her collection into the humidor and throw out your cigars.
BUT NOOOOOOOO, it's not aromatic ginger, or rich genuine cinnamon, not even paprika, that brown powder sitting there IS . . .
YOUR CIGARS!!!
AH, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Hey wait, Bloof, that's no laughing matter.
Indeed, but it's just what I envisioned when I began to figure out life in my new apartment. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my new apartment, a nice, small, but extremely well and beautifully designed, 475 square foot, one large closet, two bedroom apartment overlooking a busy, fascinating, but peaceful and attractive block in Astoria, Queens. I pay a fair, right with the current market price, a price that will be looked upon as dirt cheap in a couple years, with what's happening to this neighborhood. I'm near the bottom of the current market price range for a two bedroom in Astoria.
I really live in Long Island City, as I'm just over the border from Astoria, but over here, we still call our part of the neighborhood Astoria, because culturally and design wise, it really is, and no one corrects us. We also KNOW that the post office says we live in LIC, hee, hee, heee!!! I live on the top floor of a three story, five apartment building, and THEREIN lies a new cigar keeping dilemma.
Life is fine being The Man Upstairs, but it also has its drawbacks. The apartment has great natural light and air circulation, with three windows facing the front, and a total of four windows on the side facing the alley. The kitchen window being a double, I keep one open with a large screen in it, and the three windows in the front of the apartment are all open, all the time, VERY wide from the top. I keep the bathroom window open most of the time, especially in hot weather, and I keep the back bedroom window open at least a foot from the top, at all times.
GREAT air circulation, right? Yup, especially with some windows open as much as two feet from the top. Plus, there's a brand new ceiling fan which the landlord put in with the rest of the renovations that were done within the past year. BUT, the big problem is the roof. Ahhhhhhhh, the roof, baking me from above, because once the old sun gets the NYC temperature up to 85-100 degrees for even a day or two, it can take some pretty low temperatures a pretty long time to make this place bearable again.
HEY BLOOF, GET AN AIR CONDITIONER!!! Yes, I already know, and which one I want, how many BTU, where it's going to go, blah, blah, Bloofy Blah, but it STILL costs money, . . .
that I don't have. Sooooooooooooooo, I've begun to notice that with the temperatures in the rooms rising as high as the low 90's and dropping to no less than 84, 85 at night, the humidors are staying quite hot inside. I've also noticed that they seem to go down to about 58, 59% humidity but not much lower, so I don't have to recharge them so much. And with beetles appearing when temperatures hit about 72, 73 and humidity levels that go above 70, it's probably best for me to try and keep those humidity levels down unless and until I get AC.
That will mean instead of my usual and preferred humidity range of 62-66%, perhaps 57-61%. My cigars have been tasting just fine. When I took the El Cobre out of Desk Top IV last night, it was at 59%, with the temperature in the 80's, and you all know how that cigar kicked my ass.
Life ain't easy being The Man Upstairs, but it sure is fun and interesting, hee, haw, haww!!!
