Hello Roger,
I'm so sorry to hear that Havana has not been a pleasant experience
for you! Though I am glad that your son will be able to source the
Cubans he desires "down under".
If I may be so bold, I had anticipated that your next questions on
cigars would have to do with safe transport from Cuba and had put
together the beginnings of a reply of the problems that could arise.
Being a cigar aficionado, this was trivial for me and might provide
information for your son that could be of value. Consider this a
"round of Aussie Chardonnay" on the house, if you will:
******************************************************
Assuming you have found a reputable source of Cubans at a desirable
price, you need to understand several potential problems that can
occur in shipping and what to do if they do happen.
Primarily, this includes the dreaded tobacco beetle and loss of
humification. Both can occur due to excess temperature and/or poor
packaging. Cigars are best kept at 70/70, which is 70% humidity at 70
degrees F. When temperatures exceed 75 degrees, beetles can become a
problem.
http://www.thefinerlife.com/smokers_conner/cigar_beetle.htm
"Once cigars have been brought home, consumers should inspect their
humidors every few days, especially if they live in a hot or humid
climate, or purchase cigars more than once a week.
If beetles are in a desktop humidor, it's hard not to tell. Look for
bugs flying up when the humidor's top is opened, or for a
pinhole-sized circle in your cigar. If you see a beetle, don't panic;
the cigars are salvageable.
Even though manufacturers and retailers take precautions against
beetles, it's not impossible for a few to sneak through into your
cigars, or for you to pick up a few beetles that fly over from the
kitchen cupboard or pet food container. In a recent poll taken on this
site, 28 percent of respondents reported they had experienced a beetle
infestation. Fortunately, 72 percent of those who had suffered an
infestation were able to salvage their cigars. While horror stories of
massive infestations in desktop humidors exist, most beetle problems
in the home are moderate and manageable.
If you see signs of damage, take immediate action. Put all the cigars
from an infected humidor in a zipped plastic bag and place them in
your freezer for three days. If the cigars are still in their box, put
the whole box into the freezer. Treat all of your cigars, because if
you have one damaged cigar, you have to assume they're all at risk.
Freezing infested cigars kills any beetles or eggs inside, preventing
your beetle problem from spreading. Some experts even suggest freezing
your cigars twice, to be doubly sure. "Freezing twice will ensure the
beetles and their eggs have been killed," says Ridge-O'Connor. "It's
the only foolproof way to get rid of them if you find them in your
home."
After three days in the deep freeze, move the cigars into your
refrigerator to avoid shocking the smokes from the temperature change,
which could split their wrappers. In the meantime, wipe your empty
humidor clean with a damp cloth. Don't use any type of cleaner or
disinfectant--it will ruin the wood and leave an odor that will taint
your cigars. After one day in the refrigerator, the cigars can be
returned to the humidor. Include some strips of cedar to absorb the
excess moisture being released..."
I like to take this a step further, Roger. Particularly if the cigars
are valuable. I'll double bag the cigars with heavy duty zip-locks,
remove as much air as possible and place in the freezer for three
days. Then three days in the fridge and two days at room temperature.
Then they are safe to return to the humidor.
"...Now it's time to address the problem that caused the beetles to
hatch. Your humidor was probably too moist or too hot. Use a digital
hygrometer thermometer to get an accurate reading, and consider
whether the room that houses your humidor isn't subject to temperature
extremes when you're not around. Make sure the box is not in direct
sunlight, and check your humidification system. If you're using a
homemade system, or have a cheap, ineffective product, invest in a
high-quality device. Your cigars are worth it. At least, the beetles
think so..."
And, a UK tobacconist has this to say:
http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/tobaccobeetle.htm
"THERE IS NO MORE DEPRESSING SIGHT THAN, WHEN OPENING A BOX OF YOUR
FAVOURITE HAVANAS, YOU FIND THE CIGARS INSIDE RIDDLED WITH HOLES. IT
MEANS THAT YOU HAVE SUFFERED AN ATTACK BY LASIODERMA SERRICORNE, TO
GIVE IT THE SCIENTIFIC NAME, OTHERWISE CALLED THE TOBACCO WEEVIL, THE
TOBACCO BEETLE OR EL PERFORADOR DEL TABACO, AS IT IS KNOWN IN CUBA.
Your problems may not end with the loss of a single box of cherished
cigars because the average life cycle of these bugs is between 45 and
90 days, subject to ambient conditions, and they may have spread to
other boxes in your collection.
Weevil is endemic throughout the tobacco industry. Cigar
manufacturers not only fumigate their warehouses, but also use vacuum
chambers to crush weevil eggs lying dormant in their finished
products. Nevertheless live weevil as eggs, larvae, pupae or adult
insects can and do survive.
It is as larvae, a stage lasting between 5 and 10 weeks, that they do
damage by boring through the cigars as they eat and excrete the
tobacco. As pupae they lie dormant and as adults they live for only a
month during which they mate, lay eggs and the whole cycle starts
again.
Its not always easy to tell whether cigars have weevil because the
larvae may not have penetrated the wrapper. However one useful guide
with a labeled box is to examine the paper hinge inside the lid. You
will often find bits of tobacco in this position but you should be
suspicious when there is a deposit of fine, brown dust. If you see
some, the next step is to examine all the cigars for holes and finally
to tape the foot of a cigar on the lid. Often this will produce a
shower of dust from inside where a weevil has been at work.
When you find an infestation, what do you do???
The first thing is to isolate the cigars by putting the whole box in a
sealable plastic bag. Whilst a blast of insecticide would probably
clear up your problem, it would also render any cigars, which might be
saved, unsmokeable.
You are better advised to place the whole box in the deep freeze.
Weevils hate the cold and four days in the freezer will destroy them
no matter what stage they are in. It won't help the cigars much
either but, provided you thaw them out gently by first putting them in
the main section of the fridge before bringing them back to room
temperature, they should still taste acceptable.
Darnton also emphasises the importance of keeping stock at carefully
controlled low temperatures. '16°C to 18°C is the correct range in
which to store cigars, and that's the way we keep our stock,' he
continued. 'Let it rise above 21°C and the weevil thrive.'
One lesson we should all learn from this is the importance of buying
your cigars from a reputable source. Whatever you do, never buy
Havanas on the streets of Havana. Counterfeits are a virtually
guaranteed source of weevil because black market manufacturers do not
treat their tobacco. Also remember that even if a box is shipped
weevil-free from its source, it can become infected through careless
storage alongside other infected cigars."
And a few more comments on beetles:
http://new.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Features/CA_Feature_Basic_Template/0,2344,233,00.html
"We freeze everything that comes in from anyone who isn't a major
manufacturer," says Lew Rothman, president and chief executive officer
of retail and mail-order giant 800 JR-Cigar Inc. "If a manufacturer
doesn't have the fumigation and freezing procedures of the major
manufacturers like General, Consolidated, Swisher, Villazon, Fuente,
then you have to be extra careful. These bugs can be devastating."
Even with cigars from the large cigarmakers, Rothman said his policy
is to spot-check at least one box per shipment.
In JR's new Burlington, North Carolina, warehouse and distribution
center, Rothman installed a 40-by-60-foot freezer big enough for a
tractor trailer. Purchased from a food products manufacturer, the
freezer ensures that the millions of cigars that pass through JR's
warehouse every month don't go out infested with beetles. "Freezing
the cigars cracks the larvae and kills the eggs and the adults," says
Rothman. "Before shipping the cigars we have to do all we can to avoid
any problems. We've had no disasters yet."
Rothman advises tobacconists to be careful with large walk-in
humidors, where beetles can live and prosper. Robert Frey, who co-owns
seven cigar shops with his brother, Michael, has to be especially
cautious. Six of their shops are in hot and arid Las Vegas, a climate
in which beetles can thrive because of the constantly high heat.
"We keep a close watch over the cigars we get from the small boutique
brands and cigars from hand-rolled shops," says Frey. "The bogus
Cubans run high in beetles, so we watch our customer lockers because
that's where a lot of the fakes end up."
http://new.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Features/CA_Feature_Basic_Template/0,2344,234,00.html
If you see signs of damage, take immediate action. Put all the cigars
from an infected humidor in a zipped plastic bag and place them in
your freezer for three days. If the cigars are still in their box, put
the whole box into the freezer. Treat all of your cigars, because if
you have one damaged cigar, you have to assume they're all at risk.
Freezing infested cigars kills any beetles or eggs inside, preventing
your beetle problem from spreading. Some experts even suggest freezing
your cigars twice, to be doubly sure. "Freezing twice will ensure the
beetles and their eggs have been killed," says Ridge-O'Connor. "It's
the only foolproof way to get rid of them if you find them in your
home."
After three days in the deep freeze, move the cigars into your
refrigerator to avoid shocking the smokes from the temperature change,
which could split their wrappers. In the meantime, wipe your empty
humidor clean with a damp cloth. Don't use any type of cleaner or
disinfectant--it will ruin the wood and leave an odor that will taint
your cigars. After one day in the refrigerator, the cigars can be
returned to the humidor. Include some strips of cedar to absorb the
excess moisture being released.
http://www.cigardiary.com/cigars/beetle.php3
"The eggs usually will not hatch if the temperature in the humidor
stays below 75 degrees. "
The second problem is loss of humidification of cigars during
shipment. It is always recommended to ship "fast freight". Once again,
if you have located reputable resellers, they will have experience in
this area and can advise you of their precautions and best methods of
shipment.
Here are some quotes from notable retailers that ship world-wide:
http://www.seriouscigars.com/Policy/ShipPack.asp
"Packing
All of our cigars are handled with the utmost care. We take pride in
knowing that when you receive your order the products will be in great
condition and ready to smoke. Each order is double checked for
accuracy and quality. Each order is packed in an air tight bag with a
Humidipak, a heavy duty box and finally surrounded with cushioning
packing materials. We open all full box orders before shipment to
check for quality and we, of course, leave all insert type material in
the box for the customer."
http://www.topcubans.com/info/#6
"Cigar Orders:
Each box of cigars is vacuum-sealed in heavy plastic prior to
shipping. This process insures that your cigars will never arrive dry
or damaged in any way. Cigars are shipped using only the leading
worldwide couriers and usually arrive within 2 to 5 business days.
Your cigars will always arrive fresh and in perfect condition. Prior
to being vacuum-sealed, your cigars are again inspected for quality.
Cigars that do not meet our strict quality standards are never
shipped; you will rarely receive a box of low quality or damaged
cigars from TopCubans.com."
http://cigars.about.com/library/weekly/aa082801a.htm
"...Cubancigars.com shipped Franks cigars in nice looking cedar boxes
with bands arriving separately. The packing was excellent. The boxes
were in thick plastic bags sealed at both ends. No moisture escaping
from that package. I can tell you they were in peak condition when
Frank got them. He also said they arrived very quickly. Only three
days after he ordered them..."
http://www.favoronline.com/16/432.htm?594
"We use heat resistant packing material at no extra charges while
others charge as much as $10 extra! Please select 2-DAY shipping
during the hot summer months."
A cigar that has dried out can be salvaged, but may never be the same:
http://www.cigar.com/cigars/default.asp?cmd=accessories
"Can you save a cigar that has been dried out?
A cigar that has dried out will never be the same as one that has
remained properly kept, but it can be re-humidified slowly and will
most likely regain most of its taste and body. "
http://cigars.about.com/library/weekly/aa041402a.htm
"RESTORING DRY CIGARS
There has been much discussion and argument over whether cigars can be
restored to their normal state once they have dried out. If a cigar
has become dry and the wrapper has not cracked and unraveled, then it
can be restored. But this must be done slowly and patiently. If the
wrapper has actually broken then the cigar should be discarded. If it
has completely dried out, it will fall apart between your fingers
regardless of how gentle and careful you are.
Remember, that although dry cigars can be brought back to an
acceptable smoking condition, they will probably never be as good as
they originally were.
There are several ways of treating dry cigars, depending on their
condition. They must be removed from any cellophane wrappers, cedar or
aluminum tubes before any restoration process. If they are not
excessively dry, the box with its lid open should be placed inside a
large walk-in humidor or, if one is not available, in a cellar or
similar dampish location, where they can be exposed slowly to
dampness, as close to 70 percent humidity as possible.
After two or three days the top and bottom rows should be interchanged
and should remain in that position for another two or three days. But
hey, how many people have a walk-in humidor or a damp cellar. Try a
similar process using two ziplock plastic bags. Firstly, puncture the
smaller bag with lots of little holes and then insert the open box and
close the bag. Place that bag, now containing the cigars, into a
larger ziplock bag containing a wrung-out slightly damp sponge. Seal
the second bag. This method of using ziplock bags has been suggested
by Lew Rothman, owner of JR Cigars, one of the world's largest
retailers. After four to six days the cigars should be removed from
their box and exposed to the full humidity. Sometimes small water
bubbles may appear under the wrapper, but this is nothing to worry
about as long as you give the cigars a 25 percent rotation every two
or three days. Complete the process until the cigars have been fully
rotated at least twice, providing even exposure to the humidity. By
this time any bubbles will have disappeared. This process can take up
to three weeks.
I have practiced this "quarter-turn" method and it works! At the end
of the treatment the wrappers will again look and feel smooth with
only the normal gentle crackling sound when the cigars are pressed
between fingers. They can then be returned to their original box.
If you use the ziplock bags, ensure the wrung-out sponge is just damp,
not excessively wet.
When the cigars are not too dry they can sometimes be restored by
simply wrapping the closed box in a damp (not wet) towel for about two
weeks. After treatment it is best to leave cigars for six to 12 months
for the three components (filler, binder and wrapper) again to
equilibrate before smoking. Just check on their condition every three
months.
It takes only a few weeks for a cigar to become dry in adverse
conditions, but it takes a few months to restore them to a smokeable
condition.
RESTORING EXTREMELY DRY CIGARS
If you provide extremely dry cigars with too much humidity, too
quickly, then the wrappers will split. It is best to keep them in
their box in a large or walk-in humidor or ziplock bag for about a
month before opening the lid. Then they can be removed and then
undergo the previously described rotation method.
If you buy your cigars from reputable tobacconists, who do not allow
their cigars to get out of condition, the need for such tiresome
processes will not arise."
And this is the Cigar Smoker's Bible! Just for your (or your son's)
reference. Excellent reading.
http://www.cigargroup.com/faq/
THE CIGAR SMOKER's FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Revision 3.03 - 12/22/02
compiled by Bob Curtis, Internet Cigar Group
(all rights reserved)
So, in summary, each box of cigars should be sealed so that no
moisture can escape. Inexpensive cigars often have inexpensive and
incomplete shrink wrapping, so do look for this.
The shipment will ideally have some packaging to resist heat for these
summer months travels and ideally will have inexpensive, but desirable
humidification devices such as humipacks in the shipment.
********************************************************
Ok, now to the real meat of today's question.
As I had mentioned previously, Word is not an ideal program for
cutting and pasting of plain text into a web based text box such as
the answer or questions boxes at Google Answers as hiden formatting
commands may make the text appear differently than you desire. Notepad
has limitation both in the size of the file it will accept (65K if I
recall correctly), display font and lack of other features. It will
not even remember the window size and placement on the screen between
sessions! Consequently, I use the free MetaPad available here:
http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/
"If you are like me, one of the most useful programs for everyday use
is Microsoft Notepad. I realized that Notepad was quite powerful and
did almost everything I wanted in a simple text editor. Yet I found
the UI to be unlike most 32-bit Windows applications and actually
quite poor...
metapad is a small, fast (and completely free) text editor for Windows
9x and Windows NT with similar features to Microsoft Notepad but with
many extra (and rather useful) features. It was designed to completely
replace Notepad since it includes all of Notepad's features and much,
much more...
New and improved features include:
-Persistent window placement
-Dirty file notification
-Intelligent Find and Replace
-External viewer support (e.g. web browser)
-Usable accelerator keys (Ctrl+S, Ctrl+N, etc.)
-Dual customizable font support
-Optional Quick Exit (Esc key)
-Configurable tab stop setting
-Auto-indent mode
-Go to Line/Column
-Seamless UNIX text file support
-Block indent and unindent (Tab, Shift+Tab)
-Recent files list
-WYSIWYG printing
-Snazzy status bar & funky toolbar
-No file size limit! (under Win9x)
-Hyperlink support
In combination with MetaPad, I use the free spell checker available
here:
http://www.quinion.com/mqa/spell.htm
"Spell Checker for Edit Boxes
A near-universal spell checker for Windows applications.
An invaluable add-on for any text-based application.
Principal features
Spell Checker checks the spelling of any edit control in almost any
application under Windows 3.1/95/98. The program was designed to run
under Windows 3.1. Though it will operate under Windows 95/98, it is
not compatible with later versions (2000, ME, XP).
It runs in the background and is brought into use in any edit window
by pressing a hot-key combination. Master dictionaries are available
in several languages and fully editable and searchable custom
dictionaries can be created. The system requirements are modest and it
should run on any computer.
Cost
Spell Checker remains free for private use, and it need not be
registered with us. Business, commercial and government users should
register and pay a small fee - details are in the file ORDER.TXT in
the application ZIP archive. There are deep discounts for multiple or
site licences."
Unfortunately, as noted, it does not support Windows 2000 or Windows
XP. However, if you have a compatible OS, it is an excellent utility.
There are others I have not tested that might be alternatives, such
as:
http://www.iespell.com/
ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell
checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly
handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry (e.g. web mails,
forums, blogs, diaries). Even if your web application already includes
spell checking functionality, you might still want to install this
utility because it is definitely much faster than a server-side
solution. Plus you get to store and use your personal word list across
all your applications, instead of maintaining separate ones on each
application.
The program installs as a new button in the IE toolbar (as well as a
new menu item under "Tools") - after filling in a form, just hit the
ieSpell button and it pops up a dialog, similar to the MS Word spell
check.
And FreeSpell
http://hcidesign.com/freespell/
FreeSpell is a spell checker for any and all Windows applications.
You can use it in Eudora, in Microsoft Outlook, Symantec Visual Cafe,
and even in Windows Explorer when renaming files (though it's a little
tricky to do that). Anything that supports the clipboard supports
FreeSpell, and
all it takes is a hotkey to invoke it.
I hope these tools will streamline your GA experience and prevent
losing questions to the ether. I did have a reply from the Google
Answer Editors, and they have checked your account and the missing
question was never posted. Most likely, all was lost upon hitting the
backspace key.
I will sometimes click in a text box that I am preparing online, if it
is too small to take the time to open MetaPad, and then click CTL-A
and then CTL-C to select all and copy to the clipboard. Then, if I
happen to lose my posting (which can happen more than I would like to
think), a simple CTL-V pastes what I have saved into the clipboard
memory back into the text box and all has not been lost.
Have a safe journey out of Cuba!
Best regards,
-=clouseau=- |
