First and foremost, as others have said: Carlos rocks so, so hard. This was my first secret santa, and I've really been blown away by the collective thoughtfulness and generosity on display here. It's something quite special, to see such a universally decent group of fellows making the holidays even merrier. Jolly well done, one and all!
Now, on to the carnage--my Santa's package hit me well ahead of Christmas Day, but my apartment complex office, where all boxes are automatically delivered, has been closed for the better part of a week, so I wasn't able to retrieve it until today. Worth the wait, to say the least, and heck, I shouldn't begrudge the apartment managers for not wanting to come in over the holidays--everyone deserves some time off this time of year, says I, and my family's been traveling while I tend the homefires, so there hasn't been a proper X-mas at Chez Grossbart yet, anyway... But yeah, enough blather, on to the loot!
This fellow was girding the exterior of the package, leaving little doubt as to the sender!
Now, to give you an idea of scale, here's the full, coffee table-high stack of awesome:
And here is the treasure face out:
As you can see, there are the following goodies:
1 Imco Austrian windproof petrol lighter
1 Disposable butane lighter from The Love Ranch
1 Book of matches from the same establishment, featuring the likeness of a young lady whom I can only presume is Mrs Claus
2 Tins of Penzance
2 Tins of Marlin Flake
1 Tin of Black Mallory
1 Tin of Vintage Syrian
1 Tin of Best Brown Flake
1 Tin of Navy Flake
1 Tin of Robert McConnell Scottish Flake
1 Tin of Picadilly
1 Pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh
And finally, 1 "Keep Reno Awkward" bumpersticker, which, given discussions of their pipe night meetings here on the BoB, seems rather apropos, and a healthy tonic to the generic Keep ___ Weird slogan. I tend to be both weird and awkward myself, so am (un?)comfortable anywhere...maybe even the Love Ranch!
So there you have it: my secret Santa knocked it out of the park, and was far more generous with his gift-giving than a shifty villain such as myself deserves. Can't thank Santa (and Carlos, and everyone else on here) enough, and can't wait to age those I'm familiar with to see how they mature, and crack into the new blends, of which there are several. Now, if only it would get above the low twenties so I can pop out for a puff...
Merry Boxing Day, everyone, and many thanks again, Santa!!!