My partner is out of town so I'm on my own for food, which means I can make stuff for myself that I don't usually eat when I'm with her. I went to the supermarket to get some ingredients for beef stew, but found this beef roast kit instead with a powder for the sauce and decided that was better because I hate putting a lot of effort into my own food! I just plopped the whole thing into my pressure cooker, took a walk with the dogs, and 45 minutes later, it came out pretty nice, if a bit plain. It smelled good though.

I decided to make a night of it and grabbed one of the cheapo cigars I got from this deal I found online and a little bit of my 12 year Glenlivet scotch, sat outside in the nice night weather, and listened to My Brother, My Brother, and Me while I enjoyed.

Gotta say, this sort of spread is really not my thing. The only cigars I've had before the one tonight were ones I brought home from Cuba a couple years ago, and this one was not great by comparison (which is probably not a fair comparison, but still). Plus I didn't want to waste it so I smoked the whole thing over the course of a little more than an hour, even though I should have definitely stopped half an hour earlier than I did. The aftertaste and I guess a nicotine rush(?? I got lightheaded and slightly shaky and a teensy bit nauseous?) kinda soured the whole experience for me. I had to wash to get the smoke off my hands and out of my beard, but the aftertaste is still lingering in my mouth after a thorough brushing and swishing... I think if I stopped earlier I could have spared myself some of the negative experiences and enjoyed a more appropriate amount of tobacco. (I'm no expert, but maybe going from zero tobacco to a full cigar in a relatively short time is not a great idea.)

To make things worse, the scotch did not pair well with the food or the cigar like I thought it would, which is a bummer. But you can't win them all. Live and learn or whatever.

So yeah, I'm gonna be sticking to things I know I for sure like the rest of the time my partner is gone: Japanese curry with white rice, peanut butter and jelly, and Taco Bell. My digestive tract will be in shambles by the end, but I'll be a happy man!