Today's Topic? Things that are smoked.

Thanks go out to my brother for introducing me to Mitchell's Thick-Sliced Bacon. Goddamn, but that's some good salted pork product! No more paper thin strips of bacon that shrink to a third of their size by the time they're done. If this bacon was a professional tennis player, it would be Serena Williams. Thick and meaty. If you love bacon, and I know you do, pick up a pack of this the next time you're at the grocery store. If there is a heaven, I'd like to think they serve Mitchell's Thick-Sliced Bacon at St. Pete's Breakfast Buffet.

This morning, I was walking Scout in -30 degree weather, which meant he peed as fast as he could into a snow bank and was ready to come in after about two minutes. I took him in between the two sets of doors of my apartment building, where there are forced air heaters in the walls. The plan was to stay in there about a minute to let him warm up and then go back out one more time to make sure he was done. As soon as I entered, a man followed me in and proceeded to call someone on his cellphone. I was immediately assaulted by the reek of stale cigarette smoke emanating off of this man and his clothes. By "reek", I'm not referring to how we all used to smell after spending the entire night in a bar before the smoking ban. That was a smell which, while not pleasant, was at least tolerable. This guy smelled like a Legion Hall in Gatineau on Remembrance Day after a smokeathon. I actually felt my gorge rising and had to leave to avoid projectile vomiting. My question to the smokers who read my blog is this. Does smoking deaden your sense of smell similar to how it apparently affects your sense of taste, making this guy unaware that he stank? Or do long term smokers simply develop a high tolerance to the smell of stale cigarette smoke, similar to sewer workers developing a high tolerance to the stench of city sewer lines? Do tell.