Ok, it was a joke.
As many of you know, my wife has been an endless source of great pool stuff for me over the years. You can read about the Gina she gave me for our 10th anniversary here
http://goo.gl/79opH ; the 25th anniversary “travel Gina” here
http://goo.gl/MVZZT ; the refinishing job on the 10th anniversary Gina here
http://goo.gl/M4lkE ; and “the rest of the story” here
http://goo.gl/jtqo6 .
Sometime during the past year I mentioned over dinner conversation that, sooner or later, I would probably get another couple of shafts from Ernie for the “travel Gina.” She asked why and I told her I was unhappy with how one of the original shafts played and wanted to get another two so I’d have a couple of good ones. So she asks me in that entirely logical manner that wives can very occasionally adopt when they want to, “Why didn’t you tell Ernie you didn’t like one of his shafts when you got the cue?”
Now, I don’t know about you, but I hate questions like that from my wife because they make entirely too much sense and, as *we* all know, puts us on the spot to describe the ephemeral, spiritual, and metaphysical nature of the relationship between elite custom cue makers and their humble clients. So the best I could muster was, “Well, Ernie would probably tell me that no two pieces of wood are alike and no one can predict how a shaft is going to play.” Blessedly she let it go at that.
So for Christmas this year I open a long mailing tube and inside are two wood dowels, complete with painted on ferules and tips and enough dough for two shafts and I had to laugh out loud. And I asked her what she used for the business end of “the shafts.” And she proudly tells me, “I didn’t want to get in trouble messing with your paints down in the garage, so I used nail polish for the ‘ivory ferules’ and the blue tips.”
So here is the rest of picture. And yes, I know. I’m a lucky guy.
Lou Figueroa