My Darling Husband

My darling husband, Hans.

Last night, I was quietly sitting in the living room, immersed in Pinterest and emailing back and forth with my friend Kathy.

Suddenly the silence was broken.

My darling husband (who was sitting over at his desk in the corner of the room) asked me if I would let him spend 400-something kroner (around $80) on something. The conversation proceeded like so:


Me: "What are you wanting to buy?"
Hans: (100%, completely and totally serious and straight faced.) "I want a shaft slicker and a tip tapper!"
Me: (Snorting loudly while trying to keep from laughing at him.) "A what?"
Hans: (Again repeating himself.) "I want a shaft slicker and a tip tapper!"
Me: (Laughing at him uncontrollably and trying to stop all the mental images that just appeared in my head. Finally, I gained my composure.) "Are you looking at porn?"
Hans: No, pool (billiards) stuff.


For those of you as unfamiliar with shaft slickers and tip tappers as I was, I will help you out.

A shaft slicker is one of the oldest cue tools around. For probably close to a hundred years, players have used the shaft slicker to clean and sand their shafts. Inside a canvas-like tube, there is a lightly-abrasive pad much like a Scotch-Brite (scourer) pad. You slide the slicker over the shaft, then rub it up and down to remove accumulated debris, leaving your shaft smooth and clean. (Source) 

I kid you not people, this stuff is for real!

Source

 A tip tapper will help you cut down on mis-cuing by helping the chalk adhere to your tip better. Simply tap the top of your tip with the rasp-like side and chalk up.

Source

I also hear shaft slickers and tip tappers make great stocking stuffers!

I hope today's learning adventure didn't completely scare you off, be sure to tune in next time to see what my Darling Husband will say next!