phased
v is for vapor
OK, here's the story of the day I met the Cloud.
Met SM55 last week under somewhat stressful circumstances--the earliest he could be there and the latest I could be there overlapped by just 30 min, but I just couldn't postpone a demo any longer so I jumped on the opportunity.
Then, just to add to the pressure, I was late (through no fault of my own--I HATE being late and people who are flaky!) and quite embarrassed to have kept SM55 waiting, but he couldn't have been more gracious and professional. At least he was waiting in a comfy environment with friendly people and something to do :-).
Didn't have much time to linger, unfortunately--only 30 minutes on the parking meter, parked 5 min away so really 20 minutes inside, or 15 after the intake & purchase process, and my ride out of town was waiting by my garage and needed to use the bathroom. Not exactly ideal circumstances for chilling out, but what can you do.
Well, at least I knew my tolerance level was so high from frequent vaping that I could do a quick demo and get right back to business. Lately it seems I can medicate a LOT and never really feel much of a shift. Sometimes I miss the creative trips I used to get from medicating, but on the flip side there's the convenience of never feeling paranoid or unable to deal with people or tasks.
Once I finally got settled in the lounge area, SM55 asked me about my personal vaporizer history and pointed out differences I might notice between what I have tried (VaporBros original, and then the MFLB) and the Cloud, then offered the Cloud. Took a long draw from the Cloud, perhaps slower than necessary because I'm used to the MFLB, then another one.
Meanwhile everyone around the table admired the Cloud. In real life it's just as beautiful as in the videos, maybe more so. Feels solid. Not much bigger than a coffee grinder. I don't recall much noise, but the room we were in wasn't super-quiet. One person there called SM55 the Steve Jobs of pot, and he wasn't joking. We talked a little bit about the convection currents, and SM55 lost me a little bit talking about the low air pressure in the chamber simulating high air velocity.
Or something like that. (Um, whut? 
)
It was already in action when I arrived, so I can't comment on how long it takes to heat up, but I doubt it's long.
I forgot to ask SM55 about how the performance might vary with different grinds--seemed like we were tasting a relatively fine grind, something similar to the ideal grind for the MFLB. I had intended to pack one for the demo, but SM55 had it covered by the time I was sitting down, and I didn't stay long enough to buy a round--will definitely make up for it next time if I ever cross paths with SM55 again.
Don't recall much of note about the taste, and didn't tinker with the temperature SM55 had set, so I can't comment much on that. I believe the taste declined after the first draw, as is usual, but beyond that I don't remember anything notable about taste + or -.
What most impressed me was how evenly browned the plant material was when the chamber was emptied. This beast is efficient! Absolutely nothing was wasted.
Wish I could say the same for myself, but much to my surprise, I was on another planet after just 3 or 4 draws. Granted, they were big giant clouds--so big that I was sure that some combustion was happening, but nope, as I said, there wasn't a spot of black in the herb.
The good news is that I kept my wits about me enough to leave the room on time despite the major temptation to stay (parking ticket was a strong disincentive). Got to my car with exactly one minute left on the meter. Yay!
The bad news is that there *was* a ticket on my windshield--for not curbing my wheels. What?!? I've lived in this hilly town for almost 2 decades and I always curb my wheels! I was all indignant and ready to fight the ticket... until I noticed that indeed I had *not* curbed my wheels, because I was in such a hurry to get to my appt with SM55.
And that was when I was not even medicated. Oops! Other than getting to try the Cloud, this really was not my lucky day. 
The other bad news is that I was so impaired from just 3 draws from the Cloud that I knew I couldn't drive safely. Not even close--I was afraid to even touch the pedals.
So even though I was late and my friend was waiting and we had tickets to a show in Monterey that evening and had a campsite to set up before going, I had to just sit there for a while and try to recover. Curbed my wheels and sat there thinking of what I would say if some authority came by to talk to me. "Maps, yeah, that's it--I'll get some maps out and look like I'm trying to plan a route! Or wait, maybe I'll just have my phone in my hand and pretend to be texting. OK, maybe I'll wait until someone actually approaches so I don't have to keep punching the buttons--that got old fast. Or wait, um, maybe I am just sitting here waiting for my friend. " No doubt if anyone had come up to talk to me, I would have mixed the three excuses into one incomprehensible string of babble. Good thing nobody did.
Soon enough, I felt confident that I could operate the car--but I knew I couldn't choose the best way home (in a city I've lived in for almost two decades!). But I went anyway, and indeed ended up backtracking a little bit, not exactly getting lost, but definitely taking a circuitous route home.
Maybe an hour later I was a bit less over the edge, and two hours later back to a more normal state. Whew.
I don't even *like* being that altered; in fact I avoid that state and it was extremely inconvenient to be in a daze when I had so much stuff to accomplish on a tight timeline. I never want to be that baked again. For a few hairy moments while I was sitting in my car afraid to touch the pedals I wondered whether the Cloud was even a good idea for me--too much of a good thing? The reason I'm telling you how high I got from the Cloud is not to suggest that higher is better--for me it's definitely not--it's to give you an idea of how efficient the device is. So even if it takes a couple minutes to warm up, and I doubt it takes very long, the fact that you can so thoroughly and efficiently extract the essence from the plant material means that in one or two draws you'll have reached the equivalent of maybe a half-dozen draws from another device (your mileage may vary--just guessing on those #s, of course). That's a rave and a warning for anyone else who thinks their tolerance is so high they can't be rocked off their arse anymore.
I would love to take a second look at the Cloud when I have more than 15 minutes to hang out--as I mentioned, I remain curious about the taste and the performance with different grinds. But for now I just want to tip my hat to SM55, the Steve Jobs of pot, for a beautiful, elegant machine that's going to make a lot of people's lives more pleasant.
The Cloud team deserves all the success they are sure to earn with this thing.
Met SM55 last week under somewhat stressful circumstances--the earliest he could be there and the latest I could be there overlapped by just 30 min, but I just couldn't postpone a demo any longer so I jumped on the opportunity.
Then, just to add to the pressure, I was late (through no fault of my own--I HATE being late and people who are flaky!) and quite embarrassed to have kept SM55 waiting, but he couldn't have been more gracious and professional. At least he was waiting in a comfy environment with friendly people and something to do :-).
Didn't have much time to linger, unfortunately--only 30 minutes on the parking meter, parked 5 min away so really 20 minutes inside, or 15 after the intake & purchase process, and my ride out of town was waiting by my garage and needed to use the bathroom. Not exactly ideal circumstances for chilling out, but what can you do.
Well, at least I knew my tolerance level was so high from frequent vaping that I could do a quick demo and get right back to business. Lately it seems I can medicate a LOT and never really feel much of a shift. Sometimes I miss the creative trips I used to get from medicating, but on the flip side there's the convenience of never feeling paranoid or unable to deal with people or tasks.
Once I finally got settled in the lounge area, SM55 asked me about my personal vaporizer history and pointed out differences I might notice between what I have tried (VaporBros original, and then the MFLB) and the Cloud, then offered the Cloud. Took a long draw from the Cloud, perhaps slower than necessary because I'm used to the MFLB, then another one.
Meanwhile everyone around the table admired the Cloud. In real life it's just as beautiful as in the videos, maybe more so. Feels solid. Not much bigger than a coffee grinder. I don't recall much noise, but the room we were in wasn't super-quiet. One person there called SM55 the Steve Jobs of pot, and he wasn't joking. We talked a little bit about the convection currents, and SM55 lost me a little bit talking about the low air pressure in the chamber simulating high air velocity.
Or something like that. (Um, whut? )It was already in action when I arrived, so I can't comment on how long it takes to heat up, but I doubt it's long.
I forgot to ask SM55 about how the performance might vary with different grinds--seemed like we were tasting a relatively fine grind, something similar to the ideal grind for the MFLB. I had intended to pack one for the demo, but SM55 had it covered by the time I was sitting down, and I didn't stay long enough to buy a round--will definitely make up for it next time if I ever cross paths with SM55 again.
Don't recall much of note about the taste, and didn't tinker with the temperature SM55 had set, so I can't comment much on that. I believe the taste declined after the first draw, as is usual, but beyond that I don't remember anything notable about taste + or -.
What most impressed me was how evenly browned the plant material was when the chamber was emptied. This beast is efficient! Absolutely nothing was wasted.
Wish I could say the same for myself, but much to my surprise, I was on another planet after just 3 or 4 draws. Granted, they were big giant clouds--so big that I was sure that some combustion was happening, but nope, as I said, there wasn't a spot of black in the herb.
The good news is that I kept my wits about me enough to leave the room on time despite the major temptation to stay (parking ticket was a strong disincentive). Got to my car with exactly one minute left on the meter. Yay!
The bad news is that there *was* a ticket on my windshield--for not curbing my wheels. What?!? I've lived in this hilly town for almost 2 decades and I always curb my wheels! I was all indignant and ready to fight the ticket... until I noticed that indeed I had *not* curbed my wheels, because I was in such a hurry to get to my appt with SM55.
And that was when I was not even medicated. Oops! Other than getting to try the Cloud, this really was not my lucky day. The other bad news is that I was so impaired from just 3 draws from the Cloud that I knew I couldn't drive safely. Not even close--I was afraid to even touch the pedals.
So even though I was late and my friend was waiting and we had tickets to a show in Monterey that evening and had a campsite to set up before going, I had to just sit there for a while and try to recover. Curbed my wheels and sat there thinking of what I would say if some authority came by to talk to me. "Maps, yeah, that's it--I'll get some maps out and look like I'm trying to plan a route! Or wait, maybe I'll just have my phone in my hand and pretend to be texting. OK, maybe I'll wait until someone actually approaches so I don't have to keep punching the buttons--that got old fast. Or wait, um, maybe I am just sitting here waiting for my friend. " No doubt if anyone had come up to talk to me, I would have mixed the three excuses into one incomprehensible string of babble. Good thing nobody did. Soon enough, I felt confident that I could operate the car--but I knew I couldn't choose the best way home (in a city I've lived in for almost two decades!). But I went anyway, and indeed ended up backtracking a little bit, not exactly getting lost, but definitely taking a circuitous route home.
Maybe an hour later I was a bit less over the edge, and two hours later back to a more normal state. Whew.
I don't even *like* being that altered; in fact I avoid that state and it was extremely inconvenient to be in a daze when I had so much stuff to accomplish on a tight timeline. I never want to be that baked again. For a few hairy moments while I was sitting in my car afraid to touch the pedals I wondered whether the Cloud was even a good idea for me--too much of a good thing? The reason I'm telling you how high I got from the Cloud is not to suggest that higher is better--for me it's definitely not--it's to give you an idea of how efficient the device is. So even if it takes a couple minutes to warm up, and I doubt it takes very long, the fact that you can so thoroughly and efficiently extract the essence from the plant material means that in one or two draws you'll have reached the equivalent of maybe a half-dozen draws from another device (your mileage may vary--just guessing on those #s, of course). That's a rave and a warning for anyone else who thinks their tolerance is so high they can't be rocked off their arse anymore.
I would love to take a second look at the Cloud when I have more than 15 minutes to hang out--as I mentioned, I remain curious about the taste and the performance with different grinds. But for now I just want to tip my hat to SM55, the Steve Jobs of pot, for a beautiful, elegant machine that's going to make a lot of people's lives more pleasant.
The Cloud team deserves all the success they are sure to earn with this thing.
Does anyone have a name for this low life?
