The sausage pipe scenario

As part of our long-standing commitment to covering all the key developments in the war on drugs, we present the following important technological breakthrough:

During three years of blog entries, which are now accessible only through an archive search, Bator describes life as a cook at Village Inn [an IHOP-style chain].

In some entries, Bator writes about his co-workers' personal lives, including inter-kitchen relationships and drug use on the shift. There are detailed instructions for the fabrication of a marijuana pipe made from a Village Inn sausage, constructed after a worker left a real marijuana pipe at home.

"It's not quite as complicated as an internal combustion engine, but you should still be impressed. Sausage is a surprisingly difficult medium to create anything out of other than biscuits and gravy," Bator wrote.

A video on YouTube.com showed Village Inn employees demonstrating its use -- while in uniform and in the kitchen, no less -- and a diagram and two photographs were included in the lawsuit.

Bator said this week that the sausage pipe scenario made him laugh, and he felt like it was worth sharing with friends. He said to Village Inn's credit, the pipe-maker -- himself -- no longer works at the restaurant.

Sadly, I knew I had hit a new low in life when I found myself typing the words "sausage pipe" into YouTube's search box. Alas, this video has proven elusive, like my dignity.