New to pipes

[El_Fumador]

I ended talking to one of the regulars at the local B&M as we were waiting for the store to open, and he turned out to be a pipe-smoker. I tried smoking a pipe for a few weeks in college 20 years ago, but never took it up seriously. Anyway, as of this afternoon, I'm the proud owner of a no-name estate briar, a pack of pipe cleaners and 1 oz of Penzance. The pipe needs to be cleaned, but looks to be in good shape to my novice eye...

Let me know any sage words of wisdom that you guys may have, like "don't talk to strangers smoking pipes"...