Say Hello To My Little Friends

Another home brew lesson learned the hard way: Never store bottle conditioned beer in the refrigerator. Yeast, that magical wonderful ingredient we all know and love, will continue to work on, and better your beer as time goes on. Refrigerating your home brew is like yeast genocide, killing it and rendering a potentially wonderful beer a just ok one. Remember, yeast is our friend. Give it a nice warm home, some food, and a little oxygen at the beginning and it will return the favor.

Backseat Driving

My brother-in-law on his dad's new GPS navigation device: "Boy, I bet this has saved a lot of marriages."

classic...

Q&A

Some have been asking, so here is the answer. I just ordered the ingredients for my third batch of home brew. It's Josh's Special Porter. That is just a code name of course, like "Dolphin," or "Revolution." I'm anxious to get another one going.

Update

For those following along at home, this was a few months ago:

Every time I walk into her office I see it, sitting there, perched on her desk. It angers me. They thought I wouldn't notice, wouldn't notice the late night, weekend switch...but I did. I noticed it first thing Monday morning. Something was amiss. Someone had been to my desk, and now it was gone. They thought I would think it was the same one, same size, same everything, but it was not. Mine was better, and they knew it, and they became jealous. And now when I see my screen on her desk, it angers me.

Update:

Go ahead, you can have the puny 22 inch. The future for me is looking good...looking good on a 24 inch giant. mwaaa ha ha ha.

God Jul

Oh yeah...Merry Christmas! And God Jul to my Swedish readers.

Failure

The last two times my older brother has been home, I have been quite enamored, and admittedly a little afraid of his iPhone. I like to think I use technology with the best of them, but this was so far beyond me and my three year old, free Alltel phone, that my mind couldn't comprehend it. They shouldn't call it a phone, it's not a phone. It's one step away from being sentient.

One of the cooler things though was being able to read my blog on it! It was my blog, only miniature. I had plans to post from the iPhone. It obviously didn't happen. I, uh, couldn't figure out how to do it. So this is my iPhone post, from the comfort of my PC. I might catch up...

...one of these days.

Guest Post

Since I have been tied up and unable to post much recently, I am going to post a guest entry. (without consent of the author mind you) This was a comment on one of my previous posts, so some might recognize it, but I thought it warranted more screen time.

Meanderings by Brandon
1. he who has none of the answers has all of the answers. or if you prefer, he who has all of the answers has none of the answers

2. even the tallest shower head gets the shortest man wet

3. thomas jefferson- "if men were angels no gov't would be necessary."paradox- gov'ts are comprised of men.

you're welcome
b

Dark Beer

A little while back I discussed a few misconceptions people have about craft beer and drinking other things than macro lagers. Well, the point was driven home last night once again. I was at a new liquor store that had a pleasantly wide selection of beer. It is also on my way home from work (sort of) so that was a bonus. I picked up just two bottles of Boulevard's specialty beers that I needed to try, went to pay, and this was the ensuing conversation:

Me: So have you tried this Saison?

Guy: No, I'm just starting to get into "dark beer."

Me: (winced) speechless

This Saison is definitely not a dark beer, far from it in fact. One shouldn't use the phrase "dark beer" colloquially to describe anything that doesn't say Coors or Bud on it.

I'm not trying to be a beer snob, I just am trying to shed some light on the fact that a majority of people have an image of what beer is, or what a person who likes to drink beer is and it is wrong. A good beer has just as much if not more flavor and complexity as wine, but society has held up wine as a more refined, sophisticated drink. So I can see how these misconceptions are born...but it doesn't mean I have to go along with them.

Unfair

As he sat slurping down the remnants of a nostalgic bowl of chicken-flavored Ramen noodle soup, he couldn't help but think of his family. Seventy five miles away they were dining on a Swedish feast of his favorites. Spicy potato sausage, Swedish meatballs, lutefisk and potatoes, Swedish tea rings and creamy ostkaka for dessert washed down with egg coffee. Everyone was full and happy, listening to Swedish folk songs, singing the night away. He decided to go to bed...damn that Ramen.

Question

Why is it that the more "successful" (I use that term loosely) we become in our professional lives, the less time we have for the things that we really enjoy?

e.g. blogging

Damn the electric fence.