No one will get the title for this post. It was something that one of the guys in my boot camp company used to say. I tend to be something of a non sequitur at times, but I was originally just going to post a quick link. More about that later.
About a year ago, I posted how I had lost the spiritlurkers.com domain due to a billing snafu. Today I am glad to announce that I have regained the domain name and have it pointed back at my site. The site is extremely broken right now, but I will be working on it over the next few weeks off and on.
I gave the neighborhood a good show this morning getting into and out of the garage. During the -22 windchill nights of the last week, the spring for the garage door snapped, so it takes a monumental effort to open and close the door. My back just cannot take any more attempts. In a fit or retribution after getting hit on the top of the head for the second time, I broke out one of the windows in the garage door earlier this week. Today I climbed in through this window to investigate whether I could fix the door.
In order to do this, I had to get up on the deck chair and squeeze through to my waist. I then had to pivot with my hips on the sill so that my head inside the garage was down while my feet outside were now up in the air. Using my hands to walk forward on the garage door I eventually was able to wriggle in. This whole process was repeated in reverse to get back out. With any luck, no one actually witnessed my break in.
Part of the reason I was out in the garage was to look over the mash tun I built and get some measures. I ended up getting 2 turkey fryers for Christmas. Between these and the mash tun I made, I am going build a three-tier brew sculpture. This is why the measures were so vital!
It's pretty icy out and I am enjoying the fire, which was built using boxes/trash from the unwrapfest and wood gathered from my foray into the garage. Hope you all are safe and warm tonight.
Oh yeah, here's the link about our Christmas that was the reason I started this post in the first place.
fin
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
It's Christmas today, so merriness and blessings to you all out there. We had our annual unwrapfest this morning, but more about that later.
This fall I have not blogged much at all. I didn't even attempt NaNoWriMo. It's been really tough around here. After Heidi's strokes in October, she has had a series of hospitalizations due to her continued poor health. She has been diagnosed with coronary and renal artery diseases. Her blood pressure had been going through the roof and her EKGs had been becoming more irregular. Finally almost 2 weeks ago they put a stint in one of her coronary arteries. This seems to have given her a boost in energy. At least she hasn't been getting winded just trying to go upstairs to bed.
This has made things in a stressful house even more so. With Heidi unable to work Christmas was looking pretty bleak. For the first time ever we could not even buy anything for the kids. Luckily there was a church in town that was looking for flood victims to adopt during Christmas. It turned out 2 separate groups had adopted us. The Regina kids and the Chick-Lits. These groups took what was sure to be the worst Christmas and turn it into one of the best ever, especially for the kids. I'm not an overly religious guy, but sometimes prayers are answered.
I don't care about getting stuff. As a man though you feel like a failure if you can't even get your kids a toy for Christmas. Those worries are all over though now. My kids got electric guitars, doll houses, video games and pretty much everything they wanted. My mom really made my daughter's day by giving her an American Girl doll (that has a hockey jersey, stick and puck) of her own to carry around. She's just beaming.
Grandma actually got to see us in our early morning bleariness via webcam this morning. It was pretty cool actually that she could sit there in Vermont, but also be in our living room here in Iowa.
This year has been a real trial, but today sure helped put a better spin to it. I hope you all have a happy, healthy Christmas and New Year.
This fall I have not blogged much at all. I didn't even attempt NaNoWriMo. It's been really tough around here. After Heidi's strokes in October, she has had a series of hospitalizations due to her continued poor health. She has been diagnosed with coronary and renal artery diseases. Her blood pressure had been going through the roof and her EKGs had been becoming more irregular. Finally almost 2 weeks ago they put a stint in one of her coronary arteries. This seems to have given her a boost in energy. At least she hasn't been getting winded just trying to go upstairs to bed.
This has made things in a stressful house even more so. With Heidi unable to work Christmas was looking pretty bleak. For the first time ever we could not even buy anything for the kids. Luckily there was a church in town that was looking for flood victims to adopt during Christmas. It turned out 2 separate groups had adopted us. The Regina kids and the Chick-Lits. These groups took what was sure to be the worst Christmas and turn it into one of the best ever, especially for the kids. I'm not an overly religious guy, but sometimes prayers are answered.
I don't care about getting stuff. As a man though you feel like a failure if you can't even get your kids a toy for Christmas. Those worries are all over though now. My kids got electric guitars, doll houses, video games and pretty much everything they wanted. My mom really made my daughter's day by giving her an American Girl doll (that has a hockey jersey, stick and puck) of her own to carry around. She's just beaming.
Grandma actually got to see us in our early morning bleariness via webcam this morning. It was pretty cool actually that she could sit there in Vermont, but also be in our living room here in Iowa.
This year has been a real trial, but today sure helped put a better spin to it. I hope you all have a happy, healthy Christmas and New Year.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Update on Heidi
Well it turns out the doctor yesterday did not have the full story. Heidi did not have TIAs, she had an actual stroke. She has a few lingering issues. Her face still has numbness and a very slight palsy to one side. She has a bit of speech difficulty as well due to her face/mouth not functioning correctly. We are hopeful that these will resolve at some point, but we don't know at this point.
She's home tonight, and I got out of work early to get home with her. I built us a nice cozy fire and she is drowsing on the couch.
Thanks to all who offered their support. It means a lot to both of us.
We'll see what tomorrow brings us.
She's home tonight, and I got out of work early to get home with her. I built us a nice cozy fire and she is drowsing on the couch.
Thanks to all who offered their support. It means a lot to both of us.
We'll see what tomorrow brings us.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Bursting Bubbles
Obviously I must have been too happy about how things were going last week, because this week sucks.
Heidi is in the hospital again. She has had at least 2 TIAs which are known as mini strokes. On Saturday she complained her face was numb, she had tunnel vision and felt dizzy. These are not unusual complaints of hers, however she usually doesn't have all three together, so I told her to lay down and rest and see if that made her feel better. She did and seemed a little better later on. I even mentioned to her that I didn' think it could be a stroke because I remember my grandfather's strokes and he had amnesia and weakness on one side along with what Heidi was feeling. Well while I may have been technically right, I told her just the wrong thing to do.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA, often colloquially referred to as “mini stroke”) is caused by the temporary disturbance of blood supply to a restricted area of the brain, resulting in brief neurologic dysfunction that persists, by definition, for less than 24 hours; if symptoms persist then it is categorized as a stroke. So a TIA is what Heidi had. Patients diagnosed with a TIA are sometimes said to have had a warning for an approaching stroke. If the time period of blood supply impairment lasts more than a few minutes, the nerve cells of that area of the brain die and cause permanent neurologic deficit. One third of the people with TIA later have recurrent TIAs and one third have a stroke due to permanent nerve cell loss. This is pretty scary.
Heidi has high blood pressure and diabetes, two big strikes against her in the stroke risk factor category. On Monday morning she got really bad again and was slurring her speech along with the other syptoms. Her sister took her to the hospital since I was at work and they admitted her.
I really don't know what I can do for her at this point, but for now she seems to have no permanent effects from this episode. Still the doctors have to find the source of these blockages or effective blood thinning agents to help prevent more or worse occurances.
I wish I could take this on for her!
Anyways, she's at the University of Iowa Hospital, one of the best places in the state, so I have to trust her to these folks, which is tough as hell for a guy like me, for now. I will update again when I know more.
Heidi is in the hospital again. She has had at least 2 TIAs which are known as mini strokes. On Saturday she complained her face was numb, she had tunnel vision and felt dizzy. These are not unusual complaints of hers, however she usually doesn't have all three together, so I told her to lay down and rest and see if that made her feel better. She did and seemed a little better later on. I even mentioned to her that I didn' think it could be a stroke because I remember my grandfather's strokes and he had amnesia and weakness on one side along with what Heidi was feeling. Well while I may have been technically right, I told her just the wrong thing to do.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA, often colloquially referred to as “mini stroke”) is caused by the temporary disturbance of blood supply to a restricted area of the brain, resulting in brief neurologic dysfunction that persists, by definition, for less than 24 hours; if symptoms persist then it is categorized as a stroke. So a TIA is what Heidi had. Patients diagnosed with a TIA are sometimes said to have had a warning for an approaching stroke. If the time period of blood supply impairment lasts more than a few minutes, the nerve cells of that area of the brain die and cause permanent neurologic deficit. One third of the people with TIA later have recurrent TIAs and one third have a stroke due to permanent nerve cell loss. This is pretty scary.
Heidi has high blood pressure and diabetes, two big strikes against her in the stroke risk factor category. On Monday morning she got really bad again and was slurring her speech along with the other syptoms. Her sister took her to the hospital since I was at work and they admitted her.
I really don't know what I can do for her at this point, but for now she seems to have no permanent effects from this episode. Still the doctors have to find the source of these blockages or effective blood thinning agents to help prevent more or worse occurances.
I wish I could take this on for her!
Anyways, she's at the University of Iowa Hospital, one of the best places in the state, so I have to trust her to these folks, which is tough as hell for a guy like me, for now. I will update again when I know more.
Monday, September 29, 2008
This Week in Coralville
It's been a busy week at the Toye homestead.
I finally finished my mash tun construction project. A mash tun is a vessel in which crushed grains and hot water are combined to convert the starches from the malted grain into sugars which the yeast will be able to ferment. It took 4 trips to the two hardware superstores in town because neither could manage to carry all the parts I needed. So after getting the braided hose, barbs, fittings, washers and valves and after 2 leaky tests, I now have a vessel that I think will work! This is in anticipation of my switch from extract to all-grain brewing. Next I need to procure a 7-8 gallon pot to boil the wort that is made in my new mash tun and a burner to heat it with.
I organized the garage, for the most part. This involved a lot of making shelves out to the roof joists and putting stuff we won't use much, like all the Xmas decorations and the camping stuff, up there. I also went through a bunch of boxes and found a few things that I thought we had lost forever, so that was very encouraging. I wish I could say this was just because I decided that the garage needed to be clean, but I wanted things that could be ruined by water/melting snow up and off of the floor. I also wanted the place cleaner so that when it does get to be brewing time, I have less work to do. I am banished from the house due to overwhelming fumes reminiscent of green bean and whoppers when I brew. I also fixed the window that I broke while breaking in the weekend Heidi drove off with the garage door opener for 2 days. I felt productive at least!
I also got a chance to go out with Heidi on Saturday night after work. We went up to Cedar Rapids to catch an Inch 75 show. Actually I would not have gone except Heidi got there and the doorman wouldn't let her in without ID. So she had to trek all the way home and by that time I had gotten a chance to eat and change. It was a good time and Chris and the guys always put on a good show.
Tonight though was a proud papa night. Syd has hockey every Monday night and she has been really reluctant to let go of the chair and skate on her own. She was one of two last time and tonight still using the chair. Tonight however was the first night that they actually had pucks out there. Syd looked as though she decided the security of the chair was not as important to her as the fun of knocking around a puck. She made me really proud tonight and given the chance to use the chair again later on she said she was done with it. Go Syd! I am going to try to attach a crappy cell phone video of her tonight below.
This is not the only proud dad moment. Ian came home and he had a 100 on his Algebra midterm and a 96 on his American Studies midterm. He really seems to be happier in High School and his grades are much improved. Go Ian!
Video hopefully:
I finally finished my mash tun construction project. A mash tun is a vessel in which crushed grains and hot water are combined to convert the starches from the malted grain into sugars which the yeast will be able to ferment. It took 4 trips to the two hardware superstores in town because neither could manage to carry all the parts I needed. So after getting the braided hose, barbs, fittings, washers and valves and after 2 leaky tests, I now have a vessel that I think will work! This is in anticipation of my switch from extract to all-grain brewing. Next I need to procure a 7-8 gallon pot to boil the wort that is made in my new mash tun and a burner to heat it with.
I organized the garage, for the most part. This involved a lot of making shelves out to the roof joists and putting stuff we won't use much, like all the Xmas decorations and the camping stuff, up there. I also went through a bunch of boxes and found a few things that I thought we had lost forever, so that was very encouraging. I wish I could say this was just because I decided that the garage needed to be clean, but I wanted things that could be ruined by water/melting snow up and off of the floor. I also wanted the place cleaner so that when it does get to be brewing time, I have less work to do. I am banished from the house due to overwhelming fumes reminiscent of green bean and whoppers when I brew. I also fixed the window that I broke while breaking in the weekend Heidi drove off with the garage door opener for 2 days. I felt productive at least!
I also got a chance to go out with Heidi on Saturday night after work. We went up to Cedar Rapids to catch an Inch 75 show. Actually I would not have gone except Heidi got there and the doorman wouldn't let her in without ID. So she had to trek all the way home and by that time I had gotten a chance to eat and change. It was a good time and Chris and the guys always put on a good show.
Tonight though was a proud papa night. Syd has hockey every Monday night and she has been really reluctant to let go of the chair and skate on her own. She was one of two last time and tonight still using the chair. Tonight however was the first night that they actually had pucks out there. Syd looked as though she decided the security of the chair was not as important to her as the fun of knocking around a puck. She made me really proud tonight and given the chance to use the chair again later on she said she was done with it. Go Syd! I am going to try to attach a crappy cell phone video of her tonight below.
This is not the only proud dad moment. Ian came home and he had a 100 on his Algebra midterm and a 96 on his American Studies midterm. He really seems to be happier in High School and his grades are much improved. Go Ian!
Video hopefully:
Monday, September 15, 2008
New Place and the Kiddos
It's been a long and trying summer. We spent a little over a month living at my sister-in-law's house. It's a three bedroom duplex. We had our top mattress that we would put down and stand up kinda like a Murphy bed in her office/spare room. Syd slept in CT's bed. Ian slept on the hide-a-bed in the couch in the living room and CT and Bri slept in Bri's bed in her room. We managed fairly well but I really had hoped to be out before school started, but that is mid/late August here in Iowa, so it was 2 weeks after school started before we finally moved in here.
We are lucky to have found this place. I spent most of August scanning the papers and craigslist for open 3 bedrooms in the Iowa City area. Every time we went to look at a place there were like 3 or 4 other people looking there too. Rents jumped at least 100 bucks this year as so many displaced people were looking for new places to live. Add the college kids coming back to town and it was starting to look nearly impossible. We decided to take a Thursday (one of my days off) and drive around town and stop in places and look for 'for rent' signs. We had no luck all day and as we were headed back to Bri's house we saw a sign in this sleepy little neighborhood. We said what the hell and pulled in and gave the number a call.
The lady that answered said the duplex we had stopped at was available as was another down the street. She came right up the street and showed us the 3 bedroom. It was nice but the bedrooms were kinda small. Then we looked at the 2 bedroom. It had a finished basement and the master bedroom was huge. The carpets look like shit, but Ian has basicly the entire "basement" room to himself, which is a walkout to the backyard. There is a storage room, laundry room, fireplace, dining area, deck off the living room and patio outside Ian's room and 2 big closets in the master bedroom. There is also a one car garage.
The neighborhood is nice. It's a cul-de-sac with a little playground. Tons of kids around Syd's age. It borders on Brown Deer Golf Course and is in the same school district for Ian's high school but a nicer elementary (Kate Wickam) for Syd. Win, win, win, especially after spending the last three years in the crappy 'hood we were in. It is much more expensive than the last place but worth every damn dime. I love this place.
The biggest downside (other than the carpets) is that we had to give Tulip up for adoption. FEMA is supposed to do a story about her and hopefully she is placed with a family that can give her the room to run that she deserves. For all her pain in ass moments, she was a good dog and has gotten the worst out of this flood of all of us.
Ian seems to be be thriving in High School. All his teachers had great things to say about him at back to school night. Syd is struggling academically still, but much happier in her new school. There is a serious lack of thug kids to bother her here. She's still too little for the snobby girls to bother her yet I think, which is the problem she'll face here I think since it is the richer area of town. She's already mentioned some prissy girl who flaunts all the newest and greatest things her parents have bought her and put down other kids for not having them. Syd's not bothered by it though, she thinks the girl is a jerk to act that way.
Syd started hockey last week and had her second session tonight. I will be uploading pics to picasa in a little bit. (Pics are up here.) I am so proud of her!
Ian turned 15 yesterday. That makes me feel freakin old. We got him tickets to see his favorite band, Avenged Sevenfold, because it was all that he asked for. We gave them to him last Thursday and they announced on Friday morning that the lead singer strained his voice and the band cancelled all their shows for the rest of this year at his Dr's suggestion. There are 3 other bands on the bill though and he still wants to go, so we'll be treking out to the Quad Cities tomorrow night.
He and his mother made a trek out to Des Moines at 3am on his birthday to wait in line for Metallica tickets that went on sale at 5am. Most of the group there got tickets like 15 feet from the stage. The old lady he got stuck with misheard him and his ticket is for a section further back, but I think he'll end up being up with us since he actually braved the rain and crud to wait in line with Heidi and our friends.
Anyways it's getting late, and I am going to wrap this up. With us getting settled in I should be able to update more often.
ttfn
We are lucky to have found this place. I spent most of August scanning the papers and craigslist for open 3 bedrooms in the Iowa City area. Every time we went to look at a place there were like 3 or 4 other people looking there too. Rents jumped at least 100 bucks this year as so many displaced people were looking for new places to live. Add the college kids coming back to town and it was starting to look nearly impossible. We decided to take a Thursday (one of my days off) and drive around town and stop in places and look for 'for rent' signs. We had no luck all day and as we were headed back to Bri's house we saw a sign in this sleepy little neighborhood. We said what the hell and pulled in and gave the number a call.
The lady that answered said the duplex we had stopped at was available as was another down the street. She came right up the street and showed us the 3 bedroom. It was nice but the bedrooms were kinda small. Then we looked at the 2 bedroom. It had a finished basement and the master bedroom was huge. The carpets look like shit, but Ian has basicly the entire "basement" room to himself, which is a walkout to the backyard. There is a storage room, laundry room, fireplace, dining area, deck off the living room and patio outside Ian's room and 2 big closets in the master bedroom. There is also a one car garage.
The neighborhood is nice. It's a cul-de-sac with a little playground. Tons of kids around Syd's age. It borders on Brown Deer Golf Course and is in the same school district for Ian's high school but a nicer elementary (Kate Wickam) for Syd. Win, win, win, especially after spending the last three years in the crappy 'hood we were in. It is much more expensive than the last place but worth every damn dime. I love this place.
The biggest downside (other than the carpets) is that we had to give Tulip up for adoption. FEMA is supposed to do a story about her and hopefully she is placed with a family that can give her the room to run that she deserves. For all her pain in ass moments, she was a good dog and has gotten the worst out of this flood of all of us.
Ian seems to be be thriving in High School. All his teachers had great things to say about him at back to school night. Syd is struggling academically still, but much happier in her new school. There is a serious lack of thug kids to bother her here. She's still too little for the snobby girls to bother her yet I think, which is the problem she'll face here I think since it is the richer area of town. She's already mentioned some prissy girl who flaunts all the newest and greatest things her parents have bought her and put down other kids for not having them. Syd's not bothered by it though, she thinks the girl is a jerk to act that way.
Syd started hockey last week and had her second session tonight. I will be uploading pics to picasa in a little bit. (Pics are up here.) I am so proud of her!
Ian turned 15 yesterday. That makes me feel freakin old. We got him tickets to see his favorite band, Avenged Sevenfold, because it was all that he asked for. We gave them to him last Thursday and they announced on Friday morning that the lead singer strained his voice and the band cancelled all their shows for the rest of this year at his Dr's suggestion. There are 3 other bands on the bill though and he still wants to go, so we'll be treking out to the Quad Cities tomorrow night.
He and his mother made a trek out to Des Moines at 3am on his birthday to wait in line for Metallica tickets that went on sale at 5am. Most of the group there got tickets like 15 feet from the stage. The old lady he got stuck with misheard him and his ticket is for a section further back, but I think he'll end up being up with us since he actually braved the rain and crud to wait in line with Heidi and our friends.
Anyways it's getting late, and I am going to wrap this up. With us getting settled in I should be able to update more often.
ttfn
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Mini-post: Contest
Those of you that know me know that I am a big Neil Gaiman fan. There is a contest running at Fashionista Piranha with some fun prizes if you are interested as well.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Short and sweet
The main reason I am posting is because I saw a quote today. It has been a very long month that I am not ready to talk about yet, so don't look for a substantive post for a little while yet. Without further ado - (as opposed to the commonly misused adieu...)
Quotable Rogue:
MAC gave me 55 lipsticks to test. These are the same lipsticks I got caught stealing by the police when I was 15. How ironic.
-Eddie Izzard
Quotable Rogue:
MAC gave me 55 lipsticks to test. These are the same lipsticks I got caught stealing by the police when I was 15. How ironic.
-Eddie Izzard
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A little breathing room
I am sitting here writing this from my sister-in-law's home. Since I last wrote we have basically moved in with her temporarily. It is far from ideal for everyone, but it beats the hell out of hotels!
Wrapping up flood related BS, over the weekend I had the joy of trying to find things to salvage from the wreckage of our apartment. You can see the pics of the mess here. It was not very fun. In fact it was probably one of the most depressing things I've ever done in my life. I was especially upset seeing as I had to make a frantic drive from Des Moines back to Coralville. It seems the building inspector people were off by a couple days on when people would be allowed back in. I did however find a good chunk of Ian's coin collection among the few things that could be salvaged in the muck. Seeing him happy was worth the trip and the expense.
We have completed all the necessary forms and are waiting to hear back from the SBA about a loan to buy our household back. It's not that big a rush since we don't have anywhere to put stuff. To that end, we are taking what we were able to put up on the second floor into storage tomorrow. We are renting a 10x10 space that should hold it all, plus they are letting us use their truck. It will be a load off my mind having that stuff safe.
Speaking of keeping things safe, do not let my daughter near anything technological. In the past 5 days she has drowned my cell phone in the clothes washer as well as delivering a death blow by Gatorade to my wife's quite expensive digital camera. That SBA loan will come in very handy indeed.
On to brighter news, I finally got to try my batch of beer that I had bottled just prior to the flood. I am calling it Flood Mud to mark the occasion. I though it especially apropos due to the color of the beer and timing of this all. It is more of a brown porter than the robust porter that I had envisioned, but it is such a wonderful tasting beer that I don't mind. The bourbon is very faint and subtle in the back ground while the vanilla is nice and strong up front for now and should mellow nicely with age. Absolutely no odd tastes in there at all. It is a little light as far as mouth-feel and ABV go, but I don't mind a dark beer that I could drink 4 or 6 of on a hot day!
No quotes for now, I am lucky enough to have a 30% signal off someone in this neighborhood, so I am not pushing it to just idly surf.
ttfn
Wrapping up flood related BS, over the weekend I had the joy of trying to find things to salvage from the wreckage of our apartment. You can see the pics of the mess here. It was not very fun. In fact it was probably one of the most depressing things I've ever done in my life. I was especially upset seeing as I had to make a frantic drive from Des Moines back to Coralville. It seems the building inspector people were off by a couple days on when people would be allowed back in. I did however find a good chunk of Ian's coin collection among the few things that could be salvaged in the muck. Seeing him happy was worth the trip and the expense.
We have completed all the necessary forms and are waiting to hear back from the SBA about a loan to buy our household back. It's not that big a rush since we don't have anywhere to put stuff. To that end, we are taking what we were able to put up on the second floor into storage tomorrow. We are renting a 10x10 space that should hold it all, plus they are letting us use their truck. It will be a load off my mind having that stuff safe.
Speaking of keeping things safe, do not let my daughter near anything technological. In the past 5 days she has drowned my cell phone in the clothes washer as well as delivering a death blow by Gatorade to my wife's quite expensive digital camera. That SBA loan will come in very handy indeed.
On to brighter news, I finally got to try my batch of beer that I had bottled just prior to the flood. I am calling it Flood Mud to mark the occasion. I though it especially apropos due to the color of the beer and timing of this all. It is more of a brown porter than the robust porter that I had envisioned, but it is such a wonderful tasting beer that I don't mind. The bourbon is very faint and subtle in the back ground while the vanilla is nice and strong up front for now and should mellow nicely with age. Absolutely no odd tastes in there at all. It is a little light as far as mouth-feel and ABV go, but I don't mind a dark beer that I could drink 4 or 6 of on a hot day!
No quotes for now, I am lucky enough to have a 30% signal off someone in this neighborhood, so I am not pushing it to just idly surf.
ttfn
Friday, June 20, 2008
Before Video
To contrast the flood video of yesterday, I have posted a video from less than 24 hours earlier below.
We dropped off our dog at the humane society shelter the other day. It was pretty rough on the kids, but it should be good for Tulip. She will get her shots caught up and a checkup and all.
On a good note, we got our temp housing assistance from FEMA today. It will help a ton in making ends meet in the short term here.
Vid:
We dropped off our dog at the humane society shelter the other day. It was pretty rough on the kids, but it should be good for Tulip. She will get her shots caught up and a checkup and all.
On a good note, we got our temp housing assistance from FEMA today. It will help a ton in making ends meet in the short term here.
Vid:
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Flood Video
Here is my video of my place all flooded. It has taken me forever to get a connection that could handle the upload.
Vid:
Vid:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Floods
We are currently flooded out of our home. All spring I have been concerned about the amount of rain and the generally high level of the river by our house, but that all came to a head last week.
I took off from work early on Wed and we started packing things up. On Thursday I moved most of the stuff that absolutely could not be replaced and other important items up to a vacant apartment on the second floor of our building. About 4 or 5 in the afternoon we checked into the Baymont Inn to wait out the flooding. Everyone kept saying it was not going to amount to much, but I had told everyone that anything below the window level in our apartment should go up higher. There just was not enough time to move everything and we had to get out eventually.
It's a good thing we did. Thursday night the water came up 2 feet in 2 hours. It went from ankle deep to knee deep Thurs night to waist deep on Fri morning. Just before my son and I helped sandbag the local tattoo shop Thursday night, I went back and got the animals out. Later during the night Thursday people on my street had to be rescued by boat. Friday morning, after the water had come up so high and was being forecasted to go another 3 -5 feet, I dodged cops and national guardsman to go move stuff up to the landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors. I also grabbed our wedding album which we had forgotten was put up high in our apt. The water inside was up almost to my neck. Our apartment is a half in the ground apt, so it makes it worse for flooding (but better for tornados)
It was a mess inside. The couch and entertainment center were floating in the living room. My son's TV was floating in his room along with his dresser. My daughter's room was a mess of floating objects since none of her toys made it upstairs. This is where one of the biggest heartbreaks of my life occurred. My daughter is not too materialistic. Yes she likes to get things, but she isn't big on keeping things. She gives away a lot of what she has as well. She has one doll in particular that she treats like a real baby - Gracie. It's a baby shoo shoo doll. It is somewhat expensive, but a really life-like doll in the true size of a newborn. She carts that doll everywhere. Well she had rushed help in packing up her room and it got tossed in with all her dolls in a tote. That tote was floating around in her room mostly full of nasty flood water.
When I came back and told her it was probably gone in the flood, she lost it. All throughout this she and my son have been great, but that just crushed her. It still makes my heart hurt to think of it. She is always so willing to help everyone and give people whatever she can and the only item she really cares about is gone. It just isn't right. God bless her though, she hasn't dwelled on it and everyone has been great to her since. She's had some bad dreams since though and we brought her over to the FEMA councellors. It seems to have helped.
Speaking of our kids, my son has really impressed me throughout this entire time. He had been volunteering with different sandbagging operations since the Monday prior to this. Not many 14 year olds would do anything, much less ask for a ride to go sandbag. After some initially grouching (and what teen doesn't) he really buckled down and did an awesome job getting things up higher in his room and helping with the whole process. He hasn't bitched or whined about being put out. He also suffered a pretty big loss. His currency collection was definitely under water when I snuck back in. He is very anxious about it, but like my daughter, he hasn't been dwelling on it. He been pretty damn stoic in fact. He even wanted to sneak in and help me move things when I went back in on Friday, though there is no way I would let him get in that nasty water. I think we may have done some good things in raising him. He has really made me proud this last week.
I am all set with new shots though. We are in the Baymont 'til Thursday. We'll probably spend a night in the shelter on Thursday night and then head to Des Moines for the weekend or something. The casino is going to cut me a deal on a room for a few days and hopefully by the middle of next week my sister-in-laws road will be dry enough that she can get back in and we'll stay with her for a while I guess.
Until something like this hits, you just don't realize what and who you are truly thankful for. We have so many truly heartfelt thanks to all the folks who have been so great to us, and for all the offers of help. We will probably be taking you up on many of them in the coming weeks. If you've been hit by the floods, our prayers are with you as well.
We love you all.
Linkage - pics and some vids:
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/Flood4
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/Flood302
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/BriCam613
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/FloodPics
I took off from work early on Wed and we started packing things up. On Thursday I moved most of the stuff that absolutely could not be replaced and other important items up to a vacant apartment on the second floor of our building. About 4 or 5 in the afternoon we checked into the Baymont Inn to wait out the flooding. Everyone kept saying it was not going to amount to much, but I had told everyone that anything below the window level in our apartment should go up higher. There just was not enough time to move everything and we had to get out eventually.
It's a good thing we did. Thursday night the water came up 2 feet in 2 hours. It went from ankle deep to knee deep Thurs night to waist deep on Fri morning. Just before my son and I helped sandbag the local tattoo shop Thursday night, I went back and got the animals out. Later during the night Thursday people on my street had to be rescued by boat. Friday morning, after the water had come up so high and was being forecasted to go another 3 -5 feet, I dodged cops and national guardsman to go move stuff up to the landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors. I also grabbed our wedding album which we had forgotten was put up high in our apt. The water inside was up almost to my neck. Our apartment is a half in the ground apt, so it makes it worse for flooding (but better for tornados)
It was a mess inside. The couch and entertainment center were floating in the living room. My son's TV was floating in his room along with his dresser. My daughter's room was a mess of floating objects since none of her toys made it upstairs. This is where one of the biggest heartbreaks of my life occurred. My daughter is not too materialistic. Yes she likes to get things, but she isn't big on keeping things. She gives away a lot of what she has as well. She has one doll in particular that she treats like a real baby - Gracie. It's a baby shoo shoo doll. It is somewhat expensive, but a really life-like doll in the true size of a newborn. She carts that doll everywhere. Well she had rushed help in packing up her room and it got tossed in with all her dolls in a tote. That tote was floating around in her room mostly full of nasty flood water.
When I came back and told her it was probably gone in the flood, she lost it. All throughout this she and my son have been great, but that just crushed her. It still makes my heart hurt to think of it. She is always so willing to help everyone and give people whatever she can and the only item she really cares about is gone. It just isn't right. God bless her though, she hasn't dwelled on it and everyone has been great to her since. She's had some bad dreams since though and we brought her over to the FEMA councellors. It seems to have helped.
Speaking of our kids, my son has really impressed me throughout this entire time. He had been volunteering with different sandbagging operations since the Monday prior to this. Not many 14 year olds would do anything, much less ask for a ride to go sandbag. After some initially grouching (and what teen doesn't) he really buckled down and did an awesome job getting things up higher in his room and helping with the whole process. He hasn't bitched or whined about being put out. He also suffered a pretty big loss. His currency collection was definitely under water when I snuck back in. He is very anxious about it, but like my daughter, he hasn't been dwelling on it. He been pretty damn stoic in fact. He even wanted to sneak in and help me move things when I went back in on Friday, though there is no way I would let him get in that nasty water. I think we may have done some good things in raising him. He has really made me proud this last week.
I am all set with new shots though. We are in the Baymont 'til Thursday. We'll probably spend a night in the shelter on Thursday night and then head to Des Moines for the weekend or something. The casino is going to cut me a deal on a room for a few days and hopefully by the middle of next week my sister-in-laws road will be dry enough that she can get back in and we'll stay with her for a while I guess.
Until something like this hits, you just don't realize what and who you are truly thankful for. We have so many truly heartfelt thanks to all the folks who have been so great to us, and for all the offers of help. We will probably be taking you up on many of them in the coming weeks. If you've been hit by the floods, our prayers are with you as well.
We love you all.
Linkage - pics and some vids:
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/Flood4
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/Flood302
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/BriCam613
http://picasaweb.google.com/zalaster/FloodPics
Thursday, June 5, 2008
My Day Off - So Far
I spent this morning cleaning the kitchen in preparation of bottling my bourbon-vanilla porter. I started at 8 am. After washing and sanititing 2 cases of bottles (and running out to the store for carbonation drops) I was finally bottling by 10:00. At 11:30 I had 4 bottles shy of 2 cases bottled! I lost one whole bottle to a capping mishap. (Somehow I squeezed so hard on the bottle that I crushed a neat line all around the top of the bottle, effectively removing the entire top 1 inch of glass.) I lost at least a couple more beers to spillage, so I was almost dead on for two full cases. Yehaw!
My wife even got adventurous and decided to help towards the end of the process. She wanted to go to the end of the year picnic at my son's school and I think was getting nervous about how long it was taking me to get things done. Then she really shocked me by trying the porter from the half full end of the run bottle. She often says things like - they always smell so good, but then taste so bad - about dark beers. This time however she told me that this beer would taste good once it was cold. Thats about the best I've heard about anything I have made so far.
Before I put everything away I re-sanitized my racking equipment and racked the lilac wine to a one gallon carboy. Heidi thought it was a ridiculously small amount for all the work that went into it, but I explained that it will make about 4 bottles of wine when it is done. I of course did a taste test as well as suckering Heidi into trying it. It's very cidery and vinegarish right now, but there is potential there. I can taste a little of the sweetish white wine flavor underneath. I will probably have to rack again in a month since I got a good amount of sediment this time. I should have paid more attention while I was racking.
By noon I had everything cleaned up and we were out the door by 12:30. Not too shabby.
As a total non sequitur I came across this yahoo list today of the best 25 alternative bands of the 90's. Talk about a load of crap! No Pixies? (They didn't break up til 92-93.) No Jane's Addicition? No Front 242 or Ministry? No Soundgarden? No ska at all? Those are only a few of the omissions. The only Boston bands are Dinosaur Jr. and maybe the Breeders - but only one Bostonian does not make it a Boston band - just look at Weezer. Putting Nirvana at #10, not to mention Sonic Youth at #23? WTF is this guy smoking? It must be a total reactionary piece, just to get people pissy enough to comment or pass it along to others... if that is the case Mr. Rob O'Connor, you have succeeded. Otherwise it is a travesty of musical criticism.
Anyways, thats all for now. It's 2:00 and the kiddos will descend upon me and shatter the peacefulness I am so enjoying in a few minutes.
Final notes on Bourbon-Vanilla Porter: ABV ~ 4.3 - 4.5%; clean, clean, clean taste; 44 12 oz bottles; carbed with coopers carbonation drops; nice vanilla note without being overpowering - the porter character still comes through nicely; no hot alcohol taste at all.
My wife even got adventurous and decided to help towards the end of the process. She wanted to go to the end of the year picnic at my son's school and I think was getting nervous about how long it was taking me to get things done. Then she really shocked me by trying the porter from the half full end of the run bottle. She often says things like - they always smell so good, but then taste so bad - about dark beers. This time however she told me that this beer would taste good once it was cold. Thats about the best I've heard about anything I have made so far.
Before I put everything away I re-sanitized my racking equipment and racked the lilac wine to a one gallon carboy. Heidi thought it was a ridiculously small amount for all the work that went into it, but I explained that it will make about 4 bottles of wine when it is done. I of course did a taste test as well as suckering Heidi into trying it. It's very cidery and vinegarish right now, but there is potential there. I can taste a little of the sweetish white wine flavor underneath. I will probably have to rack again in a month since I got a good amount of sediment this time. I should have paid more attention while I was racking.
By noon I had everything cleaned up and we were out the door by 12:30. Not too shabby.
As a total non sequitur I came across this yahoo list today of the best 25 alternative bands of the 90's. Talk about a load of crap! No Pixies? (They didn't break up til 92-93.) No Jane's Addicition? No Front 242 or Ministry? No Soundgarden? No ska at all? Those are only a few of the omissions. The only Boston bands are Dinosaur Jr. and maybe the Breeders - but only one Bostonian does not make it a Boston band - just look at Weezer. Putting Nirvana at #10, not to mention Sonic Youth at #23? WTF is this guy smoking? It must be a total reactionary piece, just to get people pissy enough to comment or pass it along to others... if that is the case Mr. Rob O'Connor, you have succeeded. Otherwise it is a travesty of musical criticism.
Anyways, thats all for now. It's 2:00 and the kiddos will descend upon me and shatter the peacefulness I am so enjoying in a few minutes.
Final notes on Bourbon-Vanilla Porter: ABV ~ 4.3 - 4.5%; clean, clean, clean taste; 44 12 oz bottles; carbed with coopers carbonation drops; nice vanilla note without being overpowering - the porter character still comes through nicely; no hot alcohol taste at all.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Too many interests, not enough time
So I have a problem, but it is not such a bad problem to have. I have more interests than I have time for. I know we all lead busy lives, but it seems to be more and more true as the years go by.
I would like to brew at least once a month if not every other week, but thats a good few hours out of a Saturday and Saturdays seem to be pretty booked by others in my household. Plus I try to do it when my wife and daughter are not home as they are not fans of the brewing smells. (I however actually enjoy the aroma.) After I brew, at some point there is racking to secondary and/or bottling as well, so there is a chunk of (usually a Thursday since it is my other day off) morning as well. It is time I am glad to spend as the results have been improving. As I contemplate a transition to all-grain brewing I look to add at least a couple hours to brewdays for mashing and sparging and clean up, etc. Still worth it I think.
I am a voracious reader. My google reader must have a couple dozen feeds at least. This and email alone occupy an hour of my day. I am reading one book (and listening to another during drive to work time) at most times. I just downloaded all the D&D 4th ed books, so that will be a good amount of fairly critical reading. On top of all this I have a good number of books on Ireland and the Irish language, PHP, CSS and a ton of other subjects that I never seem to get around to. In the same vein, I love to write, but time always seems to slip away before I get around to it. I do however manage to get each week's gaming prep in, even if it is during breaks at work, which are thankfully plentiful.
I have at least 3 podcasts I like to listen to on a weekly basis and 2 video podcasts as well. My ipod time is usually spent on my audiobooks however. Oh and there are a few movies I have ripped to my ipod as well that I have never seemed to get around to watching.
Lastly there is fishing. The water has been far too high for my favorite fishing hole so far this year, but as the waters recede I will be out there fairly often. Since this is usually late at night and/or by myself, it is also a good time to listen to or watch things on my ipod though. Here's hoping the catfish get really big this spring and really hungry this summer - at least on the weekends that we aren't going to wine tastings and other events.
This isn't a whine post. I am glad to have this issue actually. This last weekend I actually had a great time with my daughter. We went to the farmer's market, to a yard sale with lots of irish things to buy and then I took her ice skating and to the children's museum. It was all stuff she wanted to do so nothing so much for me, but at the same time it was if you know what I mean. So how do you all manage your leisure time? I'll just be off over here buying friends as pets online and reading forums for a bit.
I would like to brew at least once a month if not every other week, but thats a good few hours out of a Saturday and Saturdays seem to be pretty booked by others in my household. Plus I try to do it when my wife and daughter are not home as they are not fans of the brewing smells. (I however actually enjoy the aroma.) After I brew, at some point there is racking to secondary and/or bottling as well, so there is a chunk of (usually a Thursday since it is my other day off) morning as well. It is time I am glad to spend as the results have been improving. As I contemplate a transition to all-grain brewing I look to add at least a couple hours to brewdays for mashing and sparging and clean up, etc. Still worth it I think.
I am a voracious reader. My google reader must have a couple dozen feeds at least. This and email alone occupy an hour of my day. I am reading one book (and listening to another during drive to work time) at most times. I just downloaded all the D&D 4th ed books, so that will be a good amount of fairly critical reading. On top of all this I have a good number of books on Ireland and the Irish language, PHP, CSS and a ton of other subjects that I never seem to get around to. In the same vein, I love to write, but time always seems to slip away before I get around to it. I do however manage to get each week's gaming prep in, even if it is during breaks at work, which are thankfully plentiful.
I have at least 3 podcasts I like to listen to on a weekly basis and 2 video podcasts as well. My ipod time is usually spent on my audiobooks however. Oh and there are a few movies I have ripped to my ipod as well that I have never seemed to get around to watching.
Lastly there is fishing. The water has been far too high for my favorite fishing hole so far this year, but as the waters recede I will be out there fairly often. Since this is usually late at night and/or by myself, it is also a good time to listen to or watch things on my ipod though. Here's hoping the catfish get really big this spring and really hungry this summer - at least on the weekends that we aren't going to wine tastings and other events.
This isn't a whine post. I am glad to have this issue actually. This last weekend I actually had a great time with my daughter. We went to the farmer's market, to a yard sale with lots of irish things to buy and then I took her ice skating and to the children's museum. It was all stuff she wanted to do so nothing so much for me, but at the same time it was if you know what I mean. So how do you all manage your leisure time? I'll just be off over here buying friends as pets online and reading forums for a bit.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Quotes
As soon as I make a post saying I haven't seen any quotes lately, I am sure to run across some, so here goes:
Quotable Rogue-
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
-Voltaire
Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief.
-James Russell Lowell
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
-Aristotle
Quotable Rogue-
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
-Voltaire
Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief.
-James Russell Lowell
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
-Aristotle
This week
Overall it's been a great week. Got my stimulus check and was able to buy Heidi a nice Mother's Day present as well as send some flowers to my mom. I however failed once again to get my brother something for his birthday, so I think I will pick something up and send it out as a combo housewarming/birthday present.
It is lilac season here in Iowa, so I went out and picked some for Heidi as I was walking the dog one night. The next day Heidi went and picked a ton more, enough so the whole appt smelled like a lilac thicket. After listening to a podcast about dandelion wine, I checked up on lilac wine. It seemed like a simple enough, though long, process. Needless to say after hours of tedious picking out lilac blossoms, I have just over a gallon of lilac wine starting fermentation right now. It will be a minimum of 6 months before it's ready, but so what, it will be a nice fall/winter treat I hope. I am feeling a lot more confident now that my blonde ale is carbed and pretty darn tasty, if I do say so my self.
Ian had his last eighth grade choir concert this week. I have been proud of his continued interest in music. He has taught himself guitar somewhat, can play piano a little and really does enjoy singing. (He sure doesn't look like he's enjoying himself during the concerts though, LOL.) It was a little bittersweet thinking that this is one more last thing before High School next year. He also got his headgear last week. He hates it, and I can't blame him for that at all. I wouldn't want to wear it either. At least he only has to wear it at night and not to school or out in public.
I am going to dive back into my books. I picked up the Shadow Rising on audiobook/mp3 and a couple WotC books this week.
It is lilac season here in Iowa, so I went out and picked some for Heidi as I was walking the dog one night. The next day Heidi went and picked a ton more, enough so the whole appt smelled like a lilac thicket. After listening to a podcast about dandelion wine, I checked up on lilac wine. It seemed like a simple enough, though long, process. Needless to say after hours of tedious picking out lilac blossoms, I have just over a gallon of lilac wine starting fermentation right now. It will be a minimum of 6 months before it's ready, but so what, it will be a nice fall/winter treat I hope. I am feeling a lot more confident now that my blonde ale is carbed and pretty darn tasty, if I do say so my self.
Ian had his last eighth grade choir concert this week. I have been proud of his continued interest in music. He has taught himself guitar somewhat, can play piano a little and really does enjoy singing. (He sure doesn't look like he's enjoying himself during the concerts though, LOL.) It was a little bittersweet thinking that this is one more last thing before High School next year. He also got his headgear last week. He hates it, and I can't blame him for that at all. I wouldn't want to wear it either. At least he only has to wear it at night and not to school or out in public.
I am going to dive back into my books. I picked up the Shadow Rising on audiobook/mp3 and a couple WotC books this week.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Next Batch Idea
| 15A. Porter, Robust Porter | Extract |
|
|
|
|
Fermentables
| % Weight | Weight (lbs) | Grain | Gravity Points | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70.6 % | 6.60 | Amber Malt Extract Syrup | 43.2 | 10.8 |
| 5.3 % | 0.50 | British Black Patent | 0.8 | 52.3 |
| 5.3 % | 0.50 | American Chocolate | 0.9 | 31.8 |
| 8.0 % | 0.75 | American Crystal 40L | 1.5 | 5.5 |
| 10.7 % | 1.00 | Light Dry Malt Extract | 8.2 | 0.4 |
| 9.35 | 54.6 |
Hops
| % Wt | Weight (oz) | Hop | Form | AA% | AAU | Boil Time | Utilization | IBU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Simcoe | Pellet | 12.0 | 6.0 | 60 | 0.045 | 26.8 |
| 50.0 % | 1.00 | Northern Brewer | Pellet | 8.0 | 8.0 | 15 | 0.013 | 10.2 |
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Cascade | Pellet | 5.5 | 2.8 | 1 | 0.002 | 0.4 |
| 2.00 | 37.4 |
Friday, May 2, 2008
Botlling Fun
I bottled up the blonde ale tonight. It has turned a little darker over the last week and with the addition of the priming solution, but damn if it didn't taste good. I think the sharpness I had detected earlier this week may be coming off of my testing tube. I added chili peppers to 9 bottles, including one 22 oz. bottle, so well see how that goes. This leaves 34 bottles of non-chili blonde ale. Woohoo!
I really want to make a porter (or a dry stout if not) next but finding Munich extract is next to impossible, and partial mashing at this stage does not sound like something I want to do.
It is just about time to pull my dinner out of the oven, but I saw a good quote today, so I am including it here. Quotable Rogue:
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
~Post-script~
I am on Twitter now as Zalaster, so follow me if you want!
I really want to make a porter (or a dry stout if not) next but finding Munich extract is next to impossible, and partial mashing at this stage does not sound like something I want to do.
It is just about time to pull my dinner out of the oven, but I saw a good quote today, so I am including it here. Quotable Rogue:
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
~Post-script~
I am on Twitter now as Zalaster, so follow me if you want!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Some Data
Here is some finished data on the blonde ale:
Still looking to bottle this week sometime.
I tasted the first batch. There is a distinct medicine-like taste to this that is likely due to pitching the yeast while the wort was too hot. The plain portion may calm with age, but the cherry extract portion is just far too much like robitussin. Lesson learned on that one. The plain portion will be okay I think, and even if not, it will make good beer brats.
I tasted the blonde ale last night after final testing and it is a little sharper than last time, but I am really looking forward to how it tastes after carbing and also to see how the chili experiment works out.
| OG | FG | OPlato | FPlato | |
| 1.062 | 1.012 | 15.20 | 3.07 | |
| %ABW | 5.335203 | RE | 5.261799 | |
| %ABV | 6.800033 | AA | 0.79835 | |
| RA | 0.654008 | |||
| Calories | 206.4312 |
Still looking to bottle this week sometime.
I tasted the first batch. There is a distinct medicine-like taste to this that is likely due to pitching the yeast while the wort was too hot. The plain portion may calm with age, but the cherry extract portion is just far too much like robitussin. Lesson learned on that one. The plain portion will be okay I think, and even if not, it will make good beer brats.
I tasted the blonde ale last night after final testing and it is a little sharper than last time, but I am really looking forward to how it tastes after carbing and also to see how the chili experiment works out.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Sydney's 5k River Run
My daughter has been participating in Girls on the Run this spring. This is an empowerment program focused on girls and healthy choices. As part of it, they train to run a 5k. Syd enjoyed the fall session so much (even though that 5k was during an ice storm in Dec) that she wanted to do it again this spring.
Today, or yesterday as I finally finish this post, she ran her second 5k. This time they did their 5k during a big event here in town, the annual River Run in Iowa City. It was pretty chilly at 9AM this morning, but all in all it was a nice day to run. Her and her running buddy started off at a decent pace and at an official time of 55 minutes (beating her time from Dec by at least 10 minutes) Syd crossed the finish line. She had a beaming smile that just showed just how proud she was of what she'd accomplished. I have to say that I am too!! Here are some pics from the run:
Finish Line
Today, or yesterday as I finally finish this post, she ran her second 5k. This time they did their 5k during a big event here in town, the annual River Run in Iowa City. It was pretty chilly at 9AM this morning, but all in all it was a nice day to run. Her and her running buddy started off at a decent pace and at an official time of 55 minutes (beating her time from Dec by at least 10 minutes) Syd crossed the finish line. She had a beaming smile that just showed just how proud she was of what she'd accomplished. I have to say that I am too!! Here are some pics from the run:
Starting Line
Finish Line
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Second Batch Testing
I decided to use a secondary fermentation on this batch and I think it was a great idea. My SG was 1.013 when I racked it over a week ago. Today it was at 1.012. This means that the blonde is at 6.5 to 6.8% ABV. The more important thing is the taste!
It is smooth with a dry finish. Not a big hop taste or bitterness to it, but a nice hop aroma though. This one is not going to need much conditioning at all I think. Carb it up and it will be ready to go. I am going to do a chili pepper experiment with like a 12 pack I think and see how that turns out.
Off to find a SG scale by temp formula to tie up what my exact OG was.
It is smooth with a dry finish. Not a big hop taste or bitterness to it, but a nice hop aroma though. This one is not going to need much conditioning at all I think. Carb it up and it will be ready to go. I am going to do a chili pepper experiment with like a 12 pack I think and see how that turns out.
Off to find a SG scale by temp formula to tie up what my exact OG was.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
I Believe
So I have always loved this passage from American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I am adding it here, even though it is not appropriately roguish.
~~
~~
~~
"Who did kill those men?" she asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"I would." She sounded angry now. He wondered if bringing the wine to the dinner had been a wise idea. Life was certainly not a cabernet right now.
"It's not easy to believe."
"I," she told him, "can believe anything. You have no idea what I can believe."
"Really?"
"I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen-I believe that people are perfectible, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkledy lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like the Martians in War of the Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself. I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck. I believe that anyone who says that sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it." She stopped, out of breath.
Shadow almost took his hands off the wheel to applaud. Instead he said, "Okay. So if I tell you what I've learned you won't think that I'm a nut."
"Maybe," she said. "Try me."
~~
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Second Brew
Since my testing boosted my confidence last night, I decided to brew up my second batch today. I am making a blonde ale that may or may not have a portion become chili ale. It depends on how the ale itself comes out.
Anyways, the recipe thusfar: 5 gal batch, 4# Dry Light Pilsen Malt, 2# Dry Light Golden Malt, 1# 20L Crystal Malt, 2/3# cane sugar, 1 tsp Irish Moss, Safeale US-05 yeast.
Hops: 1 oz. Cascade 5.8 AA at 60 min, .5 oz. Cascade 5.8 AA at 3 min.
My OG is at 1.061 which is exactly in line with what online calculators predicted, so I seem to have done everything right. It's gone fairly smoothly so far, just waiting for the wort to cool so I can pitch the rehydrated yeast.
Anyways, the recipe thusfar: 5 gal batch, 4# Dry Light Pilsen Malt, 2# Dry Light Golden Malt, 1# 20L Crystal Malt, 2/3# cane sugar, 1 tsp Irish Moss, Safeale US-05 yeast.
Hops: 1 oz. Cascade 5.8 AA at 60 min, .5 oz. Cascade 5.8 AA at 3 min.
My OG is at 1.061 which is exactly in line with what online calculators predicted, so I seem to have done everything right. It's gone fairly smoothly so far, just waiting for the wort to cool so I can pitch the rehydrated yeast.
Friday, April 11, 2008
First Test
The bubbles on my beer have slowed to once every few minutes now, so I decided to use that as an excuse to test it. (Secretly I really just wanted to taste it, but the testing is important too.)
I had to rig something for removing the stopper since I had pushed it too far down inside last time, so I boiled a bobby pin bent up like an anchor (the wall type, not the sea type) and tied it off with dental floss, this allowed me to push the stopper inside the carboy without dropping it down into the beer. Yay!
I siphoned out a little bit of the beer into my testing tube. The aroma was strong, slightly astringent from the greenness of the beer and a bit of hops to it. The color was only slightly darker than I had hoped for, sort of a caramel shade. This was a pleasant surprise since it looks so dark in the carboy. I took the gravity and got 1.020. This means that the beer is currently 6.93% alcohol by volume. I'm only expecting around 75% attenuation so it has about 1-2% left to go.
It's flat of course - lacking carbonation - and it definitely tastes green. There is a bit more bitterness than I had planned for, but that's to be expected with my hopping mistake. There's a hotness to the alcohol too. Both of these improve with aging, so aging will do this beer some good. There is wheat note to it, but not as strong as say a boulevard. There's no off flavors that I could detect at this point, but I don't have the most refined palate. Overall I am very happy so far!
Maybe I'll start the blonde ale this weekend!
I had to rig something for removing the stopper since I had pushed it too far down inside last time, so I boiled a bobby pin bent up like an anchor (the wall type, not the sea type) and tied it off with dental floss, this allowed me to push the stopper inside the carboy without dropping it down into the beer. Yay!
I siphoned out a little bit of the beer into my testing tube. The aroma was strong, slightly astringent from the greenness of the beer and a bit of hops to it. The color was only slightly darker than I had hoped for, sort of a caramel shade. This was a pleasant surprise since it looks so dark in the carboy. I took the gravity and got 1.020. This means that the beer is currently 6.93% alcohol by volume. I'm only expecting around 75% attenuation so it has about 1-2% left to go.
It's flat of course - lacking carbonation - and it definitely tastes green. There is a bit more bitterness than I had planned for, but that's to be expected with my hopping mistake. There's a hotness to the alcohol too. Both of these improve with aging, so aging will do this beer some good. There is wheat note to it, but not as strong as say a boulevard. There's no off flavors that I could detect at this point, but I don't have the most refined palate. Overall I am very happy so far!
Maybe I'll start the blonde ale this weekend!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
First Brew followup
Fermentation really took off shortly after my last post. I had to set up a blow off tube in fact. The krausen has settled now and the airlock is back on and I have nearly constant bubbling. It is fascinating to watch the beer churning in the carboy!
Here is my recipe. (Note the rockin' 7.1% Alcohol by Volume, LOL)
Fermentables
I think I will bottle half of it with Cherry extract and see how that works out.
Here is my recipe. (Note the rockin' 7.1% Alcohol by Volume, LOL)
| 17D. Wheat Beer, Weizenbock | Extract |
|
|
|
|
| % Weight | Weight (lbs) | Grain | Gravity Points | Color |
| 38.4 % | 3.30 | Light Malt Extract Syrup | 24.9 | 1.5 |
| 38.4 % | 3.30 | Wheat Malt | 28.6 | 1.2 |
| 11.6 % | 1.00 | Light Dry Malt Extract | 10.0 | 0.4 |
| 11.6 % | 1.00 | Belgian Candi Sugar Amber | 10.0 | 16.7 |
| | 8.60 | | 73.5 | |
Hops
| % Wt | Weight (oz) | Hop | Form | AA% | AAU | Boil Time | Utilization | IBU |
| 50.0 % | 1.00 | Willamette | Pellet | 4.6 | 4.6 | 60 | 0.048 | 22.2 |
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Willamette | Pellet | 4.6 | 2.3 | 40 | 0.038 | 8.7 |
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Willamette | Pellet | 4.6 | 2.3 | 5 | 0.009 | 2.0 |
| | 2.00 | | | | | | | 33.0 |
I think I will bottle half of it with Cherry extract and see how that works out.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Brewsday
I managed to finally get a batch of beer brewed. It was a long process and I made quite a few mistakes, but overall I think it went okay.
I decided to make a wheat ale. I have a 3.3 can of liquid wheat malt extract, a 3.3 Light LME and about a pound of golden light malt extract added to 2.5 gal of boiling water. I added 1 oz. of 4.6AA Willamette hops at 60 minutes left. After this I made my first mistake, I added the next .5 oz of Willamette hops at 40 minutes left instead of 30, not too major but a boost to the bitterness. Right after this I realized that I had not added the 1 pound of belgian candi sugar, so at the 30 min mark, it went in. This broke the boil for a minutes or two. To make up for the early hops I added the last .5 oz of Willamette at the 5 min mark instead of 10.
I took the OG and it was 1.072 which is pretty freaking high. I probably didn't need the DME or the candi, but I had read some things that they added to this style well, so we'll see.
Next I pitched the yeast as the wort was cooling. My starter from the previous night had fizzled, so I hydrated some dry active brewers yeast but misfollowed the directions slightly. I don't think it damaged the yeast though.
My major mistake is that I added my yeast soon after this, forgetting to take the wort temp. I figure it was in the high 80's when I pitched it, which is not very good. I really wanted to wait until the low 70's. I may have killed off some yeast there.
I originally had a blowoff tube attached to the bung on the carboy, but it was too cumbersome to set up in the space I have. When I was switching the blowoff tube to an airlock though, I almost pushed the cork all the way down completely through the neck into the beer. I still dont know how I am going to get it out, but it is bubbling every 15-30 seconds or so now.
One last thing though, it is considerably darker than I had hoped as well. We'll see if some of the color mellows during fermentation. I tasted the wort. It was pretty good actually. We'll see what it's like after I rack to secondary.
I decided to make a wheat ale. I have a 3.3 can of liquid wheat malt extract, a 3.3 Light LME and about a pound of golden light malt extract added to 2.5 gal of boiling water. I added 1 oz. of 4.6AA Willamette hops at 60 minutes left. After this I made my first mistake, I added the next .5 oz of Willamette hops at 40 minutes left instead of 30, not too major but a boost to the bitterness. Right after this I realized that I had not added the 1 pound of belgian candi sugar, so at the 30 min mark, it went in. This broke the boil for a minutes or two. To make up for the early hops I added the last .5 oz of Willamette at the 5 min mark instead of 10.
I took the OG and it was 1.072 which is pretty freaking high. I probably didn't need the DME or the candi, but I had read some things that they added to this style well, so we'll see.
Next I pitched the yeast as the wort was cooling. My starter from the previous night had fizzled, so I hydrated some dry active brewers yeast but misfollowed the directions slightly. I don't think it damaged the yeast though.
My major mistake is that I added my yeast soon after this, forgetting to take the wort temp. I figure it was in the high 80's when I pitched it, which is not very good. I really wanted to wait until the low 70's. I may have killed off some yeast there.
I originally had a blowoff tube attached to the bung on the carboy, but it was too cumbersome to set up in the space I have. When I was switching the blowoff tube to an airlock though, I almost pushed the cork all the way down completely through the neck into the beer. I still dont know how I am going to get it out, but it is bubbling every 15-30 seconds or so now.
One last thing though, it is considerably darker than I had hoped as well. We'll see if some of the color mellows during fermentation. I tasted the wort. It was pretty good actually. We'll see what it's like after I rack to secondary.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April Fools
Well, I got myself this year. I mistakenly thought that I would receive my profit sharing check today since it is the first day of the quarter. April Fools! It's not coming til the 10th. After some calls this morning we managed to get the automatic payments put off so I don't bounce things, whew.
Then I got home and there was no cable, not even a signal. It turns out that the cable guys were here today to disconnect the apartment upstairs, but instead they disconnected the whole building. April Fools! I managed to thoroughly convince the cable rep that they screwed up and they needed to fix it tonight, instead of tomorrow like they told my wife. An hour later - wallah - cable and internet. Otherwise I would not be blogging right now.
So this year, the joke's on me.
I found a qoute today that strikes me as roguish so here -
Quotable Rogue:
Virtue is its own punishment.
- Aneurin Bevan
Then I got home and there was no cable, not even a signal. It turns out that the cable guys were here today to disconnect the apartment upstairs, but instead they disconnected the whole building. April Fools! I managed to thoroughly convince the cable rep that they screwed up and they needed to fix it tonight, instead of tomorrow like they told my wife. An hour later - wallah - cable and internet. Otherwise I would not be blogging right now.
So this year, the joke's on me.
I found a qoute today that strikes me as roguish so here -
Quotable Rogue:
Virtue is its own punishment.
- Aneurin Bevan
Monday, March 31, 2008
WTF/AFK?
I just spent about a week with very limited internet, so I am glad to be back!
Not too much has been going on. We got out for a little while this last weekend. It was nice seeing folks that I hadn't seen for a bit. I went through my drawers some and uncovered some long lost t-shirts. Otherwise it was a quiet weekend.
I am getting more excited with the warmer weather. I have had visions of fishing and grilling. It should be a lot more fun this summer with Heidi's sis living so close to us all. That reminds me that I have to go get my fishing license though!
I have also been really itching to try brewing my first batch of beer. I have been waiting to buy ingredients until I had a little bit of cash, which may not be anytime soon unfortunately. I think I am going to make a cherry wheat the first time out and hopefully it doesn't suck. If I manage to not kill it I will try a specialty for my father-in-law's birthday.
Speaking of homebrewing, I saw this article about archeobrews. I must admit that the Midas Touch sounds interesting. I have been sampling a lot of different types of brews recently. Schell's Maifest is probably the best of what I have sampled lately.
On the weightloss front, I am hanging at a solid 20 lb loss right now. I think I may have hit a small plateau, but it has only been a week, so i am not going to worry yet.
I hope everyone enjoys April Fool's Day.
Quotable Rogue:
KLEPTOMANIAC, n. A rich thief.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
Not too much has been going on. We got out for a little while this last weekend. It was nice seeing folks that I hadn't seen for a bit. I went through my drawers some and uncovered some long lost t-shirts. Otherwise it was a quiet weekend.
I am getting more excited with the warmer weather. I have had visions of fishing and grilling. It should be a lot more fun this summer with Heidi's sis living so close to us all. That reminds me that I have to go get my fishing license though!
I have also been really itching to try brewing my first batch of beer. I have been waiting to buy ingredients until I had a little bit of cash, which may not be anytime soon unfortunately. I think I am going to make a cherry wheat the first time out and hopefully it doesn't suck. If I manage to not kill it I will try a specialty for my father-in-law's birthday.
Speaking of homebrewing, I saw this article about archeobrews. I must admit that the Midas Touch sounds interesting. I have been sampling a lot of different types of brews recently. Schell's Maifest is probably the best of what I have sampled lately.
On the weightloss front, I am hanging at a solid 20 lb loss right now. I think I may have hit a small plateau, but it has only been a week, so i am not going to worry yet.
I hope everyone enjoys April Fool's Day.
Quotable Rogue:
KLEPTOMANIAC, n. A rich thief.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Another post!
This makes two posts in one month! Time to celebrate... Actually, I found a couple of good quotes and wanted to add them but figured I could do some updates as well.
I picked up the brewing equipment yesterday and OMG! The fine family that responded to my freecycle post are my favorite people in the town of Tiffin now. I got everything I need except for sanitizer and a few of the actual ingredients. I am very excited to give it a go now. I think I am going to try an easy wheat beer for my first go, and split it up into regular and cherry in secondary fermentation. I don't have any great expectations, but I am very much looking forward to it.
I can't say enough good stuff about Freecycle. It saved me at least 50 bucks in equipment and if I were to buy a similar kit it would be over 100 bucks easily.
Anyways, gotta get ready for our D&D game tomorrow, so here are the Quotable Rogues for today:
Society produces rogues, and education makes one rogue cleverer than another.
-Oscar Wilde
He that first cries out stop thief, is often he that has stolen the treasure.
-William Congreve
I picked up the brewing equipment yesterday and OMG! The fine family that responded to my freecycle post are my favorite people in the town of Tiffin now. I got everything I need except for sanitizer and a few of the actual ingredients. I am very excited to give it a go now. I think I am going to try an easy wheat beer for my first go, and split it up into regular and cherry in secondary fermentation. I don't have any great expectations, but I am very much looking forward to it.
I can't say enough good stuff about Freecycle. It saved me at least 50 bucks in equipment and if I were to buy a similar kit it would be over 100 bucks easily.
Anyways, gotta get ready for our D&D game tomorrow, so here are the Quotable Rogues for today:
Society produces rogues, and education makes one rogue cleverer than another.
-Oscar Wilde
He that first cries out stop thief, is often he that has stolen the treasure.
-William Congreve
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Partrick's Day
It's been a month since I blogged and a lot has happened, but for now I want to say "Slainte!" to all my fellow (and faux) Irishmen out there. I have always been proud of my Irish heritage and this is one of my favorite days of the year. In a break with tradition I am actually not knocking back a few the year.
On that subject however, I am going to try homebrewing. I have been reading up on it a lot actually thanks to the Sam Adams ads for their brew challenge. Thanks to Freecycle I have procured much of the needed equipment. (I actually pick it up tomorrow.) Now I have to decide what to brew first.
In other news, I have been sucessful in going back on my diet. I have lost 20 lbs. so far! I have taken over as DM in our Thurs night sessions. Since I have been slacking on my writing it is a good creative outlet.
No quotable rogues for today, but I will keep an eye out for more.
Erin Go Braugh for you Irish supporters and Póg mo thóin to those who aren't.
On that subject however, I am going to try homebrewing. I have been reading up on it a lot actually thanks to the Sam Adams ads for their brew challenge. Thanks to Freecycle I have procured much of the needed equipment. (I actually pick it up tomorrow.) Now I have to decide what to brew first.
In other news, I have been sucessful in going back on my diet. I have lost 20 lbs. so far! I have taken over as DM in our Thurs night sessions. Since I have been slacking on my writing it is a good creative outlet.
No quotable rogues for today, but I will keep an eye out for more.
Erin Go Braugh for you Irish supporters and Póg mo thóin to those who aren't.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
On a serious note
On a serious note, my soon to be ex-brother-in-law assaulted my wife friday and it made the paper. I dugg it and am trying to bring as much attention to this asshole as possible, so if any of you want to digg it too feel free.
http://digg.com/people/Aunt_saves_boy_from_endangering_father
http://digg.com/people/Aunt_saves_boy_from_endangering_father
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Short Cuts
Saw this and had to post it
Quotable Rogue:
When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- CP Snow
Quotable Rogue:
When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- CP Snow
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
TimeFlies...
It's been a month since my last post! I just realized that after talking to a friend online today. I am not doing so well on my writing goals it seems. To be fair though I have been doing better with the workout area, so I am not going to beat myself up too much.
Speaking of, I very much overdid it at the outset. I worked my arms and triceps the first day. It felt a little sore that day, but the following night I could barely straighten out my arms. My triceps were so tight that I had to continually stretch them for the next 2 days. Needless to say I learned my lesson and took it easier on my following sessions.
We have a busy month coming up. We are headed to Des Moines the weekend after valentine's day. There is the Rick Springfield concert with friends coming out 2 weeks after that. I am also toying around with the idea of entering the heartland poker tour event out at Meskwaki at the beginning of March. So lots of fun to be had!
ttfn
Today's quotable rogue:
Many a thief is a better man than many a clergyman, and miles nearer to the gate of the kingdom.
-George MacDonald
and since its been so long, a bonus quote:
Many a man is saved from being a thief by finding everything locked up.
-Edgar Watson Howe
Speaking of, I very much overdid it at the outset. I worked my arms and triceps the first day. It felt a little sore that day, but the following night I could barely straighten out my arms. My triceps were so tight that I had to continually stretch them for the next 2 days. Needless to say I learned my lesson and took it easier on my following sessions.
We have a busy month coming up. We are headed to Des Moines the weekend after valentine's day. There is the Rick Springfield concert with friends coming out 2 weeks after that. I am also toying around with the idea of entering the heartland poker tour event out at Meskwaki at the beginning of March. So lots of fun to be had!
ttfn
Today's quotable rogue:
Many a thief is a better man than many a clergyman, and miles nearer to the gate of the kingdom.
-George MacDonald
and since its been so long, a bonus quote:
Many a man is saved from being a thief by finding everything locked up.
-Edgar Watson Howe
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Caucus Night
So I went to the caucus tonight. The less-organized, democratic flavored one of course. This was a new precinct for me from four years ago and my what a difference. I am glad that my 14 year old son decided to wander in and attend with me as well. It is a very good introduction to the greatness and sadness that is democracy.
The gymnasium was nearly at capacity, which was a good sign. 303 people in all were registered. I walked in with Obama and Edwards as my leading candidates. Immediately I noticed the number of Obama people was larger than I thought it would be. I decided I would wait and see how the groups shook out before choosing a camp. With a few minutes before the start, the Obama group had about overtaken half the gym and Edwards had hardly grown, so I went to the Edwards side. It was touch and go for a while, but Edwards finally got enough people to be viable and we nearly pulled enough people over to get a second delegate.
It was great that Ian got to see how a caucus works because next time around, he will be eligible to participate. He seemed genuinely interested in how things worked and picked up the basic gist of things. It was sad because he saw how crushed some people were that their candidates of choice were not viable. One woman was even crying openly. Hopefully he takes it as a lesson in how passionate people can or should be about the political process.
I'm glad Obama and Edwards came out on top tonight. I am happier tonight than I was 4 years ago. Most of all, I am glad that the phone calls and visits to my door will end!
The gymnasium was nearly at capacity, which was a good sign. 303 people in all were registered. I walked in with Obama and Edwards as my leading candidates. Immediately I noticed the number of Obama people was larger than I thought it would be. I decided I would wait and see how the groups shook out before choosing a camp. With a few minutes before the start, the Obama group had about overtaken half the gym and Edwards had hardly grown, so I went to the Edwards side. It was touch and go for a while, but Edwards finally got enough people to be viable and we nearly pulled enough people over to get a second delegate.
It was great that Ian got to see how a caucus works because next time around, he will be eligible to participate. He seemed genuinely interested in how things worked and picked up the basic gist of things. It was sad because he saw how crushed some people were that their candidates of choice were not viable. One woman was even crying openly. Hopefully he takes it as a lesson in how passionate people can or should be about the political process.
I'm glad Obama and Edwards came out on top tonight. I am happier tonight than I was 4 years ago. Most of all, I am glad that the phone calls and visits to my door will end!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year
It's now 2008. Whoohoo.
So anyways, I have decided in addition to writing more, I will read more. This is not just my own idea. I had read Steven King's On Writing. One thing he talked about was listening to (unabridged versions!) audiobooks, especially while driving. I saw an ad for Audible.com that offered a free download with a trial membership, so I signed up.
My initial download was Darkly Dreaming Dexter. I had seen the first season of Dexter on Showtime and really wanted to check out the book. Since I am terrible at returning anything like movie rentals or library books, this seemed like the perfect, not to mention cheapest, method for me. I have to say that while Audible.com is a clunky at best site to navigate, I thoroughly enjoyed the book once I finally had it onto my ipod.
I very much enjoyed the plot differences between the series and the book, and Lindsay's exploration of the Dark Passenger and his dark comedy were the high points of the book for me. This is especially brought out in the internal dialogue of Dexter. The shifts between first and third person are also very deft and not jarring as they are in some other books I've read.
I was so happy with being able to fit an extra book into my schedule by using my drive time to work that I decided to renew my membership when I got a special half price offer. Here is where Audible let me down. I punched in dexter in the search and navigated to the other book that was offered for Jeff Lindsay. Unfortunately, this is the third book of the series. The second book is not even offered on the site! Also, their bandwidth has really taken a drastic hit lately, making the download process almost literally painful. All said though, I am really liking the new Dexter book I have.
I have about 3 weeks to research my next download from them, any suggestions?
Non Sequitor - Comic: The Ungift, Part One
So anyways, I have decided in addition to writing more, I will read more. This is not just my own idea. I had read Steven King's On Writing. One thing he talked about was listening to (unabridged versions!) audiobooks, especially while driving. I saw an ad for Audible.com that offered a free download with a trial membership, so I signed up.
My initial download was Darkly Dreaming Dexter. I had seen the first season of Dexter on Showtime and really wanted to check out the book. Since I am terrible at returning anything like movie rentals or library books, this seemed like the perfect, not to mention cheapest, method for me. I have to say that while Audible.com is a clunky at best site to navigate, I thoroughly enjoyed the book once I finally had it onto my ipod.
I very much enjoyed the plot differences between the series and the book, and Lindsay's exploration of the Dark Passenger and his dark comedy were the high points of the book for me. This is especially brought out in the internal dialogue of Dexter. The shifts between first and third person are also very deft and not jarring as they are in some other books I've read.
I was so happy with being able to fit an extra book into my schedule by using my drive time to work that I decided to renew my membership when I got a special half price offer. Here is where Audible let me down. I punched in dexter in the search and navigated to the other book that was offered for Jeff Lindsay. Unfortunately, this is the third book of the series. The second book is not even offered on the site! Also, their bandwidth has really taken a drastic hit lately, making the download process almost literally painful. All said though, I am really liking the new Dexter book I have.
I have about 3 weeks to research my next download from them, any suggestions?
Non Sequitor - Comic: The Ungift, Part One
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