Football Epilogue

The new one gallon keg. Okay, more like 4 bottles and a one gallon keg. Alas, it was time to bottle my latest brew. I again went to Mr. Beer for a two gallon extract kit. I was able to get a lager and an Oktoberfest refill for rather cheap. This was my first time doing a lager. I stuck almost strictly to the kit except I added a little extra corn syrup for what is hopefully some extra fermentation/alcohol content. Bottling was a little more exciting this time as I picked up a one gallon keg with a small regulator and some food grade CO 2 charges . This means I'm able to enjoy some suds with some suds right away. Typical bottling requires a secondary fermentation with "priming" sugar to produce the CO 2 . This takes three-ish weeks after bottling to achieve decent tongue tinglyness. Cleaning and prepping the keg took a little extra research as I wanted to get any leftover oils, etc. from the manufacturing process off the keg; not to mention I'm intere...

This evening, my girlfriend and I picked up a potentially interesting hobby and activity: ballroom dancing. This momentous evening came out of my looking for an interesting birthday present for her. I wanted to find something simple, but fun and hopefully memorable. I chose the gift to be from  Fred Astaire dance studio(s)  largely on account of there being a  Groupon  available. What could be better than dragging my uncoordinated buttocks out onto the dance floor? As a couple of my old football teammates can attest, I have a knack for stepping on and probably even mutilating toes. I think I've even inadvertently stepped on my kids' toes a disproportionately high number of times. Sadly, it's not because I have size 14 feet. I've worn a humble size 11 since high school. I think it could really be a coordination thing.   I'll even argue that I possess some amount of rhythm as I do play guitar and know my way around a drum kit. I can just over, under or o...

...a new record for me (I think). I was took a mental and physical holiday last weekend and stayed with my aunt and uncle near Portland. I had a dear old friend getting married which presented the opportunity. I decided I was just going to try to be helpful, but in the moment for the duration of the trip. I was able to maintain that for the most part. As the title says I got to play a bit of golf at Tri-Mountain Golf Course in Ridgefield, WA. Admittedly my diet wasn't the best as there were many beers consumed, some from a high school friend's brewery in Seattle ( Chainline Brewery ), but it was overall good for the soul to see good family, old friends and relax a little.

I love traveling for work. In some ways it's like a vacation without taking the PTO. This is particularly true of conferences. I'm in Phoenix for the "International Microwave Symposium" (the communications type, not the cooking type). It's sunny and warm for my Minnesotan self. Two things typically suffer when I'm on tavel. My diet and my exercise. Too much beer and hors d' oeuvres are typically consumed as a part of social events and I spend a lot of time sitting in various presentation sessions. Really, I try not to beat myself up too badly, but trips can also have the effect of throwing off my exercise schedule once I'm back home. That said, I have a couple small accomplishments so far this time around: I've taken several walks around downtown, particularly after meals.  I got my HIITs cardio and ab session in last night I've had a salad for dinner each night and managed to avoid most sugary stuff during the day. The goal will ...