Random oddball stuff.
First thing I want to do is wish Erin from The Columbus Pioneer all the luck in the world on her new job in Madison. Congrats. The Pioneer is now known as the place you go to get a BETTER job, thanks.
Also Joe the Editor says the website will be updated every Friday afternoon . . . .unless more people get better jobs! So far 50% of all the people I have met at the CP have left! I almost feel responsible. It's like when I go to a party and everybody leaves to go to a better party. Weird.
=================
You all know what Monday is don't you? It's the 16th Annual Jimmy the Stick Day.
For the 16th consecutive year Jimmy the Stick will poke it's branch into the sky looking for it's shadow. So far he has stayed even with the other creature in that town south of Columbus. YET - eats less. In past years Jimmy the Stick has been to Las Vegas (where he was forgotten in the trunk for the entire trip) and almost held by the Air National Guard (before they realized just what I wanted them to do).
But Jimmy is feeling his age and I think I'll have to put some lotion on him as he is getting a little brittle. So tune in Monday for the festivities.
And speaking of sticks - I got these bone spurs in my foot that are causing me pain. I guess everybody has bone spurs, it's just that I have one that seems to have irritated some muscle so I'm on a ibuprofen high at the moment. WHOO HOO! BABY!! FEEL'IN MIGHTY FINE!!
Hey! Check out this you tube thing - it's pretty cool. Jimmy Carter is the first President to smile. Heck - I've never heard of a few of these guys LOL
====
=============
Anybody watch "24"? Next year (day) will be Jacks last and they are wondering if he should be killed or live happily ever after. But then the idea for a movie came up so I think they are thinking to NOT kill him.
So - who is the mole in the FBI ????? I hope it's not Janeane Garofalo (Janis Gold). Plus - the young Secret Service dude getting killed by a half paralyzed old First Husband? It ALMOST seems like they are just making stuff up and it's not real.
============
Ever really like a rock group and then see what they look like? OH MY GOD!!
I listen to Octane on Sirius/XM and last week a caller called in saying he was 40 and listened to Octane. The comment was afterword how it was nice to see someone THAT OLD listening to rock. THAT OLD??? What - am I suppose to be listening to Frank Sinatra? THAT OLD?
OK OK - so perhaps I'm not "into" the look of Slipknot (google them). On another note - this is the #1 song for that genre - check it out - dorky video but the music is fine - Shinedown.
And second to lastly - I want to say high to the dude in the Islamic Republic Of Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran. I think you are the first person to read the blog from Iran. National Geographic had an issue on Iran, what a beautiful Country you have.
AND lastly - I see 77 Square published something and put my name on it. I made a random comment on their website under the Public Enemies article they had last week and then I see it printed in this weeks paper.
I think if I would have known they would print that I would not have posted the comment. I'm a very private person and don't want everything I think and feel "out there". I'll have to be more careful.
And Columbus Pioneer notes. I see in the Want Adds under Pets you can buy dressed rabbits at $3 a pound. First of all what are they dressed in, is it work casual or formal? and this per pound thing. Never considered getting a pet by the pound.
(I think I'm now in trouble with the newspaper people - Mayor Nancy yesterday and now Joe the Editor).
OK - have a great weekend and Superbowl. Look for 1930's style advertisements "rumor" is there are a few of them but no Public Enemies.
OH - ONE MORE THING - I think our first place to eat will be . . . . . . .Nelsons Crossing in Deansville!
Cheers
Rod
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Julies Java House
.
First of all - run don't walk to the nearest store to get your Columbus Pioneer before they are sold out.
Also - if you look to the left side . . NOT YET . . you will see a place where if you enter your email address you can get this blog mailed to you. I'm not sure what happens if/when I update the blog seven times with spelling corrections, maybe you will get all seven updates ?????????
NOW LOOK!
In Governor Doyle's State of the State address last night he mentioned that in order to get the State budget on track there would be sacrifices. Damn!! That really puts me on edge. I had not known that it was SO bad there were be sacrifices. I thought he was going to lower the State workforce through attrition. I'm familiar with that term being a war gamer.
Attrition is when you send the Russian horde into the Tractor Works (Square Leader) and have to flip most of them over to half strength after a failed attack. So he was going to flip everybody over to half strength. BUT NOW - he is just going to sacrifice employees.
============================
Then I read that for the first time there are LESS press credentials being given out for the Superbowl. I really hope Joe Morey comes through and sends me to Florida, I think there would be a good story there. I'll be waiting next to my phone all day. JOE - I'm here!!!!
============================
I love it that Obama was ribbing Washington in a non Political way. He was commenting all day yesterday how Washington was being a little sissy when they closed schools with a 2 inch snowfall. "Folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things. Maybe they need some flinty Chicago toughness" he said.
============================
I see Summit Credit Union is all messed up again! Good Grief! They probably took money OUT of our accounts instead of depositing our checks! John? Is that you smiling?
=============================
We went to Julies Java House this morning before work to get those OUTSTANDING Vanilla Latte Muffins.
When we moveed to Columbus we asked around looking for a place to get coffee and muffins and so forth and were turned on to JJH. Very very nice place just past the Amtrak Station.
When you walk in you are greeted with smiling faces and the sweet smell of fresh baked goods and coffee and some guy kissing Julie. I hope she knew him, I didn't have a chance to get his photo but I'll be looking for that dude.
There is also a room for relaxing and drinking your coffee and I believe (but am not sure) that there is internet access?????
So if you are looking for good coffee, good muffins in a friendly atmosphere check it out, it's the morning place to go and gets Grinders Seal of Approval.
======================================
What is up with the Udey Dam and why should we save it???? Seriously, what is the story. I can understand saving something that looks great and is historical but I can't seem to find the damn dam and it SOUNDS like it is just a money pit.
I await to be informed! What up! We need a Udey Dam FAQ for the uninformed.
==============================
At least now we know what happened when the acting fire chief and a fire fighter were put on "administrative leave" (leave with pay which sounds more like a vacation to me).
It SEEMS a church gave a bunch of shovels to the Fire Department and one side thought they should stay with the fire department for filling sand bags and the other side said they should be donated to home owners for the flood.
I don't have a problem with either side. MY problem is . . . administrative leave? with pay? Here we are trying to save money and we give a couple guys a vacation? for a few months? I say if you are goign to do anything fire them (which seems rather extreme LOL) or let them work while the "investigation" is going on.
Good grief - Shovels?? Columbus is making the news because of a shovel problem?? Come on!
Shaking my head!
Rod
First of all - run don't walk to the nearest store to get your Columbus Pioneer before they are sold out.
Also - if you look to the left side . . NOT YET . . you will see a place where if you enter your email address you can get this blog mailed to you. I'm not sure what happens if/when I update the blog seven times with spelling corrections, maybe you will get all seven updates ?????????
NOW LOOK!
.
A little photo of Johnny Columbus!
A little photo of Johnny Columbus!
In Governor Doyle's State of the State address last night he mentioned that in order to get the State budget on track there would be sacrifices. Damn!! That really puts me on edge. I had not known that it was SO bad there were be sacrifices. I thought he was going to lower the State workforce through attrition. I'm familiar with that term being a war gamer.Attrition is when you send the Russian horde into the Tractor Works (Square Leader) and have to flip most of them over to half strength after a failed attack. So he was going to flip everybody over to half strength. BUT NOW - he is just going to sacrifice employees.
============================
Then I read that for the first time there are LESS press credentials being given out for the Superbowl. I really hope Joe Morey comes through and sends me to Florida, I think there would be a good story there. I'll be waiting next to my phone all day. JOE - I'm here!!!!
============================
I love it that Obama was ribbing Washington in a non Political way. He was commenting all day yesterday how Washington was being a little sissy when they closed schools with a 2 inch snowfall. "Folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things. Maybe they need some flinty Chicago toughness" he said.
============================
I see Summit Credit Union is all messed up again! Good Grief! They probably took money OUT of our accounts instead of depositing our checks! John? Is that you smiling?
=============================
We went to Julies Java House this morning before work to get those OUTSTANDING Vanilla Latte Muffins.
When we moveed to Columbus we asked around looking for a place to get coffee and muffins and so forth and were turned on to JJH. Very very nice place just past the Amtrak Station.When you walk in you are greeted with smiling faces and the sweet smell of fresh baked goods and coffee and some guy kissing Julie. I hope she knew him, I didn't have a chance to get his photo but I'll be looking for that dude.
There is also a room for relaxing and drinking your coffee and I believe (but am not sure) that there is internet access?????
So if you are looking for good coffee, good muffins in a friendly atmosphere check it out, it's the morning place to go and gets Grinders Seal of Approval.======================================
What is up with the Udey Dam and why should we save it???? Seriously, what is the story. I can understand saving something that looks great and is historical but I can't seem to find the damn dam and it SOUNDS like it is just a money pit.
I await to be informed! What up! We need a Udey Dam FAQ for the uninformed.
==============================
At least now we know what happened when the acting fire chief and a fire fighter were put on "administrative leave" (leave with pay which sounds more like a vacation to me).
It SEEMS a church gave a bunch of shovels to the Fire Department and one side thought they should stay with the fire department for filling sand bags and the other side said they should be donated to home owners for the flood.
I don't have a problem with either side. MY problem is . . . administrative leave? with pay? Here we are trying to save money and we give a couple guys a vacation? for a few months? I say if you are goign to do anything fire them (which seems rather extreme LOL) or let them work while the "investigation" is going on.
Good grief - Shovels?? Columbus is making the news because of a shovel problem?? Come on!
Shaking my head!
Rod
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Did I Say That Out Loud?
I'd like to apologize for my ranting yesterday. I try to keep things upbeat for the most part. I think the smoking thing just made me spiral out of control. You see I watched my dad die of lung cancer, I even did the closing of the eyes thing that you see on TV. So when thinking about smoking remember your loved ones. They suffer too . . . . and longer.
--------------------------------
So - perhaps January will not be as warm as I predicted. However - all we have to do is average 83 degrees for a high for the next three days to make it back UP to average for the month. There is always a chance!!! 84 degree's and we will be WARMER the average.
=========================
So after my rant yesterday I went to CNN and found this
Ahh come one now!!! CNN is so fast with their news!!!
===========================================
Hey - did I see that Blagojevich skipped his impeachment hearing? I never knew that was an option. Just don't go! Who knew. So next time you have to go to court, go on The View instead.
==========================================
BE CAREFUL on Hwy 151. Some sort of cream colored SUV, like a Ford Bronco but rounder is actually a cop and has been pulling people over. Just a word of warning. Last year it was a unmarked Dodge Charger. I think the real test will be when a mini van pulls you over - THAT would be funny!
Speaking of being pulled over - I saw a State van get pulled over today. Do you have to have some sort of test to drive a State Van? I swear I see the worst drivers in those death traps. I had one guy merge into my sports car once. He was like an ice berg and I was the Titanic! Just s l o w l y scraped the side of my car merging into MY lane. Had to buy a new car.
Then a few weeks ago I was driving home on very slippery roads in my all wheel drive Subaru and a State Van passes me going 70+ . I have held back road rage a number of times to those road hogs.
===========================
Speaking of Columbus and smoking (sorry). Is there more then one liqueur store in this town? The one on W. James Street is nice but every time I go in there it's blue with smoke. Bars are one thing but in a buisness?? Anybody ever really check out that truck stop? If you have not you might be surprised at what they have. A pretty good selection of Micro Brews (best in Columbus) .
We were eating at Arby's and I needed ice for beer so I was looking around. I was amazed at the amount of good stuff in that place. Check it out. I'm still looking for a Columbus connection for my two favorite brews, Ale Asylum Madtown Nutbrown (velvety smooth with a rich caramel aroma) and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (Complex, roasty aroma with a bittersweet, chocolate-coffee taste and a bold hop presence.)
One last thing - DJ and I are going to eat every restaurant in Columbus (not all in one night), and you are invited to come along (although you have to pay your own bill). I'll report on it here. Maybe I'll take photos of the interior and menu and a quick personal review - it'll be a hoot!!
=============================
Public Enemies
I was looking at some of the money spent in Wisconsin for PE. Sort of interesting. Universal used 240 union crew members for a total of 3,748 work days at $250 a day. They spent $3.5 Million in Oshkosh, $615,000 on lodging alone in Madison and $600,000 on lodging in Milwaukee.
One thing an article said that I thought was interesting was . . . "But Robbe doesn't expect the benefits to end. Oshkosh, Columbus and Milwaukee are all creating exhibits about the filming, Robbe said. And Lawton expects people to keep visiting areas where crews filmed, much like people going to see where "Field of Dreams" was shot in Iowa."
Oh yea - I remember those exhibits. Hopefully once we get out of the cold and see some HOPE for spring AND maybe a trailer more work will happen on the exhibits. What we could use is to see WHAT will be in the movie and then plaques on the buildings to inform tourists what they are looking at. Even photos captured from the actual movie at the place where that piece of action took place.
Of course we would have to get the City Council to get off their butts and spend some money on advertising. So far EVERYTHING concerning trying to get tourists to come to Columbus as been donated by not only Columbus residents but people from OTHER communities. Does not seem right does it. Town people having to take money out of their own pockets to try to boost public awareness for their own town. Just doesn't seem right.
You would think City Council would appropriate some funds to boost Columbus image. If I am wrong and they did, let me know.
====================================
OK - raise your hands if you own a Snuggie. No no no not those. The real ones that are now getting to be a cult status thing.
There are so many ways to become a millionaire. The guy that "invented" notches in paper clips, the 16 year old that invented a microwave bacon holder, the lady that put powerful magnets on the end of bracelets and necklaces, all became millionaires.
Now Snuggies. For $20 you can get two oversize fleece blankets with arms AND a a free book light (value $15). First of all I purchased that exact book light at Walgreens for $1.99 and it is not worth THAT much, but a Snuggie? Well, its really not that bad of an idea if you want to look like a medieval monk. There are reports that there was a Snuggie sighting at the inauguration (I think Barbra Bush was wearing one).
I'm waiting for DJ to buy one as she is cold for 8 months of the year and fleece is pretty darn warm. Did you know that polar fleece is made from recycled soft drink bottles? 100% polyethylene terephthalate. IF you are wearing polar fleece you are wearing clothing that a lot of people had their lips on at one time.
HEY - it's hair cut day. Darn I should have done my official weight in tonight!! - I would have been a pound lighter. I did lose 1% body fat this week down to 19.4%, my goal is 14%.
Have a wonderful day!
Rod
--------------------------------
So - perhaps January will not be as warm as I predicted. However - all we have to do is average 83 degrees for a high for the next three days to make it back UP to average for the month. There is always a chance!!! 84 degree's and we will be WARMER the average.
=========================
So after my rant yesterday I went to CNN and found this
Ahh come one now!!! CNN is so fast with their news!!!===========================================
Hey - did I see that Blagojevich skipped his impeachment hearing? I never knew that was an option. Just don't go! Who knew. So next time you have to go to court, go on The View instead.
==========================================
BE CAREFUL on Hwy 151. Some sort of cream colored SUV, like a Ford Bronco but rounder is actually a cop and has been pulling people over. Just a word of warning. Last year it was a unmarked Dodge Charger. I think the real test will be when a mini van pulls you over - THAT would be funny!
Speaking of being pulled over - I saw a State van get pulled over today. Do you have to have some sort of test to drive a State Van? I swear I see the worst drivers in those death traps. I had one guy merge into my sports car once. He was like an ice berg and I was the Titanic! Just s l o w l y scraped the side of my car merging into MY lane. Had to buy a new car.
Then a few weeks ago I was driving home on very slippery roads in my all wheel drive Subaru and a State Van passes me going 70+ . I have held back road rage a number of times to those road hogs.
===========================
Speaking of Columbus and smoking (sorry). Is there more then one liqueur store in this town? The one on W. James Street is nice but every time I go in there it's blue with smoke. Bars are one thing but in a buisness?? Anybody ever really check out that truck stop? If you have not you might be surprised at what they have. A pretty good selection of Micro Brews (best in Columbus) .
We were eating at Arby's and I needed ice for beer so I was looking around. I was amazed at the amount of good stuff in that place. Check it out. I'm still looking for a Columbus connection for my two favorite brews, Ale Asylum Madtown Nutbrown (velvety smooth with a rich caramel aroma) and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (Complex, roasty aroma with a bittersweet, chocolate-coffee taste and a bold hop presence.)
One last thing - DJ and I are going to eat every restaurant in Columbus (not all in one night), and you are invited to come along (although you have to pay your own bill). I'll report on it here. Maybe I'll take photos of the interior and menu and a quick personal review - it'll be a hoot!!
=============================
Public Enemies
I was looking at some of the money spent in Wisconsin for PE. Sort of interesting. Universal used 240 union crew members for a total of 3,748 work days at $250 a day. They spent $3.5 Million in Oshkosh, $615,000 on lodging alone in Madison and $600,000 on lodging in Milwaukee.
One thing an article said that I thought was interesting was . . . "But Robbe doesn't expect the benefits to end. Oshkosh, Columbus and Milwaukee are all creating exhibits about the filming, Robbe said. And Lawton expects people to keep visiting areas where crews filmed, much like people going to see where "Field of Dreams" was shot in Iowa."
Oh yea - I remember those exhibits. Hopefully once we get out of the cold and see some HOPE for spring AND maybe a trailer more work will happen on the exhibits. What we could use is to see WHAT will be in the movie and then plaques on the buildings to inform tourists what they are looking at. Even photos captured from the actual movie at the place where that piece of action took place.
Of course we would have to get the City Council to get off their butts and spend some money on advertising. So far EVERYTHING concerning trying to get tourists to come to Columbus as been donated by not only Columbus residents but people from OTHER communities. Does not seem right does it. Town people having to take money out of their own pockets to try to boost public awareness for their own town. Just doesn't seem right.
You would think City Council would appropriate some funds to boost Columbus image. If I am wrong and they did, let me know.
====================================
OK - raise your hands if you own a Snuggie. No no no not those. The real ones that are now getting to be a cult status thing.There are so many ways to become a millionaire. The guy that "invented" notches in paper clips, the 16 year old that invented a microwave bacon holder, the lady that put powerful magnets on the end of bracelets and necklaces, all became millionaires.
Now Snuggies. For $20 you can get two oversize fleece blankets with arms AND a a free book light (value $15). First of all I purchased that exact book light at Walgreens for $1.99 and it is not worth THAT much, but a Snuggie? Well, its really not that bad of an idea if you want to look like a medieval monk. There are reports that there was a Snuggie sighting at the inauguration (I think Barbra Bush was wearing one).
I'm waiting for DJ to buy one as she is cold for 8 months of the year and fleece is pretty darn warm. Did you know that polar fleece is made from recycled soft drink bottles? 100% polyethylene terephthalate. IF you are wearing polar fleece you are wearing clothing that a lot of people had their lips on at one time.
HEY - it's hair cut day. Darn I should have done my official weight in tonight!! - I would have been a pound lighter. I did lose 1% body fat this week down to 19.4%, my goal is 14%.
Have a wonderful day!
Rod
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
New Public Enemies Photos and Just Some Ranting.
Man - I got too much sleep last night - I'm on a tear! Watch out!!!!! It does not happen too often! I would not mind deleting a lot of this but . . . . . it's there so - deal with it :-) One of my many moods.
================================
I believe we have seen this one already a few weeks ago of Marion Cotillard.
======================================
Smokers - just bear (bare? neither word makes sense) with me for a tad - I'm not totally against you :-)
There are a couple of new restaurants coming to the downtown area. One will open in the vacated Red Bud Bakery & Bistro and the other where the James Street Dining Company was. I HOPE they will be non-smoking. If that allow smoking I will not go. I'm not being an ass or anything, I just don't like to eat around cigarettes. I'm not concerned with 2nd hand smoke and health, I just don't like the smell. Would you want to eat next to a big chunk of cow poop if you didn't have too? Also one of the local smokey macro-swill bars (yes yes - I sound like a beer snob) is changing hands and I HOPE they will be non-smoking.
Don't get me wrong - I have a number of friends that smoke and I'm cool with that. Almost all cigarette smokers are very aware of us whiners and I applaud them for their efforts and I really really do thank them. But sooner or later all of Wisconsin will go non-smoking.
It's going to happen. The foot is in the door and there is no turning back. It WILL happen. Entire countries around the world are non-smoking. Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Italy, Estonia, the nations of the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands and Romania, Hungary this year, Spain, South Africa are all non-smoking countries.
Researchers at the University of Dundee found significant improvements in bar workers' lung function and inflammatory markers attributed to a smoking ban. New York is non-smoking and they say they saved $56 million in health care costs last year.
The effect on buisness is a concern with conflicting studies and numbers with both sides manipulating figures to make their case look good.
My gut reaction is that I can totally understand why some bars would not want this and I believe they should not be made to change their policy. But on the other hand I'm paying more money out of MY pocket for THEIR health care costs! PLUS - I hate having to take a shower after being in a smokey bar, AND many do not allow cigars because they are to . . . smelly!! WHAT??
I was sitting in a bar once surrounded by smokers and lit up a cigar, I was told no cigars because of the smell. I let me feelings be known.
That is my rant on smokey bars. As I said - bars in Columbus should be able to keep their smokey atmosphere, I don't go to them anyway. But if I was going to open a new place in Columbus I think there is a large amount of people in this town looking for a place to have a drink with no smoke.
=================================
sigh - taking a breath.
I put most of my investment savings into bonds and cash about six months ago. I guess I guessed right on that one. I'm reading in the USA Today that says many analysts are saying we are near the bottom of the market and we should get ready to jump back in. This would be wrong.
Research says it is actually better to be six months late then six months early. Never try to call the bottom, it is way way better to wait and be sure the market is moving up. My guru is Peter Lynch who ran the Magellan Fund (started with $18 million and ended 13 years later with $14 Billion) and he said to never try to time the bottom or top.
OK - I'm bored with this blog. nuff said.
==========================================
Next up - a redue of the popular West Coast Blaster.
==============================
OK - I was putting it off but today's paper was the last straw. Last night on ET they were talking about what the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) woman were wearing. The one shoulder strapless dresses, AND they were giving Michelle Obama credit for the new fashion trend.
I HAVE to think that most of the actresses had their gowns picked out BEFORE the inauguration. Plus - should we really be THAT concerned with what Mrs. Obama is wearing? Have we forgotten she actually has brains equal to her husband? Man I hope this wears off with time. Good Grief.
OH - one last thing - what if we had a Digital Revolution and no one showed up.
I guess the Home Theater forums were correct. They had been forecasting for a long time that the government would have to stall the Digital revolution. Way way too many problems. Digital waves do not go through buildings, a lot of New York City is unable to get digital broadcasts. Too many buildings. WHOOPS! never thought of that did you! But their excuse is to give people more time to prepare. Do they think a few months will do it? How long have people been putting it off? Now that can procrastinate longer.
It's like extending tax day so people will have more time to do their tax's. Yea - that will work out just fine.
I'm sure cable companies who were ready to use the extra bandwidth for HD broadcasts are a little pissed off now.
I better stop before something else irritates me. DON'T GET ME STARTED ON SNOWMOBILERS!!! Maybe that is why I'm so ornery. Those guys better start to take care of their own and put a freaking stop to the killing. Man that just really pisses me off to no end.
I'm truly sorry - for you people not from around here snowmobilers killed 60 ducks yesterday by running them over, a few weeks ago snowmobilers tortured six deer.
Rod! going to my happy place now!
NOTE - 1/2 hour later - I'm better now - it's all good!!! :-) see!
================================
Fresh images from AceShow Biz no words to speak of - just photos!
Well - A few are repeats but . . . .
Well - A few are repeats but . . . .
I believe we have seen this one already a few weeks ago of Marion Cotillard.
======================================Smokers - just bear (bare? neither word makes sense) with me for a tad - I'm not totally against you :-)
There are a couple of new restaurants coming to the downtown area. One will open in the vacated Red Bud Bakery & Bistro and the other where the James Street Dining Company was. I HOPE they will be non-smoking. If that allow smoking I will not go. I'm not being an ass or anything, I just don't like to eat around cigarettes. I'm not concerned with 2nd hand smoke and health, I just don't like the smell. Would you want to eat next to a big chunk of cow poop if you didn't have too? Also one of the local smokey macro-swill bars (yes yes - I sound like a beer snob) is changing hands and I HOPE they will be non-smoking.
Don't get me wrong - I have a number of friends that smoke and I'm cool with that. Almost all cigarette smokers are very aware of us whiners and I applaud them for their efforts and I really really do thank them. But sooner or later all of Wisconsin will go non-smoking.
It's going to happen. The foot is in the door and there is no turning back. It WILL happen. Entire countries around the world are non-smoking. Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Italy, Estonia, the nations of the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands and Romania, Hungary this year, Spain, South Africa are all non-smoking countries.
Researchers at the University of Dundee found significant improvements in bar workers' lung function and inflammatory markers attributed to a smoking ban. New York is non-smoking and they say they saved $56 million in health care costs last year.
The effect on buisness is a concern with conflicting studies and numbers with both sides manipulating figures to make their case look good.
My gut reaction is that I can totally understand why some bars would not want this and I believe they should not be made to change their policy. But on the other hand I'm paying more money out of MY pocket for THEIR health care costs! PLUS - I hate having to take a shower after being in a smokey bar, AND many do not allow cigars because they are to . . . smelly!! WHAT??
I was sitting in a bar once surrounded by smokers and lit up a cigar, I was told no cigars because of the smell. I let me feelings be known.
That is my rant on smokey bars. As I said - bars in Columbus should be able to keep their smokey atmosphere, I don't go to them anyway. But if I was going to open a new place in Columbus I think there is a large amount of people in this town looking for a place to have a drink with no smoke.
=================================
sigh - taking a breath.
I put most of my investment savings into bonds and cash about six months ago. I guess I guessed right on that one. I'm reading in the USA Today that says many analysts are saying we are near the bottom of the market and we should get ready to jump back in. This would be wrong.
Research says it is actually better to be six months late then six months early. Never try to call the bottom, it is way way better to wait and be sure the market is moving up. My guru is Peter Lynch who ran the Magellan Fund (started with $18 million and ended 13 years later with $14 Billion) and he said to never try to time the bottom or top.
OK - I'm bored with this blog. nuff said.
==========================================
NEW BEER LABEL
Next up - a redue of the popular West Coast Blaster.==============================
OK - I was putting it off but today's paper was the last straw. Last night on ET they were talking about what the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) woman were wearing. The one shoulder strapless dresses, AND they were giving Michelle Obama credit for the new fashion trend.
I HAVE to think that most of the actresses had their gowns picked out BEFORE the inauguration. Plus - should we really be THAT concerned with what Mrs. Obama is wearing? Have we forgotten she actually has brains equal to her husband? Man I hope this wears off with time. Good Grief.
OH - one last thing - what if we had a Digital Revolution and no one showed up.
I guess the Home Theater forums were correct. They had been forecasting for a long time that the government would have to stall the Digital revolution. Way way too many problems. Digital waves do not go through buildings, a lot of New York City is unable to get digital broadcasts. Too many buildings. WHOOPS! never thought of that did you! But their excuse is to give people more time to prepare. Do they think a few months will do it? How long have people been putting it off? Now that can procrastinate longer.
It's like extending tax day so people will have more time to do their tax's. Yea - that will work out just fine.
I'm sure cable companies who were ready to use the extra bandwidth for HD broadcasts are a little pissed off now.
I better stop before something else irritates me. DON'T GET ME STARTED ON SNOWMOBILERS!!! Maybe that is why I'm so ornery. Those guys better start to take care of their own and put a freaking stop to the killing. Man that just really pisses me off to no end.
I'm truly sorry - for you people not from around here snowmobilers killed 60 ducks yesterday by running them over, a few weeks ago snowmobilers tortured six deer.
Rod! going to my happy place now!
NOTE - 1/2 hour later - I'm better now - it's all good!!! :-) see!
Monday, January 26, 2009
A Window to the WORLD!!!!
WOW - didn't see THAT one coming.
I was reading the Columbus Pioneer, minding my own buisness when I come across an article titled "Business Recognition Awards recipients named".
The first one to be recognized is Lyco Manufacturing who
I guess makes the worlds largest potato peeler called THE RAGING BULL!!!! This is just begging for a field trip!!! This baby is the “The fastest peeler in the world with Whisper quiet operation”. DO NOT wear red around it!I'm going to see if I can borrow one next time DJ makes a pot roast! Should speed up the process. Can you say "Birthday present"???
It can also be used for Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Beets, Onions, Pickles, Apples, Zucchini and Other Root Crops.
They make a lot of other cool things including what I believe is A TIME TUNNEL!! Notice how advanced this is compared to the 1967 version
Anyway - I feel the need for a visit to Tyco, anyone want to come along? I suppose FIRST I must find out if they give tours.Then of course is the Colonial Carriage Works, blah blah blah Todd Frey, yea yea he is SOOO wonderful. Todd is like the Brooks and Dunn of the Carriage industry. OH, did they win AGAIN?
Side note - Todd is a very very nice guy but I'll never admit it to him because he might want to get free home brew from me.
Then there is Mid-State Power & Equipment - seriously - not a clue what they do. I think for the last 35 years they rent and sell John Deere stuff which is important if you are into farming. Check out their website for more information. I see I could rent a Man Lift which would be handy for washing our windows.But then I come across the last recipient. "Public Enemies Website produced by Rod Melotte"
What???
I stare blankly at the newspaper not really comprehending what the now random letters are trying to tell me.
And I quote (somewhat redundantly) "Very few communities have a window to the world (insert echo effect)" Sobiak said "But his web site gives us one. We own him a debt of thanks for giving us this opportunity for the world to look at our community".
Phhht! ah shucks! No way. Can I somehow show this to a few of my high school teachers? and when I say high school I really mean ALL of my teachers from K through 12?.
Speaking of small towns. Does Columbus have a sister community any where?? Madison has like TEN sister cities. We should get one. Wouldn't it be cool to have a small 5000 population town some where in the world to communicate with? School children could write letters and so forth.
Maybe if not sister could a larger city adopt us? They could give us hand me down trucks and stuff.
Any readers out there know any towns looking for a sister?? I know there are readers in Europe and Columbia and somebody is always reading in Africa. Any takers out there? Email me if there is ANY interest.
---------------------------------------------------------Watched an interesting movie yesterday. This is like sports dead time for me. When I look at the paper in the morning and I see large photos of figure skating or wrestling . . . . I cry on the inside.
So it's movie time.
We watched "Charile Wilson's War". It's based on truth and I was amazed at this little piece of history I really did not know about. The whole Afgan/Russian war and how it was ACTUALLY a US/Russian war. Unless you think spending $2 BILLION to kill Russians in the 80's not a war. (note - I didn't mean 80 year old Russians).
And then how we refused to spend $1 Million to rebuild Afghanistan and were warned that when all of the Afghanistan children go back home and see the ruin and then ask, "Why didn't the United States help us" we would create more terrorists. hmmmmm that actually happened didn't it.
OH - America is very good at starting wars, just not so good with ending them.
I've searched the internet looking for something telling me it was not the way it really was but find nothing. Like FOX News says (actually Marc Twain said it first but they took credit) - sometimes truth is stranger then fiction.
Here is the trailer. BTW - the term trailer comes from the fact that upcoming movie advertisements used to come at the end of the film. But people seemed to leave so they switched it to the front of the movie.
Have a great Monday.
Rod
Friday, January 23, 2009
Watch Out Milo - You Could Be Dinner!!
Congratulations to our Public Enemies buddy Bob Wagner. Your movie (with the help of David Fincher I suppose) receive thirteen Oscar nominations. Now that is nice but you seem to have dropped the ball on the other eleven. Perhaps next time if you work a little harder you can run the table.
Wait - next time would be Public Enemies wouldn't it. OK - now we have a baseline, thirteen. Let's see if Public Enemies can hit twenty. I see Actress and Supporting Actor were missed, I think we can fill those in. Foreign film will be a problem but maybe Marion Cotillard spoke a little French? Sound Editing and Sound Mixing just sounds like the sound guys union is trying to get extra awards for the same thing.
WHERE is Best Supporting Director? If Sound can have two Oscars you have to think Directors can have two. I'm on it. I'll fling some emails off. Remember - I'm the guy that got Onion Bagles back in Roundy Stores.
=============================================
I HOPE you all picked up the newest Columbus Pioneer. 136% more advertising, well done chaps!! Although take out that big one from Savanna Oaks and it's only a 76% increase. What is Savanna Oaks anyway.
Also - everyone should go to Nelson's Crossing for their fish fry (10 miles south of Columbus on Berlin road Deansville . . . .where the hell is Deansville, are they just making these towns up?).
============================================
I do not know WHY this made me smile . . . awkwardly. I don't even know what it is.
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
I'm a little slow today - Home Brew Club last night. geez! I don't know what it is but every Friday after Home Brew Club I'm feeling tired and fuzzy.
American Amber seems to be a hit and NOT just for the label. We had 14 people and I swear each person brought a 6-pack of home brew and there was nothing left.
------------------------------
I expect a full report from the Sweeny Todd group tomorrow (pictures??)
OH -speaking of pictures. Last night I was minding my own buisness and out of the corner of my ear heard a hoo hoo. What was that??? I listen hoo hoo. There it was again. I go from window to window listening. hoo hoo. I go onto the snow covered deck and triangulate my ears and it's coming from our neighbors roof. It's very dark but I can just make out a figure on the roof.
I run inside, grab my camera and big flash unit, step outside and try to get a photo. The owl is talking to another one on the otherside of the fairway in a large tree. Almost sounds like an echo.
hoo-hoo hoooooo hoo-hoo
The problem was it was just too dark to focus. All I could do was aim at an area and shoot. I have a focusing plan for next time. It is one BIG owl. I have one real fuzzy shot where he/she is looking right at me with glowing eyes. I'm thinking he is at least 2 feet tall in this shot.
This is nesting season and male and female will hoot at each other.
Have a good and warm weekend
HA - addendum - after reading the Columbus Pioneer my question about WHAT Savanna Oaks is is actually answered. . . . . sort of creepy how that happened.
Rod
Wait - next time would be Public Enemies wouldn't it. OK - now we have a baseline, thirteen. Let's see if Public Enemies can hit twenty. I see Actress and Supporting Actor were missed, I think we can fill those in. Foreign film will be a problem but maybe Marion Cotillard spoke a little French? Sound Editing and Sound Mixing just sounds like the sound guys union is trying to get extra awards for the same thing.
WHERE is Best Supporting Director? If Sound can have two Oscars you have to think Directors can have two. I'm on it. I'll fling some emails off. Remember - I'm the guy that got Onion Bagles back in Roundy Stores.
=============================================
I HOPE you all picked up the newest Columbus Pioneer. 136% more advertising, well done chaps!! Although take out that big one from Savanna Oaks and it's only a 76% increase. What is Savanna Oaks anyway.
Also - everyone should go to Nelson's Crossing for their fish fry (10 miles south of Columbus on Berlin road Deansville . . . .where the hell is Deansville, are they just making these towns up?).
============================================
I do not know WHY this made me smile . . . awkwardly. I don't even know what it is.
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
I'm a little slow today - Home Brew Club last night. geez! I don't know what it is but every Friday after Home Brew Club I'm feeling tired and fuzzy.
American Amber seems to be a hit and NOT just for the label. We had 14 people and I swear each person brought a 6-pack of home brew and there was nothing left.
------------------------------
I expect a full report from the Sweeny Todd group tomorrow (pictures??)
OH -speaking of pictures. Last night I was minding my own buisness and out of the corner of my ear heard a hoo hoo. What was that??? I listen hoo hoo. There it was again. I go from window to window listening. hoo hoo. I go onto the snow covered deck and triangulate my ears and it's coming from our neighbors roof. It's very dark but I can just make out a figure on the roof.
I run inside, grab my camera and big flash unit, step outside and try to get a photo. The owl is talking to another one on the otherside of the fairway in a large tree. Almost sounds like an echo.
hoo-hoo hoooooo hoo-hoo
The problem was it was just too dark to focus. All I could do was aim at an area and shoot. I have a focusing plan for next time. It is one BIG owl. I have one real fuzzy shot where he/she is looking right at me with glowing eyes. I'm thinking he is at least 2 feet tall in this shot.
I believe this is a Great Horned Owl.
This is nesting season and male and female will hoot at each other.Have a good and warm weekend
HA - addendum - after reading the Columbus Pioneer my question about WHAT Savanna Oaks is is actually answered. . . . . sort of creepy how that happened.
Rod
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Am I In An Alternate Reality?
Dear World:
We, the United States of America , your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and as expected became fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding,
Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
===========================
Scientist say that when you enter fog you are actually passing through some sort meshing of time/space. You enter on one stream of time and exit on a slightly different stream of time. Not enough that you can tell (normally) but small unnoticeable changes are different and your life will be . . . altered just a tiny bit. Not that you will know it so don't worry about it.
It was pretty foggy this morning driving to work today so who knows who is reading this. All I know is that odd things started happening YESTERDAY.
I was walking through the Capitol of a major State government yesterday afternoon and was exiting through their tiny 100 year old doors to go outside. Tiny in the fact that people must have been MUCH smaller 100 years ago because it takes two doors to equal the width of one standard door nowadays.
Anyway I push the heavy door open and as I was walking through a female voice says HELLO! I stop and turn to say Hi to the voice but . . . I see nothing.
This confuses me. I look around and see nothing. I stand there for a bit looking for a speaker (the speaker of the house?) but nada!
I walk back inside but decide perhaps it was just a touch of dementia (even though I was tested at work last week and passed, or they tell me I did). I push the door open and HELLO! WTF? It's the door, it's squeak says HELLO! If you open it slowly it says squeak but at a certain speed HELLO! It WAS the speaker of the house.
But then as I'm walking and chuckling to myself a TREE tries to shake my hand!!
You know it's been cold when the trees are wearing gloves. I don't even know where they would buy a glove. How do they pay for them. But then let's not be stupid. Obviously a tree does not BUY gloves. Somebody dropped it and the tree figured . . .why not! No one else is going to use the glove.
I think it liked it.
=================================
Side note about winter. Take a handful of snow and wipe off your headlights. I bet they are all salted up.
I was just informed we are under an air quality watch today. I don't remember having an air quality watch drill. Not sure what I should do. Perhaps I will look out the window all day looking for harmful air.
Actually it's teeth cleaning day,I don't have time to look out the window. One of my alltime favorite days. MR. MELOTTE IS NOT FLOSSING ENOUGH!!
WE GOT A BLEEDER CODE SEVEN GET THE CRASH CART!!
Well - not THAT bad but there are times I think the Dental ASSistant is taking some anger issues on my gums. Since I started using an Orel B electric tooth brush my teeth have been awesome. I had an ultrasonic toothbrush for a while but it was pretty crappy. A LOT of money for something that just did not work that well.
Did you know the first recorded use of a toothbrush goes back to the China in the 1400s. They used stiff hairs from a hogs neck!! ahh the good ol' days!
Stefan Drafahl is credited with the first mass produced tooth brush in 1780. While in jail he used a rag with soot and salt to brush his teeth. He felt there had to be a better way so he took a small animal bone, drilled holes in it, got some bristles from a guard, passed them through the holes and glued them.
He soon became very wealthy (once out of jail).
========================
Anybody watching "24"? Awesome day so far. The question is will Renee Walker - will the FBI woman be rescued and just disappear? OR will she come back to help Jack. They seem to make a good couple. Both like to torture people, seems like a match to me. Hate to be their kids though! GO CLEAN YOUR ROOM, NOW!!!
The many girlfriends in Jacks life.
Jacks first wife was Teri Bauer, who was later murdered by Nina.
When Jack and Teri "separated", he was with Nina (Jack never cheated). Nina later kills Jack's wife, and Jack of course, eventually kills Nina.
Jack then is with Kate Warner but has to leave Kate to go undercover. He gets hooked on heroin and falls for another woman. (just another reason to stay away from heroin).
Jack then meets the hot Claudia Salazar while undercover. He leaves, comes back, and she gets shot and dies while trying to help him escape.
And then there is Audrey Raines who has to watch Jack torture her ex-husband (always a problem with relationships). The ex-husband later saves Jack's life, and subsequently is pulled out of surgery and dies, on Jack's orders.
The good thing about Renee is that she seems to be able to handle herself pretty well, being able to kill and torture and not follow orders. I think it's a match made in heaven.
Gotta go :-( Off to the dentist!
Rod
We, the United States of America , your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and as expected became fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding,Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
===========================
Scientist say that when you enter fog you are actually passing through some sort meshing of time/space. You enter on one stream of time and exit on a slightly different stream of time. Not enough that you can tell (normally) but small unnoticeable changes are different and your life will be . . . altered just a tiny bit. Not that you will know it so don't worry about it.
It was pretty foggy this morning driving to work today so who knows who is reading this. All I know is that odd things started happening YESTERDAY.
I was walking through the Capitol of a major State government yesterday afternoon and was exiting through their tiny 100 year old doors to go outside. Tiny in the fact that people must have been MUCH smaller 100 years ago because it takes two doors to equal the width of one standard door nowadays.
Anyway I push the heavy door open and as I was walking through a female voice says HELLO! I stop and turn to say Hi to the voice but . . . I see nothing.
This confuses me. I look around and see nothing. I stand there for a bit looking for a speaker (the speaker of the house?) but nada!
I walk back inside but decide perhaps it was just a touch of dementia (even though I was tested at work last week and passed, or they tell me I did). I push the door open and HELLO! WTF? It's the door, it's squeak says HELLO! If you open it slowly it says squeak but at a certain speed HELLO! It WAS the speaker of the house.
But then as I'm walking and chuckling to myself a TREE tries to shake my hand!!
You know it's been cold when the trees are wearing gloves. I don't even know where they would buy a glove. How do they pay for them. But then let's not be stupid. Obviously a tree does not BUY gloves. Somebody dropped it and the tree figured . . .why not! No one else is going to use the glove.I think it liked it.
=================================
Side note about winter. Take a handful of snow and wipe off your headlights. I bet they are all salted up.
I was just informed we are under an air quality watch today. I don't remember having an air quality watch drill. Not sure what I should do. Perhaps I will look out the window all day looking for harmful air.
Actually it's teeth cleaning day,I don't have time to look out the window. One of my alltime favorite days. MR. MELOTTE IS NOT FLOSSING ENOUGH!!
WE GOT A BLEEDER CODE SEVEN GET THE CRASH CART!!
Well - not THAT bad but there are times I think the Dental ASSistant is taking some anger issues on my gums. Since I started using an Orel B electric tooth brush my teeth have been awesome. I had an ultrasonic toothbrush for a while but it was pretty crappy. A LOT of money for something that just did not work that well.
Did you know the first recorded use of a toothbrush goes back to the China in the 1400s. They used stiff hairs from a hogs neck!! ahh the good ol' days!
Stefan Drafahl is credited with the first mass produced tooth brush in 1780. While in jail he used a rag with soot and salt to brush his teeth. He felt there had to be a better way so he took a small animal bone, drilled holes in it, got some bristles from a guard, passed them through the holes and glued them.
He soon became very wealthy (once out of jail).
========================
Anybody watching "24"? Awesome day so far. The question is will Renee Walker - will the FBI woman be rescued and just disappear? OR will she come back to help Jack. They seem to make a good couple. Both like to torture people, seems like a match to me. Hate to be their kids though! GO CLEAN YOUR ROOM, NOW!!!
The many girlfriends in Jacks life.
Jacks first wife was Teri Bauer, who was later murdered by Nina.
When Jack and Teri "separated", he was with Nina (Jack never cheated). Nina later kills Jack's wife, and Jack of course, eventually kills Nina.
Jack then is with Kate Warner but has to leave Kate to go undercover. He gets hooked on heroin and falls for another woman. (just another reason to stay away from heroin).
Jack then meets the hot Claudia Salazar while undercover. He leaves, comes back, and she gets shot and dies while trying to help him escape.
And then there is Audrey Raines who has to watch Jack torture her ex-husband (always a problem with relationships). The ex-husband later saves Jack's life, and subsequently is pulled out of surgery and dies, on Jack's orders.
The good thing about Renee is that she seems to be able to handle herself pretty well, being able to kill and torture and not follow orders. I think it's a match made in heaven.
Gotta go :-( Off to the dentist!
Rod
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Magical
Where does one begin.
I'm having some problems with words here. I have a feeling but can not describe it. I feel like Data from Star Trek. He has no emotions but in one episode he felt anger for the first time. When ask to describe it he could not. How do you describe an emotion without comparing it to other emotions. It would be like a blind man trying to describe a color. If you have never seen any other color you have no reference.
This is sort of how I felt watching the Inauguration.
The very first President I was ever aware of was Kennedy, but only because he died. I remember having to erase the blackboard (I had been naughty, one of many times) in school when Robbie Gates (the class bully) came in and said Kennedy had been shot.
Since then we have had eight Presidents all pretty bland and boring. Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush. As you see, not a stellar crowd. Some not as bad as the others and some likable but none of them real exciting.
Then along comes Barrack Obama out of know where and it it seems the world has had a couple earth sized drops of Valium dripped on it.
You can tell the people that were against Obama, they are the ones that will remind you not to expect everything to be fixed right away.
I'm pretty sure 98% of the people that voted for Obama know that and I feel it's almost an insulting thing to say. I'm pretty sure that there will be problems in the future and controversy and things will get stalled and so forth. But my feeling is that Obama has done a LOT for this country and for that matter the world already that no other candidate could have done, or even dreamed of doing.
The question I wonder is, does he have Bush to thank for this? If he was taking over for, lets say Clinton would the outpouring of emotions around the world be so great? Probably not.
But I believe he is the perfect person at this time in history. I believe he has a chance to be something special and maybe with so many people with so much emotion, maybe the politicians will back off and look at how to fix America as a team.
Maybe he will be a deer in headlights and nothing will get done. Maybe the Republicans will go back to being Republicans and Democrats will go back to being Democrats. Perhaps not. But
I have never in my life seen a day with so many emotional, happy humans with tears of joy and relief from so many people around the entire world.
This very moment in history, I think Americans can stand a little straighter and feel good about themselves and THAT has not happened in a very very long time if ever. It might only last a few days or weeks but bask in it while you can. Take this moment to stop worrying about the future and revel in the moment. It might not happen again in your lifetime.
We did good.
=======
One of the magical moments from January 20th happened last night at the Inaugural Ball. Beyonce, who I believe is one of the classiest woman around (her mom designs all of her clothes) was given the honor of singing the first dance for Michelle and Barrack.
The very ending you see her emotions creeping in. I think there are many Americans today a little dehydrated from crying.
==========================
===========================
Another magical moment is happening tonight as LOST returns. Tonight they deal with time travel. As you remember in the final episode last year the Island moved. The question is not where did it move to but . . . . when did it move too.
Three hours tonight with 7:00 being a recap. I can not wait (although I'll probably DVR it LOL).
One last thing is I have a new fun toy. A bathroom scale. How can a bathroom scale be a fun toy you ask?
Since DJ and I have been working out a lot lately at 24/7 in Columbus we weigh ourselves to see just how morbidly obese we are. DJ says we need a digital scale. I say cool and we go looking. I find one that not only weighs you you but tells you your body fat composition AND water . . . .whatever number. SWEET - lots of numbers (do I feel a spreadsheet in my future?)
We input all the specs, DJ is 27 years old and I'm 32 and we're good to go. As luck would have it the 24/7 scales are 9 pounds off ON THE HEAVY side. WHEW! but the number I was interested in is body fat. I was at 20.4%. Not bad. Not great.
But how does it know that? It's called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. A small electrical current (that's why my hair stood up and sparks flew from my finger nails) is passed through your body. The electrical current passes more quickly through fat free tissue like muscle. Then it runs through a formula and figures it out.
It's not perfect but gives you a close number. THAT number is then what you watch and hopefully it will grow smaller.
People say they want to drop 10 pounds but it's not weight that is making fat, it's fat that is making you fat.
The best way to lose body fat is adding nice heavy muscle. Diets do not work at all, your body has this magical ability to adjust to any diet. Eat better and exorcise (to be free of an evil spirit?) oops wrong word, wait a minute . . . . . exercise. Your goal is to increase your metabolism. And you can do this by adding some muscle. THEN you can sit in front of the TV and lose weight. Just having muscle uses more calories. By doing NOTHING you can burn pounds off just by watching The Office!!
That is my goal. Do nothing and lose pounds.
With that said.
Cheers
Rod
OH COME ON NOW - that little Google ad below this is IS YOUR HUSBAND GAY??? Just because I was talking fashion yesterday??????
I'm having some problems with words here. I have a feeling but can not describe it. I feel like Data from Star Trek. He has no emotions but in one episode he felt anger for the first time. When ask to describe it he could not. How do you describe an emotion without comparing it to other emotions. It would be like a blind man trying to describe a color. If you have never seen any other color you have no reference.
This is sort of how I felt watching the Inauguration.
The very first President I was ever aware of was Kennedy, but only because he died. I remember having to erase the blackboard (I had been naughty, one of many times) in school when Robbie Gates (the class bully) came in and said Kennedy had been shot.
Since then we have had eight Presidents all pretty bland and boring. Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush. As you see, not a stellar crowd. Some not as bad as the others and some likable but none of them real exciting.
Then along comes Barrack Obama out of know where and it it seems the world has had a couple earth sized drops of Valium dripped on it.
You can tell the people that were against Obama, they are the ones that will remind you not to expect everything to be fixed right away.
I'm pretty sure 98% of the people that voted for Obama know that and I feel it's almost an insulting thing to say. I'm pretty sure that there will be problems in the future and controversy and things will get stalled and so forth. But my feeling is that Obama has done a LOT for this country and for that matter the world already that no other candidate could have done, or even dreamed of doing.
The question I wonder is, does he have Bush to thank for this? If he was taking over for, lets say Clinton would the outpouring of emotions around the world be so great? Probably not.
But I believe he is the perfect person at this time in history. I believe he has a chance to be something special and maybe with so many people with so much emotion, maybe the politicians will back off and look at how to fix America as a team.
Maybe he will be a deer in headlights and nothing will get done. Maybe the Republicans will go back to being Republicans and Democrats will go back to being Democrats. Perhaps not. But
I have never in my life seen a day with so many emotional, happy humans with tears of joy and relief from so many people around the entire world.
This very moment in history, I think Americans can stand a little straighter and feel good about themselves and THAT has not happened in a very very long time if ever. It might only last a few days or weeks but bask in it while you can. Take this moment to stop worrying about the future and revel in the moment. It might not happen again in your lifetime.
We did good.
=======
One of the magical moments from January 20th happened last night at the Inaugural Ball. Beyonce, who I believe is one of the classiest woman around (her mom designs all of her clothes) was given the honor of singing the first dance for Michelle and Barrack.
The very ending you see her emotions creeping in. I think there are many Americans today a little dehydrated from crying.
==========================
===========================
Another magical moment is happening tonight as LOST returns. Tonight they deal with time travel. As you remember in the final episode last year the Island moved. The question is not where did it move to but . . . . when did it move too.
Three hours tonight with 7:00 being a recap. I can not wait (although I'll probably DVR it LOL).
One last thing is I have a new fun toy. A bathroom scale. How can a bathroom scale be a fun toy you ask?
Since DJ and I have been working out a lot lately at 24/7 in Columbus we weigh ourselves to see just how morbidly obese we are. DJ says we need a digital scale. I say cool and we go looking. I find one that not only weighs you you but tells you your body fat composition AND water . . . .whatever number. SWEET - lots of numbers (do I feel a spreadsheet in my future?)
We input all the specs, DJ is 27 years old and I'm 32 and we're good to go. As luck would have it the 24/7 scales are 9 pounds off ON THE HEAVY side. WHEW! but the number I was interested in is body fat. I was at 20.4%. Not bad. Not great.
But how does it know that? It's called Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. A small electrical current (that's why my hair stood up and sparks flew from my finger nails) is passed through your body. The electrical current passes more quickly through fat free tissue like muscle. Then it runs through a formula and figures it out.
It's not perfect but gives you a close number. THAT number is then what you watch and hopefully it will grow smaller.
People say they want to drop 10 pounds but it's not weight that is making fat, it's fat that is making you fat.
The best way to lose body fat is adding nice heavy muscle. Diets do not work at all, your body has this magical ability to adjust to any diet. Eat better and exorcise (to be free of an evil spirit?) oops wrong word, wait a minute . . . . . exercise. Your goal is to increase your metabolism. And you can do this by adding some muscle. THEN you can sit in front of the TV and lose weight. Just having muscle uses more calories. By doing NOTHING you can burn pounds off just by watching The Office!!
That is my goal. Do nothing and lose pounds.
With that said.
Cheers
Rod
OH COME ON NOW - that little Google ad below this is IS YOUR HUSBAND GAY??? Just because I was talking fashion yesterday??????
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Special Day for America
.
There was an inquiry in the comments yesterday stating that since the commentor did not live in Columbus and did not really know where Columbus was anyway, was there a way he could see my little piece that was in the Columbus Pioneer.
Yes there is. Go to the online paper and on the left there is a link called "blog". Now we all know a "blog" is short for Web log which is a "ongoing diary or commentary by an individual". But this is in a newspaper. There is no Web. Could it be a Newspaper log, a perlog? Have I discovered a new catch name? perlog?
===============================
I'm not going to get all googly with events of the day. There are many other places you can read Obama stuff.
But what I am finding interesting is the amount of stuff on American TV looking at the History of our government.
For instance, last night I watched a special on each of the first six presidents. The History channel is going over every one with pretty interesting stuff. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson hated being President so much he did not want it put that he was President of the United States on his grave stone? It says:
Then I watched an hour all about Air Force One and what it takes to send a President overseas and then the history of the White House. Sweet stuff. Piano's falling through the floor to two bears in cages.
One thing among many I found REALLY interesting was how John Quincy Adams attained office. He was the 6th President of the U.S and the son of the 2nd President John Adams.
The 6th election was the first one to have a popular vote even though the electoral vote was used to decide. I guess they wanted to see what the "people" thought. Running were John Quincy Adams, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, U.S. Senator Andrew Jackson and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun.
The popular vote was way way for Jackson with Adams a distant second, Calhoun and then Clay.
The electoral vote was in the same order Jackson, Adams, Calhoun and Clay.
The problem was that according to the Twelfth Amendment you need a majority which means the election is decided on a vote by House of Representatives, which is lead by a very very powerful Henry Clay.
As luck would have it Crawford had a stroke so he was out of the picture and now Clay was in the mix. Clay HATED Jackson.
Deals were made and when the House voted. Adams (right) was the winner with Clay being awarded the Secretary of State.
This REALLY pissed off Jackson and his supporters as they believe that Jackson was going to be the winner (sound like anything we have experienced?). Adams achieved nothing in his 4 years as President as it was spent deflecting criticism.
In the next election it was Jackson vs. Adams and historians say this was the ugliest, cruelest and dirtiest campaign ever. The low point was when the press accused Jackson's wife Rachel of bigamy.
Jackson won by a land slide. John Quincy Adams is only one of three Presidents not to attend the inauguration of his predecessor. The other two were his dad and Andrew Johnson.
On a side not Jackson's opponent called him a jackass and this was the start of using the donkey as the symbol for the Democrat party. The Jackass later died but about 30 years later it was revived. ACTUALLY the rooster was the symbol of the Democrats and Eagle for the Republicans but they did not catch on.
-------
In other interesting political news. The Governor of Illinois, that guy with the raccoon on his head? I got some interesting tidbits from my brother who lives in ILL.
Seems EVERYONE new he was a crook/mobster (Blagojevich not my brother). But no one could do anything because, well, he held all the purse strings. The FBI had been taping his phone conversations for over a year and had 2000 hours of taped phone calls and knew they had a solid case. They were just waiting for the perfect moment which would be AFTER Blagojevich left office.
Blagojevich even KNEW he was being taped but did not care, he was above the law. Problem came when he decided to sell Obama's seat. The Feds REALLY did not want that to happen so they had a little news conference and played a few tidbits hoping to get people worked up a little.
THAT HAPPENED!!! All of a sudden government and private companies by the hundreds were coming forward saying they had been bullied into making deals. You could not do ANYTHING in Illinois that concerned money without cutting a deal with Blagojevich. For instance, the editors of the Chicago Tribune had to be fired before any papers could be filed for selling the Chicago Cubs who are owned by the Trib.
So - Illinois wanted to impeach Blagojevich but there was a timing issue. Only four weeks left before break and a NEW group of Senators woukd take seats and according to Illinois law, you can not impeach a Governor with two sets of Senators. Once you start you must finish. The Democratic Senate stood down and felt the wrath of the public for not doing anything.
No problem. Blagojevich promised he would not fill that seat, go on vacation. Once everybody left Blagojevich assigned the seat and all hell broke loose. The Republicans came after the Democrats for sitting on their hands and doing nothing.
The rest is still happening as I type.
=====================
WOW - that's a lot of politics to get off my chest!! YIKES
Enough for today
Have a great inauguration day.
Rod
There was an inquiry in the comments yesterday stating that since the commentor did not live in Columbus and did not really know where Columbus was anyway, was there a way he could see my little piece that was in the Columbus Pioneer.
Yes there is. Go to the online paper and on the left there is a link called "blog". Now we all know a "blog" is short for Web log which is a "ongoing diary or commentary by an individual". But this is in a newspaper. There is no Web. Could it be a Newspaper log, a perlog? Have I discovered a new catch name? perlog?
===============================
I'm not going to get all googly with events of the day. There are many other places you can read Obama stuff.
But what I am finding interesting is the amount of stuff on American TV looking at the History of our government.
For instance, last night I watched a special on each of the first six presidents. The History channel is going over every one with pretty interesting stuff. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson hated being President so much he did not want it put that he was President of the United States on his grave stone? It says:
HERE WAS BURIED
THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE
DECLARATION
OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE
STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
FOR
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
BORN APRIL 2, 1743 O.S.
DIED JULY 4. 1826
THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE
DECLARATION
OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE
STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
FOR
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
BORN APRIL 2, 1743 O.S.
DIED JULY 4. 1826
Then I watched an hour all about Air Force One and what it takes to send a President overseas and then the history of the White House. Sweet stuff. Piano's falling through the floor to two bears in cages.
One thing among many I found REALLY interesting was how John Quincy Adams attained office. He was the 6th President of the U.S and the son of the 2nd President John Adams.
The 6th election was the first one to have a popular vote even though the electoral vote was used to decide. I guess they wanted to see what the "people" thought. Running were John Quincy Adams, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, U.S. Senator Andrew Jackson and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun.
The popular vote was way way for Jackson with Adams a distant second, Calhoun and then Clay.
The electoral vote was in the same order Jackson, Adams, Calhoun and Clay.
The problem was that according to the Twelfth Amendment you need a majority which means the election is decided on a vote by House of Representatives, which is lead by a very very powerful Henry Clay.
As luck would have it Crawford had a stroke so he was out of the picture and now Clay was in the mix. Clay HATED Jackson.
Deals were made and when the House voted. Adams (right) was the winner with Clay being awarded the Secretary of State. This REALLY pissed off Jackson and his supporters as they believe that Jackson was going to be the winner (sound like anything we have experienced?). Adams achieved nothing in his 4 years as President as it was spent deflecting criticism.
In the next election it was Jackson vs. Adams and historians say this was the ugliest, cruelest and dirtiest campaign ever. The low point was when the press accused Jackson's wife Rachel of bigamy.
Jackson won by a land slide. John Quincy Adams is only one of three Presidents not to attend the inauguration of his predecessor. The other two were his dad and Andrew Johnson.
On a side not Jackson's opponent called him a jackass and this was the start of using the donkey as the symbol for the Democrat party. The Jackass later died but about 30 years later it was revived. ACTUALLY the rooster was the symbol of the Democrats and Eagle for the Republicans but they did not catch on.
-------
In other interesting political news. The Governor of Illinois, that guy with the raccoon on his head? I got some interesting tidbits from my brother who lives in ILL.
Seems EVERYONE new he was a crook/mobster (Blagojevich not my brother). But no one could do anything because, well, he held all the purse strings. The FBI had been taping his phone conversations for over a year and had 2000 hours of taped phone calls and knew they had a solid case. They were just waiting for the perfect moment which would be AFTER Blagojevich left office.
Blagojevich even KNEW he was being taped but did not care, he was above the law. Problem came when he decided to sell Obama's seat. The Feds REALLY did not want that to happen so they had a little news conference and played a few tidbits hoping to get people worked up a little.
THAT HAPPENED!!! All of a sudden government and private companies by the hundreds were coming forward saying they had been bullied into making deals. You could not do ANYTHING in Illinois that concerned money without cutting a deal with Blagojevich. For instance, the editors of the Chicago Tribune had to be fired before any papers could be filed for selling the Chicago Cubs who are owned by the Trib.
So - Illinois wanted to impeach Blagojevich but there was a timing issue. Only four weeks left before break and a NEW group of Senators woukd take seats and according to Illinois law, you can not impeach a Governor with two sets of Senators. Once you start you must finish. The Democratic Senate stood down and felt the wrath of the public for not doing anything.
No problem. Blagojevich promised he would not fill that seat, go on vacation. Once everybody left Blagojevich assigned the seat and all hell broke loose. The Republicans came after the Democrats for sitting on their hands and doing nothing.
The rest is still happening as I type.
=====================
WOW - that's a lot of politics to get off my chest!! YIKES
Enough for today
Have a great inauguration day.
Rod
Monday, January 19, 2009
Fashion?
The Thirty Four comment limit was reached so I now must post a new blog. BTW - the record for one day is 386 comments.
================================
The first order of business is to announce that the ColumbusWIweather station is once again operational. Updating to the web and AROUND THE WORLD every 10 minutes from the extreme south and sunny/warmer side of Columbus** by the new syndicated feature columnist for the start up yet growing exponentially in the extreme south east corner of beautiful Columbia County the . . . . .(bring it) . . . COLUMBUS PIONEER.
**our house IS the point of the southern spear looking south towards Sun Prairie. It's only a matter of time when you will be assimilated!! Deal with it Prairie Dogs.
--------------------------
OK - day off today - still - it's blogging time.
Fashion? did someone say fashion?
That newspaper we all get on Sundays from Madison (I'm not allowed to speak it's name) had a section in it's LIFESTYLE called - FASHION SUPERSTAR and four photos of Michelle Obama.
Now I've made it no secret that I was pro Obama but . . . Fashion Superstar? A one woman bailout for U.S.Fashion? I THINK NOT.
I am somewhat in tune with fashion, always have been, it's my feminine side or, as it is now called my "metro-maleness". I know the difference between fashion and trend and I can tell when the industry is trying to push garbage down our throats or when something is actually good looking. For instance those little shirts or coats with long sleeve? Yea - we'll see those in the closets soon never to see the light of day.
Well the "fashion world" is all a twitter this week. WHO will she wear. Now Vanity Fair awarded Ms. Obama First Place on the International Best-Dressed list. With Obama was is Iris Apfel on the right (not sure WHICH one that is, does it matter? . . . take a pick) and
Kathern Ross (lovely dress), However also on the list is Ivanka Trump who I admire(did that woman behind her just say "b*tch?" .
But back on topic here. Michelle is a fashionable dresser I suppose in a conservative First Lady style but certainly not a Fashion Superstar. Just like Anheuser Busch telling us Bud Lite taste Great because of it's "drinkability" and people saying "yea! it DOES taste great, because they told us it does" I think we are being fed a big bowl of warm hooey on the superstar thing.
Michelle Obama is a Fashion Superstar because she is not Laura Bush. When you think about it Laura Bush had a lot more fashion sense then many of her peers.
They are looking for news and creating it. Say it enough times and people will think it is true.
==================================
With THAT said.
One of our own is back from The Big Apple*
* (first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph.)
As we all know Rianna was chosen (with the help of the thousands of votes from you guys) as a major candidate for Carol Alts new book "Models Inc" and she had an eventful visit in NY including a one and a half hour stay in an elevator (pictured below).
The funny thing is (for us) is that in order to get out Rianna had to TEXT a friend in Milwaukee who in turned called the hotel who in turn thought it was a crank call and basically hung up. TWICE.
The above photo is of them STUCK in the elevator.
But from what I gather all went fine. I have not heard all the stories but here are some photos of the photo shoot. I took the liberty of doing a little cropping and tweaking a little, hope you do not mind Rianna.
I really like that last photo.
==========================
Thank you for the nice comments on the newspaper column and for the paper in general - pretty nice looking paper ain't it!!
What would be nice would be to have each paper archived in their website. The Columbus Pioneer (CP)
I did not get to meet Mr. Incredible (the editor) Friday at the Kurth but did meet two of the remaining three Galactic Super Heros, Sean Whyte and the future Gutter Gussie of the sports pages Erin Whyte (not related how you think). Hope you guys did not get TOO bored with us and you are always welcome. Summers at the Kurth ROCK!
AND FINALLY - a serious thingy.
The CP is going to have a candidates section and are looking for VALID questions (not "which flag flies on top"). My view is I want to know why we should vote for each person. Not what they have done but what they WILL do. What makes them different than the other candidates. Any one have questions?
And that my little friends is it for today.
Cheers!
Rod
================================
The first order of business is to announce that the ColumbusWIweather station is once again operational. Updating to the web and AROUND THE WORLD every 10 minutes from the extreme south and sunny/warmer side of Columbus** by the new syndicated feature columnist for the start up yet growing exponentially in the extreme south east corner of beautiful Columbia County the . . . . .(bring it) . . . COLUMBUS PIONEER.
**our house IS the point of the southern spear looking south towards Sun Prairie. It's only a matter of time when you will be assimilated!! Deal with it Prairie Dogs.
--------------------------
OK - day off today - still - it's blogging time.
Fashion? did someone say fashion?
That newspaper we all get on Sundays from Madison (I'm not allowed to speak it's name) had a section in it's LIFESTYLE called - FASHION SUPERSTAR and four photos of Michelle Obama.
Now I've made it no secret that I was pro Obama but . . . Fashion Superstar? A one woman bailout for U.S.Fashion? I THINK NOT.
I am somewhat in tune with fashion, always have been, it's my feminine side or, as it is now called my "metro-maleness". I know the difference between fashion and trend and I can tell when the industry is trying to push garbage down our throats or when something is actually good looking. For instance those little shirts or coats with long sleeve? Yea - we'll see those in the closets soon never to see the light of day.Well the "fashion world" is all a twitter this week. WHO will she wear. Now Vanity Fair awarded Ms. Obama First Place on the International Best-Dressed list. With Obama was is Iris Apfel on the right (not sure WHICH one that is, does it matter? . . . take a pick) and
Kathern Ross (lovely dress), However also on the list is Ivanka Trump who I admire(did that woman behind her just say "b*tch?" .
But back on topic here. Michelle is a fashionable dresser I suppose in a conservative First Lady style but certainly not a Fashion Superstar. Just like Anheuser Busch telling us Bud Lite taste Great because of it's "drinkability" and people saying "yea! it DOES taste great, because they told us it does" I think we are being fed a big bowl of warm hooey on the superstar thing.Michelle Obama is a Fashion Superstar because she is not Laura Bush. When you think about it Laura Bush had a lot more fashion sense then many of her peers.
They are looking for news and creating it. Say it enough times and people will think it is true.==================================
With THAT said.
One of our own is back from The Big Apple*
* (first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph.)
As we all know Rianna was chosen (with the help of the thousands of votes from you guys) as a major candidate for Carol Alts new book "Models Inc" and she had an eventful visit in NY including a one and a half hour stay in an elevator (pictured below).
The funny thing is (for us) is that in order to get out Rianna had to TEXT a friend in Milwaukee who in turned called the hotel who in turn thought it was a crank call and basically hung up. TWICE.The above photo is of them STUCK in the elevator.
But from what I gather all went fine. I have not heard all the stories but here are some photos of the photo shoot. I took the liberty of doing a little cropping and tweaking a little, hope you do not mind Rianna.
I really like that last photo.
==========================
Thank you for the nice comments on the newspaper column and for the paper in general - pretty nice looking paper ain't it!!
What would be nice would be to have each paper archived in their website. The Columbus Pioneer (CP)
I did not get to meet Mr. Incredible (the editor) Friday at the Kurth but did meet two of the remaining three Galactic Super Heros, Sean Whyte and the future Gutter Gussie of the sports pages Erin Whyte (not related how you think). Hope you guys did not get TOO bored with us and you are always welcome. Summers at the Kurth ROCK!
AND FINALLY - a serious thingy.
The CP is going to have a candidates section and are looking for VALID questions (not "which flag flies on top"). My view is I want to know why we should vote for each person. Not what they have done but what they WILL do. What makes them different than the other candidates. Any one have questions?
And that my little friends is it for today.
Cheers!
Rod
Friday, January 16, 2009
Public Enemies - Trying To Put It All Together
Woke up this morning and my weather station read -20.8F. YEA BABY!!!
Blake, our dog got stuck on his poop. We let him out on his leash and he wrapped it around some dogie doodoo which froze to the ground and he knows that when the leash is taught he must stop. So I looked out the window and he is facing the door with a big shit eating grin on his face (I use that term loosely as no shit was eaten on this instance). I let him in and he was happy.
======================
The Columbus Pioneer came out and I am very happy. Great looking newspaper and the editor is not Perry White as I had assumed. He is Joe Morey, also known as MR. INCREDIBLE. Yea - you have been outed dude!! On the bright side Columbus is now much safer.
Speaking of the paper - huge article about our good friends Kris and Rianna on the front page. From what I have heard they are in NY. Yesterday they visited all sorts of agency's and both were stuck in an elevator for an hour and a half.
Maybe Jenny can fill in the details in the comment section.
One more thing that has been brought to my attention is this website called TRUTH IN COLUMBUS POLITICS which is written by someone who seems to want to hide and not tell anyone who he is (yet we all know). I'm all for truthiness (that which one holds to be true regardless of what is supported by fact) but you have to have some sort of responsibility yourself and you can not fight ALL the fights at once. Pick your battles . You can't just hide and shout out thousands of accusations and expect anybody to listen.
OK - enough of that.
Public Enemies.
Back in October or November, Herenotthere, my good friend over at IMDB who I believe worked on sets, posted that Universal was going to have to reshoot some scenes in Columbus in January. His posts mysteriously vanished soon after and all was quite. Then in early December I got word (from someone higher then Herenotthere) that something "BIG" was in the works concerning PE. All was quiet until a few days ago when once again the "BIG" thing popped up and this time it was followed with a warning that this "BIG" thing MIGHT impact the July 1st date.
We all know that the test screenings have not had steller results but that is why they DO test screenings - to find out what is working and what is not.
As one anon said:
"I think the reshoot theory is possible. Also remember there has been test screenings. Maybe something came out of the test screenings that needs to be corrected. I think maybe they found people did not know the story of Dillinger or the FBI as was expected and they need to add explanatory scenes or maybe they are removing some characters that people didn't recognize anyway." (that would be Todd F in the background waving).
Sounds good but I wonder if Universal wants to educate the public that much on Dillinger, that the main character dies??? hmmmmmmmm
My gut feeling is that there needs be some more filming to fill in a gap. You KNOW Michael Mann is a perfectionist. I also believe (correct me if I am wrong) that JD has wrapped up Alice in Wonderland???
It's a theory at least.
BTW - the 32 Nash that I believe JD drove is in the shop getting an $80K restoration, Graham Man is checking on how that is going.
On a side note I was in contact with some people that were in Little Bohemia and a few things I did not know.
We all know about the small fire that that could have destroyed Little Bo but I did not know that some Little Bo scenes were reshot at Mirror Lake. It was too cold at Little Bo and some tommy guns and 45s were not firing correctly. Thus the need to move south to Mirror Lake. Also something about the lake being frozen up there.
===============================
WARMER WEATHER IS COMING - has anyone ever stuck their hand out of their car when the temp is -20F when you are going 70mph? I was disappointed when I found that the Wind Chill would ONLY be like -64F, but the OLD Wind Chill would have been -84F - MUCH better.
If you try it let know know how it feels.
Rod
Blake, our dog got stuck on his poop. We let him out on his leash and he wrapped it around some dogie doodoo which froze to the ground and he knows that when the leash is taught he must stop. So I looked out the window and he is facing the door with a big shit eating grin on his face (I use that term loosely as no shit was eaten on this instance). I let him in and he was happy.======================
The Columbus Pioneer came out and I am very happy. Great looking newspaper and the editor is not Perry White as I had assumed. He is Joe Morey, also known as MR. INCREDIBLE. Yea - you have been outed dude!! On the bright side Columbus is now much safer.Speaking of the paper - huge article about our good friends Kris and Rianna on the front page. From what I have heard they are in NY. Yesterday they visited all sorts of agency's and both were stuck in an elevator for an hour and a half.
Maybe Jenny can fill in the details in the comment section.
One more thing that has been brought to my attention is this website called TRUTH IN COLUMBUS POLITICS which is written by someone who seems to want to hide and not tell anyone who he is (yet we all know). I'm all for truthiness (that which one holds to be true regardless of what is supported by fact) but you have to have some sort of responsibility yourself and you can not fight ALL the fights at once. Pick your battles . You can't just hide and shout out thousands of accusations and expect anybody to listen.
OK - enough of that.
Public Enemies.
Back in October or November, Herenotthere, my good friend over at IMDB who I believe worked on sets, posted that Universal was going to have to reshoot some scenes in Columbus in January. His posts mysteriously vanished soon after and all was quite. Then in early December I got word (from someone higher then Herenotthere) that something "BIG" was in the works concerning PE. All was quiet until a few days ago when once again the "BIG" thing popped up and this time it was followed with a warning that this "BIG" thing MIGHT impact the July 1st date.
We all know that the test screenings have not had steller results but that is why they DO test screenings - to find out what is working and what is not.
As one anon said:
"I think the reshoot theory is possible. Also remember there has been test screenings. Maybe something came out of the test screenings that needs to be corrected. I think maybe they found people did not know the story of Dillinger or the FBI as was expected and they need to add explanatory scenes or maybe they are removing some characters that people didn't recognize anyway." (that would be Todd F in the background waving).
Sounds good but I wonder if Universal wants to educate the public that much on Dillinger, that the main character dies??? hmmmmmmmm
My gut feeling is that there needs be some more filming to fill in a gap. You KNOW Michael Mann is a perfectionist. I also believe (correct me if I am wrong) that JD has wrapped up Alice in Wonderland???
It's a theory at least.
BTW - the 32 Nash that I believe JD drove is in the shop getting an $80K restoration, Graham Man is checking on how that is going.
On a side note I was in contact with some people that were in Little Bohemia and a few things I did not know.
We all know about the small fire that that could have destroyed Little Bo but I did not know that some Little Bo scenes were reshot at Mirror Lake. It was too cold at Little Bo and some tommy guns and 45s were not firing correctly. Thus the need to move south to Mirror Lake. Also something about the lake being frozen up there.
===============================
WARMER WEATHER IS COMING - has anyone ever stuck their hand out of their car when the temp is -20F when you are going 70mph? I was disappointed when I found that the Wind Chill would ONLY be like -64F, but the OLD Wind Chill would have been -84F - MUCH better.
If you try it let know know how it feels.
Rod
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Everything You Know is Wrong - Well, not EVERYTHING
Here we go - the Arctic Express. Just to toot my own horn "I TOLD YOU SO"!! Yea - SURPRISE - the weatherheads are NOW talking -20F. Where was that LAST week when they were whining about -15F and I was saying "what are you talking about".
However - even I was conservative. I bet we hit -20F tonight AND tomorrow night and I doubt we will be UP to -6 as a high tomorrow. This air mass was the same one over Alaska and here are the daily HIGHS this month in McGrath:
-22F
-41F
-45F
-37F
-15F
-30F
-39F
-41F
-37F
-21F
-2F
+9F
on the bright side the daily LOWS were only 10 to 15 degrees colder. I figure once you hit -30F it's all pretty much the same.
McGrath Alaska sounds like a WONDERFUL place to live. "McGrath families rely upon subsistence, salmon, moose, caribou, bear, and rabbits." "There are no road connections to McGrath, but local roads are used by ATVs and trucks". "McGrath offers a variety of unemployment opportunities, but subsistence remains an important part of the local culture."
Well - when I talk DJ into making McGrath our vacation destination I hope they have a good movie at the IMax.
Speaking of weather - The Columbia County Emergency Management contacted our Mayor, Nancy Osterhaus, who told them to contact ME! It seems Columbia County lost a few million in Fed money last year when we did not qualify, not enough snow. Columbus had plenty of snow but Portage did not.
I report all weather observations to CoCoRaHS and even though many organizations use the data - "IT'S NOT OFFICIAL" enough for the Fed. That is where I come in. I was asked to become an OFFICIAL NOAA WEATHER OBSERVING STATION or a ONOAAWOS. (pronounced "Oh No a Woos").
Problem #1 - My current weather station has been down for a more then a month do to lack of hard drive, and #2. it is a 365 day a year task with no retirement benefits or pay. I can volunteer to save Columbia County millions of dollars a year . . . and get nothing in return. SWEET!!!!
At the moment I will have to say thanks but no thanks. I must decline my life long dream of being an OFFICIAL WEATHER GEEK and will have to continue to be a HOBBY WEATHER GEEK.
===================================
Which brings us to Pistachios!
I LOVE Pistachios and I believe they love me. How do I know that? Because they are so so good for me. Especially my cholesterol. I have low BAD cholesterol(LDL) but I lack GOOD cholesterol (HDL). Well Pistachios are one of the best things to put in your mouth when it comes to cholesterol. PLUS, Pistachios are rich in nutrients that reduce hardening of the arteries.
Did you know that pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees. Can you name the OLDEST flowering nut tree? I can't.
Did you know that the Queen of Sheba decreed pistachios an exclusively royal food, going so far as to forbid commoners from using their nuts for personal use.
Court Artist drawing used without permission as he has been dead for many years.
The #1 area in the world for pistachios is Iran. California #2.
How many nuts are mentioned in the Bible. . . . . let me rephrase that. Pistachios are one of only two nuts mention in the Bible (Genesis 43:11),
GRINDERS'S WORD® Translation (©2009)
"Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man who wears dark glasses as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts, almonds and a case of Leinies."
In Iran pistachios are know as "the smiling nut" (move over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and in China it's the "happy nut". BTW - the shell splits open on it's own and tells you it is ripe.
And what about your red nuts? It's all about mishandling them, you must be more gentile. It seems they used to dye pistachios red to hide imperfections that would occur when hand picked. However now they are all machine picked and there is no need for the dye. Yet, people still seem to think pistachio's are red for a reason. NOPE. They are wrong.
Which brings me to the title of this blog.
Everything You Know is Wrong .
Along with the red pistachio problem there are lots of other things we have been taught that are just wrong. For instance. You must put on a cap because most of your heat loss is through your head. NOPE! WRONG. You cover your head BECAUSE YOUR HEAD WILL GET COLD! There is no scientific proof that you lose EXTRA heat through your head.
Remember the dire warnings years ago about joggers? How there knees would turn to mush from jogging? There has now been 25 years of data on joggers and oddly, THEIR knees are in BETTER shape then non-joggers.
Then there is the DDT mosquito foggers that all of us kids use to run behind. My mom always warned me that it was bad for my health but so far I have noticed that BECAUSE I ran behind thee fogger I still have a full head of hair.!! Yea - but the Bald Eagle, brown pelican and peregrine falcon took the brunt of that storm. When was the last time you saw a brown pelican in Columbus.!!
ummmmmmm - I guess that's not EVERYTHING but my brain is still sparking on pistachio's. I could list 1001 uses for a pistachio but knowing that most of you only got to 50 on yesterdays list I will not . . . list them.
Did you know you could a pistachio as a missing game piece in Monopoly? Yea - that is just ONE use!!!!
ENOUGH!
Make sure you buy The Columbus Pioneer (insert echo) tomorrow at all the regular news stands (where ever they might be).
Also - for all of you in other country's - contact the editor for a subscription. Who can get one sent the farthest for the with the most postage.
Rod
However - even I was conservative. I bet we hit -20F tonight AND tomorrow night and I doubt we will be UP to -6 as a high tomorrow. This air mass was the same one over Alaska and here are the daily HIGHS this month in McGrath:
-22F
-41F
-45F
-37F
-15F
-30F
-39F
-41F
-37F
-21F
-2F
+9F
on the bright side the daily LOWS were only 10 to 15 degrees colder. I figure once you hit -30F it's all pretty much the same.
McGrath Alaska sounds like a WONDERFUL place to live. "McGrath families rely upon subsistence, salmon, moose, caribou, bear, and rabbits." "There are no road connections to McGrath, but local roads are used by ATVs and trucks". "McGrath offers a variety of unemployment opportunities, but subsistence remains an important part of the local culture."
Well - when I talk DJ into making McGrath our vacation destination I hope they have a good movie at the IMax.
Speaking of weather - The Columbia County Emergency Management contacted our Mayor, Nancy Osterhaus, who told them to contact ME! It seems Columbia County lost a few million in Fed money last year when we did not qualify, not enough snow. Columbus had plenty of snow but Portage did not.
I report all weather observations to CoCoRaHS and even though many organizations use the data - "IT'S NOT OFFICIAL" enough for the Fed. That is where I come in. I was asked to become an OFFICIAL NOAA WEATHER OBSERVING STATION or a ONOAAWOS. (pronounced "Oh No a Woos").
Problem #1 - My current weather station has been down for a more then a month do to lack of hard drive, and #2. it is a 365 day a year task with no retirement benefits or pay. I can volunteer to save Columbia County millions of dollars a year . . . and get nothing in return. SWEET!!!!
At the moment I will have to say thanks but no thanks. I must decline my life long dream of being an OFFICIAL WEATHER GEEK and will have to continue to be a HOBBY WEATHER GEEK.
===================================
Which brings us to Pistachios!
I LOVE Pistachios and I believe they love me. How do I know that? Because they are so so good for me. Especially my cholesterol. I have low BAD cholesterol(LDL) but I lack GOOD cholesterol (HDL). Well Pistachios are one of the best things to put in your mouth when it comes to cholesterol. PLUS, Pistachios are rich in nutrients that reduce hardening of the arteries.Did you know that pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees. Can you name the OLDEST flowering nut tree? I can't.
Did you know that the Queen of Sheba decreed pistachios an exclusively royal food, going so far as to forbid commoners from using their nuts for personal use.Court Artist drawing used without permission as he has been dead for many years.
The #1 area in the world for pistachios is Iran. California #2.
How many nuts are mentioned in the Bible. . . . . let me rephrase that. Pistachios are one of only two nuts mention in the Bible (Genesis 43:11),
GRINDERS'S WORD® Translation (©2009)
"Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man who wears dark glasses as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts, almonds and a case of Leinies."
In Iran pistachios are know as "the smiling nut" (move over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) and in China it's the "happy nut". BTW - the shell splits open on it's own and tells you it is ripe.
And what about your red nuts? It's all about mishandling them, you must be more gentile. It seems they used to dye pistachios red to hide imperfections that would occur when hand picked. However now they are all machine picked and there is no need for the dye. Yet, people still seem to think pistachio's are red for a reason. NOPE. They are wrong.
Which brings me to the title of this blog.
Everything You Know is Wrong .
Along with the red pistachio problem there are lots of other things we have been taught that are just wrong. For instance. You must put on a cap because most of your heat loss is through your head. NOPE! WRONG. You cover your head BECAUSE YOUR HEAD WILL GET COLD! There is no scientific proof that you lose EXTRA heat through your head.
Remember the dire warnings years ago about joggers? How there knees would turn to mush from jogging? There has now been 25 years of data on joggers and oddly, THEIR knees are in BETTER shape then non-joggers.
Then there is the DDT mosquito foggers that all of us kids use to run behind. My mom always warned me that it was bad for my health but so far I have noticed that BECAUSE I ran behind thee fogger I still have a full head of hair.!! Yea - but the Bald Eagle, brown pelican and peregrine falcon took the brunt of that storm. When was the last time you saw a brown pelican in Columbus.!!
ummmmmmm - I guess that's not EVERYTHING but my brain is still sparking on pistachio's. I could list 1001 uses for a pistachio but knowing that most of you only got to 50 on yesterdays list I will not . . . list them.
Did you know you could a pistachio as a missing game piece in Monopoly? Yea - that is just ONE use!!!!
ENOUGH!
Make sure you buy The Columbus Pioneer (insert echo) tomorrow at all the regular news stands (where ever they might be).
Also - for all of you in other country's - contact the editor for a subscription. Who can get one sent the farthest for the with the most postage.
Rod
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Nut'n Much Today
I'm a scramblin for words. Sometimes the mind just does not want to give up the words.
OH - one small political question. The paper that shall remain nameless mention that one of the former Mayors that is running again quit after an "infamous speech" to the City Council.
WELL - that certainly brought up questions!! Can someone fill me in?
===========================================
Before I forget - Friday is the 3rd Friday of the month so it's Kurth night at . . . the Kurth. Come on down for a pint. I invite the gang at The Columbus Pioneer to come on down, I'll buy ya'all a brewsky. Remember - no TV, no music, just friendly people that actually talk to each other. Maybe I'll being a few home brews!
============================================
If we manage to survive this week, NEXT week should be back to and actually above normal. Canada and Alaska, where our weather comes from these days are way above normal. No cold air UP THERE!! Move to Canada to get warm. All of that cold air that has been trapped yup dar for the last 3 weeks is on the move as we speak.
Faribanks is having a heat wave and wil peek out at -14F (they have been between -30F and -45F for the last 3 days) amd will be near 30 by Friday, a 70 degree climb.
Another Albert Clipper coming tonight, almost the exact path as the last one. Should get to -8F but rising throughout the night to a balmy high of 7F. Wednesday night -14F, Thursday the pimple will pop with a High of -5F if we are lucky and a low of . . . . . . . . . say it with me . . . . -21F IF not colder.
Then we're OK, above zero Friday and tee-shirt weather Saturday in the middle teens. SWEET!!!
Heck - last night it was -27F in Hayward.
==================================
Warner Bro's has come up with an interesting strategy when offering films meant for the older crowd. They will release a movie in limited locations, just enough for people to get talking about it and maybe they should go see so and so.
The Bucket List, Million Dollar Baby and now Gran Torino. All did very very good at the box office. In fact Gran Torino was #1 this week and this will be Eastwoods most watched movie of his career. But - I am now boring myself.
I was trying to figure out how to make a smooth segui between the movie Demons and Angles and This Day in History but - it ain't happening. In 1128, Pope Honorius II recognized the Knights Templar as a valid army of God.
I'm not going to go into what the Knights Templar were all about and what happened to them, visit your local library da Internets! HOWEVER - with that said - I can not wait for Universal's Demons and Angles.
=========================================
80 years ago today Wyatt Earp died in LA. In Wyatts final years he was a Hollywood consultant for Western movies
==========================================
OK - here is a link to a real dumb movie for guys - yet - after a few seconds the dumb comedy was rather funny. Probably a horrible movie but I must admit some of the gags were . . . . funny!
Miss March
hmmmmm - I just watched it again - not so excellent the 2nd time!! Nevermind.
=========================================
This MIGHT not be so interesting for anybody but myself but I thought it was pretty good. I can totally relate to all 82 of these remarks and THAT is so so sad. I think DJ will agree . . it is so so sad.
You're no longer a Newbi beer maker when . . . .
1. You make really good beer
2. You know yeast strains by number
3. You know the pros and cons of different wort chillers
4. You bore your friends to death discussing styles and ingredients
5. You come to grips with the reality of brewing: you'll never have a perfect brew session, but you'll still make great beer.
6. You open the first bottle after 3 weeks, not the last bottle.
7. You no longer suck on the hose to rack to the secondary.
8. You have two brew sessions in a row without a boil-over.
9. You have more yeast containers in your fridge than condiments.
10. You go to a bar with your spouse and refuse to order anything on tap unless it's not a lager, and fully discuss the differences before ordering.
11. Go to a bar and walk out because all they serve is Coors light, Bud light, Miller Lite, and Corona. (sounds a lot like Columbus).
12. You've had a lengthy argument with the staff at Steak and Ale, due to the fact that they have no Ales on their menu.
13. Place both restaurants and bars on self written yet enforced "banned list" after they:
a.) Serve you beer in a 0.4 litre glass claiming it is a pint or use the term glass and pint interchangeably and charge the pint price.
b.) Serve you beer in the improper beer glass ie. Hefeweizen in a English pint glass or Pils in the same. (well yea - totally!)
c.) Serve beer at the incorrect temperature ie. ultra cold Stout or warm Lager.
d.) When asked for a list of served ales name lagers by their full name ie "Granville Island Lager".
16. You stop asking "is my beer ruined" every time something unexpected happens.
17. You taste your beer and go 'Damn, I made that'. You're no longer a newbie as you expect it however you're still amazed..
18. Nothing is unexpected.
19. You know why it's bad to use a Kilo of sugar.
20. You'll sit in a pub without a drink because they only sell swill.
21. You get excited at the sight of a beer engine.
22. You drag visitors to look at the yeasty beasties fermenting.
23. You stop getting excited over blow offs.
24. You know that nothing ordinary can kill your beer.
25. You don't give a second thought to hot side aeration.
26. You've made more mistakes than a newbie can think of.
27. You already know if glass or plastic is better AND you don't care.
28. You read all of howtobrew.com and it makes sense.
29. You know why a hydrometer helps
30. having enough experience to realize: All this gear doesn't brew great beer -- I do!
31. You know what the calculations are.
32. You know how to do the calculations.
33. You know you don't need to do the calculations.
34. You think you're still a newbie but people start asking you questions.
35. When you give up caring about "Styles" and just brew the damn beer.
36. You find, much to your surprise, that you have enough beer on hand.
37. Spending more money on beer equipment in one day than most people would spend on buying beer from major brewers in one year.
38. By "six-pack", you mean carboys.
39. You visit a brew pub that brags about their "in house" brews, and find that your brews taste so much better!
40. You can't remember the last weekend that you did not brew
41. When your wife has given up hoping you will stop this obsession and starts drinking your beer.
42. When you are excited about using Wyeast Pacman
43. When you can leave it in the carboy for an extra week and not even think of asking the question "Should I?"
44. When you pick up some good microbrew, but find all the flaws from handling since it left the brewery
45. When you pick up some good microbrew, but you're reminded of how great your latest homebrew is
46. When you see the number 56 in this post or 1,056 as in the number of posts currently in Ed's Apfelwein post, you automatically think of the yeast strain 1056.
47. When you brew clones and do blind taste tests with your wife and your brew wins.
48. you're no longer a newbie right after you and your friends choke down that last bottle of your first over carb'd cidery tasting swill-brew and already have another batch on your mind or going into the primary to correct all of the issues/mistakes/ingredients....too late, you have joined the dark side.
49. when you realize that no matter how much you know and have brewed, you'll never know it all.
50. When you look at your carboy, and see some white moldy stuff on top of your lager....and then think "its an aerobic organism...so I could bottle it now and kill the beasties".....and have the best beer you ever made.
51. At the sight of an empty carboy, 12 different ideas for the next batch pop up in your head.(that is SO true)
52. You always are relaxing, not worrying, and drinking a homebrew!
53. You're in no way worried about prohibition ever happening again because you've got about 40 gallons of booze on hand.
54. You have all the skills and equipment necessary to have a HIGHLY profitable side business should Prohibition ever happen again.
55. You visit a brewery and think "That's how I make my beer"
56. After tasting a dozen different batches, your wife finally tastes one that she doesn't immediately dismiss as just "tasting like beer" and actually indicates that she would drink it.(has not happened yet)
57. You start noticing that the guys that own the Local Home Brew Store don't know as much as you do about certain aspects of brewing.(bingo)
58. When your wife, who's a bit of a wine snob, tastes your brew and says she likes it.
59. You show your brewery off to visitors and can answer any question they have about brewing.
60. You're recruited to help pick out a "starter kit" and the price keeps going up because you know how much better it can be.
61. Your magnetic stir plate has it's own place on the counter between the coffee pot and toaster
62. You're use to cleaning Kreusen off of the ceiling, walls, and various other places
63. You see your recipes in other brewers signatures
64. You stop worrying about what other people like and brew what you like.
65. You realize that Grolsch is not that great and the only reason Grolsch sells is for the swing tops.
66. Your family refers to your fridge in the laundry room as Daddy's Beer Fridge, and ask permission before they put anything in it.
67. You make the same recipe (or essentially the same recipe) more than once.
68. You have to use your Tetris skills in order to properly and efficiently store the ridiculous quantities of beer you've built up.(LOL - happened just last night)
69. You do a word relation test, and everything they say has something to do with beer
eg "car - boy"
"door - tap"
"tap - beer"
70. You stop caring what ABV your beer is, because you know you can put away at least a 6er of 8 abv beers before you 'feel' anything, and just care about the taste
71. You build a curtain inside of your brew closet to keep any and ALL light away from your bottles, no matter the bottle color.
72. You go down the baby food aisle and pick up 5 or 6 jars of mashed beats, just so you have some containers for the yeast you're harvesting this weekend.
73. People complement your bad batches of beer.
74. You don't worry about having enough bottled water in the event of a disaster because you have 2 months worth of beer in the basement.
75. You buy clothes for your carboys.
76. you have more refrigerators for beer than you do food.
77. you don't have Central AC but your beer room does.
78. you have hugged a fermenter.
79. you worry about channeling when you sparge your coffee.
80. You reply to a thread titled "I Never Get Head" and your response doesn't end up in the gutter.
81. You decide God wants you to start a brewery.
82. You now bitch twice as much about not getting enough head.
WOW - THAT was boring the 2nd time through also.
I better quit while I'm only a little boring.
Rod - bored with myself.
OH - one small political question. The paper that shall remain nameless mention that one of the former Mayors that is running again quit after an "infamous speech" to the City Council.
WELL - that certainly brought up questions!! Can someone fill me in?
===========================================
Before I forget - Friday is the 3rd Friday of the month so it's Kurth night at . . . the Kurth. Come on down for a pint. I invite the gang at The Columbus Pioneer to come on down, I'll buy ya'all a brewsky. Remember - no TV, no music, just friendly people that actually talk to each other. Maybe I'll being a few home brews!
============================================
If we manage to survive this week, NEXT week should be back to and actually above normal. Canada and Alaska, where our weather comes from these days are way above normal. No cold air UP THERE!! Move to Canada to get warm. All of that cold air that has been trapped yup dar for the last 3 weeks is on the move as we speak.
Faribanks is having a heat wave and wil peek out at -14F (they have been between -30F and -45F for the last 3 days) amd will be near 30 by Friday, a 70 degree climb.
Another Albert Clipper coming tonight, almost the exact path as the last one. Should get to -8F but rising throughout the night to a balmy high of 7F. Wednesday night -14F, Thursday the pimple will pop with a High of -5F if we are lucky and a low of . . . . . . . . . say it with me . . . . -21F IF not colder.
Then we're OK, above zero Friday and tee-shirt weather Saturday in the middle teens. SWEET!!!
Heck - last night it was -27F in Hayward.
==================================
Warner Bro's has come up with an interesting strategy when offering films meant for the older crowd. They will release a movie in limited locations, just enough for people to get talking about it and maybe they should go see so and so.
The Bucket List, Million Dollar Baby and now Gran Torino. All did very very good at the box office. In fact Gran Torino was #1 this week and this will be Eastwoods most watched movie of his career. But - I am now boring myself.
I was trying to figure out how to make a smooth segui between the movie Demons and Angles and This Day in History but - it ain't happening. In 1128, Pope Honorius II recognized the Knights Templar as a valid army of God.
I'm not going to go into what the Knights Templar were all about and what happened to them, visit your local library da Internets! HOWEVER - with that said - I can not wait for Universal's Demons and Angles.
=========================================
80 years ago today Wyatt Earp died in LA. In Wyatts final years he was a Hollywood consultant for Western movies
==========================================
OK - here is a link to a real dumb movie for guys - yet - after a few seconds the dumb comedy was rather funny. Probably a horrible movie but I must admit some of the gags were . . . . funny!
Miss March
hmmmmm - I just watched it again - not so excellent the 2nd time!! Nevermind.
=========================================
This MIGHT not be so interesting for anybody but myself but I thought it was pretty good. I can totally relate to all 82 of these remarks and THAT is so so sad. I think DJ will agree . . it is so so sad.
You're no longer a Newbi beer maker when . . . .
1. You make really good beer
2. You know yeast strains by number
3. You know the pros and cons of different wort chillers
4. You bore your friends to death discussing styles and ingredients
5. You come to grips with the reality of brewing: you'll never have a perfect brew session, but you'll still make great beer.
6. You open the first bottle after 3 weeks, not the last bottle.
7. You no longer suck on the hose to rack to the secondary.
8. You have two brew sessions in a row without a boil-over.
9. You have more yeast containers in your fridge than condiments.
10. You go to a bar with your spouse and refuse to order anything on tap unless it's not a lager, and fully discuss the differences before ordering.
11. Go to a bar and walk out because all they serve is Coors light, Bud light, Miller Lite, and Corona. (sounds a lot like Columbus).
12. You've had a lengthy argument with the staff at Steak and Ale, due to the fact that they have no Ales on their menu.
13. Place both restaurants and bars on self written yet enforced "banned list" after they:
a.) Serve you beer in a 0.4 litre glass claiming it is a pint or use the term glass and pint interchangeably and charge the pint price.
b.) Serve you beer in the improper beer glass ie. Hefeweizen in a English pint glass or Pils in the same. (well yea - totally!)
c.) Serve beer at the incorrect temperature ie. ultra cold Stout or warm Lager.
d.) When asked for a list of served ales name lagers by their full name ie "Granville Island Lager".
16. You stop asking "is my beer ruined" every time something unexpected happens.
17. You taste your beer and go 'Damn, I made that'. You're no longer a newbie as you expect it however you're still amazed..
18. Nothing is unexpected.
19. You know why it's bad to use a Kilo of sugar.
20. You'll sit in a pub without a drink because they only sell swill.
21. You get excited at the sight of a beer engine.
22. You drag visitors to look at the yeasty beasties fermenting.
23. You stop getting excited over blow offs.
24. You know that nothing ordinary can kill your beer.
25. You don't give a second thought to hot side aeration.
26. You've made more mistakes than a newbie can think of.
27. You already know if glass or plastic is better AND you don't care.
28. You read all of howtobrew.com and it makes sense.
29. You know why a hydrometer helps
30. having enough experience to realize: All this gear doesn't brew great beer -- I do!
31. You know what the calculations are.
32. You know how to do the calculations.
33. You know you don't need to do the calculations.
34. You think you're still a newbie but people start asking you questions.
35. When you give up caring about "Styles" and just brew the damn beer.
36. You find, much to your surprise, that you have enough beer on hand.
37. Spending more money on beer equipment in one day than most people would spend on buying beer from major brewers in one year.
38. By "six-pack", you mean carboys.
39. You visit a brew pub that brags about their "in house" brews, and find that your brews taste so much better!
40. You can't remember the last weekend that you did not brew
41. When your wife has given up hoping you will stop this obsession and starts drinking your beer.
42. When you are excited about using Wyeast Pacman
43. When you can leave it in the carboy for an extra week and not even think of asking the question "Should I?"
44. When you pick up some good microbrew, but find all the flaws from handling since it left the brewery
45. When you pick up some good microbrew, but you're reminded of how great your latest homebrew is
46. When you see the number 56 in this post or 1,056 as in the number of posts currently in Ed's Apfelwein post, you automatically think of the yeast strain 1056.
47. When you brew clones and do blind taste tests with your wife and your brew wins.
48. you're no longer a newbie right after you and your friends choke down that last bottle of your first over carb'd cidery tasting swill-brew and already have another batch on your mind or going into the primary to correct all of the issues/mistakes/ingredients....too late, you have joined the dark side.
49. when you realize that no matter how much you know and have brewed, you'll never know it all.
50. When you look at your carboy, and see some white moldy stuff on top of your lager....and then think "its an aerobic organism...so I could bottle it now and kill the beasties".....and have the best beer you ever made.
51. At the sight of an empty carboy, 12 different ideas for the next batch pop up in your head.(that is SO true)
52. You always are relaxing, not worrying, and drinking a homebrew!
53. You're in no way worried about prohibition ever happening again because you've got about 40 gallons of booze on hand.
54. You have all the skills and equipment necessary to have a HIGHLY profitable side business should Prohibition ever happen again.
55. You visit a brewery and think "That's how I make my beer"
56. After tasting a dozen different batches, your wife finally tastes one that she doesn't immediately dismiss as just "tasting like beer" and actually indicates that she would drink it.(has not happened yet)
57. You start noticing that the guys that own the Local Home Brew Store don't know as much as you do about certain aspects of brewing.(bingo)
58. When your wife, who's a bit of a wine snob, tastes your brew and says she likes it.
59. You show your brewery off to visitors and can answer any question they have about brewing.
60. You're recruited to help pick out a "starter kit" and the price keeps going up because you know how much better it can be.
61. Your magnetic stir plate has it's own place on the counter between the coffee pot and toaster
62. You're use to cleaning Kreusen off of the ceiling, walls, and various other places
63. You see your recipes in other brewers signatures
64. You stop worrying about what other people like and brew what you like.
65. You realize that Grolsch is not that great and the only reason Grolsch sells is for the swing tops.
66. Your family refers to your fridge in the laundry room as Daddy's Beer Fridge, and ask permission before they put anything in it.
67. You make the same recipe (or essentially the same recipe) more than once.
68. You have to use your Tetris skills in order to properly and efficiently store the ridiculous quantities of beer you've built up.(LOL - happened just last night)
69. You do a word relation test, and everything they say has something to do with beer
eg "car - boy"
"door - tap"
"tap - beer"
70. You stop caring what ABV your beer is, because you know you can put away at least a 6er of 8 abv beers before you 'feel' anything, and just care about the taste
71. You build a curtain inside of your brew closet to keep any and ALL light away from your bottles, no matter the bottle color.
72. You go down the baby food aisle and pick up 5 or 6 jars of mashed beats, just so you have some containers for the yeast you're harvesting this weekend.
73. People complement your bad batches of beer.
74. You don't worry about having enough bottled water in the event of a disaster because you have 2 months worth of beer in the basement.
75. You buy clothes for your carboys.
76. you have more refrigerators for beer than you do food.
77. you don't have Central AC but your beer room does.
78. you have hugged a fermenter.
79. you worry about channeling when you sparge your coffee.
80. You reply to a thread titled "I Never Get Head" and your response doesn't end up in the gutter.
81. You decide God wants you to start a brewery.
82. You now bitch twice as much about not getting enough head.
WOW - THAT was boring the 2nd time through also.
I better quit while I'm only a little boring.
Rod - bored with myself.
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