pretty hoppy day

Well, Melissa come in and "saved the day", as it were. That refrigerator I was supposed to go get the other day, before Dad started acting up, was still available and Melissa and I found a place for it in the house. Additionally, she had gotten her paycheck, so I no longer needed to borrow Dad's money.

However, this meant taking my truck, instead of Dad's. The poor ol' girl has seen better times, yet she still keeps pluggin' on.

We got it at 89K miles, and I noticed today that it now has 178K logged. The only thing we have done to it was replace a radiator (the neck blew off -- freak thing), replace a timing belt, and the usual maintenance stuff (and usually not on schedule either). Not bad for nearly 100K miles and 5 years or so time.

Problem is, it has had a throw out bearing going out for quite some time now. I left wondering if it was going to make it over the mountain, and if it did, would it make it back? The refrigerator is an hour and a half away from here.

Damn the torpedoes! I headed out this afternoon to get it.

Along the way there was a road sign for a bar that said "FREE BEER YESTERDAY". That gave me quite a chuckle. I must admit those first two words certainly are attention getters!  ; )

I arrived quite near the time I told the guy (10 minutes for *me* is NEVER late), so that was good. We exchanged greetings and he took me downstairs to look at it.

(click on a picture to enlarge)

I saw pictures of it beforehand and knew it was rough, but it looked rougher in person! Aesthetics isn't so much a big thing, though.

After all, I wasn't going to be putting food in it. I looked it over, heard it run (sort of, the damn thing is quiet), and decided it would be a lot of cleaning, but doable.

I offered the guy $10 less than what he was asking and we met in the middle. A working, albeit ugly, 17 c.f. refrigerator for $45. SOLD!

We loaded it up, strapped it down, and talked for quite some time. He was quite an enjoyable fellow to chat with.

He was maybe 10 years my elder, but we chatted for a good half hour before I set out -- mostly about beer, since he knew that is what i wanted the fridge for.

Well, that little truck, did just fine. It may just be the best $1500 I have ever spent. It keeps going like the Energizer bunny, no matter how much neglect it gets.

It sure has been good to us and is such a fun little truck to drive. I miss driving it, although i *need* to get the radio fixed. I about went crazy on that drive.   ; )

Upon getting home, I curiously walked over to my hop garden and saw ....

(again, click on the pictures to enlarge)


The one on the top right is the only hop showing some greenery. About a dozen others have the purplish buds that are similar to what is exhibited in the bottom left photo. I suspect in another few days -they- ought to be green sprouts as well. In about two weeks, I bet those suckers will be nearly four feet tall!

After taking the above pics, I set about cleaning up the fridge with some bleach-water. It looks better, but some of it is corrosion, not mold or mildew and likely will just have to remain. 

I am only wanting it for a fermetation chamber anyway. I will get it as clean as I can and so long as there is no mold or mildew remaining, it should be just fine. 

Sadly, the fridge was such a good deal, that the temperature regulator I need for it will cost more than the fridge did.  LOL     That will likely be another couple weeks, then the sky is the limit! 

I will then be able to brew more than just ales I will also be able to do  lagers, bocks, and especially DOPPELBOCKS!! Yeah baby! WooHoo!

It was  a pretty damn good day to be sure!