happiness is ...

relative per individual.


Dad's been wanting to get to Knoxville for a week or so now so he can get some fish for his fish tank. I have been asking him if we can go pick up another beer kit, since the first batch has been all bottled and my fermenters are now empty and awaiting some flavored liquid.

When we head to Knoxville, we typically hit a couple other places as well. Woodcraft is a near definite everytime we head over. Not that we need something from there, but is always fun (for me, anyway) to look. This may be the one place, that I understand what window shopping is about.

So anyway, we head over that way. Northern Equipment (another neat store) is on the docket today as well. Dad wants to look at a wood stove for the new addition (a screened-in jacuzzi room). They didn't have what Dad was looking for, so we headed off to the homebrew supply store.

In the same shopping center where the brew supply store is, there is a neat little international delicatessen with all types of good meats and cheeses and jams, and ... and ... and ....      Man! could spend *all* kinds of money in there! We picked up some kielbasa, cheese, mustard, and a couple different types of sausages.

From there, we head over next door to the homebrew store! I had seen an IPA kit on their website that looked like it was a great candidate to be my next brew. However, upon perusal of their shelves, they didn't have an IPA kit in stock. BUMMER!

So I show the man  (whom turns out to be the co-owner, and all around cool guy) a recipe I got off the internet that is a clone recipe for Fat Tire (a New Belgium red ale which is pretty tasty). After looking over the ingredients he informs me it's an all-grain recipe and after hearing what equipment I have and my (lack of) brewing experience goes about discouraging me.

He tells me 'I am supposed to sell you whatever you want, but, while you *could* do it with the equipment you have, it would be a real headache to attempt' and suggests I stick with a kit for a few more times until I get comfortable with it.

He further told me 'that he is a better enthusiast than a businessman' and that he doesn't want me discouraged by selling me something to make the process more difficult and labor-intensive. I spent over an hour in the store and learned a LOT from the man. Good stuff!

Next stop was to go to Woodcraft. They had marblewood on sale and I have never worked it before and of course the flyer makes it look really pretty ... and being 25% off, I was curious.  Additionally, I was in need of a Jacob's chuck (basically a drill arbor that fits into the tailstock of a lathe). We get there to find that neither were in stock (but they were unloading this week's shipment from the truck). After another hour, they still hadn't turned up either, but by then we wandered around long enough to see a couple other things that caught interest.

Dad was intrigued by a duplicator jig that attaches to the lathe bed and allows you to duplicate a piece you have turned. I want one ...  but someday when I am better experienced and can put it to good use.

Dad sees it, thinks it's a neat toy, and tells the salesman to get one and put on the counter. I tried to talk him down to something that would be more useful in the immediate future ... and about 1/3 the cost.

Dad shows no interest in this, so I put it back, yet we are still waiting on them to finish unloading the new stock. While they are stocking, I keep poking around this "toy store" window shopping. Dad tells one of the salesman to get that duplicator for me.

I again, tell him 'I'm not ready for it' trying to talk him out of it -- into something cheaper and more (immediately) useful. I'm not sure if he bought it for me .... or bought it to boast about having in his garage (which he refuses to use).

So anyway, we leave there and head over to the place that was the only impetus for *him* going to Knoxville, the fish store. They have an awesome assortment of fresh and salt water fish and he gets five neon tetras (one of which would die once in the tank), three sword fish (a male and two female), two cherry barbs, and two golden gourramis as well as plants to stock his tank.

His 29 gallon tank now looks full of life and he is happy, so I guess that is all that matters!

Was watching "The Rifleman" today. I'm not big on TV, but it is a great show. I'm always glad when Dad puts that one on. Anyway, there was a scene that struck a chord ...

Lucas: "Looks like you're growing up!"
Mark:  "How do you mean?"
Lucas: "Well, son, the older you get, the more questions that don't have answers"

Wow! how profound! and powerfully true!

Life is full of hard questions. We go through the motions day in, day out, but that is all it is. In reality we are only floundering.

It's kind of odd how you can look at another person's life through your eyes and think they got things figured out so much better than you do. In actuality, we all stumble through life.

The complexity of the stumbling may vary from person to person, but there is no denying that we all have more questions we have answers for. The biggest thing is, how much do those unanswered questions impact your life?

playin' in the snow

We had a white Christmas this year and the snow hasn't really stopped falling. While we haven't gotten hammered, we have gotten a significant accumulation relative to what we normally would. I went out this morning to take some pictures and out of curiosity took a tape measure and found we have had 5 1/2" over the past day and a half.

Shiner absolutely *loves* the snow. She runs through the snow wide open. It's almost as if she is trying to find a spot to land that isn't cold on her toe pads. The snow even gets ol' Dott dog a-hoppin'.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this blog will be short, yet here are a few thousand words ...

Puttin' a cap on this batch ...

It has been well over a week now since I had racked my beer into the secondary fermenter and was now time to bottle it up. With all the reading and research I have done about brewing, I had dreaded this part. It looked to be the most labor-intensive and boring phase of the process.

I didn't really want to clean 48 bottles so I used the dishwasher on a heated rinse which was an option according to some of the stuff I had read. I then sterilized the caps, bottling bucket and valve, racking cane, hose, and bottling cane with iodophor.

I transferred the beer from the secondary carboy to the bottling bucket. It looked really clear as it flowed through the tube which made me quite happy. As it was filling the bottling bucket, I put my head down close enough to sneak a sniff of the aroma of the beer. Not only did it smell like beer, but it was rather pleasant. Cool!

I didn't get any of the trub from the bottom of the fermenter during transfer, so I must be starting to get the hang of this.   ; )    Next up, was to take a gravity reading, and of course to sample the beer as well. YAAAYY!!

EXCEPT -- that I forgot to make up the priming sugar. DOH! You are supposed to make up the priming sugar (this helps carbonate your beer while it is in the bottle) and put that in the bottling bucket THEN add the beer. Oh well, just did that out of order, but should be okay so long as I mix it well.

The final gravity showed to be 1.014, which is what it was when I transferred to the secondary fermenter. Then I tasted the sample. Last time it seemed weak on flavor and punch. It was more of a pilsner style and this is supposed to be an ale.

This time, it sure had the character of an ale and the taste was a bit more complex. There were various flavors that danced on the tongue. I think this is going to be a good beer.

Once the priming sugar had been added and mixed into the beer, it was a matter of filling the bottles. I have heard of people's beer that had blown it's top, so to speak due to not filling the beer to the right level. It's my understanding that if it is too low, then the carbonation builds and basically blows the cap creating a nasty mess and wasting potentially good beer. Well, I definitely don't want this to happen!

The DVD that came with the kit we got, said to fill it right up to the very top and once you remove the bottling cane the level should be right -- roughly one inch down from the top of the bottle. Well, it didn't work that way. Once I removed the bottling cane, it was nearly two inches below the top, so I added and brought it up to about an inch from the top and capped it.

This process went fairly quickly and wasn't near the headache I had anticipated. Now it's just a matter of waiting 2-3 weeks to see if we have carbonated, good-tasting beer.

Now it's time to get started on the second batch. However, the local brew supplier doesn't open until Tuesday though.  

descention ....

Well here we are on the dawn of yet another Christmas, and here I am again, just not feeling it. I think this is the third time out of the last five, that it comes down to Christmas day and I am just not in the spirit of it.

I know, respect, and appreciate the real 'reason for the season', yet I just am not into it once again. I don't know why it is, just -that- it is.

It is neat to watch Melissa. She is a true kid -- in a good way. She is one of those rare adults that never lost the magic. You know -- as a child you can easily believe things that as an adult you have been "trained" not to or broken and can no longer accept.

I am not saying she is simple-minded (although, in a way, she is), but she has been able to embrace and hold on to that child-like fun side that most grown-ups lose. God bless her for that! for I am jealous!

Anyway, it's fun to watch her around this time of year. She is, and has been, the biggest kid in the house. *SHE* is the first one up Christmas day, not the kids. *SHE* is the one most wanting to open up the presents. It's funny over the years, the kids have picked up on this and we make it a game to see how long we can stretch it before opening presents just to watch her squirm (I'm not exaggerating).

Yet, I cannot get into it -- or  at least not lately. It is the total opposite of the way my soulmate approaches things. I wish this was not the case.

I'm not alone here, though. I've heard a bunch of folks talk about how they are "not feeling it". Christmas used to be such a special time.

It was a time when you would not just smile and nod at a complete stranger, but wish them a "Merry Christmas" as you passed one another in the street. It used to be a time where one would do something a little 'extra' because it was Christmas 'season'.

It used to be a special time of year. Now it's a rush to "get this done" type of thing.

Dad and I went to WallyWorld the other day to get groceries (he likes going there because it's one-stop shopping -- get everything from hardware to groceries). Most of the folks there were Christmas shopping, yet only a few even engaged in eye contact, let alone speech -- and, again, most of these folks were likely Christmas shopping.

What happened? I am not much of  a socialist, but there is a point as Karl Marx pointed out that Capitalism really robs the 'common man'. I think that has happened in our culture and, apparently, there is no better barometer than Christmas time itself.

We have gotten so caught up in having to buy this for someone and that for another and this and that for him, her, them, and everyone else ... that it has us running around as if this was another "must-do" part of our lives rather than a "let's do".

There was a time when people spread around more Christmas cheer and goodwill than they did presents. Its been so drastic a change that I have noticed it in *my* lifetime.

I don't know that my "not feeling it" with respect to Christmas is tied into this, but it certainly is something I have noticed and really hate to see. I think my problems stem from much deeper psychological issues that I still need to work out, but sadly, there is a -part- of me that can't help but think if I had money to go 'play' and buy presents for people, would that help me "feel it"? It has worked out that way in the past.

It's truly sad, that we have lost our way. We now go through Christmas getting things for people because we feel we have to. It's rare anymore about what the day was set up to observe.

Jesus didn't demand gifts, yet three kings set out on a journey to show their appreciation for His coming. Ever since it seems to have become a slippery downhill slope.

I wish I still held onto that childlike magic!

all nestled in their "beds"

The new building has  sat empty for nearly a week now allowing it to settle since the ground was so wet when initially set up. So, I checked the building for level to see if it would need to be re-plumbed and it was right where it needed to be. Super!

So the *job* of getting bikes moved into the shed commenced. I enlisted Isaac's help since some of them have not been moved in a *while* and only one of them actually runs right now -- or so I thought.

I looked at the spacing and tried to figure out how I was going to place them (four in all) in there and still leave enough room for the hacked Goldwing.

We set Dad's wheelchair ramp up in the doorway (since the ground isn't leveled up to the entry yet) to make the job easier. The first bike in was Pearl, my baby bandit. I straddled the bike and instantly thought 'Man! I miss riding this bike'. 

I tried backing it up from where it has been in the garage since February, only to find that it wasn't budging. Okay check neutral -- shift it down into first and lift it back up to set into neutral. Grunt, pull, grunt, pull -- no go! Isaac starts yanking with me and it starts moving, sort of. 

The front wheel is locked.  I put it up on the center stand and sprayed some lube around the axle and start working it. It took a few minutes and a lot more grunting, but it finally freed up. We rolled it into place and went after the next one.

I figured on loading the Sabre next. This is the only one in my stable that runs. I put the key in and hit the starter button and it wouldn't go. I kept at it but the battery started draining. Dammit!

Bah! okay, let's get the Magna which has been setting outside under a tarp. I dreaded this because last time I attempted to move it both wheels were not moving. However, it was due to brakes, not the wheels. I had forgotten, and was pleasantly surprised, to see that I had removed the brakes from the discs. Sweet! it nicely rolled into place. 

Went back to the Sabre and tried it again. It is now a little bit warmer outside, so maybe ... hit the starter and it started, then immediately died. I kept at it and it finally got up enough idle to stay running. Whew! Good ol' Jitterbug! one less to push! Made some VROOM VROOM noises and rode it into place.

Next we got the Interceptor to put it in it's place. This one had a flat rear tire, so we lug it back to where the airline hose would reach, air it up and roll it into the shed ... almost. We lost momentum halfway up the ramp. Instead of rolling  it back uphill, I have Isaac get his sister so she can give us the extra 'ooomph!' needed to crest the ramp. 

Now all the bikes are nestled in their new "beds". Well, except for the 'wing which will have to wait until we level up the ground to make a ramp as the wheelchair ramp wasn't wide enough for the land yacht. 

Here is what it looks like with a spot reserved for the 'wing ....

I gathered up the various bike parts and the two extra compressors of Dad's and move them all over to the shed and WOOO HOOOO! there is room in the garage again. Color me happy!

So much so that I celebrated by turning a pieced of wood. It was so great to get back in the garage again. 

shoot the moon ...

or in this case the damned clouds that once again obscured viewing a celestial event *this* year!!!


Normally, I like clouds. I like to marvel at the wondrous Rorsharckian-ink blot shapes that form against the grey or blue background. It is but another beauty of Nature.

However, this is the third time this year I have been prevented from witnessing a celestial event. This time it was the last lunar eclipse that we will see in North America until 2012. I just wanted to go out and play with the camera and try to capture a "red" moon.

The clouds started rolling in about 7:00. We had watched the news earlier in the day and their hour-by-hour forecast indicated we were going to be socked in.

I refused to believe it and was hopeful that maybe a stray wind(s) or some other force(s) would diverge the system enough to allow us a window to see it. Yeah, I'm a fool, but oh well.

I went out at 1:00 about a half hour before the edge of the Earth's shadow was supposed to start "blocking" the Moon. A quick look only confirmed that the weather prognosticators were correct and my hopes for stray winds or other outside help were futile.

There was a faint glimmer of where the moon's location was beyond the clouds, and that was it. The sky was completely covered in clouds and I opted to go to bed out of frustration because I no longer had hope that it would clear up to offer me so much as a glimpse. All I wanted was a few pictures.

I guess that gives me time to hone my photography "skills" and maybe by 2012 I will be able to snap a decent shot of it ... that is, if the damned clouds don't interfere ... AGAIN!