Well I took a bit of an unexpected vacation there, but I'm glad to say that I'm back! I'll spare most of the details, but will let you know that although colonectomy is an effective weight loss system, I don't recommend it!
I've been gutted like a trout, and now have a scar that goes from my rib cage all the way down to there!! Although I'm back on my feet and feeling really good it will still be about 4-6 months before I will be fully recovered. I've lost 20 lbs, and now that I can eat (and drink beer) again, will struggle to keep it off! (especially since I really can't exercise for another 4-6 months, other than walking, and of course it's winter in this part of the world so that's not exactly a fun experience)
But enough of this nonsense! I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm back and that hopefully I'll get someting more interesting posted for you to read in the very near future.
To all of you who knew what was going on, my sincere thanks for your thoughts, prayers, cards, flowers, and toys (yes, someone was in tuned with my child like nature enough to give me a couple of toys to occupy my mind during recovery)!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
It's not the Beach, but it's Home
I thought I'd share a couple of shots of the Cincinnati Skyline. These were taken from the Kentucky side. You can see the Ohio side just to the left in the photos, and actual Cincinnati proper. The right side is Covington, KentuckyThe pictures were actually snapped by one of my colleagues who was visiting from the UK back in October.
We actually live about a 30-45min drive from downtown, towards the Indianna state line, in Ohio.
I hope you've enjoyed the view!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Farewell to a Friend
I really intended for this blog site to be for fun, but I've found that it can actually be much more than that. It can be a route for personal expression. I don't know how many of oyu actually read my posts because I really only get responses from a few loyal readers. I hope that this post gets read by a large number of folks because the person it is written about deserves to be remembered, I only hope Ido him justice!
Yesterday morning I came into work as on most Monday's with the anticipation of a heavy workload and lots of new and exciting discoveries to be made by the end of the week (yeah I know, it's only soap). Unlike most Monday's it turned out to be a very sad and somber day. The message light was blinking on my phone, and I thought OK who just couldn't wait until Monday to add something else to my schedule. Unfortunately it was the phone call I never hoped to receive. The sister of my friend and coworker had called to inform me that he had died.
Ellis Gregg was more than just a member of my team, he was a brilliant scientist, a damn funny man, and he shared my deep appreciation for a finely brewed ale! Professionally ellis was a continuous liquids processing expert. I've never known anyone else that could design a system, that would run to specification, after a mere 5 minute conversation. This leaves a big hole in my organization that will be hard to fill!
Personally Ellis was one of the funiest (if that's a word) people I've ever met. Of course his humor was sort of twisted. I need to give a little background here before I can continue: I take my team on off sites each quarter. The typical off site has been for us to take a 1/2 day off on a Friday and go somewhere to have lunch, a few beers, and discuss what happened over the past three months along with what's coming up in the next three.
One particular off site we decided to go to one of the many parks around the Cincy area. I was going to grill out steaks for the team and we would sort of relax, goof off, throw a Frisby, etc. (Let me now appologize to my friends in the park service) Ellis brings his golf clubs. Well actually just his driver and a bucket of balls. We pretty much had the park to ourselves, which was a good thing because Ellis t's up and starts wacking the balls to try to hit the tree line. With that accomplished he decides he should try to hit the lake on the other side of the road. With that accomplished the only target remaining was the road itself! Yep we could see the wheels turning, but we couldn't stop it before it happened. He let loose with a swing that would have made Arnold Palmer proud. The ball went high, but hit it's mark right on the crest of a hill smack dab in the middle of the road. It bounces high, and right over the park ranger's car that pops up over the hill. "Oh man, we are so busted!", we thought, but he didn't even see it. After he passed we fell over laughing and the clubs were promptly returned to Ellis' truck.
I'll never forget that day, and I'll never forget Ellis!
I now have two tasks remaining that I will likely put off until the end of the week, neither of which did I ever expect to have to do. I'll need to box up all of Ellis' pesonal belonging's from his desk to give to his family, and I'll need to prepare a job posting to look for his replacement. Life goes on.
Good Bye Ellis, We'll miss you!
Yesterday morning I came into work as on most Monday's with the anticipation of a heavy workload and lots of new and exciting discoveries to be made by the end of the week (yeah I know, it's only soap). Unlike most Monday's it turned out to be a very sad and somber day. The message light was blinking on my phone, and I thought OK who just couldn't wait until Monday to add something else to my schedule. Unfortunately it was the phone call I never hoped to receive. The sister of my friend and coworker had called to inform me that he had died.
Ellis Gregg was more than just a member of my team, he was a brilliant scientist, a damn funny man, and he shared my deep appreciation for a finely brewed ale! Professionally ellis was a continuous liquids processing expert. I've never known anyone else that could design a system, that would run to specification, after a mere 5 minute conversation. This leaves a big hole in my organization that will be hard to fill!
Personally Ellis was one of the funiest (if that's a word) people I've ever met. Of course his humor was sort of twisted. I need to give a little background here before I can continue: I take my team on off sites each quarter. The typical off site has been for us to take a 1/2 day off on a Friday and go somewhere to have lunch, a few beers, and discuss what happened over the past three months along with what's coming up in the next three.
One particular off site we decided to go to one of the many parks around the Cincy area. I was going to grill out steaks for the team and we would sort of relax, goof off, throw a Frisby, etc. (Let me now appologize to my friends in the park service) Ellis brings his golf clubs. Well actually just his driver and a bucket of balls. We pretty much had the park to ourselves, which was a good thing because Ellis t's up and starts wacking the balls to try to hit the tree line. With that accomplished he decides he should try to hit the lake on the other side of the road. With that accomplished the only target remaining was the road itself! Yep we could see the wheels turning, but we couldn't stop it before it happened. He let loose with a swing that would have made Arnold Palmer proud. The ball went high, but hit it's mark right on the crest of a hill smack dab in the middle of the road. It bounces high, and right over the park ranger's car that pops up over the hill. "Oh man, we are so busted!", we thought, but he didn't even see it. After he passed we fell over laughing and the clubs were promptly returned to Ellis' truck.
I'll never forget that day, and I'll never forget Ellis!
I now have two tasks remaining that I will likely put off until the end of the week, neither of which did I ever expect to have to do. I'll need to box up all of Ellis' pesonal belonging's from his desk to give to his family, and I'll need to prepare a job posting to look for his replacement. Life goes on.
Good Bye Ellis, We'll miss you!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Back Home Again
Well, I'm back. It was a good trip, with little to no excitement. These days that's a good thing! Hopefully I'll have some photos in a day or two. I had to go low tech with a disposable camera due to the hightened security.
My travels took me to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Newcastle, United Kingdom (England for those of you who may be geographically challenged). The weather cooperated with just one day of rain in each location, and then sunny days the rest of the trip. Frankfurt was vacation and Newcastle was work related.
The photos that I'll show are from the area surrounding Frankfurt. I was able to visit an operating Benedictine Monastery in Seligenstadt (Blessed City). It had a beautiful vegetable, fruit, and herb garden in the center of the monastery that was a gift of Keiser Karl. You may remember an earlier post where I showed a statue honoring Keiser Karl der Grosse (Carl the great!). Anyway, the photos of the garden don't do it justice. I'll try to post them as soon as Lightnin is able to get them scanned for me (not trying to rush you dear!).
Security was interesting. It was good to see that it was hightened, but it would help if everyone would pay attention. Not only was it broadcast on every news station around the world, but there were plenty of signs everywhere at the airports decribing what you could and couldn't take on the plane. It also explained how to make the lines flow smoothly by having your boarding pass and passport available, removing your shoes, belt, and everything from your pockets. Simple right? Well apparently not! I would say that at least 1 out of every 3 people either cannot read, do not watch the news, or are just plain too stubborn to follow the rules. I think the full strip and body cavity search is not too much to ask for them, and then maybe they'll get with the program so that the rest of us can get on with our travel!
OK, I'm done ranting! So, Like I said, I'll try to post some of the photos in a couple of days with a bit more explanation of what you'll be seeing.
Wiedersehen, Tseuss! (Sabrina - I'm not sure about the spelling here, so let me know!)
My travels took me to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Newcastle, United Kingdom (England for those of you who may be geographically challenged). The weather cooperated with just one day of rain in each location, and then sunny days the rest of the trip. Frankfurt was vacation and Newcastle was work related.
The photos that I'll show are from the area surrounding Frankfurt. I was able to visit an operating Benedictine Monastery in Seligenstadt (Blessed City). It had a beautiful vegetable, fruit, and herb garden in the center of the monastery that was a gift of Keiser Karl. You may remember an earlier post where I showed a statue honoring Keiser Karl der Grosse (Carl the great!). Anyway, the photos of the garden don't do it justice. I'll try to post them as soon as Lightnin is able to get them scanned for me (not trying to rush you dear!).
Security was interesting. It was good to see that it was hightened, but it would help if everyone would pay attention. Not only was it broadcast on every news station around the world, but there were plenty of signs everywhere at the airports decribing what you could and couldn't take on the plane. It also explained how to make the lines flow smoothly by having your boarding pass and passport available, removing your shoes, belt, and everything from your pockets. Simple right? Well apparently not! I would say that at least 1 out of every 3 people either cannot read, do not watch the news, or are just plain too stubborn to follow the rules. I think the full strip and body cavity search is not too much to ask for them, and then maybe they'll get with the program so that the rest of us can get on with our travel!
OK, I'm done ranting! So, Like I said, I'll try to post some of the photos in a couple of days with a bit more explanation of what you'll be seeing.
Wiedersehen, Tseuss! (Sabrina - I'm not sure about the spelling here, so let me know!)
Friday, September 01, 2006
Travelin' Man (Again)
Just a brief post today to let you know that I'll be on the road again. I'm heading back to Europe for about 9 days and will likely write about my travels when I return. Unfortunately I wil not be taking my camera this time. the security restrictions have limited the size of carry-on to just fit my smaller laptop pouch, no room for the camera. I just don't want to risk someone grabbing it from my checked bag. This sort of thing happens more often than you think, and like I said, it's just not worth the risk.
I'm looking forward to the long lines and baggage searches, don't get me wrong I don't mind if they stop and search everyone prior to boarding, in fact I would feel a bit better if they did! It's just that I always seem to get picked as the "random search" everytime I travel. Of course Lightnin says: "Well hell, just look at the photo on your passport that's why!". I just hope they haven't upped the caution level to full body cavity searches! ;-) I'll let you know how the trip goes.
I'm looking forward to the long lines and baggage searches, don't get me wrong I don't mind if they stop and search everyone prior to boarding, in fact I would feel a bit better if they did! It's just that I always seem to get picked as the "random search" everytime I travel. Of course Lightnin says: "Well hell, just look at the photo on your passport that's why!". I just hope they haven't upped the caution level to full body cavity searches! ;-) I'll let you know how the trip goes.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
August Hops Update
The hops have done well this year! I've really only been displaying half of my crop, the other half is nearly as big and is on the opposite side of the house (to the left of the air conditioning unit). They have actually climbed across the strings that I placed between the two arbors, and have intertwined.
If you go back to one of my earlier posts you can see how much they have grown and filled in now.
I have also seen several "Hop Guardians" climbing around on my plants too. Praying Mantis and various spiders. These are very welcomed as they are natural pest control for my hops. Early on in the growing season I do need to hit them with a dose or two of Seven Dust, because the natural predators haven't hatched as early as the plant devouring Japanese Beetles do. And believe me those beetles can do some major damage in a short amount of time! On a sad note though I fear that one of the best of these guardians has fallen pray to a bird. On Sunday I came out to check on the hops and there was a huge "Garden Spider" (Orb Web Spider) You know the yellow black and white abdomen spiders that spread their legs out in pairs and sit waiting for something to land in their web http://www.spiderzrule.com/orb.htm right in the center of the arch. She must have been 6" diameter leg span, and was in the center of her perfectly orb shaped web. She was beautiful, but of course I didn't have my camera, and wasn't able to get back to the hops until last evening to get a shot. When I went back she was gone and there was a huge hole in the center of the web where she once was. Bummer! I'm pretty sure that a bird flew up and plucked her out of the web.
I wanted to try to get several angles so that you could see how healthy they are. In this photo you can see some of the cones that will be harvested within the next couple of weeks.
This is a close up so that you can see the size of the cones (flowers) of the hops. They are bigger and better than ever this year.
This plant was put into the ground here about 4 years ago, and the other plant (not pictured) was put into the ground 3 years ago. Next year they should be even better!
I watered them pretty good last night because we haven't had rain for over a week now, and don;t have much chance of rain over the next week either. I'm actually hoping that they will be ready to harvest within the next week because they are so close and I'm scheduled for another business trip, out of the country, just after Labor Day. If I don't harvest before then, I'm sure I will miss the optimum time while I'm gone.
Oh well like I've said before, I really grow them because they are such cool plants, growing from 3-6" per day at peak growing season, and that if I actually get any of the hops to use in my brewing then it's a bonus!
If you go back to one of my earlier posts you can see how much they have grown and filled in now.
I have also seen several "Hop Guardians" climbing around on my plants too. Praying Mantis and various spiders. These are very welcomed as they are natural pest control for my hops. Early on in the growing season I do need to hit them with a dose or two of Seven Dust, because the natural predators haven't hatched as early as the plant devouring Japanese Beetles do. And believe me those beetles can do some major damage in a short amount of time! On a sad note though I fear that one of the best of these guardians has fallen pray to a bird. On Sunday I came out to check on the hops and there was a huge "Garden Spider" (Orb Web Spider) You know the yellow black and white abdomen spiders that spread their legs out in pairs and sit waiting for something to land in their web http://www.spiderzrule.com/orb.htm right in the center of the arch. She must have been 6" diameter leg span, and was in the center of her perfectly orb shaped web. She was beautiful, but of course I didn't have my camera, and wasn't able to get back to the hops until last evening to get a shot. When I went back she was gone and there was a huge hole in the center of the web where she once was. Bummer! I'm pretty sure that a bird flew up and plucked her out of the web.
I wanted to try to get several angles so that you could see how healthy they are. In this photo you can see some of the cones that will be harvested within the next couple of weeks.
This is a close up so that you can see the size of the cones (flowers) of the hops. They are bigger and better than ever this year.
This plant was put into the ground here about 4 years ago, and the other plant (not pictured) was put into the ground 3 years ago. Next year they should be even better!
I watered them pretty good last night because we haven't had rain for over a week now, and don;t have much chance of rain over the next week either. I'm actually hoping that they will be ready to harvest within the next week because they are so close and I'm scheduled for another business trip, out of the country, just after Labor Day. If I don't harvest before then, I'm sure I will miss the optimum time while I'm gone.
Oh well like I've said before, I really grow them because they are such cool plants, growing from 3-6" per day at peak growing season, and that if I actually get any of the hops to use in my brewing then it's a bonus!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Brewing like the Big Dogs!
Through the courtesy of my friend and fellow brewer, Ted, I now have a "Big Dog" brewery!
This is Ted and I standing in front of the new brewery. Ted constructed the system a few years back, but is ending his brewing career so he has passed it along to me.
I met Ted during my short stint in Lima, OH. He, Major (now Lt. Colonel) Danner, and I restarted an old brewing club up there called "The Hawg Creek Brewer's". I already had experience as I was one of the founding members of CMI: Cincinnati Malt Infuser's. But enough of the back ground let's get to the brewing!
As you can see it is a three tiered system, fabbed up with old, discarded, yet modified, 1/2 barrel kegs. The top keg is the hot liquor (water) tank, the middle one is the Mashton/Lauterton, and the final one is the brew kettle. It's actually just as easy to operate as my single batch system, but I can get a double batch (12 gal) out of it for the same effort.
Here's the basic process:
Hot Water - You fill the hot liquor tank with water (please use a food grade hose, or you'll end up with "garden hose" beer) Don't ask how, I just know! Then you crank up the propane and get it up to temperature (around 170-180F to start).
Grist - Next you grind the "Grist". This is actually a process of cracking the grains (barley malt). For this system it takes about 20lbs of grain per batch. In this case we're making a Swartzbier, a German style black lager. The grains don't look that dark do they, well it only takes about 1 lb of black malt to get the results we want.
Mash - Once the water gets to temperature you start adding it to the mashton, until you cover the false bottom (sorry no photo at this time), with about a gallon or two. Then you start adding the grist. Once all the grist is in the mashton, you add more hot water to it to just cover the grains. Checking temperature to make sure you're at mash temperature. For this batch we wanted to get to 150F. We'll allow it to sit at that temperature for about 1hr and then we'll check to make sure the starches converted to sugar!
Sparge - Once the mash is completed you sparge(rinse) the grains to remove all of the sugar water, which you catch in the brew kettle. The sparging arm looks a little like a miniature irrigation system doesn't it!
The Boil - Once you've collected all the malt sugars, you bring the wort (hot sugar water) to a boil. Then you can add the hops. I chose some classic German varieties (Hallertaur and Tettnang) to give it a true Swartzbier flavor.
A typical boil goes for about an hour. This not only extracts the flavors from the hops, but also serves to boil off some unpleasant volatiles and denatures some of the proteins, which will settle out in the trube (sediment). This is a photo of Ted's batch during the boil, it was already dark by the time we were boiling the big batch.
Chilling- After the boil you chill the wort, either with an immersion or reverse flow chiller (sorry no photo, possibly due to beer consumption while brewing). Ted has an immersion and I have a reverse flow chiller. They both have advantages and disadvantages which might be the topic of a future post.
This of course is a photo of Lightnin and our friend Scott displaying a different type of chilling!
It's also important to note that this all took place on Lightnin's birthday(Friday July 28th)! What a wonderful wife I have to suggest that we brew a big batch in honor of her birthday! I'm telling you she's one of a kind, and I don't know what I'd do without her! Of course she informed me that the rest of the weekend should be considered "All about Lightnin Weekend", to which I humbly obliged.
Back to the brewing lesson:
Pitch the Yeast - Once the wort has cooled, to between 70-80F, you can add your yeast. I used a tube of liquid German Pilsner style lager yeast.
The photo shows the beer in an actively fermenting primary. In about a week I'll transfer it to the secondary (another clean glass fermentor) and then slap it into the lagering fridge to sit at cold temperature for about 4 to 8 weeks. This is the lagering process. It allows the beer to slowly ferment at a cold temperature to allow for a smooth, dry quality to the brew. It also allows more of the fine sediment to settle out for a more clear appearance.
Kegging - Once the beer has completed lagering it will be transferred into two 5gal soda pop pre-mix canisters (again no photos at this time, but maybe when I go to keg it!) to be carbonated and then served.
Since Ted was sort of coaching me as we went along, the brewing lasted a bit longer than normal (10hrs, from 2:00PM -12midnight). So of course we had to show off the power of my jet cooker to the crowd of brewing fans that were present!!! (Ok, I tried to pass it off as a large birthday candle, but Lightnin didn't go for it!)
Believe it or not the flame is actually shooting over 6ft into the air. The camera man was staying back at a safe distance!
I hope you enjoyed the brewing lesson. I'll try to get some additonal photos as I complete the rest of the process.
If you're interested in learning more about brewing, I'd be happy to share my knowledge and experience. I can also suggest several books that could help to get you started.
This is Ted and I standing in front of the new brewery. Ted constructed the system a few years back, but is ending his brewing career so he has passed it along to me.
I met Ted during my short stint in Lima, OH. He, Major (now Lt. Colonel) Danner, and I restarted an old brewing club up there called "The Hawg Creek Brewer's". I already had experience as I was one of the founding members of CMI: Cincinnati Malt Infuser's. But enough of the back ground let's get to the brewing!
As you can see it is a three tiered system, fabbed up with old, discarded, yet modified, 1/2 barrel kegs. The top keg is the hot liquor (water) tank, the middle one is the Mashton/Lauterton, and the final one is the brew kettle. It's actually just as easy to operate as my single batch system, but I can get a double batch (12 gal) out of it for the same effort.
Here's the basic process:
Hot Water - You fill the hot liquor tank with water (please use a food grade hose, or you'll end up with "garden hose" beer) Don't ask how, I just know! Then you crank up the propane and get it up to temperature (around 170-180F to start).
Grist - Next you grind the "Grist". This is actually a process of cracking the grains (barley malt). For this system it takes about 20lbs of grain per batch. In this case we're making a Swartzbier, a German style black lager. The grains don't look that dark do they, well it only takes about 1 lb of black malt to get the results we want.
Mash - Once the water gets to temperature you start adding it to the mashton, until you cover the false bottom (sorry no photo at this time), with about a gallon or two. Then you start adding the grist. Once all the grist is in the mashton, you add more hot water to it to just cover the grains. Checking temperature to make sure you're at mash temperature. For this batch we wanted to get to 150F. We'll allow it to sit at that temperature for about 1hr and then we'll check to make sure the starches converted to sugar!
Sparge - Once the mash is completed you sparge(rinse) the grains to remove all of the sugar water, which you catch in the brew kettle. The sparging arm looks a little like a miniature irrigation system doesn't it!
The Boil - Once you've collected all the malt sugars, you bring the wort (hot sugar water) to a boil. Then you can add the hops. I chose some classic German varieties (Hallertaur and Tettnang) to give it a true Swartzbier flavor.
A typical boil goes for about an hour. This not only extracts the flavors from the hops, but also serves to boil off some unpleasant volatiles and denatures some of the proteins, which will settle out in the trube (sediment). This is a photo of Ted's batch during the boil, it was already dark by the time we were boiling the big batch.
Chilling- After the boil you chill the wort, either with an immersion or reverse flow chiller (sorry no photo, possibly due to beer consumption while brewing). Ted has an immersion and I have a reverse flow chiller. They both have advantages and disadvantages which might be the topic of a future post.This of course is a photo of Lightnin and our friend Scott displaying a different type of chilling!
It's also important to note that this all took place on Lightnin's birthday(Friday July 28th)! What a wonderful wife I have to suggest that we brew a big batch in honor of her birthday! I'm telling you she's one of a kind, and I don't know what I'd do without her! Of course she informed me that the rest of the weekend should be considered "All about Lightnin Weekend", to which I humbly obliged.
Back to the brewing lesson:
Pitch the Yeast - Once the wort has cooled, to between 70-80F, you can add your yeast. I used a tube of liquid German Pilsner style lager yeast.
The photo shows the beer in an actively fermenting primary. In about a week I'll transfer it to the secondary (another clean glass fermentor) and then slap it into the lagering fridge to sit at cold temperature for about 4 to 8 weeks. This is the lagering process. It allows the beer to slowly ferment at a cold temperature to allow for a smooth, dry quality to the brew. It also allows more of the fine sediment to settle out for a more clear appearance.
Kegging - Once the beer has completed lagering it will be transferred into two 5gal soda pop pre-mix canisters (again no photos at this time, but maybe when I go to keg it!) to be carbonated and then served.
Since Ted was sort of coaching me as we went along, the brewing lasted a bit longer than normal (10hrs, from 2:00PM -12midnight). So of course we had to show off the power of my jet cooker to the crowd of brewing fans that were present!!! (Ok, I tried to pass it off as a large birthday candle, but Lightnin didn't go for it!)
Believe it or not the flame is actually shooting over 6ft into the air. The camera man was staying back at a safe distance!
I hope you enjoyed the brewing lesson. I'll try to get some additonal photos as I complete the rest of the process.
If you're interested in learning more about brewing, I'd be happy to share my knowledge and experience. I can also suggest several books that could help to get you started.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Turtle Wrangling (Part 2)
So let's see, where did I leave off. Oh yeah, I remember!
So after seeing no more trace of the two fugitives, we head back to "Rods" place, and disappointed at the defeat we call it a day. About an hour later I get a phone call, "I found one of the turtles!". Rod had gone back for one more look around the neighborhood and found that the female had returned home (I may have forgot to mention that the two are a mated pair). The male was still out on the run (Lightnin states here: "Typical!"). He had already taken her to the new house before he called me, so no wrangling involved yet.
Here is a photo of the female in her new home. She weighs in at a whopping 50 lbs.
Notice the expert fence work in the back ground. What expert craftsmanship went into the new turtle pen!
The following day I get another call from an again excited Rod: "I think we've found the male!". Rod had called all of the Vet's and Reptile rescue offices in the surrounding area to let them know his contact info., just in case someone were to call in. It looks like it paid off! I once again throw on my "Wrangling" gear and head out to meet up with Rod, about two towns over from where the turtles escaped. Rod tells me that these guy's can really move fast when they get up and going, and considering how far he got in three days time I believe it.
Show down at Turtle Corral:
We show up, and Rod says: "I'll let you take this one", and of course not knowing what I was in for, I accept the challenge. As I start my approach Rod calls out: "Try to sneak up on him, but don't make him mad!". Of course at this point I'm thinking to myself: Why didn't I take the past couple of days to find out a bit more information about these creatures, and what happens if he gets mad?! At that point it was too late. The male turns and sees me, and he doesn't like the thought of me getting any closer! For as big as this guy is (his shell is roughly 2 feet wide and 3 ft long, and he weighs 45 lbs), I can't believe how fast he turns to face me! What ever happened to cowering back into his shell? This guy whips around and stares me down! Both of us frozen, waiting for the other to make a move. Not wanting to wait much longer I go for it, I try to flank him and grab his shell. He's too quick though, and counters by raring up and hissing at me. I mean this huge tortoise is standing on his hind legs, head and arms extended and he's looking me dead in the eye and hissing in a loud deep hiss, more like a gator, than any turtle I've ever seen. I holler at Rod: "Can you distract him or something?". Rod comes over and starts to slowly walk around him, getting him to pay more attention to his movement than mine. He finally make his mistake, and takes his eyes off of me. I pounce, grabbing him firmly on each side of his shell pinning him to the ground.
OK, that's how the whole scene played out in my head on the drive over to get him! Reality check! These turtles are actually very docile and we merely had to go and pick him up and carry him to the van. The only danger was a possible hernia, or back strain from improper lifting. We get him to his new home, safe and sound, reunited with his mate! (I'm sure she's got a few questions for him!).
It was a pretty fun adventure, and now the male has a name: "Houdini". Rod still hasn't named the female, but then he's got about another 70 years or so to figure that out!
THE END
Here's a photo of Houdini. As you can see he's striking a very non-menacing posture as I get a little too close for his comfort to take the picture.
So after seeing no more trace of the two fugitives, we head back to "Rods" place, and disappointed at the defeat we call it a day. About an hour later I get a phone call, "I found one of the turtles!". Rod had gone back for one more look around the neighborhood and found that the female had returned home (I may have forgot to mention that the two are a mated pair). The male was still out on the run (Lightnin states here: "Typical!"). He had already taken her to the new house before he called me, so no wrangling involved yet.
Here is a photo of the female in her new home. She weighs in at a whopping 50 lbs.
Notice the expert fence work in the back ground. What expert craftsmanship went into the new turtle pen!
The following day I get another call from an again excited Rod: "I think we've found the male!". Rod had called all of the Vet's and Reptile rescue offices in the surrounding area to let them know his contact info., just in case someone were to call in. It looks like it paid off! I once again throw on my "Wrangling" gear and head out to meet up with Rod, about two towns over from where the turtles escaped. Rod tells me that these guy's can really move fast when they get up and going, and considering how far he got in three days time I believe it.
Show down at Turtle Corral:
We show up, and Rod says: "I'll let you take this one", and of course not knowing what I was in for, I accept the challenge. As I start my approach Rod calls out: "Try to sneak up on him, but don't make him mad!". Of course at this point I'm thinking to myself: Why didn't I take the past couple of days to find out a bit more information about these creatures, and what happens if he gets mad?! At that point it was too late. The male turns and sees me, and he doesn't like the thought of me getting any closer! For as big as this guy is (his shell is roughly 2 feet wide and 3 ft long, and he weighs 45 lbs), I can't believe how fast he turns to face me! What ever happened to cowering back into his shell? This guy whips around and stares me down! Both of us frozen, waiting for the other to make a move. Not wanting to wait much longer I go for it, I try to flank him and grab his shell. He's too quick though, and counters by raring up and hissing at me. I mean this huge tortoise is standing on his hind legs, head and arms extended and he's looking me dead in the eye and hissing in a loud deep hiss, more like a gator, than any turtle I've ever seen. I holler at Rod: "Can you distract him or something?". Rod comes over and starts to slowly walk around him, getting him to pay more attention to his movement than mine. He finally make his mistake, and takes his eyes off of me. I pounce, grabbing him firmly on each side of his shell pinning him to the ground.
OK, that's how the whole scene played out in my head on the drive over to get him! Reality check! These turtles are actually very docile and we merely had to go and pick him up and carry him to the van. The only danger was a possible hernia, or back strain from improper lifting. We get him to his new home, safe and sound, reunited with his mate! (I'm sure she's got a few questions for him!).
It was a pretty fun adventure, and now the male has a name: "Houdini". Rod still hasn't named the female, but then he's got about another 70 years or so to figure that out!
THE END
Here's a photo of Houdini. As you can see he's striking a very non-menacing posture as I get a little too close for his comfort to take the picture.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Turtle Wrangling (Part 1)
That's right, I said turtle wrangling!
I know, they're actually tortoises, but it just didn't have the same ring to it!
I'll obviously need to give a little background information in order to help explain the situation:
Well on this past Saturday I was helping a friend of mine who had just moved to a new place a little further out in the country. For the purpose of this story let's just call him "Rod". Rod is well known around these parts as an expert on Indian artifacts and is a pretty successful collector too. What folks may not know is that he is also known as "The Rat Guy". He got this designation because he raises rats and mice to sell to pet shops. Well among other things he also raises turtles, well OK tortoises actually, African Spur-Thigh tortoises. (sorry no photos yet, but hopefully in part two).
Now when I volunteered to help him with the move, believe me the furthest thing from my mind was that I would be "turtle wrangling". But, here I was on a nice Summer day driving fence posts into the ground to build a "Turtle Pen". We just needed to build a temporary structure so that Rod could get his two tortoises moved from one house to the next, and then he would work on the larger corral for them after that. So we marked off about a 100sq ft section of his pasture, complete with a nice shady spot, and started to work.
We completed the pen in a couple of hours and were now ready to head over to his old house to wrangle some turtles. Not really knowing what the proper atire was for "turtle wrangling", I sported a t-shirt, jeans, a pair of leather gloves, and a pair of steel toe hiking boots (I thought the Stetson might be pushing it a little, so I resisted the temptation).
We got over to his old house and headed to the back yard. The anticipation was killing me, hoping to wrangle my first turtle and get it safely transported to it's new home, but then bummer of all bummers as we approached an open gate. Yep, someone had left the gate open the previous evening while moving things from one house to the next.
We looked in all of their normal hiding places in the back yard, but found no turtles. So now our wrangling job had turned into a frantic search for a couple of enormous tortoises, roaming the neighborhood. One neighbor reported that another neighbor had said that a couple of guys had come to his house talking about seeing "the biggest Box Turtle you've ever seen" crossing the road a couple of blocks away. We head over to that neighbor's house, but no one is home! We make a couple of more passes around the neighborhood, but no sign of the two fugative tortoises.
To be continued (hopefully with photos)
I know, they're actually tortoises, but it just didn't have the same ring to it!
I'll obviously need to give a little background information in order to help explain the situation:
Well on this past Saturday I was helping a friend of mine who had just moved to a new place a little further out in the country. For the purpose of this story let's just call him "Rod". Rod is well known around these parts as an expert on Indian artifacts and is a pretty successful collector too. What folks may not know is that he is also known as "The Rat Guy". He got this designation because he raises rats and mice to sell to pet shops. Well among other things he also raises turtles, well OK tortoises actually, African Spur-Thigh tortoises. (sorry no photos yet, but hopefully in part two).
Now when I volunteered to help him with the move, believe me the furthest thing from my mind was that I would be "turtle wrangling". But, here I was on a nice Summer day driving fence posts into the ground to build a "Turtle Pen". We just needed to build a temporary structure so that Rod could get his two tortoises moved from one house to the next, and then he would work on the larger corral for them after that. So we marked off about a 100sq ft section of his pasture, complete with a nice shady spot, and started to work.
We completed the pen in a couple of hours and were now ready to head over to his old house to wrangle some turtles. Not really knowing what the proper atire was for "turtle wrangling", I sported a t-shirt, jeans, a pair of leather gloves, and a pair of steel toe hiking boots (I thought the Stetson might be pushing it a little, so I resisted the temptation).
We got over to his old house and headed to the back yard. The anticipation was killing me, hoping to wrangle my first turtle and get it safely transported to it's new home, but then bummer of all bummers as we approached an open gate. Yep, someone had left the gate open the previous evening while moving things from one house to the next.
We looked in all of their normal hiding places in the back yard, but found no turtles. So now our wrangling job had turned into a frantic search for a couple of enormous tortoises, roaming the neighborhood. One neighbor reported that another neighbor had said that a couple of guys had come to his house talking about seeing "the biggest Box Turtle you've ever seen" crossing the road a couple of blocks away. We head over to that neighbor's house, but no one is home! We make a couple of more passes around the neighborhood, but no sign of the two fugative tortoises.
To be continued (hopefully with photos)
Friday, July 21, 2006
It's Hop Harvest!
I'm so excited I can barely contain myself!
It's Hop Harvest!!!
This should be the first of two harvests this year. I transplanted them from my home in Lima, OH after moving back to Cincinnati, OH. One of the plants was put into the ground 4 years ago and the other one 3 years ago. Both are heavily laden with the glorious green cone-shaped flowers that make beer, BEER!
This is actually an old photo, from last year's growth. Most of the cones that I have this year are larger than those pictured here.
I knew that they were getting close to being ready, but forgot to bring my camera home with me to snap some photos. I'll try to do a better job on the second harvest!
You have to understand, the reason that I'm so excited is because I haven't been home in time to catch the harvest ever since I planted them here at this home! The trick is to catch them at just the right time, when the underside of each of the flower pedals are covered with a dark yellow, almost orange powdery looking substance. This is the stuff that gives beer it's bitterness (just enough to counter the Malty sweetness) and it's distinctive aroma.
Once you see that the yellow is starting to appear, you need to constantly check them to see when it turns to a dark yellow/orange. When you gently hold the cone between your finger and thumb it should not feel any different in temperature than the outside air. If it feels cooler to the touch, then it's not quite ready. You can also tell by the smell. When they are ready they will lose a lot of that "green" smell and will smell like, well like hops! When I checked mine yesterday, they were ready!
Here's a pretty good site to visit to find out more details about hops: http://www.uvm.edu/~pass/perry/hops.html
It's also important to note that not all of the cones on the same vine will be ready at the same time. As was the case with mine. I had to check each individual cluster of cones to see who was ready and who wasn't. The main difference between a small home grown harvest and the big commercial growers is that they will wait until most are ready and then harvest the entire plant, and will only get a single harvest. If the weather cooperates, and I don't leave town again for a while, I should get a second harvest out of mine.
Here's how I do it: First: I pluck the cones, being careful not to damage the rest of the vine, Second: Give them a quick rinse to remove dirt, bugs, what ever else may have landed on them, Third: Give them a spin in the salad spinner (don't worry, Lightnin doesn't mind, she's a "Hop-Head", Fourth: spread them out in the dehydrator and let them do their thing. (Consult instructions on your particular model) For this step Lightnin says that a gas oven will work fine too, just put them on a screen and set them in there over night, or possibly two. Fifth: Once dried, place them into a freezer bag, gently squeeze out all the air (Of course if you have one of those fancy-smancy vacuum bag sealer deals, you would want to use it!), and place into the freezer. Sixth: Brew a batch of beer with them!
I misjudged step #4 and was up until 11:30PM waiting for them to finish drying (I guess this time Lightnin's idea might have been a good choice). Lightnin, I'm not admitting anything, I said: "This Time" and "Might Have Been"!
I'm planning a big brewing for July 28th (Lightnin's B-day!), and will be firing up my new brewing system (no I didn't get it for her birthday. I've had it a while, but the guy I got it from hasn't had a chance to show me all of it's quirks yet). I'll definitely bring the camera for that, because this system you've just got to see to believe!
It's Hop Harvest!!!
This should be the first of two harvests this year. I transplanted them from my home in Lima, OH after moving back to Cincinnati, OH. One of the plants was put into the ground 4 years ago and the other one 3 years ago. Both are heavily laden with the glorious green cone-shaped flowers that make beer, BEER!
This is actually an old photo, from last year's growth. Most of the cones that I have this year are larger than those pictured here.
I knew that they were getting close to being ready, but forgot to bring my camera home with me to snap some photos. I'll try to do a better job on the second harvest!
You have to understand, the reason that I'm so excited is because I haven't been home in time to catch the harvest ever since I planted them here at this home! The trick is to catch them at just the right time, when the underside of each of the flower pedals are covered with a dark yellow, almost orange powdery looking substance. This is the stuff that gives beer it's bitterness (just enough to counter the Malty sweetness) and it's distinctive aroma.
Once you see that the yellow is starting to appear, you need to constantly check them to see when it turns to a dark yellow/orange. When you gently hold the cone between your finger and thumb it should not feel any different in temperature than the outside air. If it feels cooler to the touch, then it's not quite ready. You can also tell by the smell. When they are ready they will lose a lot of that "green" smell and will smell like, well like hops! When I checked mine yesterday, they were ready!
Here's a pretty good site to visit to find out more details about hops: http://www.uvm.edu/~pass/perry/hops.html
It's also important to note that not all of the cones on the same vine will be ready at the same time. As was the case with mine. I had to check each individual cluster of cones to see who was ready and who wasn't. The main difference between a small home grown harvest and the big commercial growers is that they will wait until most are ready and then harvest the entire plant, and will only get a single harvest. If the weather cooperates, and I don't leave town again for a while, I should get a second harvest out of mine.
Here's how I do it: First: I pluck the cones, being careful not to damage the rest of the vine, Second: Give them a quick rinse to remove dirt, bugs, what ever else may have landed on them, Third: Give them a spin in the salad spinner (don't worry, Lightnin doesn't mind, she's a "Hop-Head", Fourth: spread them out in the dehydrator and let them do their thing. (Consult instructions on your particular model) For this step Lightnin says that a gas oven will work fine too, just put them on a screen and set them in there over night, or possibly two. Fifth: Once dried, place them into a freezer bag, gently squeeze out all the air (Of course if you have one of those fancy-smancy vacuum bag sealer deals, you would want to use it!), and place into the freezer. Sixth: Brew a batch of beer with them!
I misjudged step #4 and was up until 11:30PM waiting for them to finish drying (I guess this time Lightnin's idea might have been a good choice). Lightnin, I'm not admitting anything, I said: "This Time" and "Might Have Been"!
I'm planning a big brewing for July 28th (Lightnin's B-day!), and will be firing up my new brewing system (no I didn't get it for her birthday. I've had it a while, but the guy I got it from hasn't had a chance to show me all of it's quirks yet). I'll definitely bring the camera for that, because this system you've just got to see to believe!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Enough About Dogs, Cats Are Fun Too (surrealy speaking)!
Alright, I've put up with countless pictures and stories of dogs from several of you bloggers out there. Well, it's time for a little cat humor.
This is Spot (a.k.a: Stinky, Old Smeller, El Gato, Dumb Katze, Fuzzy, Kitty, Ki Ki, etc., etc.). No those aren't the names we've given her, those are her many different personalities!
She is about 15 yrs old now, but still thinks she is a kitten. Quite frankly she's not much bigger than a kitten, and is still very active. (notice in the photo that she is letting me know that she is not happy to have her picture taken, especially since she was freshly shaved!)
We picked her up at a Halloween party, when she was really too young to have been taken from her mother, saving her from a life in the wild (Keep this in mind for later). The following day my wife commented: "Why would anyone bring kittens to a Halloween party?". To which I responded the obvious: "Well, it worked didn't it!". Fifteen years later, here we are.
She was small enough that she slept in the opening to a Puffs box, and we cared for her so that she would grow up healthy. The thanks we got, a nasty disposition connected to sharp teeth and claws! For no bigger than she is, she certainly thinks she's tough. She is a pretty kitty and of course people would like to pet her, there in lies the rub. It would go something like this: pet, pet, purr, attack! The cat would let you pet her about twice and then she would latch onto you with teeth and all for feet, claws extended of course. I would come to work and people would ask if we had a pet Bob Cat. This promted the kitty's first Christmas gift, spaying and declawing. As expected, she loved us for it!
She's also a long haired cat, so in the summer she sheds everywhere, and usually mopes around the house flopping down onto the floor about every four feet of walking or so as if to say "How about turning the thermostat down a little, I'm dying here!" (as if we could be so lucky!). So one summer we decided to have her shaved. Now let me tell you, this is entertainment!
First of all the nice lady at the Vet asks us (over the phone) if we think she will need to be sedated. After getting back up from the floor and stopping the laughter we of course replied, "Ah yeah!, you might want to make it a double and be sure to save some for yourself!"
Now the fun really starts. We get the cat carrier, which is no problem as anyone with a cat knows, you merely set the cage on the floor with the door open, ignore the cage, and the cat will promptly enter to investigate. I don't know why that is, but cats are a little weird that way! All we do is close the door and we're on our way. This is when we remember that the cat hates to travel. As soon as she detects movement she let's out these sounds that would frighten Linda Blair! Something between a howl, a growl, and a scream! It's absolutely unbelievable, especially coming from such a small little kitty.
We get her to the car, Kitty siren up to full power, and head to the vet. We get there and everyone clears us a path, wondering just what in the world kind of animal we have that's making all that racket. We sign in and the vet says: "Hello Spot, I could hear you from the back room!". Someone from across the room asks: "Is that a badger?", I reply: "No, just an irritated little kitty with an attitude issue!". We leave the kitty in good hands and head off to work.
Lightnin calls the vet later that day to see what time we can pick up our friendly little cat, and the vet says she'll be ready around 4:00PM. Lightenin replies: "Ok, we'll swing by and get her and then grab something to eat to take home." To which the Vet comments: "Oh take your time and get some dinner first. If you've never seen a shaved cat, you may lose your appetite!"
So we take the vet's advice, eat and then get the cat. When we come to get her she's ready to go, but she's a bit more quiet, still a bit loopy from the drugs. The ride home is a bit less noisy too. We get home and here's where the real entertainment starts. We open the cage and out pops the hairless cat. Both of us break out into laughter at the sight (if you read the comic strip Opus, think of Bill the cat. Slap a pair of jockey shorts on Spot, and there you are!)). The cat, of course can see no humor in this and immediately begins to curse us for humiliating her in this manner! And if you own a cat you know what I'm talking about. Spot was definitely using some choice kitty-speak words on us!
As I said earlier she's still a bit loopy, so she's sort of swaggering when she walks, and of course still meowing profanity with each step. The anesthetic eventually wears off, and to our surprise the cat is actually quiet, and rather subdued. It seems that the small bit of humility that she has to deal with has tamed her down a bit. Although she still just shoots me a dirty look every time she enters the room, as if to say: "Stop laughing, it's not funny!".
So you see, cats can be fun too!
This is Spot (a.k.a: Stinky, Old Smeller, El Gato, Dumb Katze, Fuzzy, Kitty, Ki Ki, etc., etc.). No those aren't the names we've given her, those are her many different personalities!
She is about 15 yrs old now, but still thinks she is a kitten. Quite frankly she's not much bigger than a kitten, and is still very active. (notice in the photo that she is letting me know that she is not happy to have her picture taken, especially since she was freshly shaved!)
We picked her up at a Halloween party, when she was really too young to have been taken from her mother, saving her from a life in the wild (Keep this in mind for later). The following day my wife commented: "Why would anyone bring kittens to a Halloween party?". To which I responded the obvious: "Well, it worked didn't it!". Fifteen years later, here we are.
She was small enough that she slept in the opening to a Puffs box, and we cared for her so that she would grow up healthy. The thanks we got, a nasty disposition connected to sharp teeth and claws! For no bigger than she is, she certainly thinks she's tough. She is a pretty kitty and of course people would like to pet her, there in lies the rub. It would go something like this: pet, pet, purr, attack! The cat would let you pet her about twice and then she would latch onto you with teeth and all for feet, claws extended of course. I would come to work and people would ask if we had a pet Bob Cat. This promted the kitty's first Christmas gift, spaying and declawing. As expected, she loved us for it!
She's also a long haired cat, so in the summer she sheds everywhere, and usually mopes around the house flopping down onto the floor about every four feet of walking or so as if to say "How about turning the thermostat down a little, I'm dying here!" (as if we could be so lucky!). So one summer we decided to have her shaved. Now let me tell you, this is entertainment!
First of all the nice lady at the Vet asks us (over the phone) if we think she will need to be sedated. After getting back up from the floor and stopping the laughter we of course replied, "Ah yeah!, you might want to make it a double and be sure to save some for yourself!"
Now the fun really starts. We get the cat carrier, which is no problem as anyone with a cat knows, you merely set the cage on the floor with the door open, ignore the cage, and the cat will promptly enter to investigate. I don't know why that is, but cats are a little weird that way! All we do is close the door and we're on our way. This is when we remember that the cat hates to travel. As soon as she detects movement she let's out these sounds that would frighten Linda Blair! Something between a howl, a growl, and a scream! It's absolutely unbelievable, especially coming from such a small little kitty.
We get her to the car, Kitty siren up to full power, and head to the vet. We get there and everyone clears us a path, wondering just what in the world kind of animal we have that's making all that racket. We sign in and the vet says: "Hello Spot, I could hear you from the back room!". Someone from across the room asks: "Is that a badger?", I reply: "No, just an irritated little kitty with an attitude issue!". We leave the kitty in good hands and head off to work.
Lightnin calls the vet later that day to see what time we can pick up our friendly little cat, and the vet says she'll be ready around 4:00PM. Lightenin replies: "Ok, we'll swing by and get her and then grab something to eat to take home." To which the Vet comments: "Oh take your time and get some dinner first. If you've never seen a shaved cat, you may lose your appetite!"
So we take the vet's advice, eat and then get the cat. When we come to get her she's ready to go, but she's a bit more quiet, still a bit loopy from the drugs. The ride home is a bit less noisy too. We get home and here's where the real entertainment starts. We open the cage and out pops the hairless cat. Both of us break out into laughter at the sight (if you read the comic strip Opus, think of Bill the cat. Slap a pair of jockey shorts on Spot, and there you are!)). The cat, of course can see no humor in this and immediately begins to curse us for humiliating her in this manner! And if you own a cat you know what I'm talking about. Spot was definitely using some choice kitty-speak words on us!
As I said earlier she's still a bit loopy, so she's sort of swaggering when she walks, and of course still meowing profanity with each step. The anesthetic eventually wears off, and to our surprise the cat is actually quiet, and rather subdued. It seems that the small bit of humility that she has to deal with has tamed her down a bit. Although she still just shoots me a dirty look every time she enters the room, as if to say: "Stop laughing, it's not funny!".
So you see, cats can be fun too!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Life in the Fast Lane (Not!)
Since I was finally able to upload some photos, I decided to post again. I know I've already bored you with the reunion, and as I said earlier I had departed Ohio in the wee hours of the morning heading for my home town of KC. However I left out a few details. Well, here's the rest of the story:
I left home with the anticipation of a fun filled, relaxing drive, with the top down. That almost happened! About five miles from home I encountered my first sure sign of summer, Orange Barrels! Yep, a detour before the engine had even warmed up! It didn't take long though and I was back up and running at the limit. It was a nice day, the sun was up and the temperature was warm. I was able to cruise with the top down for about 6 hrs, before the clouds had built to a point where I decided it was time to put the top up. I was just outside St. Louis and figured I was at about the 1/2 way point. How wrong can you get?!
St. Louis Sucks! (Sorry Pablo) OK, maybe not the people, or even the city, but the traffic certainly does. I hit construction that detours me onto another road that is under construction, that detours me to a third road, that eventually puts me back onto the first road. By eventually, I mean 2 hours later, and I'm finally on the other side of St. louis!
I had mentioned that I hit a storm. This happened about 2 hours later. Here's a photo that I snapped just before I had to pull over and sit it out!
I eventually did make my destination, 14hrs later, and step out of the car glad to have made it.
My folks live on about 7.5-8 acres, and their neighbor is a turf farmer. It's sort of like living on a golf course, but without the golf balls coming into your yard, or through your windows. Here's a couple of photos so that you can get a feel for the surroundings:
It's peacful and quiet, although every now and then you get these sustained winds of 30-40mph and you're forced to seek the sheltor of the indoors. While hanging out one morning I was able to snap this shot of a humming bird:
For those of you who have kids, you may remember them bringing home a little seedling on Earthday that you are requested to plant. Well at the time our son brought one home, we were living in an apartment and didn't have anywhere to plant it. So, we kept it alive until we could take it to his Grandparents house where we could put it in the ground. Well surprise, it survived! Check out the pine tree in the distance.
Actually it's not much of a surprise! My parents, being the super Grandparents that they are (they were pretty darn good parents too!), protected and nurtured that tree as if it were their Grandson himself.
Speaking of Grandson's, that's one of the main reasons I made this trip! Oh sure, there was the reunion, visiting my parents, visiting friends, and the road trip itself, but come on I've got to be honest I love my grandson!
Little Thunder: "Nice ride Grampa, where we headed?"
I'm pretty much done with the first half of my road trip. I start my trek back home on Saturday morning. I'll be stopping a couple of time along the way, to visit friends and family, and to break up the trip into a couple of shorter drives. If anything interesting happens on the way back home, I'll be sure to let you know (and I'll try to get a photo!).
Just one final note: Today is my birthday, and beleive it our not eventhough I'm out of town on vacation, I have to call in on a phone conference in a few minutes. Oh well, it pays the bills, and funds most of the trips that get the nice photos for most of my posts!
Oh, since it is my birthday take a guess at how old I am!
Here's some clues: I just attended my 30th high school reunion, but I was actually slightly younger than my classmates. I remember watching the first man in space, and going from black and white (actually more like green and white) to color tv.
Good luck and have fun!
I left home with the anticipation of a fun filled, relaxing drive, with the top down. That almost happened! About five miles from home I encountered my first sure sign of summer, Orange Barrels! Yep, a detour before the engine had even warmed up! It didn't take long though and I was back up and running at the limit. It was a nice day, the sun was up and the temperature was warm. I was able to cruise with the top down for about 6 hrs, before the clouds had built to a point where I decided it was time to put the top up. I was just outside St. Louis and figured I was at about the 1/2 way point. How wrong can you get?!
St. Louis Sucks! (Sorry Pablo) OK, maybe not the people, or even the city, but the traffic certainly does. I hit construction that detours me onto another road that is under construction, that detours me to a third road, that eventually puts me back onto the first road. By eventually, I mean 2 hours later, and I'm finally on the other side of St. louis!
I had mentioned that I hit a storm. This happened about 2 hours later. Here's a photo that I snapped just before I had to pull over and sit it out!I eventually did make my destination, 14hrs later, and step out of the car glad to have made it.
My folks live on about 7.5-8 acres, and their neighbor is a turf farmer. It's sort of like living on a golf course, but without the golf balls coming into your yard, or through your windows. Here's a couple of photos so that you can get a feel for the surroundings:
It's peacful and quiet, although every now and then you get these sustained winds of 30-40mph and you're forced to seek the sheltor of the indoors. While hanging out one morning I was able to snap this shot of a humming bird:
For those of you who have kids, you may remember them bringing home a little seedling on Earthday that you are requested to plant. Well at the time our son brought one home, we were living in an apartment and didn't have anywhere to plant it. So, we kept it alive until we could take it to his Grandparents house where we could put it in the ground. Well surprise, it survived! Check out the pine tree in the distance.
Actually it's not much of a surprise! My parents, being the super Grandparents that they are (they were pretty darn good parents too!), protected and nurtured that tree as if it were their Grandson himself.
Speaking of Grandson's, that's one of the main reasons I made this trip! Oh sure, there was the reunion, visiting my parents, visiting friends, and the road trip itself, but come on I've got to be honest I love my grandson!
Little Thunder: "Nice ride Grampa, where we headed?"
I'm pretty much done with the first half of my road trip. I start my trek back home on Saturday morning. I'll be stopping a couple of time along the way, to visit friends and family, and to break up the trip into a couple of shorter drives. If anything interesting happens on the way back home, I'll be sure to let you know (and I'll try to get a photo!).
Just one final note: Today is my birthday, and beleive it our not eventhough I'm out of town on vacation, I have to call in on a phone conference in a few minutes. Oh well, it pays the bills, and funds most of the trips that get the nice photos for most of my posts!
Oh, since it is my birthday take a guess at how old I am!
Here's some clues: I just attended my 30th high school reunion, but I was actually slightly younger than my classmates. I remember watching the first man in space, and going from black and white (actually more like green and white) to color tv.
Good luck and have fun!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
30 Years, Where did the time go?
Well, I headed out on the road Thursday morning. Hoping for good weather, leaving Cincinnati for my KC destination, and I wasn't disappointed! The sun was out for about half of my trip, but I hit a pretty good storm about 1/2 way between St. Louis and KC. The winds rocked my little car pretty good, and the rain was so heavy that I was forced to pull over and wait it out. Once it cleared I was back on the road again.
I rested up on Thursday night at my Mom and Dad's and then headed to the hotel on Friday. I knew that we would be out late for the reunion and I didn't want to wake the folks. Plus the events were happening at Westport on Friday and out near Bonner Springs on Saturday, both are about 30-45 min from my folks. I was forced to pack lite due to the limited trunk space, if you can call it that, that the roadster has. I got to the room and pulled my somewhat wrinkled clothes from the bag, and proceeded to get ready for the first night's event.
We were down at a bar/restaurant called Californo's, in Westport. The weather was perfect, and so was the location. We had a pretty good turn out too. Out of the 563 students (549 actual diploma recipients the day of graduation) about 300 showed up. It was fun to see everyone again. So many of the faces were familiar, but not all of the names rang a bell. It was a great evening, and I was able to drop the top for the ride back to the hotel when the night was over.
Saturday night took us to Dave and Busters. This was a huge complex, sort of an adult arcade. We had a few drinks and told a few stories, shared some good laughs too! We got so carried away that I didn't even use my game card. Oh well, we have one in Cincinnati so I'll just have to go there sometime to use it. I was able to snap a few picture of the old gang. I probably knew about 20 of the 500+ students. I'm not going to post any of the photos here, I'll send them on to the reunion committee so they can post them on the official web site. Besides, this is probably boring enough for the rest of you!
Well, I'm back at my Mom and Dad's now and recovered from the celebrations. I'll have some more memories of my friends, and a few new phone numbers to call next time I'm in town. Who knows, maybe we won't wait 30 years to meet up again!
I rested up on Thursday night at my Mom and Dad's and then headed to the hotel on Friday. I knew that we would be out late for the reunion and I didn't want to wake the folks. Plus the events were happening at Westport on Friday and out near Bonner Springs on Saturday, both are about 30-45 min from my folks. I was forced to pack lite due to the limited trunk space, if you can call it that, that the roadster has. I got to the room and pulled my somewhat wrinkled clothes from the bag, and proceeded to get ready for the first night's event.
We were down at a bar/restaurant called Californo's, in Westport. The weather was perfect, and so was the location. We had a pretty good turn out too. Out of the 563 students (549 actual diploma recipients the day of graduation) about 300 showed up. It was fun to see everyone again. So many of the faces were familiar, but not all of the names rang a bell. It was a great evening, and I was able to drop the top for the ride back to the hotel when the night was over.
Saturday night took us to Dave and Busters. This was a huge complex, sort of an adult arcade. We had a few drinks and told a few stories, shared some good laughs too! We got so carried away that I didn't even use my game card. Oh well, we have one in Cincinnati so I'll just have to go there sometime to use it. I was able to snap a few picture of the old gang. I probably knew about 20 of the 500+ students. I'm not going to post any of the photos here, I'll send them on to the reunion committee so they can post them on the official web site. Besides, this is probably boring enough for the rest of you!
Well, I'm back at my Mom and Dad's now and recovered from the celebrations. I'll have some more memories of my friends, and a few new phone numbers to call next time I'm in town. Who knows, maybe we won't wait 30 years to meet up again!
Monday, June 19, 2006
Road Trip
Well it looks like summer is upon us, with the official 1st day coming up this Wednesday. I'm taking a few days off and heading back west to my home town, good old Kansas City. I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate and that I can take the back roads with the top down. It's about a 10 hour drive on the interstate, 12hr if I tke the back roads. I'm not in a hurry, so the back roads it is!
This time I'll actually be able to make it to my high school reunion. It's the 30th one, and I haven't been able to make it back to any of the prior one's. It should be fun to see everyone again, after so long. Unfortunately my wife doesn't have enough vacation time, so I'll be going alone. The traveling will be nice, I don't mind driving by myself and actually kind of enjoy it, but I sure wish she could join me for the get together with my old friends.
I'm sure that the next three days are going to take longer than normal to pass. I'll load up the car on Wednesday evening and be ready to leave at first light on Thursday. I'll have to go through the old check list: Shorts "check", t-shirts "check", tooth brush "check", pictures of the wife, children, and grandson to show off at the reunion "check, check, and double check!".
It should be a good trip. If anything interesting happens along the way, I'll try to capture it and get it out for you to read!
This time I'll actually be able to make it to my high school reunion. It's the 30th one, and I haven't been able to make it back to any of the prior one's. It should be fun to see everyone again, after so long. Unfortunately my wife doesn't have enough vacation time, so I'll be going alone. The traveling will be nice, I don't mind driving by myself and actually kind of enjoy it, but I sure wish she could join me for the get together with my old friends.
I'm sure that the next three days are going to take longer than normal to pass. I'll load up the car on Wednesday evening and be ready to leave at first light on Thursday. I'll have to go through the old check list: Shorts "check", t-shirts "check", tooth brush "check", pictures of the wife, children, and grandson to show off at the reunion "check, check, and double check!".
It should be a good trip. If anything interesting happens along the way, I'll try to capture it and get it out for you to read!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Tropical Depression hits Truman Reservoir
The following story is true. It happened to me about 24 years ago, while I was still a young man and was able to recover. I was inspired to write about it after reading a post about clam farming during an approaching storm by my good friend FC. The event came back to me clear as a bell while reading FC's post!
I had just purchased my new Catalina 22' sail boat, and was anxious to get her into the water and set sail. It was Memorial Day weekend and I was planning to stay on the boat the entire time. I put her into the water early in the morning and set sail. The Catalina is set up so that a single person can sail it, especially with a roller furling on the jib. Of course, mine was on order and hadn't arrived yet. Besides, I knew that my friends were bringing their boat down later and I was going to meet up with them near the dam. So off I sailed, from Sterrit Creek Marina out past the dam, alone!
I had sailed for about three hours, with a fantastic straight line wind and no gusts. That's when I looked to the northwest, and saw the pitch black skies just beyond the tree line on the shore. Now there was nothing in the weather reports that morning, and I was about 5 miles from the trees that the storm was behind, so I thought "Ok, I've got time to get the sails down and motor back in", so that was my plan.
I pointed into the wind, which had calmed somewhat, and lashed the tiller so that I could go up on the forward deck to drop the jib. As I mentioned earlier the roller furling would have been nice right about now! I get to the jib and get it about half way down, when I feel a gust of wind hit. I look up and think: "No way!", the sky above me is black and the storm is upon me! The next gust of wind fills the jib and lifts me about 2 ft off the deck of the boat. I was much thinner and lighter then, I would be used as ballast on a ship nowadays. The wind slacks and I hurriedly race to drop the sail and lash it. Too late, the wind hits again, only stronger. It tries to lift me again, but luckily my foot catches on the forward hatch hinge and holds me to the boat. I always sail barefoot because I use my feet to help hold lines, sort of like an extra pair of hands. Lightnin says I have prehensile toes! However, this gust also fills the main sail and knocks me down. A knock down is when the ship rolls so far to one side that the sail hits the water, something I would have rather not ever see on my 22 footer. I'm holding onto the jib with all of my strength, staring straight at the water and thinking "Well life's been good, but I guess when it's time to go...." when the wind slacks again and the boat rights. I get the jib down and lashed just as the pouring rain starts.
At this point I'm being tossed around like a cork in the lake, but I see a speed boat flying towards me heading back to the marina. I yell to them to grab my bow line and pull me directly into the wind. They understandably look at me like I'm insane, so I quickly explain that the main sail will flutter rather than fill and I would be able to drop and lash it. They do as I ask and I get the sail down and lashed and the toss the line back to me and head in as fast as they could.
I now head back to the cockpit and drop the outboard into the water. I crank on all 4.5 hp of the Johnson, and try to head back to the marina . Now you need to understand that the waves are now more like swell than I have ever seen on a lake so my motor is actually coming out of the water with each crest, and I'm saying to myself "I gotta get a bigger motor!". The wind is now blasting straight out of the North, and I'm getting pelted with rain you know, the big thunderstorm sized drops, but at least the situation is somewhat under control. I'm not moving any closer to the marina, but I'm floating top side up, and staying in one place.
The storm eventually passes and I finally make it back to the marina, where I find my friends under cover waiting for the storm to pass so that they could launch their boat. They help me tie up, help me off of the boat, and then see my foot. "Holy cow, you'd better get that looked at!" one of them said. I looked down at my foot, and for the first time felt the massive pain. The hatch hinge had ripped the skin off of the top of my big toe and had bunched it up against my toe nail. At the time it happened, that was the least of my worries! They also told me that they had let the water patrol know that I was out there and probably was in need of assistance. To which the water patrol officer stated, "There's no way I'm going out there in this. Once it calms down I'll head out!" I remember waving to him on my way back in, as he went past me to see if anyone else still needed help.
I later found out that this freak storm that came out of the Northwest, not the Southwest like normal, was traveling at 60mph and was throwing wind out at over 70mph! I never thought that I'd ever see a tropical storm on Truman Reservoir!
I had just purchased my new Catalina 22' sail boat, and was anxious to get her into the water and set sail. It was Memorial Day weekend and I was planning to stay on the boat the entire time. I put her into the water early in the morning and set sail. The Catalina is set up so that a single person can sail it, especially with a roller furling on the jib. Of course, mine was on order and hadn't arrived yet. Besides, I knew that my friends were bringing their boat down later and I was going to meet up with them near the dam. So off I sailed, from Sterrit Creek Marina out past the dam, alone!
I had sailed for about three hours, with a fantastic straight line wind and no gusts. That's when I looked to the northwest, and saw the pitch black skies just beyond the tree line on the shore. Now there was nothing in the weather reports that morning, and I was about 5 miles from the trees that the storm was behind, so I thought "Ok, I've got time to get the sails down and motor back in", so that was my plan.
I pointed into the wind, which had calmed somewhat, and lashed the tiller so that I could go up on the forward deck to drop the jib. As I mentioned earlier the roller furling would have been nice right about now! I get to the jib and get it about half way down, when I feel a gust of wind hit. I look up and think: "No way!", the sky above me is black and the storm is upon me! The next gust of wind fills the jib and lifts me about 2 ft off the deck of the boat. I was much thinner and lighter then, I would be used as ballast on a ship nowadays. The wind slacks and I hurriedly race to drop the sail and lash it. Too late, the wind hits again, only stronger. It tries to lift me again, but luckily my foot catches on the forward hatch hinge and holds me to the boat. I always sail barefoot because I use my feet to help hold lines, sort of like an extra pair of hands. Lightnin says I have prehensile toes! However, this gust also fills the main sail and knocks me down. A knock down is when the ship rolls so far to one side that the sail hits the water, something I would have rather not ever see on my 22 footer. I'm holding onto the jib with all of my strength, staring straight at the water and thinking "Well life's been good, but I guess when it's time to go...." when the wind slacks again and the boat rights. I get the jib down and lashed just as the pouring rain starts.
At this point I'm being tossed around like a cork in the lake, but I see a speed boat flying towards me heading back to the marina. I yell to them to grab my bow line and pull me directly into the wind. They understandably look at me like I'm insane, so I quickly explain that the main sail will flutter rather than fill and I would be able to drop and lash it. They do as I ask and I get the sail down and lashed and the toss the line back to me and head in as fast as they could.
I now head back to the cockpit and drop the outboard into the water. I crank on all 4.5 hp of the Johnson, and try to head back to the marina . Now you need to understand that the waves are now more like swell than I have ever seen on a lake so my motor is actually coming out of the water with each crest, and I'm saying to myself "I gotta get a bigger motor!". The wind is now blasting straight out of the North, and I'm getting pelted with rain you know, the big thunderstorm sized drops, but at least the situation is somewhat under control. I'm not moving any closer to the marina, but I'm floating top side up, and staying in one place.
The storm eventually passes and I finally make it back to the marina, where I find my friends under cover waiting for the storm to pass so that they could launch their boat. They help me tie up, help me off of the boat, and then see my foot. "Holy cow, you'd better get that looked at!" one of them said. I looked down at my foot, and for the first time felt the massive pain. The hatch hinge had ripped the skin off of the top of my big toe and had bunched it up against my toe nail. At the time it happened, that was the least of my worries! They also told me that they had let the water patrol know that I was out there and probably was in need of assistance. To which the water patrol officer stated, "There's no way I'm going out there in this. Once it calms down I'll head out!" I remember waving to him on my way back in, as he went past me to see if anyone else still needed help.
I later found out that this freak storm that came out of the Northwest, not the Southwest like normal, was traveling at 60mph and was throwing wind out at over 70mph! I never thought that I'd ever see a tropical storm on Truman Reservoir!
Friday, June 09, 2006
Miltenberg, Bavaria, Deutschland (The missing Post)
Ah, nothing like a nice drive through scenic Bavaria!Me playing Tour guide: "If you look to your left you'll see vineyards, just below the tree line"
"And if you look to your right,.......What the?!, are we in Georgia? Check out the red clay!"
This was one of the few construction areas that we had to drive through! It really is a nice scenic drive. As usual, the pictures will never do it justice.
This is Miltenberg! It was so beautiful, nestled between the Main (pronounced Mine) river and the mountains.
grammar Lesson Alert: The suffix -berg, as in Miltenberg, refers to the mountain. -burg, as in Rothenburg, refers to the town.
Miltenberg was a wonderful town, er ah, mountain village!
This was a shot of the bridge crossing the Main, and an excursion vessel passing underneath. That should help to give a bit of scale to the photo.
Even though it was raining off and on that day, it was still fun to walk through the streets and just admire the architecture.
Of course you didn't think that we could go all day without nourishment. We stopped by the Faust Brewery, for a light snack and some adult refreshment. We all decided the best strategy was to try the sampler of beers. All were good, but I preferred the Dunkle.
Interesting to note that Faust was the first German brewery to expand over to the US. If you search very hard you can still find the original name of their import, but of course it was purchased some years ago by the larger breweries.
Think you know which beer it was, or do you give up?
Schlitz!
That's right, Schlitz beer was actually a product of the Faust Brewery! Their export lager, the original Schlitz, is still on tap at the brewery. It's a good one, and I recommend that you try it to see what American beers used to be, that's of course if you're ever in Miltenberg! They also had some excellent pretzels and Weiss Wurst (white sausage, sort of like a Brat), that went very well with the beers.
Well, I've been back for a couple of weeks now and the jet lag has worn off. Time to get back to tending to my hops so that I can try to brew up some of my own!
If you ever get the chance to tour through Europe, and especially Bavaria, Germany, please take it. I'm sure you'll never forget it!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Bruxelles (Brussels)
Well the trip is over, but I wasn't able to get this posted until I returned.
We left Germany and headed for Brussels in the early morning hours on Saturday. It was a good plan because traffic was extremely light and we were able to make time on the Autobahn! We made it to Brussels in just over 3 hours, traveling at an average speed of around 180kph (approximately 112mph). It was a pretty fun experience, especially with Beethoven playing in the background!
Side Note: It is important to point out that the quality of the road is much better on the Autobahn than on American roads, and that the greater majority of drivers abide by the rules (i.e, use turn signals, pass on the left and then move immediately to the right). Of course this is because if you don't, the results are almost sure to be fatal! It is also important to point out that traveling at these speeds takes total concentration on the driver's part because it is even more important to know what is happening in front, behind, and beside you because there is no reaction time to spare! I also need to point out that on the previous trip to Rothenburg we hit an all time high speed for me at a whopping 230kph (142mph)! It was only for a short burst (maybe 10-20 Km), and the lead car was actually pulling away from me! Man, I wish I could take my little fun car over there for a run!
Sorry, I got myself sidetracked there. Back to the story! When we arrived we went down to the Grande Platz, the main square of the city. I have a routine that I try not to break, and that is to visit a place I call Leroy's place to have a Kriek (cherry lambek beer) upon arrival into Brussels. So this is exactly what we did.
The actual name of the place is LeRoy de'Espagne (The King of Spain). I don't know the story behind that, but I'll try to find out some day. All I know is that they have good beer and good appetizer type foods.
From LeRoy's you can sit and look out at the rest of the Grande Platz. Here is a couple of pictures of the Tower of Records. It's too tall to get it into a single shot. This is where they used to store all of the records of deeds to property. They felt it was the most defensible place to store them.
If you notice the building is not symmetrical. The story is that the architect, upon seeing the builder's mistakes, climbed all the way to the top of the tower and threw himself off!
These are just some shots of the other buildings around the Grande Platz.
Now this little guy stirs up a whole lot of attention. He is probably the best known attraction in Brussels. This is the Manikin Pis (Little boy peeing). No joke, this little guy gets dressed in different outfits, depending upon the season or the festival, and draws a crowd every day! He has probably been in more movies about Europe than any single actor or actress.
Not bad considering he is less than two feet tall!
This is a photo of Atomium. It was erected for the 1958 World's Fair. You can actully go up into it, but we opted to just drive under it and admire it that way. By this point in the trip we were fairly tired, and a bit cold and damp from all of the rain. The photo was expertly snapped by Lightnin, in between wiper blade strokes!
Well it was a fun trip, but it had to end.
After spending two weeks in 50F temperatures we were greated by 90F temps upon returning home, and the air conditioner died on us. So I'll be spending the day trying to get someone to come out and make the needed repairs so that we can get a little relief from the heat.
I hope you've enjoyed seeing the photos and hearing about our travels!
I will try to re-post about our trip to Mitenberg, It vanished when I tried to post it originally!
We left Germany and headed for Brussels in the early morning hours on Saturday. It was a good plan because traffic was extremely light and we were able to make time on the Autobahn! We made it to Brussels in just over 3 hours, traveling at an average speed of around 180kph (approximately 112mph). It was a pretty fun experience, especially with Beethoven playing in the background!
Side Note: It is important to point out that the quality of the road is much better on the Autobahn than on American roads, and that the greater majority of drivers abide by the rules (i.e, use turn signals, pass on the left and then move immediately to the right). Of course this is because if you don't, the results are almost sure to be fatal! It is also important to point out that traveling at these speeds takes total concentration on the driver's part because it is even more important to know what is happening in front, behind, and beside you because there is no reaction time to spare! I also need to point out that on the previous trip to Rothenburg we hit an all time high speed for me at a whopping 230kph (142mph)! It was only for a short burst (maybe 10-20 Km), and the lead car was actually pulling away from me! Man, I wish I could take my little fun car over there for a run!
Sorry, I got myself sidetracked there. Back to the story! When we arrived we went down to the Grande Platz, the main square of the city. I have a routine that I try not to break, and that is to visit a place I call Leroy's place to have a Kriek (cherry lambek beer) upon arrival into Brussels. So this is exactly what we did.
The actual name of the place is LeRoy de'Espagne (The King of Spain). I don't know the story behind that, but I'll try to find out some day. All I know is that they have good beer and good appetizer type foods.
From LeRoy's you can sit and look out at the rest of the Grande Platz. Here is a couple of pictures of the Tower of Records. It's too tall to get it into a single shot. This is where they used to store all of the records of deeds to property. They felt it was the most defensible place to store them.
If you notice the building is not symmetrical. The story is that the architect, upon seeing the builder's mistakes, climbed all the way to the top of the tower and threw himself off!
These are just some shots of the other buildings around the Grande Platz.
Now this little guy stirs up a whole lot of attention. He is probably the best known attraction in Brussels. This is the Manikin Pis (Little boy peeing). No joke, this little guy gets dressed in different outfits, depending upon the season or the festival, and draws a crowd every day! He has probably been in more movies about Europe than any single actor or actress.
Not bad considering he is less than two feet tall!
This is a photo of Atomium. It was erected for the 1958 World's Fair. You can actully go up into it, but we opted to just drive under it and admire it that way. By this point in the trip we were fairly tired, and a bit cold and damp from all of the rain. The photo was expertly snapped by Lightnin, in between wiper blade strokes!
Well it was a fun trip, but it had to end.
After spending two weeks in 50F temperatures we were greated by 90F temps upon returning home, and the air conditioner died on us. So I'll be spending the day trying to get someone to come out and make the needed repairs so that we can get a little relief from the heat.
I hope you've enjoyed seeing the photos and hearing about our travels!
I will try to re-post about our trip to Mitenberg, It vanished when I tried to post it originally!
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Wiedersehen nach Deutschland (See you later to Germany)!
Well, it's been fun, but it's time to leave. We're heading to Brussels in the morning, and I mean early in the morning! We'll leave around 6:30AM, because it's about a 5 Hr drive, for those of you on eastern US time that's 12:30AM your time.
We head back to the states from there the next morning, so I doubt I will be able to post pics from there until I get back home.
It's been a great trip, and I'll try to get the rest of the photos and some of the stories out as soon as possible.
Tschüs Marina, Sabrina, Edgar, and Giela! Spc. Dude (aka G-nerve) we'll see you again soon and talk to you later!
We head back to the states from there the next morning, so I doubt I will be able to post pics from there until I get back home.
It's been a great trip, and I'll try to get the rest of the photos and some of the stories out as soon as possible.
Tschüs Marina, Sabrina, Edgar, and Giela! Spc. Dude (aka G-nerve) we'll see you again soon and talk to you later!
Friday, May 26, 2006
When in Rome, or Frankfurt that is!
Here we are enjoying a Frankfurter mit kartofel salad (Hot dog with potato salad). We're sitting in the old town square of Frankfurt. It was a little chilly and breezy, but it was worth the effort. I'm pretty sure I mentioned in an earlier post that Frankfurt is the center of commerce for Deutschland (Germany), but it is also that for Europe. The shopping district is the richest area in Europe too. It is not unusual at all to see a Lamborghini, then a Bentley, then a Ferrari as you walk down the street!
While walking past the statue of Kaiser Karl der Grosse (Carl the Great), I noticed a sign that said that the neighboring pub was serving Eisbock vom faß (Ice Bock on tap). So naturally I insisted that we stop by and take advantage of the opportunity that we had been given. An Ice Bock is a true ice beer, not like Bud Ice that you may or may not have tried before. It's dark and sweet, and probably around 7.5-8.5%. Wonderful on a cool breezy day, especially if you're just riding the train, and not driving!
Ok, side note: We really did a lot more than just eat and drink, but it seemed that that was the only time I could get everyone to stand still long enough to get a picture, so that's the photos I have to work with here!
Gratis drinking phot here. We are in McDonalds, having a McBeer! It's actually Bitburger, which is a nice German Pilsner.
This is a photo of Eier Likor (Egg Liqour), or as Lightnin calls it: Edgar Likor. All I know is that it is one of the best dessert drinks ever invented. Our host, Edgar expertly prepared this for us. The best that I can describe it is that it is the best eggnog I have ever tasted, but much better and completely different.
Sorry about that explaination, but if you're truly interested I do have the recipe.
Well, that about does it for now. I'll try to get another post out today still.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Rothenburg, Deutschland (pronounced: wrote-n-burg)
This ia Rothenburg, Germany. I'm not sure if you can see too clearly in the first picture, but the wall actually still surrounds the entire town. This town has buildings that stretch back to the 1200's. It's special because it is one of the few towns that came through WWII without a scratch! It was a beautiful day and I'm glad we took advantage of it to come here.It was about an hour and a half drive into Bavaria, from Hanau (which I think was sort of southeast). Hanau is a suburb of Frankfürt, which is Hessian, Bavaria is the neighboring Stadt, or as we would call it a state.
This is one of the clock towers, you see this one as you enter the city. The other photo is of the clock tower that is next to the old town hall. If you look close you'll see that there are three clocks on this tower. The top clock is a sun dial, the middle clock is a 24-hour, and the bottom one is a 12-hour clock. Pretty cool! This way you know that anyone has a good chance at telling what time it is!
And of course we couldn't visit the city without sampling a brew. The Schwartzbier (black beer) was awesome! I'm running out of power so I'll need to say wieder sehen (see you later) for now! Pros't!
Was is Das?
Was is Das? (What is this?)
Why it's a hedge hog, made of steak tartar, and let me tell you it was delicious!
Marina, our lovely hostess, created this specialty to go along with our dinner of various meats (fleische), cheeses (käse), and breads (brot). It was a wonderful meal and was perfect with the pilsner and weisbier that we had to drink.
Es schmeckt gut! (It tasted good!)
Ein prosit von Hanau! (A toast from Hanau!)
Sorry I haven't been able to post until now, I was having trouble getting onto the internet. Since I'm on now, I'll try to post a cople of more before I lose my connection!
Monday, May 15, 2006
Jetlagged
Jet Lag: The feeling of walking around in a fog, with your body functioning somewhat normally, while your brain is on autopilot!
Well, I'm here in Brussels, Belgium! Sorry, no pictures yet. It was cool, damp, and cloudy when I arrived yesterday. Today it is sunny and warm (60's F), so hopefully I'll be able to get the camera out later after work (I'm taking a break at the moment and thought that I'd send out a quick post). Now back to today's topic Jetlagged.
My flight(s) were fairly good this time, but the total time for travel was a bit too long. I left from Ohio around 7:30PM, flew to Minneapolis, where I had a 2 hour layover. Then from there to Amsterdam, again a 2 hour layover, and then on to Brussels arriving at 4:00PM local time. Total travel time was around 20hours. The flight across the ocean was probably the smoothest flight I've ever been on, which was great because I needed, and got, quite a bit of sleep.
The fun part of the trip was the ride on a Fokker 50 from Amsterdam to Brussels. They call it a "City-hopper", I call it a "Puddle-jumper". The Fokker 50 is a twin prop plane that holds about 30 passengers. It was a sturdy plane, and the turbulence was at a minimum, but there were still those occasional elevator-like drops in altitude that you can only truly experience in a smaller aircraft. Just the sort of ride you want after crossing the ocean in the middle of the night!
Once in Brussels I tried to walk around, as much as possible, to catch some fresh air. This is highly recommended to help minimize the jetlag, of course it works better when the sunshine cooperates. In my case it did not! I stopped at one of my new favorite restaurants De Voile Rouge (the red sail). I sampled a few Wit biers, and munched on Carpacio and salade Nicious. The waitress was very patient, the crowd was thin, so she decided to help provide some French lessons while I ate/drank. I can now order either another bier or glass of wine in proper Francias (very important!).
After that I made my way back to the hotel, to have hat I thought was going to be 1, maybe 2 more beers, and then off to bed. I didn't count on meeting a couple of very interesting folks that would bend my arm to stay and visit a bit longer. More details on that later. Needless to say, I didn't get to bed when I planned, so the proper switch over to the local time will need to take place today/tonight! I'll need to rely on the magical powers of the European coffee to make it through the day (Topic of a previous post while in Amiens, France). That way I'll at least give the appearance of being awake, eventhough you and I will know better!
Bonjour for now! More on my travels later, as the week goes along.
Well, I'm here in Brussels, Belgium! Sorry, no pictures yet. It was cool, damp, and cloudy when I arrived yesterday. Today it is sunny and warm (60's F), so hopefully I'll be able to get the camera out later after work (I'm taking a break at the moment and thought that I'd send out a quick post). Now back to today's topic Jetlagged.
My flight(s) were fairly good this time, but the total time for travel was a bit too long. I left from Ohio around 7:30PM, flew to Minneapolis, where I had a 2 hour layover. Then from there to Amsterdam, again a 2 hour layover, and then on to Brussels arriving at 4:00PM local time. Total travel time was around 20hours. The flight across the ocean was probably the smoothest flight I've ever been on, which was great because I needed, and got, quite a bit of sleep.
The fun part of the trip was the ride on a Fokker 50 from Amsterdam to Brussels. They call it a "City-hopper", I call it a "Puddle-jumper". The Fokker 50 is a twin prop plane that holds about 30 passengers. It was a sturdy plane, and the turbulence was at a minimum, but there were still those occasional elevator-like drops in altitude that you can only truly experience in a smaller aircraft. Just the sort of ride you want after crossing the ocean in the middle of the night!
Once in Brussels I tried to walk around, as much as possible, to catch some fresh air. This is highly recommended to help minimize the jetlag, of course it works better when the sunshine cooperates. In my case it did not! I stopped at one of my new favorite restaurants De Voile Rouge (the red sail). I sampled a few Wit biers, and munched on Carpacio and salade Nicious. The waitress was very patient, the crowd was thin, so she decided to help provide some French lessons while I ate/drank. I can now order either another bier or glass of wine in proper Francias (very important!).
After that I made my way back to the hotel, to have hat I thought was going to be 1, maybe 2 more beers, and then off to bed. I didn't count on meeting a couple of very interesting folks that would bend my arm to stay and visit a bit longer. More details on that later. Needless to say, I didn't get to bed when I planned, so the proper switch over to the local time will need to take place today/tonight! I'll need to rely on the magical powers of the European coffee to make it through the day (Topic of a previous post while in Amiens, France). That way I'll at least give the appearance of being awake, eventhough you and I will know better!
Bonjour for now! More on my travels later, as the week goes along.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Travelin' Man
Well, I'm off on another adventure! This time I'll be traveling to Brussels, Belgium, and then from there over to Frankfurt, Germany.
Brussels is considered the capital of Europe. It's the home of NATO and the European Union. It's probably the most diverse city I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. By that I mean that if you walk through the city for no more than 10 to 15 minutes you will likely have seen some one from nearly every country in the world. It will be a short visit this time though, only a couple of days.
Then it's on to Frankfurt. Frankfurt is the commerce center for Germany, their "Wall Street". It also holds the "high fashion" center for them as well. You know Gucci, Armani, etc., yeah I know, but it is worth mentioning! Besides you wouldn't believe the cars you see lining the streets in that area. Not just Mercedes, they're common over there, I'm talking about Lotus, Ferarri, Bentley, and Rolls! That's why I don't mind walking around. I finally get to see in real life cars that I have only dreamed about since I was a young man!
And here's the best part! This is also where I'll meet up with my son (who lives near there), my wife (who will meet me there), and my parents (traveling to Europe for the first time)! Sometimes this work-life balance thing does work out! It's also going to be fun to see our host's Edgar, Marina, and Sabrina. I'm sure that we'll get in a game of ein Mal before we get out of there! (I'll try to explain this in an upcoming post, and hopefully will get the spelling correct).
Well, I just wanted to give you a little teaser before I leave. I'll try to post photos and stories as I go along, so you can sort of travel with me. It should be fast and fun!
I hope you enjoy it!
Brussels is considered the capital of Europe. It's the home of NATO and the European Union. It's probably the most diverse city I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. By that I mean that if you walk through the city for no more than 10 to 15 minutes you will likely have seen some one from nearly every country in the world. It will be a short visit this time though, only a couple of days.
Then it's on to Frankfurt. Frankfurt is the commerce center for Germany, their "Wall Street". It also holds the "high fashion" center for them as well. You know Gucci, Armani, etc., yeah I know, but it is worth mentioning! Besides you wouldn't believe the cars you see lining the streets in that area. Not just Mercedes, they're common over there, I'm talking about Lotus, Ferarri, Bentley, and Rolls! That's why I don't mind walking around. I finally get to see in real life cars that I have only dreamed about since I was a young man!
And here's the best part! This is also where I'll meet up with my son (who lives near there), my wife (who will meet me there), and my parents (traveling to Europe for the first time)! Sometimes this work-life balance thing does work out! It's also going to be fun to see our host's Edgar, Marina, and Sabrina. I'm sure that we'll get in a game of ein Mal before we get out of there! (I'll try to explain this in an upcoming post, and hopefully will get the spelling correct).
Well, I just wanted to give you a little teaser before I leave. I'll try to post photos and stories as I go along, so you can sort of travel with me. It should be fast and fun!
I hope you enjoy it!
Friday, April 28, 2006
"The Tree" What is it? (and a hop update)
Well, here's the infamous tree! It was supposed to be a dogwood, but I don't think that it is. I tried to get a shot of it fullof blooms, but the spring storms beat me to it so all I was able to get was the picture of a few of the flowers that stayed on the tree.
I also got a good shot of the leaves so hopefully that will help too!
Can anyone out there in cyberspace help me identify this tree?
Oh yeah, I almost forgot in the fall it produces little hard brown berry-like fruit. They have never produced any new trees, until this past year, but the yard is full of little seedlings now.
I also wanted to give a hop update. This is what they look like now, only a week and a hlf after the last set of photos. They are awesome plants!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Manatee Springs Still Continued (just one more)
I missed this one in the other two posts and just had to get it out there. It's a Black Vulture in the classic vulture pose!
Just as a heads up I'm going to try to post the pictures of my tree later this week. I don't know what it is, but I've got some shots of the flowers and I should be able to get some shots of the leaves now that they are coming out. Hopefully someone out there will be able to help me identify it!
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