Moving outside the confines of our nation comes and import from the original land of beer – Germany. Germany is known for it’s tube steak, bread, and beer. How could you dislike anything about this place? Jessica and I have made it to our local Oktoberfest in Puyallup but haven’t yet made it to the “Bavarian” town of Leavenworth.
Appearance:Apricot in color with a slight haze. When poured it had a head that quickly dissipated.
Aroma: Very malty odor – definitely smells like a German beer
Mouthfeel: Very drinkable – a little weight comes with a lager and this one went down smooth
Flavor: Fits very well into the vein of “Bavarian Festival Lager” and had a bit of a malt kick on the back end.
Overall: Not too shabby. It’s definitely not my favorite Oktoberfest beer but I’d definitely drink it if it was available.
I’m going to give it a 6.5/10
You can find a more comprehensive review at Beer Advocate
I drink a lot of beer and I’ve decided that I might as well share the experience with everyone. Here is the first in the series of John’s Beer Blog.
The first beer is from a local brewery, Full Sail Brewing in Hood, Oregon. It’s one of their limited series and this one is a lager. Let’s see how she does.
Appearance: Honey colored and clear without haze.
Aroma: Hints of lemon and honey
Mouthfeel: Lager taste and mouth feel (a little heavy)
Flavor: There weren’t any remaining off flavors after swallowing. The beer reminds me of many of the British Lagers that I’ve had but the finish is much cleaner. You definitely won’t have bitter beer face after drinking it.
Overall: I’m not a huge lager fan of lager as many of them can get a too bitter and the flavors tend to get lost. This beer is quite drinkable and I could probably finish of a six pack. It’s a fairly light beer so I’d imagine that it would be perfect for an afternoon of watching football without feeling too sick. It is a 7.0% beer so if you’re used to drinking anything from the Miller/Coors/Budweiser family you’ll surely be wasted so drink with caution.
Now the all important grading – I’m going to give it a 7.5/10
If you want a more comprehensive review check out Beer Advocate
Jessica called me this morning. The first words out of her mouth “I’m pregnant.” Woah! That is one hell of a way to start a morning. We talked for a bit and I assured her that I was excited. In fact, I’ve had a hard time not smiling all day long. I am so happy about this. It’s going to be a bumpy nine months but I can’t wait for it. She told her best friend, Cassy, the good news and is holding off on telling more people the news until she gets official word from the doc. Life as we know it is definitely going to be different.
Can you understand a single word? I know that they speak English but the accent is so brutal. It’s part of a documentary but I don’t know what they’re documenting. Strangely, the little girl is the easiest to understand.
I’ve had the phone for a couple of weeks and there are few flaws to this phone. Here are the highlights.
Good
Call quality and reception have been great.
Internet browsing is quick on the “4G” network. In every area where I might have expected 3G I’ve gotten HSPA+ speeds.
Installation of apps is a breeze.
The display, even though a lower resolution than similar models, is more than adequate.
Plays flash videos without issue (save for Hulu but thats an android problem).
Seamlessly integrates with all Google functions.
Not so good
GPS has a hard time acquiring an accurate position – it can take up to 30 seconds to get a direct bead on your location.
Camera does mediocre in low light scenes (outside of flash range) but it’s something we can expect from every camera phone.
The speaker is a little tinny.
There is a little more digital noise over Bluetooth than my old Blackberry.
I’d still buy this phone if given the choice to do it again and skip the Atrix. I’ve started to see reviews come in from that phone and most of the advanced features (docking etc and a little clumsy and slow). To me, it seems like a gimmick to sell the phone and accessories. My wife played around with my phone and wants to upgrade to one of the same model from her iphone. Her only concern was management of her music library but there are plenty of free programs like Media Monkey that will serve as a suitable replacement.
Jessica flew in last Friday so that we could spend the weekend together. It’s been a hectic year and a weekend in the middle of a three month stretch really helps to break up the “unpleasantness” of being apart. As I mentioned, she flew in Friday afternoon and I was hoping to meet her at the airport. As things would play out, I had a flight on Friday and I wouldn’t be able to get to OKC until about 6PM. I was talking to my instructor on the intercom about my plans for the weekend while we were killing time in the air. (Most of my effort comes when the plane is on the ground. In flight, I have few duties save for responding to an emergency or dealing with passengers.) After a bit of planning with the pilots we changed the flight profile a bit so that I could do my offload and then offload myself and be done for the rest of the day. This allowed me to have an extra 90 minutes with my wife. Many of you only have time apart from your spouse as a rare event. In our home, its often the norm. 90 minutes may not sound like a lot of time but we’re happy to get every minute possible together.
We didn’t plan any activities ahead of time we just played it by ear. While there, we checked out the OKC Zoo. I was quite surprised by the size of the zoo and the collection of animals. All of the major players were there and we had a great time. Jessica tends to have better jokes than I do but once in a while I come up with something really silly and I get her to laugh. I was thinking about a sketch I saw a few days ago where all of the characters had names like in a Dick Tracy comic book. I saw the animal below and the first thing that came to mind was calling him good old zebra legs. Zebra legs, of course, isn’t the correct name but it was good for a laugh.
Aside from the zoo we stopped at the Oklahoma City Memorial. The memorial was on the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that was one of the first cases of domestic terrorism that I remember in my lifetime. The site, as you might imagine, was quite a somber affair. The feeling I got was very similar to what I felt when I walked through the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
Jessica decided to treat me and took me to a place called Tapwerks. They had over 100 beers on tap or in bottles. Rather than ordering a specific beer I decided to let the bartender make the choice and I ordered mystery trays. It was quite a fun way to try out some new styles and flavors. At first the bartender did a fantastic job of serving me things that I’d never had before. I’m a beer lover so it didn’t take long before I starting getting repeats of things I’d had before but it was still quite a bit of fun.
Here are a few other random photos of the city. I was quite surprised. I had expected to find a place exactly like Des Moines but this was an actual city – not an overgrown suburb.
I can’t wait to head back home – only one month left.
1 month until I my check ride (flight evaluation)
18 training events remaining
3 days until I get to see Jessica
3 days until my next flight
28 subscriptions on my RSS feed
7,728 items read over the last 30 days
2 days and 6 months until a year of marriage
1.5 months until Jessica’s birthday
1 homework assignment to complete today
I drove to Lawton (home of the nearest AT&T store) to trade in my badly worn and beaten Blackberry Bold for the just released HTC Inspire. Per the norm, things didn’t go as planned. As it was a brand new phone the staff didn’t know too much about it. They had one hell of a hard time opening the battery compartment. For a minute, I thought that they actually broke it. After a few minutes messing with the phone and processing the required paperwork I was on my way.
I didn’t make it far.
Before I left I attempted to sign into my google account. I received an error relating to the lack of configured access points. I stopped and started the wireless data service but nothing would work. Luckily, I hadn’t left the parking lot so I went back inside to figure it out. Ten minutes later, with a brand new sim card installed I was once again on my way. I’ve never used an Android phone of any variety but this phone is slick as hell. I was on a HSPA “4G” network and downloads were blistering fast (compared to my old blackberry) and I was able to download apps in mere seconds. I’m still learning the UI so I’ve got a ways to go but this is a wicked fast phone. I’ve tested the camera and the photos turn out quite well. My knee jerk recommendation to is buy this phone if you’re in the market for a new android phone on AT&T and you want nothing to do with the forthcoming Motorola Atrix.
After a bit of messing with the phone I’ve found only a few issues and those are mostly interface issues. The phone is branded as a HTC Desire HD in most of the menus. It made me laugh the first time I saw it but its surely there. Most of those fields can be changed and it doesn’t hurt anything so it’s of no consequence. Changing the ringtones is a bit of a pain due to the way it’s branded by AT&T or by the way the OS is setup. If you go to the ringtones menu you’ll only get to pick from the presets or go the HTC site to find new ones. If you’ve got media files less than 300k on the SD card (8gb included with the phone) you can make those changes direct from the media folder. This phone is going to be around for the next two years so we’ll see how it fares.
I’ll agree that our planet is headed on a path of destruction. As one person among billions I can’t do anything to slow it down. In fact, by spending my income the way I do I’m only exacerbating the problem. I found a video, now a few years old, that details the problems that our planet will face in the next century. Check our the trailer below.
You can see the whole movie (over 90 minutes) for free on YouTube.
The video leans far to the left in terms of environmentalism. In fact, some of the lines were so far to the left that I laughed out loud. Sadly, I think the words were true. I’ve only watched a portion of the video and the visuals are absolutely stunning. I’m somehow reminded of science class when I was in grade school. We were all so turned on about saving our planet and recycling. We were so turned on about the future of the planet. Most of us have forgotten about that. I know I have.
Watch the video if you’ve got the time. Make some small changes in your life if you can. It’s going to take all of us working together to start making the big changes. Hopefully, those of us in developed nations will figure it out before it’s too late for the rest of the world. 20% of the population needs to make the choices for the remainder – after all, we’re to blame.
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