To beer: the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems.

September 17, 2003

I took the MAX (Metro Area Express for those not in the know, it’s our fantastic light rail system that runs across Portland and it suburbs, and luckily I have a transit center five minutes from my house) downtown and met my Dad at the MAX stop where you can pick up the Portland Streetcar, our OTHER light rail system, albeit much samller, and we went back to the Bridgeport brewery. It was a two-fold trip: I needed to check on my application and it’s nice to grab a pint or two of beer with my Dad. They gave me the runaround on my resume, like “we can’t really check to see if we’ve received it” and “it’s with the others if it’s here,” but the most definitie is “we’re not hiring right now,” although that came from the girl behind the bar and not a manager, so I dunno what’s going on.

On the bright side, I did get to have some good beer tonight. I had a half pint of their hand cast “Old Knucklehead” beer and a pint of the Blue Heron, both good beers. Well, the Old Knucklehead isn’t a terribly tasty beer, but its apretty unique among standard beers in that it’s about twice as alcoholic as normal beers. I think I mentioned this before, but they only sell it in half pint sizes–no pints, and definitely no pitchers. When you have a beer that’s 10% alcohol, you can’t have too much of it. The Blue Heron is good, but half as alcoholic. I got all I needed in terms of alcohol with those two. My Dad and I made plans to go down to the Rock Bottom Brewery close to the waterfront on Friday, and then I’m going to drive with him over to his house in Lake Oswego and stay the weekend. The Rock Bottom has some decent beer, but nothing really special and unique. I like their Oregonic Amber, but it pales when compared to a McMenamin’s Hammerhead. At least in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not BAD beer–it’s far better than the crap I’ve gotten at the Big Horn Ram brewery in Lake Oswego–but it sure ain’t at the top of my list. I think it’s better for the atmosphere, since we can sit out on the street down in a nice part of downtown Portland, have a couple of pints, maybe grab some dinner.

I think one of the reasons my Dad is having me come over this weekend is he wants to try me specialty pizza himself. Ooo, I just realized–he said that he has some sausage that he’d like me to put on the pizza, but I want to make it with chicken. No can do, Papa. Gonna put my garlic sauteed chicken on the pizza again! Trust me, it’s better than you may think. Chicken on pizza is a good thing.

So I just got back from a jog, and I’m a bit wiped. All I had for dinner was a piece of cheese pizza and my two beers, so I think after I shower and change, I might make myself a salad for dinner. Last time I went to the store, they were having a special on those Fresh Express salad bags, so I bought two of the Hearts of Romaine kind. Romaine lettuce is just…good. It’s always crunchy, and with good dressing you don’t end up with a slimy and flat salad. I don’t need a whole lot more food, so not enough to fix some soup or make a sandwich, but just enough to sate me for the night.

Speaking of sating me, my parents (at least my Mom) are bugging me about what I want to do for my birthday next week. Part of me would like to go to the Ringside steakhouse in downtown Portland, but I don’t know…I typically go there about once a year, and I went over Christmas. I’m just not as excited as I’d normally get when going there, even though I know it’s my choice. I know I’ve mentioned Ringside in the past the last couple times I’ve gone there–consistently ranked in the top 10 steakhouses in the country ( usually around number seven or eight), world-famous onion rings in steakhouse circles, and one of those “must eat at” places for visiting celebrities in Portland. Fantastic steak, and not as pricey as other steakhouses I’ve been to in the city. Guess I’ll have to make up my mind by early next week if I want to get reservations somewhere. I’m going to be what, 24? That sucks. I need a job.

OK, I’m off to clean up and then collapse. I think tonight is the night in which there’s little on TV between now and “Cheers” at 10 (that’s sad, isn’t it? That I’m living around the TV schedule to a certain extent?), so I may watch a movie in the meantime. Night all.

Amazing how so much entertainment can fit in such a small package. Kind of like me!