My unusual style of writing and living collide
February 12, 2007
OK, I have spent way too much money building a replacement for my TiVo unit, but I think in the end, it’ll be worth it. I’ll have to add up everything that I purchased for it, but I’m pretty sure that when all is said and done it’ll take the equivalent of about 6 years worth of TiVo monthly fees to make the cost back. Hopefully I will have spent less than the amount of a new TiVo Series3 HD box ($800), but then again, if I’d done that I’d still be paying a monthly fee at the same time, too. I hope this thing lasts for six years, but then again, how many computers last for six years? Something’s going to die in the meantime.
But it’s a pretty sweet setup. I finally found a beautiful case to have in my living room, I already have the RAM, CPU, motherboard, and video card, and earlier this week I bought the hard drive, DVD burner, and operating system (Windows XP Media Center 2005). I changed my mind today, though, and bought a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium. When all is said and done, this little PC sitting in my living room will be just about as fast as my desktop PC and running a more advanced operating system to boot. So to speak. Some might say I should have just built a low-powered PC and then used an Xbox 360 to use as my Media Center Extender, but really, when would I ever use an Xbox 360? I barely have enough time to play the games I already own, and as stylish as an Xbox is, it’s a bit pricey to use just as a front-end to TV shows and movies.
So yeah, a lot of money, but it’ll be worth it in the end. I hope. If not, this will be the most spectacular waste of money I will have ever undertaken, so I’d better make the most of it.
I had a pretty good weekend, which isn’t exactly uncommon, but it was uncommonly good. Allow me to explain.
Friday night Hanne and I decided to go out and get a few beers, and so we hooked up on the bus after I got off work and rode up to the New Old Lompoc brewpub in NW Portland, and had the saltiest fries I’ve ever tasted and a few pints of good beer. Good conversation and good beer is always a nice end to the week.
Saturday, however, was the real gem, and it’s humorous how happy the evening’s events made me. Hanne found it just as humorous, and every time I grinned after I got home Hanne just laughed. For dinner I decided I wanted an Andrew Special #2. Or was that #3? Anyway, sandwich, chips, and beer. Regardless, I went to Zupan’s, found a very close parking space (unheard of in that neighborhood on a Saturday night), and bought my sandwich. Then I went to Belmont Station, a nice beer shop up the street and found a parking space outside the door. It must have been my lucky night! I picked up a few bottles of beer I wanted to try (including a 750ml bottle of Imperial Younger’s Special Bitter from Rogue Brewing that I might return for), but I thought I’d ask the question I’ve asked at least four times at John’s Marketplace: “Are you guys ever going to get any more bottles of the Stone 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA?”
Heather and I bought a couple of bottles of that beer last summer–I think it was for Labor Day–and it was probably the best IPA I’ve ever had. I know my IPAs, too. It wasn’t overly bitter like most IPAs tend to be, it was flavorful, it had a hell of a kick (10% ABV), and the best bottle design I’ve ever seen. I thought about saving the bottle just because the logo was so well-done, but I had recycled it before that thought occurred to me. In any case, I bought the beer that one time, but I could never find it again. I went to John’s about a month or so later and it was nowhere to be found, and when I went back a month or so after that, I made a point of asking about it. Since it was a special brew, they sold what Stone made and Stone wasn’t ever going to make any more to sell. A once in a lifetime beer, so to speak. They’d make another Anniversary Ale next summer, but it would be a different recipe and a different beer. But I knew–I knew–that someone had to have a few bottles or a case or two squirreled away somewhere.
Which brings us back to Saturday night.
“Are you guys ever going to get any more bottles of the Stone 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA?” No, said the guy behind the counter, but I should go down the street and check out Sindee’s Market, this little hole in the wall Mom and Pop convenience store that was getting ready to close. Apparently, they had a few bottles of it the previous week, but Saturday night was their last night open–ever–and they would probably be sold out of most things. Hanne and I hightailed it down the street, I found a parking spot right outside the door (lucky night, remember?), and I marched in to check out the cooler.
There, sitting in the cooler, was a solitary and lonely bottle of Stone’s 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA. It was like it was just waiting for me! Six months of searching for the beer, and all the time it was sitting up the street from me at a place I’ve jogged past dozens of times. I grabbed the last bottle from the cooler, walked up to the guy behind the counter, and promptly asked: “Do you have any more of this?”
“How much do you want?” was not the answer I was expecting.
To make a long and rambling story short, I walked out of Sindee’s Market with probably one of the last cases of Stone 10th Anniversary Imperial IPA available anywhere. It was the last night the store would ever be open, so I got a 25% discount on the case, too. My timing, my parking, and my ale selection were all impeccable last Saturday night, and thus, it was a very good night.
And yes, the beer was just as good as I remembered.
Sunday I made soup and bread. Blah blah blah. I gotta say, finding that beer was the high point of my weekend. Admitting that makes me a little sad, but in my defense, it’s a damn good beer.
Speaking of beer, good company, and good conversation, Dan said that both he and Kristine will be in Portland the first weekend of March, so I’ll have to start thinking of some things for us to do. Dan admitted to me that he’s been disappointed to find that there just isn’t a good selection of brewpubs in the Boston area, but he’s in luck! We have more than enough here to go around, but I’d prefer that we didn’t give any of ‘em up. A trip out to Edgefield, perhaps? Or maybe to Lincoln City? It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the Lighthouse Pub.
Back to work. I just needed to get that funny story off my chest. I’m still laughing about both finding the beer and how I had that big ol’ grin on my face throughout the evening. I guess when you look for something for six months, finally finding it is worth the wait.
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