Posts in category Work

In which I stupidly cut my finger…again

Jul23
2011 Written by Andrew

It’s like deja-vu, I swear.

I’d like to think that the time I sliced open my thumb on my mandoline a few months ago taught me something about safety around sharp implements, but I apparently did not learn my lesson and cut open my left index finger on my chef’s knife while opening a package of cheese. I’m not upset that I did it again, nor was it as bad as my thumb, but I’m just annoyed that if was doing something so mundane and it wasn’t during preparation of an epic meal. Nope, just constructing a sandwich. Bleah. On the bright side, I missed the nail by just a hair again, so I consider myself lucky. Also, I didn’t get light-headed again and nearly pass out from the blood loss, so there’s that as well.

Today is Saturday, and it’s a rare Saturday in which there’s nothing on my calendar that needs attention–hence my realization that gee, maybe I should write a bit. This morning Hanne and I got up early and went to Pine State for breakfast (biscuits and gravy with an over easy egg on top FTW), returned all our non-alcoholic cans and bottles, then made our way up to the Portland Farmers Market. We returned home with a half flat of berries (mixture of strawberries–not Hoods, sadly–blackberries, raspberries and blueberries), a couple of pounds of cherries, a pound or so of green beans, cherry tomatoes, some bratwurst and two ears of corn. Those last four will be part of dinner tomorrow night, a meal that Hanne looks forward to every year when the ingredients are fresh: Grilled Sausages and Summer Beans with Herbs, Tomatoes and Caramelized Onions. It’s a marvelous recipe, and Hanne keeps telling me how good it is cold and leftover as well. I’d love to try it sometime, but she keeps eating it all before I can get to it.

Up at the market today, I saw one of the most heartbreaking things I could imagine: a woman dropped a half flat of berries on the ground. In the grand scheme of things it’s pretty far down the list, but still, there was a collective gasp from the crowd around her as we all thought NOOOOOOOOOO and clutched our own berries a little tighter. She looked despondent for a few seconds and tried to gather them up, but she’d lost too many. She said to the crowd around her that they hadn’t been very good anyway, but we all knew that a little piece of her had died inside. This time of year, there are few greater pleasures than bringing home many, many berries.

Which reminds me, it’s been long enough to break open the jars of Tequila Por Mi Amante that I made after another trip to the market a few weeks ago–one with reposado and one with plata. I made some last year and enjoyed it well enough, though what seemed to occur was all the sweetness from the strawberries made their way into the tequila and all the alcohol made its way into the strawberries. What we ended up with was essentially strawberry-flavored syrup and a bunch of extremely alcoholic strawberries. Both were consumed quite quickly, though I will not repeat the mistake of putting the strawberries into a blender and adding more alcohol. That was just overkill. I also took a bunch of halved and pitting cherries and mixed them in the rest of the plata (which I normally don’t drink–I prefer reposado), so we’ll have some cherry-flavored tequila as well. I’m not entirely certain how that will turn out, but I figure that even if it’s a little too medicinal (cherry flavoring always reminds me of cough drops and whatnot) it should still mix well with something not-sweet, like grapefruit or cranberry juice.

In other alcohol-related news, July is Oregon Craft Beer Month. Drink local beer! The highlight of Oregon Craft Beer Month, the Oregon Brewers Festival, is next week and I’m ready. I’m taking Friday off, gorging for lunch on food that will soak up the copious amount of alcohol I will be imbibing and taking a very large and very full water bottle with me. This strategy worked extremely well for me last year–so much so that we were able to make a stop on the way home at the soft opening of the Hair of the Dog tasting room and not stumble out of there–and in direct response to the debacle two years ago when I got so drunk that I fell asleep at 7:30. Hanne was not happy with me that day, mostly because she had been unable to go and I had too much fun without her. I was also apparently being annoying, so I suspect that she was grateful that I turned in a little early that evening.

Through a happy series of events, I recently found myself with a $100 Visa gift card and a $20 Amazon gift certificate, so I used the gift card to buy a $100 Amazon gift certificate and put all the money towards a Le Creuset French oven. I’m not going to lie to you, I have lusted after a Le Creuset for years. They are expensive and from what people have told me, worth every last penny. I foresee cooking the fruits of the many tomato plants in our yard very, very slowly in my lovely new French oven this summer. I’m armed with a French oven and a Marcella Hazan cookbook, and I know how to use them both. I see some eight hour pasta sauces in my future, and since I rediscovered my pasta maker I can see myself making the pasta, too. I might have to have an epic meal. I never like eating a lot of food in the summertime when it’s hot out, but A) it hasn’t been hot this summer (here at least, we’ve thus far dodged the heat wave that’s affecting the rest of the country) and B) c’mon, fresh tomatoes. Take advantage of seasonal food while you can, because I guarantee you that the tomato pulled from the vine in your garden is going to be far, far better than any hothouse tomato shipped in from Mexico or Canada.

Of course, we planted about six or seven tomato plants, so in a couple of months I might just be bitching about there being too many tomatoes to use up and how sick of them I am. First world problems at their finest.

The other day Hanne and I were up at Belmont Station for a beer tasting (Double Mountain Devil’s Kriek, the 2011 batch…delicious, BTW) and noticed that Mikkeller brewed 19 beers using a single hop for each one. Hanne immediately had the bright idea to buy all 19 and taste them side by side and take notes, which will be both delicious and educational. At $5.79 for each 11.2 ounce bottle it makes for an expensive tasting, but I think that in the long run it will be worth it. When I brew a batch of beer I often pick out random hops (or ones I’m more comfortable with) but I think that really getting an idea of what each hop tastes like will be extremely helpful in the future. Plus, I’d just like to state for the record that it was my wife who had this idea, and that I just might the luckiest bastard in the whole world to be married to such a crafty woman. We picked up six of the bottles since we had the cash for those six, but we’ll be acquiring the other thirteen this afternoon.

Work is going well enough. I do what I have to do and they give me a paycheck and I’ll keep doing what I have to do until they stop giving me paychecks.

I’d feel remiss to not mention that my grandmother died two weeks ago. She was my only living grandparent for the better part of half my life, and I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to see so much of her in the last six years since she moved to Portland from Boise. I had prepared for the moment for years, thinking that when my Dad called at odd hours it would be “the call,” but it was still a shock even though I knew exactly what my Dad was going to say when I answered the phone. She had rapidly deteriorated over the course of 48 hours and I had a feeling that the end was near so it was not shocking or unexpected, but it was still a great loss. I cried and was comforted by my wife, then spent much of the weekend at my Dad’s house. There wasn’t much sharing of memories of her, but I think we all just wanted to be together and remember her in our own ways. She will be missed.

The only other thing going on today is the Timbers game this evening. Hanne and I have been making a point to watch as many as we can, and tonight is one of the few that we can watch from home so we’re going to stay in. We went out several times this week, and though there are so many places we can go to enjoy the game or enjoy the weather, the idea of staying home and sipping on strawberry-infused tequila on such a beautiful day sounds too good to pass up.

Posted in Beer, Family, Food, General, Hanne

Miscellany

Aug18
2010 Written by Andrew

Welp, it’s official–Multnomah County, Oregon has on file a legal document signed by both Hanne and myself stating that yes, we do wish to marry each other and we would like for the County and the State of Oregon and the federal government to recognize this fact. It won’t become official until our officiant signs it and a couple of witnesses size us up and decide we’re right for each other, but the hard part is done. The hard part being handing over $60 in cash, of course. Well, that and remembering where my parents were born.

The wedding planning is going largely and surprisingly well. The invitations have all gone out, the photographer is paid for, the suit has been sized and ordered, Hanne’s dress has been picked up and will soon be fitted, etc. etc. etc. The two biggest things that have yet to be settled are the officiant (who we need to meet with, not choose) and the pastry desserts, which have been decided upon but not confirmed. Other than those two minor details, I think we’re about ready. Oh, and I guess we don’t have flower arrangements decided on, a menu finalized, or the tiniest detail like the actual ceremony worked out, but that’s neither here nor there.

Work’s been going pretty well now that I’m in charge, and it’s given me an opportunity to try and get some stuff done that I felt had been languishing for too long. Of course, I spent most of today working on setting up a new server only to realize towards the end of the day that we didn’t have the legal right to actually run it, but that was more of a bookkeeping problem than anything else. Other than things like that, it’s been thankfully quiet at work so that I have time to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Part of that is due to my coworker heading people off for everyday support stuff, but it’s also just been quiet. Last Friday almost half the firm was out! I don’t know why I was there.

I’ve been running more recently, despite the heat, and it’s been good to get back into a regular routine. I’m starting to thin back down, too, and though I have no desire to get back down to my ultra skinny weight of 175 pounds, I’d be happy if I could break 200–I’m currently holding at 215, but that’s down from 225 early in the year. My belt is comfortably buckling on a smaller hole and I can wear a smaller pair of jeans, though, so even if I’m not at my desired weight I can feel the progress. All I need is to keep things up as they are and maybe–just maybe!–by the end of the year I can step on a scale and not feel bad about what I ate for dinner.

Or more specifically, that third or fourth beer.

Posted in Beer, General, Hanne, Running

Updates and stuff

May18
2010 Written by Andrew

Well, it’s official: I have been promoted. Well, maybe “promotion” is the wrong word, but since I had a layer of management above me removed with no plans to fill it, I guess by default that makes me in charge of all things IT at my firm. It’s a lot of new responsibility, but it comes with an office and natural light so I’m game to give it a shot. My boss really hadn’t been happy here as some firm culture seemed to be shifting, and he didn’t seem to want to shift with it. I think things have worked out for the best all the way around, but I hope he lands somewhere more suited to his style of doing things.

Of course, for my first week in a new office and greater responsibilities I’ve been sick–I’m actually on day 9 of this particular bug–and it’s been pretty miserable. I was never really floored by the symptoms, but it’s just been a steady trickle of annoyances. It started with a three day sore throat (during which time I was frantically checking my mouth for signs of strep throat) then progressed to a steady cough that made me lose my voice. The cough is slowly dying down, but I still have no voice. And of course, now Hanne is sick, too. The weirdest part? She doesn’t have the same thing I have/had. She’s got a headache and is achy and shivering, so she might even be coming down with the flu. If I got the flu right now, I’d be pissed. I can’t take much more of this. The last couple of nights while trying to go to bed I’ve gone into coughing fits so bad I had to leave to go try and sleep upright on the couch. If I got the flu or something at the tail end of this…ug.

To make things worse, Hanne was staying at her parents’ apartment for the last week to dog sit while they were away, so during my week of “freedom” when I should have been drinkign beer and watching TV and playing video games I was instead miserable and sick. Now that Hanne’s back, now she’s sick and miserable.

This last weekend was a mixed blessing, but I think I came away generally happy. Friday night was Dan & Kristine’s last night here and so they had a going away party at their apartment that was a lot of fun. Of course, I had no voice and it hurt to swallow so it made conversation and imbibing difficult. I think I had three glasses of beer, tops. Glasses, mind you, not even pints. I just didn’t have it in me. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was unable. I saw them again the next morning for breakfast and saw them off, and I think they enjoyed their time here a lot. I know Hanne and I certainly enjoyed having them around.

On Sunday I got to see a friend from college who I haven’t seen since 2004, and we had a couple of beers and dinner afterward. It’s always nice to catch up with an old friend, even if talking is a physical problem.

I keep getting distracted and losing my train of thought. Can I just say how much I love having a window with a view?

Posted in Beer, Beloit, General, Hanne

On planning with the betrothed

Aug31
2009 Written by Andrew

Post-engagement plans have been moving right along, including selection of the venue (which has been pretty much decided, but no money has changed hands so I can’t say it’s official yet), purchase of the ring, and spreadsheets with numbers and lists of ideas. There has even been discussion of specific pieces of music to play at different times, which is pretty much the last thing you do unless you’re hiring someone to learn how to play a song or two. In other words, it’s looking more and more like I’m actually getting married next year. Yikes. I mean, it’s a good thing, but isn’t marriage something adults do? I’m just a kid. A kid trapped in an adult’s body. A kid trapped in an adult’s life.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce the Ecotrust Outdoor Terrace. The venue meets all of our requirements and Hanne is very excited about it, which means I’m excited about it by proxy. Yes, I liked it, and yes, I could see myself getting married there, but it was the one and only place we looked at (after an exhaustive series of searches through Google so we didn’t just pull it out of a hat) and part of me balks at that idea. Then the rest of me says “Hey other part of me, you’re never going to find a ‘perfect’ place that meets the mental image you know you don’t actually have. You told her you’d get married in City Hall, so the venue doesn’t matter that much.” And then that small part of me shuts up and Hanne and I have a wonderful wedding and go on to live happily ever after.

I’m fortunately being left out of things like wedding dress shopping, and following the 20 minutes or so it took Hanne to select her ring, I’m thinking that this might be the least stressful wedding ever that didn’t involve the State of Nevada or an attached casino. Of course, we have yet to do things like selecting the caterer or the wedding cake designer, but those are pretty much us stuffing our faces for free. How hard could that be?

Hanne gave me permission to make one final “big purchase” (aside from her ring, which came in under budget but was still more than my “big purchase”) before I forgo all frivolity and begin saving every spare penny for our wedding. I took advantage of the price drops and hardware refinements in the PlayStation 3 game console and picked one up, along with a couple of games and several Blu-Ray movies. I figure that even if I only occasionally use my PS3 for gaming (which would be more than I use my Wii for), using it as a Blu-Ray movie player is worth the money. Amazon.com wanted to sell me Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Casino Royale in all their high definition glory for a discounted price, so who was I to say no to Amazon.com? I informed Hanne that once I got my console and the movies, she would have to undergo the ultimate final test: can she sit and watch two Batman movies in a row without A) becoming bored, or B) killing me in the process as I geek out? If she can survive that ordeal, then maybe I’ll move up to the Batman game that just came out that’s getting stellar reviews and see how far I can push my luck. After all, why just watch Batman when for the low cost of $55 you can be Batman? It would be madness not to.

My boss is on vacation all this week, so I’m flying solo at work. There haven’t been any issues thus far that have caused me any amount of stress, but then again, people might be holding off on bringing things to IT’s attention knowing that there’s only one of us manning the phones. I’m OK with that. It’s been slow enough that I’ve been able to take care of some miscellaneous things, but mostly I’m just happy that I’m not swamped and stressed out.

Posted in Geekery, General, Hanne, Movies

Productive days for some, but not for all

Jul24
2009 Written by Andrew

Productive in the sense that I managed to get several things working I’d wanted to for a long time and I only managed to break one or two things in the process. Go me!

The other morning when I stepped off the elevator, I managed to break my iPhone’s headphones. Now, as you’re scratching your head as to how I managed to do that, consider that when only half tucked into a pocket, the headphones form a giant loop that might catch on things such as the rails inside the elevator, and that someone intent on getting to their desk in order to consume the breakfast tucked away in their bag might perhaps not notice the loop caught on something. Picture that for a moment. I only managed to do it in front of three other people, too, so I had that going for me as well.

I’ve been working on setting up a VPN connection for the firm, which allows for a secure connection from the Internet to files and services inside the firm’s firewall. Good for working remotely, but it’s not as nice as actually being in the office and connected directly to the network. Close enough for government work, or our case, legal work. In setting that up (which only took me the better part of a year, on and off) I managed to somehow break the firm’s timekeeping software, but I managed to fix it before anyone complained. Again, go me. I was on a roll for doing stupid things, but hey, at least I ultimately got it working.

Hanne’s been very busy studying for the bar, so busy that I feel like even though we live in the same house and sleep in the same bed that I haven’t seen much of her for the last couple of months. She studies all day long for the most part (well, at least she says she’s studying while I’m at work, but I have no reason to doubt her), then studies into the evening while we watch some TV. Seven days a week, all day long. I wish I had her determination, but then again, that’s probably one of the reasons I didn’t go to law school. That and my lack of interest in becoming a lawyer, but let’s go with that determination thing for now.

Our firm has largely been able to weather the current recession, or at least I thought it was until last week when we laid off two people, including one of my coworkers from the IT department. That wasn’t very surprising, but honestly, if layoffs in IT were coming I assumed it would be me just because I’m the newest. On the other hand, I probably make less that my coworker who was laid off and I can do much of what he does but he can’t do everything I do, so there’s always that, too. We had a staff meeting yesterday in which the Executive Director and the Managing Partner laid everything on the table and we found out that we’re not getting raises or bonuses, but I figured that would be the case. I actually assumed that we’d be getting cuts, but as it turned out the attorneys all got the first pay cuts and they’re hoping that they won’t have to extend them to the staff as well. Sigh.

They also said that it was the first round of layoffs, which I hope doesn’t imply by definition that a second is on its way. Hanne and I have discussed the possibility of me working part-time while she works full-time (as a sort of “house husband” if you will), so if things start getting worse perhaps I can put that on the table and do my part to help the firm out. I’d prefer to go to part-time rather than taking a pay cut, personally. What with there being only two people in IT now, that may not be an option for me because that would leave only one person around at all times. Still worth pursuing, though. I could also conceivably do some of my project work from home and only bill for the hours that I work, so that might be an option if they’d still like work getting done even if I’m “off” for the day.

Of course, with a layoff in IT that means that we’re all the more busy as we have to pick up some of the slack, but it hasn’t been too bad so far. After all, we had to lay him off precisely because we haven’t been that busy. Honestly, it’s a bit surreal. I don’t recall ever working in a place that’s laid someone off before. That I can recall, every person that’s ever left a place I’ve worked for has either left for a different job, moved, or been fired for performance reasons. I’m surprised I managed to go this long without seeing it.

Our England trip is less than a week away. Actually, at this time next week we’ll be in London already. Yay! My new digital camera that I ordered and my Dad reimbursed me for as my early birthday present arrived today, so I’m looking forward to having as spiffy new camera to take with me. My old camera was 2 megapixels and needed 4 AA batteries and my new one is 10 megapixels and only needs 2 AA batteries, so it’s definitely an upgrade. Takes pictures much faster, too, but I guess I can still file that under “upgrade.”

Yesterday was the day I chose to go to the 2009 Oregon Brewer’s Festival, and with my Dad and Hanne’s Dad we had quite the good time sampling beers. I had a bit too much, but I regret nothing. Hey, you only live once, right? I was asleep by about 8:30 last night, and I can tell you, I slept really well. At the moment, though, we’re sitting in a McMenamins and drinking beer. Hanne is, of course, studying. Not much more of that left, but she still has to do it until next Wednesday. Almost there….

Posted in Beer, Family, Geekery, General, Hanne

Oh right, I have a blog

Jun08
2009 Written by Andrew

It’s not that I forget that I have a blog, most of the time I just don’t care. Man, I pay a monthly hosting bill to act as my diary and a lot of the time I just can’t be bothered to sit down and write. That either goes to show you that I’m otherwise occupied or that my level of vanity has dramatically decreased.

This afternoon I decided to mortgage my future a bit and I ordered myself a new laptop. I’d been waiting for Apple to release a new MacBook Pro having decided to stick with a Mac for the immediate future, but I’d been holding off on buying one because I knew they had a new version of OS X coming out and I didn’t want to fork over an extra $130 on top of the laptop price for a new operating system a few months after buying a laptop when I could just wait and get he new OS for free. Well today they not only released new laptops but said that the price of the new operating system in September will be a mere $30 for users of the current OS, so instead of waiting until September I decided that $30 was a fair price. So I bought myself a shiny new aluminum laptop to replace my shiny plastic laptop, but it’ll be a pretty significant upgrade for me, especially considering it will be my main machine for years to come.

The progression of hand-me-downs will be humorous to watch, too. I get the new laptop, Hanne gets my current laptop, and Hanne’s old laptop could conceivably go to my sister, as it would be a significant upgrade from the hand-me-down she’s using now. My Mom, on the other hand, decided to buy a new laptop for her needs–or rather, had me buy her a new laptop for which she’ll reimburse me upon delivery. I picked out a nice simple Dell for her yesterday and placed the order, so between that purchase and my purchase today I won’t be surprised if I get a call from my credit card company inquiring about the increase in high-value electronics being purchased on my card. As a side note, when did Dell start including 3 GB standard on their consumer models? That’s a lot of RAM. I can’t think of anything they’d need 3 GB for except for Vista, in which case shame on Microsoft.

In less geeky news, Hanne is officially a law school graduate and is now neck-deep in studying for the bar exam, which will completely occupy her time until the end of July. We met not long after she started her fist term of her first year, so it’s been quite an adventure seeing the whole process from beginning to end. I just hope that she knows what she’s getting herself into, but then again, at this point in time she doesn’t have much of an alternative. Her graduation was very nice for those of us in the shaded stands, but murder for all the graduates sitting in their black velvet robes in the sun. Afterward both our families got together at my Dad’s house and toasted her success with champagne, wine, beer and enough food to choke an elephant. I didn’t each anything else that day until around 11 PM. I think I’m still full from that afternoon.

Aside from that, things have been pretty standard at home. Come home, have a beer or two, cook dinner, relax and watch some TV. Or go out an have a beer or two, go home and relax and watch some TV. Hanne and I live less than exciting lives, but they’re enough that we enjoy collapsing on the couch in the evening and watching something that holds our interest for awhile. We finally finished up “Battlestar Galactica” and “Doctor Who” and “Nip/Tuck,” and we’re currently working our way through “Breaking Bad,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia” and “Torchwood.” Plus, of course, selections from my library of movies when Hanne has the attention span to watch more than 45 minutes at a time.

At work, though, things have been pretty busy. We recently changed our firm’s name, and all the mechanics of that have been keeping me occupied for the last couple of months. I ddn’t have to deal with notifying clients or ordering new letterhead or anything like that, but we did have to make sure that new email addresses worked without interruption, new logos filtered down into all the electronic leterhead and anywhere people could see, the new website worked, etc. etc. etc. That was a long and arduous procedure, but we finally got everything worked out and made the switch fairly seamlessly on May 31. Of course, that seamless change took 12 hours of that Sunday, but hey, it got me a day and a half off later in the week.

Of course, that was changing everything that clients and most of the firm could see, and we’re going to have to build a new internal network from the ground up in order to complete the name change. Fortunately we have another year to get that done (at least, that’s the time frame we quoted), so at the very least I’ll likely have gainful employment for another year. Huzzah! Well, unless I get fired for gross incompetence, but I’m hoping to avoid that at the very least until Hanne’s gainfully employed herself in September. That will provide a good opportunity to not only get things right from the get-go, but to document the hell out of the process at the same time. I don’t relish that idea, but as someone who has worked at places where literally nothing was documented and it took me ages to figure out how things worked and where they were, I can at least make things easier for someone else down the road.

I’m blogging old-school tonight: from Barley Mill. Hanne and I haven’t been here in ages. Dinner’s on it’s way, so I think I’ll leave it there.

Posted in Beer, Family, Food, Geekery, General, Hanne, Movies

In which I recount a few random pieces of news

May11
2009 Written by Andrew

1) I have a passport (application).

My previous kid-sized passport expired in 1997, and though I’m not 100% certain where the original is I have a photocopy that reminded me just how much of a goober I was back then. So I filled out the form, got a picture taken, and I turned in my passport information and somehow managed to not only write checks my checking account couldn’t cover, but simultaneously remembered where both my parents were born on the passport application. It was a magic confluence of WIN and FAIL at the same time. Quite remarkable. The only thing that saved my unintentional check kiting was that Hanne owed me money because…

2) We booked tickets to England.

London’s calling, and we answered the call. We’re spending two weeks in London, Leeds, the Yorkshire area, and Cardiff, all post-bar exam. Hanne’s now done with clases and finals, and this abuse of my vacation time is our reward for her taking the bar. She’ll be visiting relatives, I’ll be visiting relatives and abusing England’s bars, and the two of us will be having a grand time overall. We’re flying Air Canada there, so hopefully we won’t be beaten and drugged, as are common practice with American airlines in my experience. Hanne is concerned I’ll be grouchy for days, but I think that the non-American airline will break that tradition.

3) We walked to and from FredFest 2009.

Fred Ekhardt is a Portland beer writer, a contemporary of (the beer writer) Michael Jackson, and a hell of a character. For a few years now there’s been FredFest each May, something that began as a surprise birthday party and turned into and exclusive who’s-who of the regional beer crowd because the entire thing is limited to 250 people, is entirely for charity, has a steep price of admission (relatively for other brewfests) and has a tendency to attract special beers, all donated.

Hanne, my Dad and I all went last year and had a hell of a time, and the weather was a bit nicer this year and we managed to repeat the experience. Good beer all around, sightings of Portland beer brewers, pub owners, bottles shop owners, characters and bloggers. It was a great time, and due to last year’s experiences Hanne and I were wise enough to have a big lunch beforehand, so we weren’t quite as…toasted…as we were last year.

The whole shebang was held out at thr Hair of the Dog brewery, which is a good three mile walk for us each way. Not a bad walk for a day of pretty much exclusively drinking beer. 23 beers available, most of those sampled, 2 beers won in raffles. We walked away with a small 7 oz. bottle of Rogue I2PA and a large 750 ml. bottle of Widmer Imperial Red Ale, all from drawn tickets. We didn’t win the grand prize smoker grill, but hey, there’s always next year.

4) Work is hell.

Maybe “hell” is too strong a word. Let’s just say that there’s a lot going on because hypothetically, there’s a law firm that’s changing its name, and hypothetically I have a lot of responsibility in that project. This hypothetical firm has a lot of a work ahead of it in the next three weeks.

5) I had a beer judged by professionals.

21/50 and 25/50 from two professional brewers. I knew it was lacking due to circumstances beyond my control, but it was nice to see some professional opinion.

6) Dan and Kristine will be here in Portland for the fall/winter.

My college roomate and his girlfriend will be auditioning Portland for their permanent home from September to December. I think we’ll convince them to stay given that Portland is the shiznit and we just rule the universe.

7) Hanne’s done with school.

No more classes, no more books, no more teachers asking inane questions and using a cheat sheet to remember names while still sticking to a strict schedule of who to call on. We popped the cork on a bottle of champagne Friday night, but have decided we need another half-case of champagne to celebrate graduation, taking the bar exam, her first day of work in the fall, etc. etc. It’s amazing how far she’s come since I met her.

Without further ado or exposition into additional events, I shall retire.

Posted in Beer, Beloit, Family, Food, General, Hanne

Windowless

Feb22
2009 Written by Andrew

Having my desktop computer go kaput may end up being fortunate in the long run for me, because I was pretty much just waiting for it to happen so I could go ahead and switch to a Mac full time. Of course, it had to happen in between product releases when something better is just around the corner (something better is always around the corner, but in this case it’s a matter of weeks), but that’s just how things go. I’m undecided as to whether I will purchase an iMac, a Mac Mini or a MacBook Pro, but I figure if I decided on an iMac I might as well go with the comparably-priced to my specs MacBook Pro and just sell this laptop. Hanne expressed interest in it to replace her aged HP laptop with 5 minutes of battery life, so at least I’d be able to offset the upgrade cost a bit if she bought it.

Regardless of how soon Apple will be releasing new products, at least I have my laptop to work with for now. I managed to hook up my desktop’s hard drive to my media center PC and pull data off it (my iTunes library in particular), so at least I can sync my iPhone with my laptop and have all my music and daily podcasts. So far, so good. I managed to practically fill up my laptop’s hard drive in the process (80 GB drive, 45 GB iTunes library), but I won’t be really putting anything else on here for now so it’s not a huge deal. Thus far all I’m really missing is the ability to play the occasional games, and that’s pretty much the sole reason for upgrading to a more powerful Mac. Of course, if I can somehow get my desktop working again I might hold off for awhile on a new computer and just use my desktop for gaming, but I think I’ll toss Linux on it instead of Windows. For the first time in nearly 20 years, it looks like I’m going Windows-free on my primary machine.

I could do some sort of retrospective and wax poetic on my experiences with Windows, but instead I think I’ll just say this: I always hated you. I hated the blue screens of death, I hated DOS, I hated the registry, I hated the viruses and spyware, I hated the frequent updates, I hated software that left junk all over the hard drive and I hated how each version got bigger and slower. Thanks for letting my play games for all these years, but for now I’m done with you.

Yesterday’s brewfest was fun, but there weren’t any really exceptional standout beers. A lot of nice drinkable ones, a few odd ducks that were worth trying, but nothing that made me say “Wow!” I walked downtown to catch my bus there to strtch my legs a bit, and I ended up walking home from downtown, too. Factoring in my walk to the store and back, I think I walked about 6 miles yesterday. Not bad for a day filled with drinking beer.

Hanne spent all day yesterday up on campus writing a paper, so when she got home I presented her with wine and the previously-written about penne, cheddar, and leeks. It was quite a nice recipe, and she went back for more a couple of times. I think I’ll definitely be making that recipe again if we come upon some more leeks in our Organics to You box.

Hanne’s up at campus again today, which means I’m rattling around the house by myself. Without any computer games to play and now that I’m finished making sure all my info can sync to and from my iPhone, I think maybe I’ll try and get some stuff done around here…like cleaning up this room, which has a bunch of computer parts strewn all over. I’m pretty tired already, though–I was up before 6 AM to do some scheduled work from 6-8 AM this morning–so maybe I’ll take a nap this afternoon.

First, I gotta warm up somehow, though. It’s only 50F out, but I’m cold all of a sudden.

Posted in Beer, Geekery, General, Hanne

The eagerly-awaited part 2

Feb06
2009 Written by Andrew

Which pretty much just consists of more random thoughts, but it gave me impetus to write a bit more. How about that! I tricked myself!

My obsession with beer and sandwiches seems to have worked out for the best, as a few months ago a sandwich place opened up not too far from our apartment called Meat Cheese Bread that has, I kid you not, some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. The turkey melt is delicious with the addition of a green chili salsa, the Park Kitchen sandwich with flank steak, bleu cheese and aioli is awesome, and his breakfast burrito–hash browns, scrambled egg, white cheddar and the same green chili salsa–has rightfully built up a significant fanbase in the neighborhood. The owner-slash-chef told me that some Saturdays he makes 40-50 of them.

Anyway, sandwich and beer. This place is particularly enjoyable for me given its proximity and his single tap of beer, and I enjoy having a pint while he makes my sandwich. I haven’t gotten many sandwiches at the grocery store in the last few months, as this place is really convenient and so much better. Unfortuantely, I’ve also noticed that my waistline is beginning to become affected by the proximity of a delicious sandwich place and I’ve tried to limit myself. But when the food’s that good and that close by…sometimes it’s difficult.

We’ve been cooking a fair amount recently, which is always a pleasure in our nice kitchen. Our bi-weekly Organics to You boxes always contain something or another that requires some head-scatching to figure out in what manner of dish we’ll use it–this week’s mystery ingredient is cauliflower–but we’re also getting more adept at using things that once puzzled us. Kale, for example, has become a scarce commodity in the SE Portland neighborhood grocery stores once we discovered a “kale chips” recipe that called for tossing kale with olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar and baking for a few minutes until crispy, like chips. They crunch when you bite them and taste of olive oil and are delicious, but the local grocery stores keep running out of kale. Previously it was one of those “So how do you want to try and cook it this time?” ingredients, much like chard still is.

I will admit, though, I’m rapidly expanding my culinary horizons. A year ago if you’d put me in a grocery store and asked me to pick out kale and chard and jicama and turnips and beets without looking at the labels, I would have laughed my way over to the beer aisle instead. This weekend we plan on making a Root Vegetable and Mushroom Pie with Rosemary Biscuit Topping as our weekend meal centerpiece. The ingredient list tells me it’s going to be quite delicious, and hopefully we’ll get rid of some of the turnips we have to boot. It also requires almost two hours of cooking plus prep time, so I’ll have to start at 3:30 in the afternoon if we want to eat at a reasonable time. I like meals that take a long time to prep.

Hanne recently purchased a Wii Fit, Nintendo’s entry into balance and aerobics on their gaming system. It’s pretty fun so far, letting us set up goals and do various games using a balance board (that looks much like a step aerobics board) to meet the goals and open up additional games. Hopefully that will offset some of my bad habits. I have three evenings a week to myself, though, and that gives me plenty of time to break some of the records Hanne sets in the mornings when she uses it.

Work’s been going well. For the first time in a long time, I have my own office. We got a new partner here a few months ago, and our firm’s training room ebcame his office, the room I shared with a coworker became the training room, and he and I wetn across the hall to two smallish offices. They’re definitely not large and have no windows, but I have my own space for the first time in a long time. I can listen to music out loud instead of headphones (as long as I keep it down, of course), I can keep a fan on to cool down if need by, I can keep the lighting at my desired level, and best of all I have room to spread out and concentrate on the task at hand. Or screw around with impunity, whichever. It’s quite nice, I must say.

I somehow managed to wipe out my other blog at http://www.selfmadebrewing.com because I carelessly set it up incorrectly in the first place, and it’s a testament to my lack of readership that no one told me it was broken. It’s been broken for the better part of two months, too. Bah. The broken part doesn’t really bother me, but I also lost all my entries that I’d so carefully crafted. OK, that last part is a lie: I never really carefully crafted anything on that site. No matter. There wasn’t much there anyway, and I had tired of maintaining two separate blogs to boot. So now it just mirrors to this one. Next time I decide to do some maintenance, perhaps I’ll be more cautious. Or perhaps I’ll just set it up correctly in the first place so that when I get rid of something I don’t use anymore (that’s not a blog) I won’t ruin something I do use (that is a blog). Bah.

And I think on that sour note I shall conclude this entry.

Posted in Beer, Food, Geekery, General, Hanne

I'm thankful Thanksgiving is over

Dec04
2008 Written by Andrew

I don’t really like neglected my blog, mostly because I scowl at the idea of somehow “wasting” the money I pay to host it. I guess I’ll still hosting it, but not really using it per se. Eh.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but not without its distinct impression that it left on our collective stomachs. Many people likely had to cut back this year and not have an extravagent holiday, though that wasn’t the case for my family–mostly because we never do an extravagent holiday to begin with. Sure, we do the turkey and the stuffing and the mashed potatoes, but I’ve seen some spreads that have dwarfed ours for as many or fewer people.

Hanne and I decided that we wanted to host Thanksgiving dinner this year, and that worked out much better than I could have anticipated, just like the meal itself. We managed to squeeze seven people around our table with the leaf in, and though we had no room on the table for serving dishes, I don’t think people minded serving themselves in the kitchen. The turkey was perfectly done, the mashed potatoes were creamy and delicious, the two kinds of stuffing both tasted great, and Hanne’s two pies (pumpkin–from scratch–with a layer of crushed hazelnuts on the crust and apple with gruyere baked into the crust) were, in a word, divine. As she was baking them the night before, I kept thinking about the TV show “Pushing Daisies” with the piemaker lead character, and I kept spouting out “The facts were these….” before many comments, ala the narrator of the show. Hanne was already annoyed with me for a variety of reasons, but my girlfriend was baking pie. It was great.

We managed to keep most of the insanity under control by making a lot of things ahead of time so that that span of time between when the turkey is nearing completion and when you actually serve up wasn’t so crazy, but I was sweating by the time I finally sat down to eat with everyone, both from stressing out a bit as well as the quite warm kitchen. My reputation, after all, was on the line.

Thanksgiving also breeds monumental amounts of leftovers, as well, but I think that Hanne and I have managed to keep things under control. The last of the pie was eaten yesterday, the cranberry sauce has maybe one sandwich left to go (though I need to make some more to use up cranberries), the olive appetizers were finished last night, and the remainder of the turkey and most of the stock will get used up tonight in a delicious risotto I have planned: turkey, red and green bell peppers, mushrooms, fennel, and onion. Delicious. That will leave perhaps two cups of stock to deal with, and Hanne wants to use those this weekend to make some ravioli with the squash we also have on hand.

Most of the leftover turkey went towards making a big (and I mean big) batch of turkey chili Sunday night, which while very good (and somewhat spicy) burned the hell out of the room of my mouth. Still, it was worth it. Five kinds of beans, a pound and a half of turkey, lots of stock, collard greens, tomatoes, onion, chili peppers…it turned out much better than I expected. Not that my expectations were low, mind you, but they exceeded them nonetheless. I had it simmer with the lid on for an hour and a half, so by the time it had boiled down and was ready to serve, the turkey was falling apart it was so soft. Last night I used some of that leftover chili and made turkey enchiladas, so at least the meals are cycling around.

We also took care of Hanne’s parents’ (well, technically also hers I suppose) dog Quinn for a week while her parents were back in Plymouth, and that was definitely an interesting time. Having the dog around our (relatively) small apartment was fun, though I will not miss the clackity-clack of her claws on our wood floors all the time. We still have a lot of cleaning to do, and I suspect that this weekend will involve a great deal of that. There are dog hairs everywhere, and there are at least two rooms that are in desperate need of mopping, too.

Other than the craziness that began with Thanksgiving (and won’t let up until after New Year’s), things are going very well. My Christmas beer, which is unfortunately still sitting in a fermenter and is about two weeks past when I should have bottled it, tastes delicious (I sampled it when I moved it to the new fermenter) and should be ready just in time for gift-giving. Also on the topic of beer, I’m knocking off work early today (with the blessings of my supervisors) and attending this year’s Holiday Ale Festival, a tradition that I look forward to with mixed feelings every year. I always enjoy tasting the unique winter beers, but man, it’s so crowded in that tent in Pioneer Square. I hope that by going at 2 PM on a Thursday the lines and crowds with be less than they usually are. There are a number of beers I want to try this year–like every year–and I think I even have some ticklets left over from last year to boot!

On Friday, Hanne and I plan on making the rounds at a couple of brewpubs to try the winter seasonals at both the New Old Lompoc brewpub and well as Laurelwood, both up on NW 23rd, conveniently located just a few blocks from one another. Lompoc has six–count ‘em, six–winter seasonal beers to try, and we’ll kick those off today with the one that’s only available at the Holiday Ale Festival. I dig it when breweries brew a beer especially for a festival.

Work’s going just fine, despite my gloom-and-doom post regarding the possibilities of starting to block various activities from work. As it turned out, the whole discussion was hypothetical and nothing was/will be done about it, but I made my feelings clear on the subject, I think. It’s something I feel very passionate about, clearly. We have a lot of projects upcoming that should really change how the firm operates both on a daily basis as well as on the back-end, and I’m excited about each and every one of them to tell you the truth. I like progress, and while I’ve been reminded that this firm moves at exactly two speeds (slowly and not at all), behind the scenes we have much greater leeway to move at faster speeds as long as the user experience doesn’t change. I’m particularly excited about setting up a new terminal server so that people can work remotely because the one we have needs to be led out back and shot. We’re moving to a mostly virtual server environment at my urging, and it’s pretty cool to see such a major shift in how things operate behind the scenes at my urging.

In short, everything’s just dandy.