Category Archives: brewing

Sleep? Who Needs It?

For as little sleep as I got last night (maybe four and a half hours?) I should be dragging a lot more than I am. I’m in a pretty good mood though, and it’s been a good, busy day.

Last weekend was a lot of fun. On Saturday morning, I met up with aureth, jenwolf, and linnaeus at Perfect Brewing so they could pick up some last-minute brewing supplies. It’s the first time I’ve seen their shop since they were down in Mount Prospect, and they have a good selection of stuff, though it’s a bit tricky finding what you’re looking for. After everyone was properly outfitted, we headed out and met up with roho and genet at The Full Slab for lunch. Yummy ribs, and yummy beer! I’m very happy with this place, and our server was funny and charming.

Then it was up to Antioch for the brewing to begin. Since I wasn’t brewing (that’ll be next month), I sat on the sidelines and socialized. takaza joined us later in the afternoon as well. The downside about brewing in the garage is that when it’s cold (say, a high of 12 degrees F), it’s tough to stand out there too long. The kerosene heater helped slightly, but it was just plain cold. After both batches of beer was put in carboys, we relaxed a bit playing the Wii, though I was tired and so Dan and I ducked out on the early side.

On Sunday we did…nothing. Well, I took a nap in the afternoon. That was about it. We don’t have days like that often, but it sure is nice when we can. I did create a Facebook account, though; I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it, but I figured what the heck. (Edit: If you want to add me, try searching for tabrady at gmail)

This coming weekend we have a get-together with Dan’s family on Friday night, and then the “Super Beer Bowl” beer tasting at Wine Knows in Grayslake on Saturday afternoon. Anyone interested in joining us for that?

A couple of noteworthy links I came across today:
* One of the more interesting teams in the upcoming season of The Amazing Race is Mel and Mike. That’s Mike White (screenwriter and actor from Nacho Libre and School of Rock) and his father Mel White (author of Stranger at the Gate and co-founder of Soulforce). That’s going to be very interesting.

* On a lighter note, you can enjoy Governor Crazy’s antics even more with the Blagojevich Media Blitz Drinking Game!

* Two notable posts from The Consumerist: Monster.com was hacked on Friday and email addresses and passwords were compromised. Also, although I loved the walk through Expo I’d never buy anything there since the prices were sky-high. I guess I’m not the only one who felt that way.

Time to head off to the grocery store!

Merry Friday!

I’ve been obnoxiously cheerful all day for some unknown reason. It’s been a good day at work, it’s Friday, and we had a tasty lunch at BW3 where I got to savor their mango habenero sauce. Yummy (and burny)!

Last night takaza and I did a little shopping. You see, while we were watching TV on Wednesday night, I shifted a bit on the sofa and heard a >*thunk*< and suddenly was sitting lower on the sofa. Hmm. I checked the sofa structure and…oh look, here's a broken spring support. Right next to the other spring support that we didn't know was broken. Crap. Now, for what it's worth, this sofa was well past its prime. I bought it in 1996 when I had just bought my first home, a townhouse in Durham, NC. Since then it's been through six moves and sat in a storage locker for two years where the upholstery acquired a nasty case of dry rot. Dan's mom made a nice (though slightly too small) slipcover for it and it's been OK, but we knew that replacing it was an expense that was looming on the horizon.

So it's not like the sofa owed us anything. But we decided that if we're going to buy a new sofa we're going to get one that will last us another thirteen+ years. And dammit, I wanted a reclining seat. We both wanted a sectional sofa. So we knew what we were aiming for. It was time to head back to My Family Furniture (where we bought our bed last year) and see what they could do for us.

Sure enough, we went in, talked it over with the owner, who gave us a number on a piece of paper that didn’t quite make my eyes pop out of my head (but was still more than I was expecting), and we came to an agreement. We signed the papers to buy something similar to this. The differences: both ends have recliners, the seat to the left of the corner wedge is a recliner as well, and there’s a nonreclining seat where the console is in the picture. For upholstery, we went with a cafe-au-lait microfiber fabric that is very comfortable. The only downside is that it’s pretty much made to order, so it’ll be 6-8 weeks until we see it, but I think it’s going to be fabulous.

The downside is that this means some of the “fun” purchases I’d been thinking about (like a nifty new brewpot – perfect, evidently, for boiling small children) will need to be delayed. That’s OK, though. This was kind of important and necessary. And hey, it’s 18 months same as cash, so that helps a lot!

Speaking of brewpots, tomorrow is a collaborative brewing day! I’m looking forward to making (and possibly consuming) some good beer, not necessarily in that order 🙂