Exiled Update #9 - Beer Update Edition.

The transfer into the secondary fermenter went well, no contamination this time I hope! Thanks to Rabbi AwesomePants for beer label removal recipe. We'll keep you updated! Bottling next week!

Exiled Update #8 - Inaguration Edition

Did anyone else hear the collective sigh of relief as 12:01 PM EST rolled by and we didn't wake up??? I don't think he's superman, but PRESIDENT Obama at least gives me hope that this country can reclaim its rightful place as a morally upright nation. We have the power to change our energy use, our treatment of poorer nations and to improve our own civic mindedness. I am actually hopeful for the first time in 8 years. When that helicopter took off, it was like it was really truly finally over. Here's the USA!!!

Exiled Update #7 -- BEER EDITION

A wise man once said, "No soldier can fight unless he is properly fed on beef and beer." (-John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough) Though I am not headed for combat anytime soon, the universe willing, I made beer!


My lovely wife and parents, under the guidance of my brother-in-law, got me a KILLER beer making set up for Christmas. Today I boiled my first batch! I made a stout, called "MoBumBum Farms Wicked Stout" to be precise. Its not to terribly hard if you have the right equipment (which I do) and are reasonably clever (which I am not). With any luck I didn't contaminate anything too badly. The resulting carbouy full of fluid certainly looks like stout, and the smell while boiling the wort reminded me of St. James Gate in Dublin. I need to transfer it in a week, then wait another to bottle. Two weeks after that, if all went well, we'll be drinking beer! The specific gravity of my brew was 1.10, the expected spec grav for this kit is 1.061.... density predicts alcohol content. Uh-oh.

Exiled Update #6 - Punk Inspired, Soy Powered

Who is this man? Over 8000 pictures from my wedding, and he appears in about 5. It looks here like he is signaling his band of goons to beat up the photographer who captured this image. Is he friend or foe? Is he a government agent keeping tabs on my garage experiments with sending cats back in time to stop the Egyptians from inventing paper? Maybe he's from outer space, sent here because my Subaru leaves a warp drive signature whenever I drive it. He is truly an enigma. What I do know is that this man brews a killer batch of both Root and Ginger beers. He's not Jewish. He's not Amish. I'm just going to call him Rabbi Awesomepants. If you see him, ask him where to get skinny jeans. Much love my brada!

Exiled Update #5 - He's coming, he's coming, he's coming.

Revolutionary War Hero. Our First President. He has like, 30 god damned dicks.

Exiled Update #4

My crazy sister-in-law Ari over at the Week Weekly decided to post about things that she wish were, but aren't.  She of course wants to be a some 10nth Level Mage with Goblin spells or something obnoxious like that, but it did start me thinking....

I am fortunate in several aspects of my life, namely that I am gainfully employed.  I am EXTREMELY fortunate in that I make good money, enjoy what I do, and my work is socially redeeming.  However, there are still days when I wonder just what else I could have done.  My co-worker Aaron and I have are particularly enamoured of the construction workers outside the hospital.  For the past several years these have mostly been metal workers, you know welders, pipe fitters, etc.  They come to work the same time we do, 0600hrs, and their day seems to proceed thusly: Work for three hours, smoke and coffee break for 15 mins, work another three hours, Lunch break, work three hours, and then go home.  Yeah, its a long day, but I bet they make good money, are outside all day sort of doing there own thing, and look especially happy sitting around eating there lunches out of giant coolers.  

Our biggest envy is that they are probably telling fart jokes.  Our coworkers are great, but they are women.  No fart jokes.  *sigh*