Life

Love the life you Live!

I want a van so badly

Life, Randomness

van no. 32 (green and yellow), originally uploaded by Orrin.

Yesterday Laurel called me because her car (1994 Saab 9000) wouldn’t go into drive at a red light. She shifted into reverse and back to drive and it started again. Turns out that her transmission fluid was low. But it got me thinking about having to buy a new car if Laurel’s starts to die.

My first car was a 1987 Chevy Van 20 that had been the family van for about 10 years before it was passed down to me. This meant that I was ‘The Van Guy’ for all my friends. I drove them around and I carried lots of crap around with me. So I have a special place in my heart for vans. Aesthetically I just like their shape, they’re like the rounded-rectangle tool of vehicle design. But they do have sort of a stigma among the ‘Normal non-van owning people’ that the people inside them may either be pedophiles or just crazy people living inside them. Part of me wants a sweet airbrushed mural on the side, but that may be taking it too far.

Is my desire to own a sweet custom van greater than my desire to fit in with normal society? We’ll have to see!

Williamsburg Alewerks Brewmaster’s Reserve Grand Illumination Ale

Beer, Life

Long name, short number.

Beer Review:

This beer has a very long name, I mean seriously… it’s 7 words long and they aren’t short words either. It’s made in Williamsburg, VA which is about 3.5 hours from my house and always makes me think of being in the 4th grade.  The first thing I thought of when drinking this beer was how thick it was and how much I liked the smell. It has one of those sugary, molassassy, caramely barley wine tastes.  After the first sip you notice the bite of hops. A big bite like a gnarly dog made out of tiny green leaves. the hops sting the nostrils with their pungent aroma. It’s a formidible scent.  After you get that kick of hops the alcohol comes at the end and stomps you in the tounge again. The beer leaves your mouth feeling tight like it was once covered in shag carpeting then ripped out. But this is a good thing! This beer reminds you why your drinking American Craft Beer and not some macro-brew swill.

Bottle review:

Unlike the beer inside the bottle and label are pretty plain. Reminds me of visiting Williamsburg, the people get dressed up as colonial folk, but you’re still aware that they are a dentist from Newport News. The only fun element is the spark in the middle and the ridiculously long name.

Conclusion:

I like this beer. You’re not going to win any hipster friends with the bottle. But the beer inside is what counts anyway. Its a strong thick barley wine in a style that I think Patrick Henry would approve of.

4 out of 5 Schus

Extreme pickle technology – Jalapeno Dill Spears

Interests, Life

Delicious Spicy Pickles

I love pickles. Recently I’ve been indulging more in my addiction to vinegar soaked cucumber slices. I could sit down to watch some tv and eat an entire jar of dill spears. I don’t know if I should be proud of this, but I just love pickles.

I saw this jar in my local pickle isle and I knew that I had to have it. It tastes like pickles soaked in jalapeno juice, which if you don’t like then get the frak off my blog. It’s delicious. when you first bite into it you think to yourself “Man, this is such a waste, it tastes just like a regular pickle” then after a few seconds you start to taste that faint hint of jalapeno and you think… “Now that’s more like it, this is the pickle experience I paid for”. The after taste is ALL jalapeno juice, which is a bit overpowering, but if you eat another one real quick it lessens the pain.. until you run out of pickles and have nothing but your tears to quench the burning.

4 out of 5 Schus

One of those days….in a good way!

Life, Randomness

Have you ever had one of those days… where everything goes right?

I know, people usually remember the opposites, but I guess the small things make me happy. I didn’t have a whole day, but I did have an amazing little stretch last night. I was meeting Laurel at her work before I went to play basketball with Travis and Nigel. When I turned right out of my street the car almost died because it was almost out of gas. Which happens a lot because there’s not a gas station that’s not located on the opposite side of a long light around me… and I’m a lazy bastard. So anyway the guy behind me almost runs into me because I’m going a little slow and then he gives me the brights… and I proceed to give him the finger… and the slow down… and the eat me… and pretty much just flip out. So this is how my good luck starts, with anger.

I get to the gas station, fill up, then decide to take care of my low air pressure in the tires. After filling those bad boys up I thought, well I still have a minute or so left from the air machine I might as well try to fill up this flat basketball, without using a needle… and a couple seconds later it’s done… I didn’t even know that was possible.. but it is. It’s like I’ve been lied to my entire life… all you have to do is lick the needle hole and then press down flat and hard.  This is a fact that the air needle industry doesn’t want you to know!  So after this little detour I’m a little late so I get going and on the way there I hit 5 or 6 green lights in a row. This includes two times when I was sure I was making a wrong turn only to come out in exactly the right place. So after a quick kiss from Laurel I was out playing basketball in Alexandria. Where I felt good, made a few open jumpers, and shockingly… I can still dunk.

(Bill Walton voice) – THROW IT DOWN BIG MAN!

It just surprises me how little it takes to make my day.

Southern Tier – Old Man Winter

Beer, Life

Old Man Winter

First off. I love Southern Tier beers. I’ve been sting that since my first sip of Unearthly Ipa. But I’ve come to think I should be saying,  I love Southern Tier beers that come in big bottles. I like almost every one that comes in the 22ounce bottles, but every time I get a six pack of ST, it’s just so… regular.

Its not like this is a bad beers, it’s just so ordinary. I mean it’s 100 times better than a keystone light, so lets not get crazy. It just has that bitter dry mouth hoppy flavor that is the signature of so many microbrews out there. I’m gonna rate it right in the middle, just average.

2.5 schus