Well at least I become Darth Vader and am ultimately saved.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Goodbye, beer
North Carolina recently passed a law that allowed beers of greater than 6% alcohol to be sold in the state. I was a big fan of this raising the limit as doing so would and did allow craft brews from small microbreweries to be sold in North Carolina that were previously off-limits.
The law was passed last year and a flood of new, wonderful beers started to appear in North Carolina. My favorites, in particular, have been the IPAs, or India Pale Ales. Excellent barley and malt, not to mention heavy hops that give the IPAs their distinctive bite, creates a tasteful explosion across the palate that just can't be beat. Most good IPAs are in the 7% to 10% range with some going to extremes. An extreme example would be Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA that clocks in at a whopping 20% alcohol! I have tried this particular beer both in the bottle (imported from PA) and on tap at the Dogfish Head restaurant in Delaware and, let me tell you, it packs a whallop. It actually drinks more like a brandy than a beer. But I digress.
Beer is considered by many to the be drink of the "common man", and more usually the "redneck man". Attitudes towards beer are changing, and that is a good thing. Beer is as complex as wine and as a person who makes wine I can say that making a good beer is more difficult than making a good wine, at least in my opinion.
Why am I droning on about beer? Well, I'm going to give it up for a while. All forms of alcohol in fact. Wine too (the good news there is we are out of red wine; we sent many bottles out as Christmas presents and went through the least of our red, my favorite wine type. We have six gallons bulk aging right now, but that same stuff will have to bottle age for another four month at least so I'm temptation-free there).
But giving up IPA, that's tough. Granted, I don't drink much of it but with strong IPAs you don't need a lot of beer to consume a lot of calories. Looking back at the Dogfish Head 120 that particular beer measures 362 calories - per PINT! Dogfish Head 90 Minute (9%) isn't far behind on the calorie count. This is a greater amount of calories than an equivalent amount of Coke. It doesn't take a mathematician to see how these can add up to extra pounds.
So, goodbye, IPAs. Goodbye Spanish Riojas, Pinot Noir, and other reds. We'll meet again when the waistline is where it should be. *SNIFF*.. I have *SNIFF* something.. *SNIFF* in.. my eye.. excuse me, I have to run to the restroom. *SNIFF*
The law was passed last year and a flood of new, wonderful beers started to appear in North Carolina. My favorites, in particular, have been the IPAs, or India Pale Ales. Excellent barley and malt, not to mention heavy hops that give the IPAs their distinctive bite, creates a tasteful explosion across the palate that just can't be beat. Most good IPAs are in the 7% to 10% range with some going to extremes. An extreme example would be Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA that clocks in at a whopping 20% alcohol! I have tried this particular beer both in the bottle (imported from PA) and on tap at the Dogfish Head restaurant in Delaware and, let me tell you, it packs a whallop. It actually drinks more like a brandy than a beer. But I digress.
Beer is considered by many to the be drink of the "common man", and more usually the "redneck man". Attitudes towards beer are changing, and that is a good thing. Beer is as complex as wine and as a person who makes wine I can say that making a good beer is more difficult than making a good wine, at least in my opinion.
Why am I droning on about beer? Well, I'm going to give it up for a while. All forms of alcohol in fact. Wine too (the good news there is we are out of red wine; we sent many bottles out as Christmas presents and went through the least of our red, my favorite wine type. We have six gallons bulk aging right now, but that same stuff will have to bottle age for another four month at least so I'm temptation-free there).
But giving up IPA, that's tough. Granted, I don't drink much of it but with strong IPAs you don't need a lot of beer to consume a lot of calories. Looking back at the Dogfish Head 120 that particular beer measures 362 calories - per PINT! Dogfish Head 90 Minute (9%) isn't far behind on the calorie count. This is a greater amount of calories than an equivalent amount of Coke. It doesn't take a mathematician to see how these can add up to extra pounds.
So, goodbye, IPAs. Goodbye Spanish Riojas, Pinot Noir, and other reds. We'll meet again when the waistline is where it should be. *SNIFF*.. I have *SNIFF* something.. *SNIFF* in.. my eye.. excuse me, I have to run to the restroom. *SNIFF*
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Yesterday's rain served us well
I'm happy to announce following my drive over Falls Lake on I-85 the rain replenished quite a bit of water in the lake. We are far from "out of the woods" and there is still more mud and dirt to be seen when crossing the river than water but water is flowing into the lake at a nice clip. In short, it's just what we needed (only we need a lot more of it).
One of the happier moments of today's commute was driving over the small bridge on North Side Road very close to Highway 15 and the I-85 exit. A small "bay" exists here that, at times, has been completely dry and most of the time the bay had a thin, spotty veneer of water atop glistening mud. Today, however, there was quite a bit of water in the "bay" and a stick poking through the water revealed ripples! Yes, rippling water meant flowing water and, dammit all, that's a good thing.
We'll see how the lake looks through the rest of the week. I'll try to snap some pictures Thursday and Friday.
One of the happier moments of today's commute was driving over the small bridge on North Side Road very close to Highway 15 and the I-85 exit. A small "bay" exists here that, at times, has been completely dry and most of the time the bay had a thin, spotty veneer of water atop glistening mud. Today, however, there was quite a bit of water in the "bay" and a stick poking through the water revealed ripples! Yes, rippling water meant flowing water and, dammit all, that's a good thing.
We'll see how the lake looks through the rest of the week. I'll try to snap some pictures Thursday and Friday.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
You dropped the bomb on me..
No, I'm not thinking about The Gap Band. Looks like the proverbial bomb dropped at Motricity today. From what I understand, or hear via rumor, the Motricity HQ will be moved to Washington State and the Durham office will be shut down. Dang. I wish Bill and Sean the best through this transition.
More thoughts on the V-Strom
Yeah, this is the future bike for me, I think. After going back to look at some of the proposed upgrades I think I might opt for side cases rather than a top case. The top case, especially if the side cases were not installed, looks a bit bulbous to me. Still, it offers a lot of storage for the money.
Ah, who knows. I've got to stick with "The Plan" and I need to keep dropping weight. As I've stated before, the only thing keeping me off this bike is me. I got myself into this situtation and I can get myself out. For the record, the other upgrades consisting of a tall windshield, heated grips and a center stand are all bolt-on accessories I can install myself. These will most likely be the first, second and third accessories installed, but not necessarily in that particular order.
I'm writing all this because I don't want to write about that puppy-throwing Marine. Young man, blatant cruelty to animals and killing of six-to-eight week old puppies are NOT among your General Orders.
Ah, who knows. I've got to stick with "The Plan" and I need to keep dropping weight. As I've stated before, the only thing keeping me off this bike is me. I got myself into this situtation and I can get myself out. For the record, the other upgrades consisting of a tall windshield, heated grips and a center stand are all bolt-on accessories I can install myself. These will most likely be the first, second and third accessories installed, but not necessarily in that particular order.
I'm writing all this because I don't want to write about that puppy-throwing Marine. Young man, blatant cruelty to animals and killing of six-to-eight week old puppies are NOT among your General Orders.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Changing OS X global file permissions
If you want to change a global file permission in OS X, say a .xls file from Excel to Numbers, select a .xls file in Finder then hit Command-I to bring up file information. From there look under the "Open With" section and change from the app you want to the app you want (also click "Change All"). That's it.
Dead Animals Seen This Weekend
Dolphin. See on the Outer Banks on the beach around ramp number 27. Damn thing stunk to high heavens too. He'd been dead for a while.
Black Bear. Seen on the side of Highway 64 between Mann's Harbor and East Lake.
White tailed deer. Franklin County. Seen on the side of Highway 96.
Turtle. Blended. On highway 64.
Opossum. Numerous, on the road in different counties.
Unknown. Filed under "Road Protein". Many.
Normally I talk about the wonderful wildlife seen alive in NC. We do have a wealth of biodiversity between the borders of this wonderful state. This weekend I didn't see anything remotely interesting. The six to seven foot alligator was not in his or her ditch; truth be told I haven't seen the gator in quite some time. Normally I see plenty of dolphin frolicking in the waters but I scored a goose egg spotting them his past weekend.
While on the beach proper I saw another cargo ship using the binoculars. Those damn ships are HUGE. No private planes buzzed the beach, that was also unusual and we normally see at least one Coast Guard plane or helicopter but they remained unseen as well.
Maybe I'll have better luck next trip.
Black Bear. Seen on the side of Highway 64 between Mann's Harbor and East Lake.
White tailed deer. Franklin County. Seen on the side of Highway 96.
Turtle. Blended. On highway 64.
Opossum. Numerous, on the road in different counties.
Unknown. Filed under "Road Protein". Many.
Normally I talk about the wonderful wildlife seen alive in NC. We do have a wealth of biodiversity between the borders of this wonderful state. This weekend I didn't see anything remotely interesting. The six to seven foot alligator was not in his or her ditch; truth be told I haven't seen the gator in quite some time. Normally I see plenty of dolphin frolicking in the waters but I scored a goose egg spotting them his past weekend.
While on the beach proper I saw another cargo ship using the binoculars. Those damn ships are HUGE. No private planes buzzed the beach, that was also unusual and we normally see at least one Coast Guard plane or helicopter but they remained unseen as well.
Maybe I'll have better luck next trip.
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