So much for the Go Kart

So much for the Go Kart…

They say in this business the only constant is change. I suppose after 29 years I should be used to it, but… On the eve of putting in for a cold one and some rest, we find ourselves back on line. Same sh*t, different day, and realistically, it’s not been all that long since we were in, and there are not THAT MANY days left until we get back anyway. (That is, assuming that whatever changes fate has in store for us don’t affect the homecoming…) In the old days, staying at sea for indefinite periods was a way of life and nobody would have thought twice about going months without a break. Perhaps we’ve just softened a bit.

Anyhow, it appears the Go Kart is just not in my future. Not that I needed it anyway, but it would have made for a fun toy. With what I’ll ‘save’ by not buying one, I can do all the improvements to the brewery I have in mind. The other thing about spending the extra time out here is that you can plan all sorts of cool projects for when you get home. I’m thinking a small, walk-in cooler large enough for 2 big fermenters and a couple of brite tanks. My Czech Pilsner recipe has come about to the point where I think it’s ready for prime time. Ditto the last science project. (note to self: come up with a proper name for the last science project.) I just need the ability to control fermentation temperatures for the large fermenters / brite tanks. I’ve also been thinking about the time it takes on a big brew day and I think I can cut that way down with an on-demand water heater. Picture an inverted keg with a sheet metal liner and fiberglass insulation between the liner and the keg and a 2” stovepipe coming out the top. Now insert 100’f of ½” copper tubing wrapped in a series of concentric coils inside the inner liner. Place the whole rig on top of a 170KBTU propane burner and I should be able to push 2.5GPM through with a 100F temperature rise. In other words, instead of bringing my mash-in water to strike temperature in 4 hours, I should be able to get there in less than 1. Instead of taking 3 hours from mash-out to boil, I should get there in 45 minutes. With the leftover copper (I’ll order 200’ and use about 150 for the heater and attachments) I’ll put together a righteous CF chiller. ½” copper tubing and 1” Nylabraid (which I already have) will speed the cooling down from 2.5 hours to 30 minutes. Total time savings on brew day: 7(+) hours. In other words, I can start brewing on a Saturday morning and be finished and cleaned up in time to go to the hash.

So, what does this mean to the uninitiated? More and better home brew at The Revolution in the years to come!

I recently came across a page describing a chunk of dirt for sale in Grundy, VA. My friend Sam (some of you know him as Langenhardt) has family in the area. Anyhow, this was a 265 acre piece for $149K. WOW! That’s a lot of dirt for not a lot of money! Now Grundy is a bit off the beaten path, but that’s the kind of place I’d prefer anyway. Living in the mountains, or at least having a nice cabin in the mountains to get away to is exactly what I’ve got in mind. I sent the link to Mom and she didn’t dismiss it out of hand, so maybe we get out there when I get back (assuming it’s still on the market) and have a look / make an offer.

What else? I’ve not heard from Mary in a few days. She had a bunch of projects going while Cheri was out of town for a week. She’s probably very focused right now which explains the lack of correspondence. That’s good; it means she’s happy and in her zone. At the same time, I miss hearing from her on a daily basis. Kind of a Catch-22. In any case, I’ll be able to see here in June and all will be good.

Spoke to Mom last night. She’s doing well. Her brother is visiting with his wife and their 2 exchange students. They’re doing the tourist thing throughout the Hampton Roads area and having fun. She’ll be pooped when they leave (I think tomorrow) and need a day or two to catch up, but that keeps the time moving along.

So, a few more weeks here, a few more weeks there, and all of a sudden no more AFN commercials. Have I mentioned how much I hate AFN commercials. What f*cking idiot comes up with those things anyway, and what f*cking idiot gets anything from them. There needs to be a dose of reality there. That and they actually decided to not air the Cup race from Martinsville for the NCAA Women’s Basketball sweet 16 game. WTFO? I actually tuned in (hoping the program guide was in error) and there was nobody in the stands. Now I don’t want to say that nobody gives a sh*t about NCAA Women’s Basketball, but if people won’t go to the arena to watch the game, what makes you think that anyone will tune it to see it? So much for AFN…

Jimmie won last week. I hear guys talking about fuel mileage and all, but I seem to recall him making up 5 seconds in the 30 laps before Mark pitted. If he was that much faster, I don’t think the outcome would have varied had he pitted for fuel or not. I think Mark needs to just retire from the cup circuit, maybe run trucks full time (which I thought was the plan way back when he ‘retired’ the first time 4 years ago…) or something. Same with DJ, although he is supposedly retired now. Anyhow, Jimmie is back to 4th in the points and within 100 of the lead. So much for the Hendrick’s slump. 3 or 4 drivers in the top 15 isn’t a slump in my book, and the RCR girls will start sliding any time now. Cousin Carl looks to carry Rousch-Fenway for the season, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be writing the Biff-Monster off just yet. Rudy continues to improve. Poor kind got a crap deal having to race his way into a secure position with owners points only to have to clean up DJ’s mess. Anyhow, it appears that he’ll have the 44 car solidly in the top 35 in a few weeks. ‘Dega is always a crap shoot, but he’s in (barely) now and barring any bad luck week after next, he should be safely in the rocking chair by the time we go to Pocono in June.

Anyhow, that’s what’s on my mind these days. I think a Steel Beach Picnic is in order. This will be the first time GLADIS has had to perform at sea, but I’m sure she’ll do admirably.


On-On,
Gopher

Abstinence, Bad Food and Forced Sobriety.

April has arrived which is significant. This should be our last full month in the Gulf which means that we’ll be heading for the barn soon. Frankly, I’ve had enough of this place for now. Not that it’s all that bad, I’ve just had enough.

So, since February, we’ve been back to Jebel twice. Nothing to speak of. We brought GLADIS out again, this time we threw a couple thousand pounds of beef tri-tips and Boston butts (pork shoulders) in for a change of pace. Most of the folks on the ship couldn’t tell you what a pork butt is, let alone recall having ever eaten one so they were in for a special treat. The butts came out magnificent. If I can get this thing to post the picture, I’ll add it. Last time I tried it I had no luck. I think it’s a bandwidth issue but what the hell do I know about these things… Anyhow, we burned some meat, drank some beer and saved a few bucks at the same time so it was good.

The weather is starting to resemble more of the Gulf we’ve all come to know. In other words, it’s getting warm. I think we’ll be gone before it becomes hot, but we’ll see. This is my first winter over here; all other trips have been in the heat of summer (and this place just SUCKS in the summer…)

So that’s the business end. The Revolution is only a couple months off. It feels weird watching all the preparation without actually participating in it. I suppose that none of us are really indispensable when it comes to that. We pulled off a weekend up there without Mom, this time we’ll be doing all the prep work without me, and I would imagine that over time, all of us will wind up missing one here or there. It will make for an interesting homecoming…

Mom’s been getting by at home. She’s come across some new diet plan / pill that seems to be working for her. If nothing else, it has lifted her spirits so I’m happy. She, Martha and Barcode have been walking / jogging almost every day. With PDB and Minute working out of town, the three of them have something in common so it’s all working.

A dear friend of mine has just broken up with he companion of over 10 years. They are keeping things quite amicable, but it’s still difficult to think of them apart. We have been trading a lot of e-mails back and forth and I guess it’s been kind of therapeutic for the both of us. It has brought us a lot closer together as she goes through the separation / transition back to the ‘single’ lifestyle and deals with the impending departure of her ex. (It still feels very strange to refer to her as an ‘ex’) It really is a shame that it takes something like this to bring us closer. She and I have always been close, but it seems that our relationship has deepened over the last few months. I guess you could call it an upside, but it shouldn’t take someone’s personal crisis to bring two people closer.

So by now, you’re probably wondering about the subject line: I weighed 265lbs when I reported here in September. I’m down to 207 these days. When queried today at lunch about my weight loss program, I replied: “I’m doing it the old-fashioned way, Abstinence, Bad Food and Forced Sobriety!” That’s the up-side of deploying and the down-side at the same time. It’s easy enough to take a few pounds off, but at the same time you’re forced to give up a lot of things at the same time. I’ve also been 100 days without a cigarette. I’m not saying I quit just yet; that would imply some sense of permanence, and I’ve been longer than this without a cigarette before. I’m still having 3-4 cigars every week…

Anyhow, that’s what’s new. There is a place in Dubai that sells all sorts of Chinese made crap. It’s called Dragon Mart and it’s a Chinese themed shopping / restaurant / cultural based deal. Some of the guys bought pocket bikes and mini 4-wheelers for their kids last time in. They are rumoured to have 650cc go-karts and if the price is right… Maybe next time I post, I’ll be the owner of a nifty little toy for getting around up at Willie’s.

On-On,
Gopher

P.S. Looks like the 1's and 0's gods are smiling on me. I got the pic fo GLADIS loaded with meat to load.