{"id":1338,"date":"2012-10-02T19:21:54","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T00:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=1338"},"modified":"2012-10-02T19:22:17","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T00:22:17","slug":"end-of-september-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=1338","title":{"rendered":"End of September already?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, someone said that they would see me at Christmas.\u00a0 I was thinking it was still a ways away.\u00a0 Not!\u00a0 How could it be the end of September already?\u00a0 I just went on vacation (back in May) and we just had the pig roast (back in June).\u00a0 I know, I know.\u00a0 Only an old person says that time flies by.\u00a0 I’m not old!<\/p>\n

Rich and Sascha have been taking advantage of the nice weather to go biking with the Walky Dog this week.\u00a0 That came to a scary halt on Saturday.\u00a0 They broke the Walky Dog!\u00a0 Luckily, Sascha didn’t have a chance to take off.\u00a0 While riding on the first half of the circle, one side of the dual strings broke all the way through.\u00a0 Rich managed to get back to the house with Sascha before the other side gave way.<\/p>\n

Because Sascha constantly pulls on the strings and compresses the springs inside to their maximum, Rich thought Sascha had broken the Walky Dog.\u00a0 Turns out, the connector had a bur on the inside that rubbed the strings and that’s what really broke the strings.\u00a0 I’m sure it doesn’t help that Sascha is trying to run at her 20+ MPH and stresses the device to its max.<\/p>\n

Rich smoothed the bur off the connector.\u00a0 We went to the hardware store for string as strong as we could get.\u00a0 The strings on the device were for 550 lbs of dead weight.\u00a0 We got a similar strength, but it just didn’t seem that strong.\u00a0 Rich added the new strings and then took it out for a test run.\u00a0 Sascha didn’t snap it yet.<\/p>\n

After some research, Rich found that he could get parachute cord at the sporting goods store.\u00a0 Hopefully, that will come with a higher rating.\u00a0 I just don’t want to chase down a Siberian Collie again.\u00a0 She’s fast.<\/p>\n

Rich got a call from the contractor with an update on the garage.\u00a0 They were able to\u00a0reach the building inspector for the village and start working with him on the plans and permits.\u00a0 They are looking into some variances that we need to do the garage just like we want.\u00a0 So far, we are moving forward.\u00a0 With some luck, we can build like we want.\u00a0 If not, we’ll have to see what happens.\u00a0 It might be Plan B then for the car situation here.\u00a0 Stay tuned for more updates.<\/p>\n

Rick came in from work.\u00a0 He got a job working at Stades Farms, which is a local pumpkin farm.\u00a0 They have rides and activities and use the local kids to man each of them.\u00a0 This was Rick’s first full weekend.\u00a0 He was hired as backup and fill in or if someone quits on them.\u00a0 Today, he manned the big slide and the pedal cars.\u00a0 As he says, he gets to yell at the kids to knock it off and quit horsing around.\u00a0 At least, he has a little spending money.<\/p>\n

It was quiet and I didn’t do much.\u00a0 I created pictures from some Yosemite and Sequoia National Park postcards and hung them in the living room to go with the outdoors and fishing theme.\u00a0 They look nice.<\/p>\n

Next weekend is Iron Invasion.\u00a0 This is a huge car show and demonstration.\u00a0 It’s the first annual, so I don’t really know what will go on.\u00a0 Rich is volunteering and driving Sally up to put her on display with the other hundreds of cars expected.\u00a0 I’ll be sure to take pictures.\u00a0 I’m just hoping for nice weather.<\/p>\n

Now it is October<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I decided not to post this blog.\u00a0 Now I have more to add.<\/p>\n

Today, Rich took the day off to brew beer.\u00a0 This was an absolute necessity since there was no beer in the house.\u00a0 Also, this is the beer that needs to be on tap for Thanksgiving.\u00a0 Rich decided on a Zombie Dust clone.<\/p>\n

For those who don’t know, Three Floyds is a microbrewery in the Chicagoland area with a knack for brewing some great beers.\u00a0 One of these is Zombie Dust.\u00a0 It is a citrus-based, hoppy beer that hits your taste buds and lingers on into the back of the throat with a bright, hoppy flavor.<\/p>\n

After sleeping in for an hour or two, Rich got started with the brewing process.\u00a0 Of course, I was inside at my desk slaving away over a document that needs to be ready yesterday.\u00a0 I did venture out a couple of times to check on the progress.\u00a0 Progress went well.\u00a0 This was a small batch though.\u00a0 Since it was an experiment, Rich only did 5 gallons instead of the usual 10 gallons.\u00a0 Less painful if you have to throw it out in disgust.<\/p>\n

Finally, the batch was done and transferred to the fermenter.\u00a0 As usual, Rich took a sample to test for gravity and alcohol content.\u00a0 It looked to be about 6% alcohol.\u00a0 We then tasted the raw beer.\u00a0 Even without fermentation, it was pretty good.\u00a0 It tasted a little like grapefruit when it first hits your mouth and then turns mellow as you push it to the back of the throat.\u00a0 It was very, very good.\u00a0 I can’t wait for the finished product!<\/p>\n

While cleaning up, Rich had a beer on the table so he could drink as he went.\u00a0\u00a0 However, he wasn’t really watching the glass closely.\u00a0 He took a drink and got more than he could drink.\u00a0 There was a bee enjoying the nectar as well.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the bee stung Rich inside of his mouth.\u00a0\u00a0There was beer all over the garage where Rich had spit it out to get rid of the bee!\u00a0 Don’t worry, Rich and the bee are okay.<\/p>\n

Carolyn at work said that Rich was torturing Sascha by making her run alongside the bike.\u00a0 I assure you that Sascha is only tortured while she has to wait for Rich to get things set up to take her running!\u00a0 As soon as she thinks Rich is even thinking about touching the bike, Sascha is all over the door.\u00a0 This is one of the few times that she actually barks!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Can't<\/a>
Sascha is a ball of energy while she waits for Rich to get the bike ready.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Excited<\/a>
That’s one excited Husky waiting for Rich. He has to lock the door to keep her under control.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Getting<\/a>
Looks like we are getting ready to roll now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Boy<\/a>
There they go down the road for a nice run.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Brewer<\/a>
Starting up a small batch of Husky Paws (Zombie Dust clone).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Good<\/a>
A peek at the brew as it brews. Smells good!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Putting<\/a>
Almost like getting ready for dinner. Gotta put on the jacket.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, someone said that they would see me at Christmas.\u00a0 I was thinking it was still a ways away.\u00a0 Not!\u00a0 How could it be the end of September already?\u00a0 I just went on vacation (back in May) and we just had the pig roast (back in June).\u00a0 I know, I know.\u00a0 Only an old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,12,13,14,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1357,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions\/1357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}