The Ranting Thunder Of Thor

Vegas was interesting.  The training on the Daniels radios was excellent and I’m glad I got that, it will help the county greatly.   Just as interesting to me though was the overall environment.

You can really tell how bad Vegas is hurting right now.  There is elbow room in the casinos.  Prices of meals seem to be up a bit and quality is good.  Attitudes are good but you can tell that the people who are working have been working very hard.  I talked to several people who backed that up.  The folks who are fortunate enough to have jobs are busting butts to make ends meet.  Nevada apparently has the highest unemployment rate.  So many homes are for sale or in foreclosure.

As I said, the attitudes are good.  But the decadent playground atmosphere is gone.  It’s still fun, but it’s not like it was.  It certainly isn’t as I remember it being for the last 25 years.

I started my Saturday off with a loud crash and the sound of claws on Styrofoam.   I’ve known for a few days that we had either a cat or a skunk getting under the house and I had been dreading getting into the crawl space to deal with it.  It was on my “to do” list.  Also on the list was fixing leaky sink and shower valves which required shutting off the water to the house, yet another reason to go below.

Like most projects of this type, I figured I was on my own.  Steven’s knees are bothering him and he had spent the night at a friends.  Erik was already up and playing video games when I got up.  I informed him that I would be needing his help, expecting to hear the usual “unhappy cow sounds” he makes when he’s told such things.   He eventually goes along but does the minimum necessary to get me off his back.

Saturday, no such moan.  While I started collecting the tools for the job, he told his online friend that he had to get to work and that they would play later.    We dressed for the occasion in long sleeve shirts, hats and boots and armed ourselves with brooms, a bottle of ammonia,  and a very bright light.   Down into the hole we went.

Fortunately it was a cat.  We discussed home ownership with the cat, I made it clear that I am not taking on renters.  The cat did not seem to understand.  Erik, rockstar that he is, was ok with staying below alone while I went back up.  I went to the kitchen, just above the cat, and jumped on the floor.   The cat made a very quick exit to the amusement of Erik.

We spent some time clearing cobwebs and I repaired the vent screens to prevent future critter access.  Meanwhile, Erik explored the plumbing and shut off the water.  Then the two of us took apart the defective valves and went in search of replacement parts.

I have always enjoyed working with someone who had a positive attitude.  One doesn’t have to enjoy the actual task to enjoy the work.  In this case I hated the task.  But I can’t express how wonderful it was to work together with Erik yesterday.   He did the part of the job I hated most, he did it willingly and with a smile on his face.  He didn’t just come along to the hardware store either, he got actively engaged in selecting the necessary items.

In the end Erik was rewarded with his favorite prize:  donuts.

Steven and Erik explored the crawlspace together later.  I think Steven was disappointed that he didn’t get to help more on this project.  But he’s helped on plenty of others and there will be more, maybe even today.

Here’s what we got done:

• Evicted cat
• Repaired vent screens
• Turned on water to hose on west side of house
• Replaces hot and cold water valves in master bath.
• Replaced diverter gasket in master bath
• Replaced gaskets in laundry room sink hot and cold valves.
• Washed three loads of laundry
• Put 5 bottles of the 9/25 beer in the fridge to chill
• Did some of the grocery shopping
• Took some coats and jeans to Goodwill

It was a productive day.  Best of all was the time spent with Erik.

I am currently brewing the Linebacker Dopplebock from Mr. Beer.  I’ve deviated from the instructions quite a bit.  First off I took great care to make sure every last bit of booster disolved before putting the heat to things.  After bringing the booster and water mix to a rolling boil I cut the heat, opened the can, and poured in the extract as I stirred the pot.  Then I turned the heat back on and brought this mix to a boil.  Once boiling I added a half package of hallertau hops.  I kept this at a boil and continued to stir it up every five minutes or so for the next thirty minutes.  At this point I added the remainder of the hops and continued stiring every five minutes for another 15 minutes.  I removed heat and let the wort cool for about 2 minutes before adding to the fermenter which was already about half full of cold filtered water.  I then topped of the fermenter, went a little too far, so I’ve got about nine quarts in there.  I swirled the fermenter a bit, checked to make sure the temperature was below 75 degrees (actually a bit below 74) and pitched the yeast.  I swirled the fermenter, waited five minutes and then swirled again.

Now comes the hard part:  waiting a few weeks to bottle.  The Beer Storage Area (BSA) is averaging about 65 degrees or so.  The last two batches went just beyond two weeks before I felt they were ready to rack.  I’ve got a trip coming up the week of 10/17 so we’ll see how things go.

Somewhere, in a lonely hotel room, a man has started to realize that eternal fate has turned its back on him.   It’s 2:00 am.