Cocktail Confessions

Okay, maybe you guys might think I’m a huge blowhard (that’s okay, I’ve been called worse) but I got some exciting news last week and I just found out the results today.

As some of you may be aware, I joined OC Yelp just over a year ago because I like to write reviews and I love try new places to eat.  Most of the time I review only restaraunts, but occasionally I will write or comment on various service establishments.

I really do pride myself on being absolutely fair, impartial, and balanced.  I take all things into account when crafting reviews: taste, quality, friendliness of staff, decor, and of course….overall cleanliness.  I won’t give a place 5 stars just because the food is outstanding.  If the floor or bathrooms look like crap, or the staff is negligent I score appropriately and explain why.

Well, it looks like my hard work paid off.

Last week I received a personal email from one of the staffers over there at Yelp who apparantly took notice of my writings and asked me if I would like to be nominated for the 2012 Yelp Elite Squad.  In my book, that’s a kind honor to be recognized for your work and efforts.  Of course I said “Yes” and had to fill out a simple questionaire which would then be submitted and reviewed by senior Yelper’s.

Today I received yet another official email congratulating me and my online profile here shows my new “Elite” badge of honor.  I’m very excited and hope to do Yelp well over this next year, and hopefully be recognized on a year to year basis.

Anyway, if your interested in Yelp, or already a member of Yelp and wanna be my friend there, please drop me a line again here.

My wife's message to Mercury

Painting my train models is something I enjoy.

Painting parts of my house, (i.e. floor to ceiling walls, or the ceiling itself), is not something I enjoy.  Especially if it comes about by necessity from unexpected repairs done to our house.  In this case, a recent slab leak under our kitchen floor forced my wife and I to re-route the hot water lines through two of our walls and the ceiling.  In events like this, you’d think that your homeowners insurance would cover repairs like this…that is, unless you have Mercury Insurance (which of course Murphy’s Law would indicate that we do (soon to be “did”)) in which they didn’t.  Bastards (another post for another day).

So about $2000 in repairs are coming out of our pockets.  Again, despite the fact I pay what seems to be a useless homeowners policy with Mercury.

Needless to say, our kitchen and dining room have both been in a state of disaray for more than a week now.  Our fridge stands in the middle of the kitchen while chairs, appliances, and other free standing items are either in hanging out in the garage or in various other rooms of the house.  We haven’t been able to use the kitchen for meals in over a week now. 

Another resulting side-effect is this fine sheen of drywall dust (ground white gypsum) finding itself onto just about every square inch of free surface area in the house, including the dog.  No matter how many times we vacuum, or try to dust, we keep finding the stuff all over the place.  That to me has been the most irritating by-product thus far of this whole escapade.  No matter how many times I wash my hands, or put on clean clothes, it’s only a matter of mere minutes before I have this chalky substance all over me again.

Repairs have finally been compelted this past Saturday and new drywall has been affixed to our walls and our kitchen ceiling has been patched.  The finishers came in to re-texture everything…and of course it had to rain that day as well, so the drying and curing time put us *supposedly* another day behind getting back to normal.

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Despite the fact that the finishers told us to wait two full days to dry, my wife (who often says I have no patience) just had to start priming the walls the following day.  I didn’t think too much harm could be done, so I agreed and we bought two gallons of Kilz 2, water-based latex primer.

Do you know how hard it is to paint white on white in low-light conditions and make sure you covered everything? Do you know what it’s like to paint an overhead ceiling with a roller while standing on a step ladder and moving said ladder every few minutes around misplaced furniture and other obstacles.  My shoulder and my eyes will tell you it sucks donkey balls.  It also doesn’t help one’s frame of mind one bit when your daughter is in the living room watching the LOGO network.   For three straight hours all I could hear when I was working was Ru Paul and other transgender ”fellas”(?)  (yet another discussion for another day) putting the ‘spark’ in sparkle and ‘fab’ in Fab-u-lous.  Oy.

Dining room wall, textured and ready to be primed

Now to get to the reason why I’m here today.

I don’t claim to be the best painter in the world, and like I said, I don’t like painting walls if I don’t have too.  I’m very upfront and…keyword….realistic about my lack of talents, but I’ve been around a paintbrush on many occassion and know about proper “prep” work. 

Kitchen area, textured, and ready to be primed.

On the other hand, my wife claims to enjoy painting…..but (truth be told) she’s not really that great at it.  Let me clarify that in case she ever reads this.  I mean, I know her heart is the right place, and I’m glad she’s motivated to paint, but lets just say she likes to….uh….cut corners…. and speed the process in some areas, while taking her sweet time in others. 

Some of her time saving techniques I have witnessed and observed for myself:

• Failure to remove electrical face plates or air vents/returns even though they generally only use one or two screws to hold them on the wall.  To her, you can just paint right up to their eges.  Hell, why stop there?  You can just paint on them ensuring that dry paint will now adhere them to the wall so it almost impossible to get them off again if need be.  
• Taping off straight lines and edges, to her, are optional.  You can save a lot of time if you don’t tape things off…like fixtures, or where walls and baseboards meet.  Also looks like shit when done.  Oh, paint on the brass door handle…you don’t like that?
• Recommended drying and curing time by professionals, is just that….recommended.  If they say 2 days, my wife is happy to wait one.  If I say it’s raining outside and request that she  just finish the priming, where then I can come home, continue to tape off, and then we can resume the next day when it’s dry and sunny.  Sounds reasonable?  I think she waited all of a few hours, thus again, confirming she has no patience either.  But GOD forbid you critique or criticize any of this, or point out obvious mistakes and flaws.  If you do, then you’re an asshole who doesn’t appreciate all her hard work in cutting corners.
• Rinsing out expensive brushes after usage is considered “bush-league”.  To her, when you’re done with a brush, just go ahead and let the paint dry on it until it’s hard and un-usable for the next time you need it.  There’s a Lowe’s just down the street, so lets go ahead and spend extra money on replacing items we already have, but can’t use at the last minute.  Why buy $.99 paint tin liners, when you can just let let the paint dry in the $6 aluminum trough?
• While on the subject of home improvment stores, why plan out on what you need when you’re at home and the project is staring you in the face, when you can easily just keep dumping items in your cart whether you’re unsure if you need them or not?  In this case, I’m guaranteed to get mutiple size brushes, paint pans, and other impulsive tools of the trade…..most we’ll never use or ever need.

I’d gladly pay a professional to paint, but in this case, since we are already out $2K, and any bit we can do ourselves right now is fine by me.  So, despite not wanting to spend my free Sunday in an impromptu painting project, we did infact spend 7 hours priming the walls and ceiling and only got about 85% done.

Me, almost 4 hours in and taking a 'ceiling' break by sitting and painting the dining wall

As I pointed out earlier, at one point I watched my wife begin to prime precariously close to a faceplate.  I asked her, “Why don’t you take it off?”, in which her response was, “I can’t get it off.”  Well no kidding you can’t get it off if you don’t have a screwdriver in hand and “attempt” to remove it.  Instead of arguing, which I have learned after eight years of marriage gets me nowhere, I just went to the garage, got a screwdriver and…. (wait for it)….UNSCREWED the single screw in 10 seconds safely removing the already slightly painted on faceplate.  That shit drives me insane.

And after painting about 50% of the ceiling myself in just under two hours, my shoulder was aching.  My wife was nice enough to offer to take over for a while as I concentrate on the walls.  I handed her the roller and for the next 15 minutes I watched her paint all of…oh…2 square feet, and 1/2 of that was an area I had already painted.   She kept saying we needed to change the roller itself, but just minutes before it was working  just fine for me.  Are you kidding me?  F___ this.  At this rate the ceiling will be done by the middle of next week, so I just asked her to hand me back the roller (without changing it) and I just powered through it. 

While I returned to my overhead duties, I asked her to ‘cut in’ the primer about 1.5″ (to be safe) on the ceiling where the roller didn’t hit.   I then proceded to watch her do 5″ cut-ins instead, thus tripling the expected time.  It takes all of my power to bite my tongue and this is why we will both admit we don’t like painting when the other is in the room.  It’s not what either of us consider bonding time.

So after allowing yesterdays post to sink in for a bit, you’re probably expecting the not so subtle follow-up for what I want to accomplish in 2012.  Well, if you were looking for something stoic, earth-shattering, and mind-blowing…I’m about to dissapoint you like so many of my first dates in High School.

There is no new mantra this year.  I kind like the theme and original thoughts behind last years “Taking it back”, so I guess I’ll stick with that.  Oh yay!  I’ve already let you down and deflated your giddiness within the second paragraph, so negative 1 karma point for me.

Here’s a few things (some new, some not so much) I want to accomplish this year:

• Get back to dropping the weight.  As I stated yesterday, I had gained most,….not all (but what’s 2 lbs in the larger picture?), of my weight back and I’ve officially started yesterday a new regime to drop the excess baggage that seems to have migrated about my stomach and love handles.  Once again, a realistic goal for me is to shed about 20 lbs by mid-March.  That gives me about 11 weeks to get down to around 214.  If I can do more, awesome, if not….well, if I’m close I’ll be happy.
• Podcasts: Strange, I didn’t think many of my friends actually listened to them, but over the last few weeks I’ve had a few people ask me when I’m going to do more.  I actually still have one recorded in a raw audio format that I recorded earlier last year when my friend Brett came down to visit, but just never got around to editing and posting it.  I’m going to do it this year.  Promise.  My buddy Brian also was gracious enough to buy me a brand-spanking-new Yeti USB microphone for Christmas (pictured above) that I was just blown away with his generosity on that.  That gift in and of itself has started a new spark of desire to record some content.  And if it isn’t for my site here, then most assuredly I’d like to make some recordings for my train site: WilloughbyJunction.com (Pssttt…check it out).
• Vacation & Trips: I’d like to say that I plan on taking a few short vacations this year.  I’m hoping my buddy Brian will still drag me out to Arizona laster this year to look at some property he considering purchasing…a road trip is always fun.  If not, then I’d still like to rent a small RV with my wife and maybe head out to Oatman, AZ or someplace local (Apple Valley comes to mind) for 3-4 days and maybe take the dog with us and try our hand and camping outdoors.  I’m also very interested in attending the Central Coast Railroad Festival in October this year…maybe do some wine train excursions, etc.  The icing on the cake, however, would be to take a cruise.  We happened to watch a two hour show on the Travel Channel yesterday evening, and I so want to go.
• Plan a few more ‘eatery outings’ with my friends liek I did last year.  I like to organize those and we always have a ggod time.
• Get my CTP+ certificate for work…just to say I can still hang and study and achieve career orientated goals.
• Really publicize and make my Willoughby Junction blog a popular spot amongst model train enthusiasts.  Maybe add some podcasts to there as well.
• Get a tablet…As soon as I can find one I really like at an affordable price.  I still really liek the Amazon Kindle, but would like one a tad more robust than that.
• Learn airbrushing.  My wife bought me a beginner airbrush for my modeling but I have never used one before.
• Actually start contruction on my railroad.  I have the benchwork done, bought the foam, have the track and train, and built plenty of structures…but haven’t yet started on actually building my fantasy railroad.
• Brew more beer, make more sausage, do more BBQ’ing of meats and share it all with you.
• And finally, make an effort to share some stories here.  Either written blog entries, or audio recordings with the new Yeti mic.  I have a lot of funny stories to tell, but never seem to sit down and get them out in a ‘planned’ fashion.

So the above list is a little loose and open for interpretation.  Everything listed is feasible, but can I maintain the willpower to follow through with it.  I’m hoping I can check off more this year than I was able to last year.  I also hope to have a more positive outlook on life in general.

See you in a few.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I remember sitting right here at an empty blog post thinking that I was going to take 2011 by storm and own it.

In fact, it’s been a year. 

A year exactly.  To the day.

Today is January 3rd, 2012 and I’ve been spending the last few days actually thinking on what I was going to say right here.  As usual, it just seems to be a mish-mash of ideas that really never solidified into something coherent….until now….and even just now, I’m just winging it.

If you’ll recall (or maybe your new here, so you won’t at all), I came up with a mantra that was to define my 2011.  Simply stated it was “Taking It Back.”  What exactly did I mean by that?  Well, I seem to remember that towards the end of 2010 I was taking stock of my last few years or months leading up to 2011 and not being overly impressed or happy with myself.  So many opportunities came and went as I stood on the sidelines like a geeky Junior High wallflower at the dance…..afraid to make a commitment or chance on anything.  In case you’re interested in all my pontificating back then, you can read that entry right here: “A new year to take it all back“.

Even stating it like that seems somewhat over dramatic.  The fact is I was 40 years old and just seemingly going through the motions of life: wakeup, go to work, pay the bills, watch a few sitcoms, go to bed….rinse and repeat….like I had for so many years prior.

Expect I was determined that 2011 was going to be different.  I wanted to take the bull by the horns if you will, and charge on, noting certain accomplishments and what-not.  Sorta like a bucket list of things I wanted to do. 

I re-read that post today, just now in fact, and realized that although I did indeed accomplish some of those tasks, others I failed miserable in, and in the end many of those cynical feelings I had back in 2010…I still have today.  One can even say that it rings true: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  Amen.

A whole year, 2011, has come and gone.  Another year lost to the annals of time, more opportunities came and went, some good, some bad.  I checked some thinsg off the list, and left some untouched.  I had my fair share of heart break, highs, lows, and everything inbetween.  Some events I never want to experience ever again, and some I hold near and dear.

So what did I get done?

• I did build a 3.5′ x 6.5′ benchwork for my dream train set, although I haven’t progressed much on the train itself.
• I did infact lose close to 20 lbs from the beginning of January through April, but sadly put most of it back on.  Sad to say, I am a net -2 lbs overall from last year.
• I did manage to plan and cooridinate a mini-vacation with 8 of my closest friends to a cabin up in Big Bear, although the planning phase and getting everyone to cooperate and get on the same page at the time was a bit more stresseful that I would have liked, and I don’ want to that again (maybe a smaller group next time).
• I did make my own sauage and brew my own beer, but sadly, not as often as I would have liked to have.
• I did start a new blog, regarding my train hobby.  Visit WilloughbyJunction.com to learn more.

And my failures?

• I did not work at an animal shelter, but did start volunteering for the Billy Graham telephone ministry.  It’s not same, obviously, and I still want to work with animals.  I think deep down, I must be scared to commit to this.  I have a very soft spot and empathetic heart towards animals, and maybe I’m just not emotionally ready to watch an animal suffer or be cast aside.
• I didn’t do any podcasting.  Although the desire was (and still is infact) there, I just didn’t.  More on this later.
• I didn’t get a highschool reunion bbq put together like I had hoped, but that’s not entirely my fault.  I did invite people on more than one occasion, but peoples schedules and their own lives didn’t always cooperate with my vision, so we just had more of the same with a few new faces.  I did have a somewhat successful ‘Oktoberfest’ in November held in my backyard, but like I mentioned…I can only invite, not demand who shows up.  For those that were invited and didn’t make, you missed a good time…and I hope you’ll make the next one…but if you can’t find a babysitter or re-arrange things for a few hours with 2 months prior notice..then suck it.
• I didn’t post here on a regular basis: my funny bone just wasn’t tickled at times, at others maybe I was angry at something, or just didn’t find the humor in things.  Other times, maybe it was just inconvenient for me to sit down or have a PC nearby.
• My outlook on work didn’t improve much either.  You can blame that on the economy….2011 didn’t show for much in the was of people getting back in the saddle.  As a matter of fact, my wife lost her job of 10 years back in April 2011 and has been unemployed since.  Then all those self-centered, entitlement brats started that whole “Occupy” movement, which just bugged the shit out of me.  Yeah, yeah, I’m part of that 99% paying for you assholes to sit in a park and whine about your shitty and poor decisions that landed you over yoru heads in credit debt and whatnot.  Screw you.  No, seriously, screw you.  With a slow economy, my employer didn’t invest much into anything, including me, so….well…..you get the point.  I came to work every morning with one hand tied behind my back to begin with.
• Finally both my wife and I has found ourselves in some ‘family’ related issues with both sides of the family.  Some of it my business, some of it not, and none of yours, so don’t ask.   Suffice it to say, “No family I have ever met, or have been a part of” is going to win and family-of-the-year awards anytime soon.

So where does all this leave me now?

Why don’t you check back here in the not so far future and find out.

My buddy gave me a sweet present a few weeks back: The Sam Adams Harvest Collection Variety pack.  It really surprised me as he’s not much of a drinker, at least not anymore, and he offered up this 12 pack gem unsolicited, so my hat’s off to him.

In addition to their Boston Lager, seasonal Harvest Pumpkin & Octoberfest, and Black Lager, they’ve included a new brew introduced this year (2011): Bonfire Rauchbier.

It really has a surprising ‘smokey’ taste to it that totally caught me offgaurd.  However, that being said, I guess I could have figured that out or at the very least got a hint by looking at the label emblazened with a roaring fire.  You know how certain tastes remind you of certain smells or vice-versa?  Memories are triggered by flavors or scents?  That’s exactly what happened to me.  Upon my first taste on my pallete, I was instantly transported to a night time beach party with an actual ‘bonfire’ in tow.  You can actually taste a mild smoke flavor that reminds me of a campfire.

According to the Sam Adam website, the history of brewing this type of beer that imparts these characteristics is as such: Prior to the practice of kiln drying, barley was dried either by sunlight or over a flame.  When fire dried, the grains were suspended high enough for the heat and smoke to pass through without burning the malt.  As a result, this imparted smoky characteristics to the malt.

Also from the website are a few more particulars:

Flavor: Rich malt flavors of toffee and caramel, balanced with a smokiness that is ever present but not over powering.

Color: Dark amber, 39 SRM

Original Gravity: 15.57

Alcohol by Vol/Wt: 5.7%ABV – 4.5% ABW

Calories/12 oz.: 213

IBUs: 19

Malt Varieties: Two-row Harrington, Special B, Caramel 60, and Weyermann Smoked Malt 

Hop Variety: Spalt Spalter Noble Hops

Yeast Strain: Samuel Adams lager yeast

Availability: Seasonal (Aug. – Oct.) in the Harvest Collection Variety Pack

First Brewed: 2011

213 Calories! Yikes!  A good thing this is seasonal.  There’s just enough to whet your interest and make it a treat, especially delicious on the cooling fall evenings.  This will be one I look forward to again in another year.  Too bad it only comes in the variety pack, ’cause I’d for sure pick a sixer up for a winter BBQ.  I’d pair this up with a good lake trout dish, or grilled pork.

I know, I know…I’ve been a horrible blogger as of late.  No excuses other than sheer laziness, but here’s what’s happening lately:

• Wife still hasn’t found a job.  Been just over three months and not even a bite.  I know she’s getting stir crazy and depending on the day, a bit moody.  I understand the economy is tough, and unemployment figures are still hovering at a national average of 10%, closer to 12% in CA, so I take that into consideration.  But kids, let this be a note to you…if you hate retail, then stay in school.  The fact that my wife does not have anything beyond a H.S. diploma seems to be a major thorn in her quest to even get a call back from anybody.
• The step-daughter, after 8 month moved back in with us.  Time will tell if she’s changed, or matured, for the better.  Ohio was rough on her….couch surfing, running with a wrong crowd, having issues with her manager, etc., etc.  So she moved back last week and so far….not bad….but it’s too early for me to render any judgement thus far on positive behavioral and attitude changes.
• I started yet another new blog, Willoughby Junction, on my love for model railroading.  Go ahead, click the link to see a 41 year old dude play with trains.
• Wife did paint the kitchen a nice deep aqua blue color that real stands out in a positive way.  Everyone whose seen it so far has liked it, and I’ll have to admit, I do too.  I was a bit leary on her painting (see how she handled past painting projects), and she did fairly well….if only she would have took off the face plates off sockets first.  But we corrected that.
• My weight….Sigh….well, I put back a few pounds, but overall not so much.  Remember, I started at 237 lbs back around January 4th of this year.  And by eating more fish, jello, water, cutting back on booze and portion sizes, and finally hitting eth gym, I got down to I think around 211-212 on my best weigh in.  Well, I’ve been feeling a bit ‘thick’ again as of late.  I know I’ve been imbibing in some additional drinking (Thanks, Steve), and a few more late night snacks.  The result?  This morning I was 222.2  So I’ve gained back around 10 pounds, but overall still down 15.  So I’m back on the oatmeal as of this morning, and hitting the gym after work, and back to drinking more water and eating more fish and steamed veggies.  I’m gonna shoot for a 5 lb loss by the end of September.
• My Schnauzer, Frankie, turned 6 years old the other day, and still the love of my life.
• Celebrated my grandfather’s 93rd birthday this past weekend.
• Camping trip to Big Bear went fairly well.  I have pictures I still need to post…..eventually.
• Counting the days until I can possibly get my hands on the new Droid Bionic.  My gen 1 Droid phone is lagging as of late, and really having a tough time of things.  I don’t like the $299 rumored price point, but I’m getting so frustrated with it.  Really need to change out the phone, but do I wait for a HTC model?  Don’t know.

Our damage. Now imagine my colon.

Had the chance to go to a local Buffalo Wild Wings yesterday afternoon and meet a friend.

If you know me, you know I love Buffalo wings, and despite what the old doctor says about watching my cholesterol, it’s hard for me to turn down wings….especially when they are FREE.  Well, okay, myabe not exactly free, but a $2 super-coupon I lucked across got me $25 gift certificate.  So basically, that $23 of free wings, and I did some damage.

I ordered the following: Desert Heat (dry rub), plus three sauced vartieties – Traditional Hot, BBQ Hot, and Wild.  Overall my buddy and I polished off some 40+ wings between the both of us and they were delicious.  As a mettr of fact, I think I may buy me some wings to take up to the cabin later this week.  Nothin better that eating sauced chicken wings, downinga  cold beer, and breathing in nature.

The only downside?  The dreaded ring of fire.  This morning, I’ve already visited the facilities twice due to a little ‘heat’ discomfort on the toilet.  My tummy is doing a slow rumble, and I’ve already had to chew a few Tums to settle it all down.  I think I’ll be okay soon enough.

Making Jeff Foxworthy proud.

Okay,  that title isn’t really fair, but it’s not that far off either.

Jeremiah Weed currently makes a small selection of spirits and malt berverages.  Here, I am refering only to the malt beverage, Roadhouse Tea.

My wife bought me a six pack of this stuff after I expressed some interest in it after Adam Corolla has been pimping it on his podcast for the last few months ad-nauseum.  I originally tried the vodka laced Sweet Tea of theirs thinking it may be a nice substitute for the Seagram’s brand of Sweet Tea Vodka.  Well, I’ll tell you right now, I think the Seagrams version is a bit better.  I found the Jeremiah Weed a bit too sweet for my liking.  I mean, I wouldn’t pour it out, but given the choice of Sweet Tea vodka’s in the future, it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Anyway, back to the canned malt beverage variety (pictured, can on far right).  It is 5.8% and comes in these 1 pint, 7.5 oz cans they label “premium”.  I think the only thing “premium’ about this is the artwork that goes into the cans…you have to admit, they are a bit interesting looking and I’d wager standout a bit more while staring back at you from their refrigerated cases at Wal-Mart.

Now I personally think it’s a gimmick, and I’ll admit they got me to try it based on some marketing level, but it’s not what I was expectinga nd am really surprised (or am I?) how popular these are becoming in certain markets.  Maybe the Spiked Cola or Lightning Lemonade does in fact taste better, but knowing it’s based on a ‘malt beverage’ , don’t expect it. 

Actually I found this to taste: 1) Thicker (if that’s even a taste) than I expected, 2) “syrup-ey”, 3) and has a tin can after-taste.  No joke on that last one.  I had a few of them, and with each swig, I thought I could taste metal in the end.  The first thing I’d like to suggest to them is to line the can, ala Keystone beer did as a gimmick in the early 90′s and maybe that would help eliminate that metallic bite.

Cokctail in a Can. 80's hoopla for piss.

Overall it really reminded me of those God awful Club Mixers in a can that used to be the rage in the 80′s.  We all watched too much Miami Vice and wanted to pretend we were all as swanky as Crocket. 

As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine (whose ironically in law enforcement these days) used to buy these for me occassionally when we were under age and in High School (sorry mom).  There was a small liquor store in the area, and I have no idea what those guys behind the counter were thinking (they probably didn”t or could care less), but they’d sell my friend wine collers, beer, and booze with his shitty fake I.D. when we were all but 17 and 18 years of age.  Back then I tried the Club “Long Island Ice Tea”….and it tasted like crap out of a can…but hell, we were 18 years old and I wasn’t about to toss that down the drain no matter how disgusting they were.

So when I drink the Jeremiah Weed canned Sweet Tea, it reminds me of sneaking crap back in 1988.  Those tasted like tin as well.

I live this drink to the lower demographics….yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

So it’s already coming up on the close of July 2011.  I can’t believe how quickly this year is flying by for me.  It seems like only a few weeks ago I was writing about my mantra for this year: “Taking it all back”.  Okay, it may seem silly to you in retrospect, but for me I need to set some goals in my life, create a list of things I want to do or accomplish so I can look back and realize the year wasn’t a complete waste. 

Believe me, I’ve had that feeling quite a few times where I look back in time and wonder how much time was wasted (although it didn’t seem like it at the time) and how much life has passed me by and I have nothing to show for it.

I was driving into work this morning and think back over the last seven months, and I feel ‘okay’ about stuff.  I could do a bit more, but overall pretty satisfied on what I’ve done thus far.  I have five more months to check a few things off my bucket list for 2011, and I need to revisit some of my goals…such as losing weight.

Speaking of losing weight….I started out the year with a bang.  On January 4th I bought a scale and weighed in at 237 pounds.  Over the course of the next few months, eating a lot of Jello and heading back to the gym, I managed to get down to an average of 215 (I had one freak day where I was 211, but that was an anomoly)….and I got a lot of compliments and noticeable results from my friends and coworkers.  But then back in late April, I started making excuses to ‘cheat’ a little bit more.  My diet, while never 100% returned to the way I was eating before, became a bit more lax and then I brewed my keg’s worth of beer (Hebrew Amber Ale) , and then there were a few holidays mixed in…and before I knew it I think I’m back up to around 220-225.   I’m not exactly sure of my current weight, ’cause I’ve been afraid to step on a scale and actually find out, lest I become discouraged and crestfallen, but I know I put a few back on. 

It didn’t help that last night I ate a huge butter soaked rib eye steak chased by a few good premium beers.  I also haven’t been to the gym in almost 2 weeks, due to a spider bite that made me a ill last week.  I actually planned on going back to the gym yesterday, but instead got side-lined by the steak…..so I’m going to try my hardest and go tonight (although the heat is going to drain me and make me miserable, I’m sure.).

Speaking of my spider bite, I can’t recall the last time I got bit by something that made me sick like that.  It’s been at least 15+ years, and I just thank God it wasn’t a Black Widow or Brown Recluse…but it was strong enough to give me a ugly looking (and perfectly circular) welt on my leg (which turned various colors) that has lasted for just over a week now.  The first few days had me suffer syptoms of food poisoning (headache, body aches, intestinal distress, suppression of appetite).  Anyway, it’s almost gone now, and just in time for……..

CAMPING.  Well, okay, maybe not techincally ‘camping’ in the ‘Boy Scout’ type of way.  There will be no hiking for hours on end with 50 lbs. strapped to my back, or pitching a tent on uneven ground.  No, my idea of ‘camping’ these days must include a functional toilet and preferably an actual shower these days.  9 of us will be traveling to Big Bear next week where we rented a ‘cabin’ on the outskirts of town.  I’m looking forward to BBQ’ing on the deck, drinking some beers (and other cocktails I’m sure), doing some mild hiking and sightseeing and a whole lot of B.S.ing….. all with my closest friends that I grew up with (as far back as 2nd and 3rd grade, if you can believe that).  Okay, it might not be the most stellar vacation in the world, but the fact is my wife and I (and I know one of my other friends Steve) haven’t been on a get-away for longer than 3 days in years.  It’ll be as much fun as we make it to be, so I am determined to be in a good mood, relax, get psyched/pumped-up, etc.  And who knows….if we all have a good time, maybe we can turn this into an annual or bi-annual event?  Speaking of which I need to read the manual on my camera and charge up my small video camera and borrow the neighbors hot plate for breakfast….You can tell, I’m now counting down the days (7 to go).

Last weekend I put in a screen door in our kitchen entry to the garage.  I’m pretty proud of myself as I more or less did it by myself, and I did it correctly.  I still have to drill and mount for the handle, but I took my time and did it right.  I have two neighbors who installed the same exact screen door….and it looks like shit…no offense…but it does indeed look like shit.  I’m sure there was a few beers involved in their installation, and the fact that they probably didn’t read the instructions….Well, I’m pretty sure they didn’t read the instructions as I noted that they had the hinges on backwards and failed to cut the expander bracket…so thiers actually fits ‘oustide’ the door jamb and not flush within it.  They also rushed it.  Between the two of them, they put the door up in a matter of 2 hours.  Not that this is rocket science, but it looks like they put it up in two hours as well.  I took my time, measured, re-measured, test-fit, drilled pilot holes, etc.  Yeah, it took me quite a bit of time…..but it was done correctly…. and looks like it.

So far we’ve been lucky as far as the weather goes for summer.  We’ve managed to dodge a massive heat wave thus far, but it’s finally starting to creep up on us now, and thank goodness I put that door in.  As a matter of fact, last night at 10pm, even with our windows open, it was 85 degrees in our bedroom.  We finally broke down and turned our A/C last night, but I have a feeling I may be sleeping on the couch in the coming weeks, where it is much cooler downstairs to avoid turning on the A/C.  It’s tough to justify the cost of running it when your wife is on unemployment and we’re down to a single income.

The only other decent news is since my wife has been at home as of late, she’s spent a fair amount of time on small projects around the house that have a collective impact.  She’s cleaned up the garage, ditched some old stuff, and consolidated some boxes giving us much more space in the garage.  In the backyard, she done some weeding, sweeping, power washing, etc. and it looks nice.  Ditto for the front yard.  I’ve also noticed a lot more vacuuming of the house has taken place, so overall…a win.  Plus I’m sure the dog enjoys her company all day.

Yeah, I know it really doesn’t have much to do with cocktails, BBQ’s, or overall general craziness, but I wanted to go ahead and promote my new blog: Willoughby Junction.

What?,  A guy can’t have multiple hobbies?

Yeah, that’s right.  On top of entertaining my friends, being a foodie (and a amateur mixologist), I like to build model trains.  “But wait..”, you say, “Isn’t that an old dude’s hobby?”  Well, it’s not like I lock myself in a basement for the winter, don an engineer’s cap, and watch my trains go in a circle.  As a matter of fact, I don’t even have a basement.

No I enjoy the ‘modeling’ aspect of it quite a bit.  Meaning, I like to build ‘craftsman structure’ kits….realistic looking buildings based on actual structures built over the last 100 years.  It’s a hobby I can do by myself, in my spare time, and require a lot of patience.  I kinda look at it as therapy….somewhere I can tune the rest of the world out for an hour or so at a time and really get involved in my miodeling skills and not have to worry about anything else.

So head on over to Willoughby Junction if you like model trains, structure kits, N-scale, Ho-scale, etc.