Mr. Root Beer Part 2

So, this past weekend, we tried the Mr. Root Beer that we mixed up the previous weekend.

It was good. It was really really good. If you like root beer, you would really like this stuff. I think even if you do not like the mass-produced-soda-company root beers, you may like this one. It is much more flavorful. It is just better than most root beers.

I cannot get Connor to try it. He tells me he does not like root beer. The boy has never tasted root beer. Connor quite frequently says he does not like various foods. Usually, this is before he tries the food. I sort of want him to try the root beer, but not enough to try real hard to convince him. Root beer is, after all, mostly sugar water.

Tyler says he like the Root Beer, really has no point of reference as to how good it is compared to other root beers. And, he is not nearly as excited about drinking the root beer as I thought he would be. He says he prefers Sprite (can you imagine that?)

But, we shared with some people we had over on Saturday for grilled brats and burgers. Everyone who tried it thought it was just awesome. So, the root beer was a success. Too bad the boys do not quite appreciate what good stuff they made. But, maybe that is a good thing. As I mentioned, root beer is mostly sugar water.

Mr. RootBeer

My boys and I mixed up some Mr. Root Beer this weekend. My dad sent us a Mr. Root Beer kit awhile back. We tried to make our first batch back then, but somehow one of the kids (Connor would be my guess) misplaced the actual Root Beer Flavoring bottle. We did not discover this until it was time to add it, and we ended up trying to make it without the root beer flavor. It turned out pretty bad. Basically, root beer without the extract is white sugar and brown sugar water. As it turns out, the extract is the worst part to lose, because the kit came with 2 of everything EXCEPT the extract bottle (one bottle of extract is good for 2 batches).

Since then, I ordered a refill, and we finally got around to "brewing" another root beer batch, this time with the actual Root Beer Flavoring. Carbonation involves a little wine yeast for a couple of days (which means our root beer will have a little alcohol in it, but not much I think). Today, we felt the plastic bottles and decided that they were hard enough to indicate a good amount of carbonation, so we put them in the fridge.

We will probably chill them until this weekend and see how home-made Root Beer (with actual Root Beer Flavoring) tastes.

I'll keep you informed.

RMNP Camping

I meant to go camping Memorial Day Weekend, but waited too long to get a decent reservation. Back before kids, that would not matter, but now-a-days, I do not trust being able to just find a first - come - first - serve campsite. So, we decided to wait until the weekend after Memorial Day Weekend to do our camping. As it turned out, my procrastination was a good thing. The weather was much better when we went than it was over the Memorial Day weekend. Just another example of my Semi-Charmed kind of life.
Our camping trip was to Rocky Mountain Nation Park. Again. We had alot of fun. I really liked the campsite we got this time, and will try to get this one or one of them real close next time we come here.
Isn't the picture of the hugging boys cute? It makes Daddy happy to see the boys get along.

Anyway, I hope you like the pictures. It was really pretty up there, and the pictures really don't do it justice. As I type this, I just finished watching the Pens beat the evil Red-Wings to force a game seven. As it turns out, I will not be able to watch game seven live, so don't tell me what happens. I'm sort of watching Magic vs. Lakers right now too. Hockey is so much more exciting to watch than basketball. I really don't understand why hockey is not a more popular T.V. sport here in America.

Anyway. Go Pens. Sorry I can't help them out Friday. I'll do what I can through the DVR on Sunday.

35 lbs

This has to be the best commercial I've ever seen. I wonder who had to go through and find all these pictures.

Crud

Well, I was right. I am in a bad mood today.

At least the Hawks were not embarrassed. Huet played an excellent game and the Hawks went to overtime with a chance to win. They didn't, though.

To make matters worse, my brother-in-law stopped by from Wisconsin last night. For some unknown reason, my sister married a Red Wings fan. Other than that little fact he is a good guy, and he was at least compassionate to keep the trash-talk down, but none-the-less, it was worse having to process the loss while he was sitting there with a big grin on his face.

Go Penguins.

2day

Today is Tyler's last day of 1st grade. Yesterday, he was real excited because I told him I would go to the 2nd grade picnic with him. Because his GT class is 1st and 2nd grade, his whole class got to go to a picnic for the 2nd grade of his school. But around 10:30, I got an email from his teacher letting me know that because of rain, the picnic was canceled, so I did not go.

I feel bad. Mondy night, Tyler told Mommy how excited it was that Daddy was coming. I feel sort of like I let him down. Shouldn't a Dad be able to control the weather? Not sure why I can't. I can fight wolves and saber tooth tigers and dinosaurs and dragons. My boys can fly when they are around me. I help them travel through time and space. I have untold super Dad powers. We fight evil together, but I cannot stop a little rain?

Weak.

Speaking of weak, the Blackhawks play tonight. After last game, my expectations are not real high. Huet apparently forgot how to stop pucks, and the kid that the Hawks picked up off the Chicago streets really cannot be expected to do much. The Bulin Wall has been out and even if he is back, he was pretty shaky last time he played.

Plus, the Redwings are just too good. Oops... Did I say that out loud? At home with questionable goal tending for the opposition, in an elimination game, the Evil Redwings are just too solid to not be favored.

Don't tell any Redwing fans that I said that.

I guess considering he recent past (and not so recent) of the Blackhawks playoffs (or lack thereof), I should be happy no matter what happens tonight. And if you look at the young talent on the team, the Hawks really should be good for a long time. Playing in the same division as they evil wings is a bummer, but those jerks cannot be great forever (I hope). Yes, I should be happy for a great season and a bright future, but if the Hawks lose 2nite, I will be unhappy. I will be in a bad mood after the game. I will yell at the poor announcers during the Nuggets game. I will probably be short with the wife and kids. I'll probably kick the dog. Ok I do not have a dog. But the point is: a Hawks defeat will put me in a bad mood. It will be even worse than my usual mood when the Redwings win. It will probably ruin my week. Do not cross me the next few days if the Hawks are defeated.

Anyway, the game is starting any second. I hope I remembered to set the DVR.

Bike Ride

We didn't have the best Memorial Day Weekend weather. It is always nice to get rain, but it really would have been nice to get more sun on the long weekend.

We did go for a bike ride up Waterton Canyon on Saturday. Waterton is about a 20 minute drive for us. It is basically the start of the Colorado Trail, so I guess we really could have biked 500 miles, but Tyler is not really ready for single tracks, so we stay on the first part of the trail.

Tracy really likes biking here because it is a really wide bike trail for about the first 7 miles (after which comes the single track up into the mountains), and although it is definitely a slight elevation gain, for the most part it feels pretty flat until you start to head back and realize it is a much easier ride heading back out.

Tyler really likes the trail, because it is the only place he has riden that has clearly visible mile markers to let him know how far he has gone. I think he also appreciates the wide trail and the mostly-flat ride. And, I think he really likes the way he can go faster back out of the Canyon.


Connor doesn't much care about any of that. He just rides in the trailer talking to his stuffed Gorilla, and enjoying himself when we stop.

Tyler's previous bike - riding record was to mile-marker 3, which means he did 6 miles. Saturday, he made it 5 miles in and 5 miles out to give him (are you ready for this?) 10 total miles. 10 miles is pretty good for a boy of 7.



That first picture was a shelter we stopped at for lunch. Tyler and Connor thought is was cool that its name was "Rattlesnake", but we did not see any snakes close by. The second picture is me and the boys on a little side trail we walked up after lunch.

And, here we all are on a bridge about 4 and a half miles from the start of the trail. The kids liked dropping rocks through a little drainage hole in the bridge and watching them drop to the water.

So, this was the only out-doorsy type thing we did this weekend. Usually we are camping Memorial Day weekend, but Daddy kept putting off making a reservation until nothing was left. Considering all the rain, I am glad we did not end up going camping. It should be nicer this coming weekend.

Here is a little picture of Mommy and Daddy snowshoeing up in Estes park a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't really go with this blog, but I meant to post it back around the time we went on our kidless weekend getaway, and just never got around to it.

Playoffs

It has been a long time since I've had a such an interest this far into both the basketball and hockey playoffs. Quite frankly, it is exhausting. I have to rearrange my schedule around both the Blackhawks and the Nuggets. When I was watching to see the Red Wings or LA lose, I did not have to watch every single game or even all of any of the games. If it was not a good game, or I had something else I had to do, the TV could just stay off. When the Blackhawks are on, I HAVE to watch every minute of the game. The Nuggets are not quite as important to me, but close, and ironically, my wife has suddenly become a Nuggets fan. Welcome to the bandwagon, dear.

If not for my two-tuner DVR, I would be in real trouble since the NBA and NHL have conspired together to show "my" teams at overlapping times more often than not.

Last year, I made fun of Dot Soup's playoff beard. I am pleased to note that apparently, he reads my blog, because this year he did not even bother with the facial hair. I am happy to provide such a service. Dot, next time leave a comment, OK?

I believe my buddy Patrick Kane also read my blog as he did not even try. Since he looks 15, I am pretty sure his beard would look even worse than Mr. Soup's did last year.

Unfortunately, my other buddy Jonny Toews either did not read the blog or does not realize that his playoff beard is almost as bad as Dot Soup's was last year. But, as long as he keeps playing well, I will not complain too much. Maybe if they lose tonight I'll get on him. Actually, I am not really sure what Toews is trying to do with his face. The mutton chops look like they are comming in fine, but his chin looks exactly like Dot Soup's from last year. It is like Jonny is shaving the chin every other day or something. Maybe he is saving the real beard for the Stanley Cup finals?

4 Gallons

I gave my 32nd pint to Bonfils Blood Center yesterday.

So, I know how to bleed... what do I want ... a medal? Well, actually I did get a medal. Well, not a medal exactly, but a nice pin that looks exactly like three others I've gotten over the years (except this one says 4 gallons instead of 1 2 or 3 gallons).

My wife asked me if eventually I get something bigger and fancier than a pin. I do not know. I guess I need to keep bleeding to find out.

Happy Beer Day

Today is the anniversary of the day that Germany passed its Beer Purity Law.

In Germany it is illegal to brew a beer with any ingredient other than malted grain, water, yeast, and hops. Apparently, April 23 is the day the law was enacted.

I do not know much about the law. Do you go to jail if you add honey to your wort? Does this law apply to home brewers or just commercial brewers? I do not know.

I do know that none of my home-brews pass muster with German Purity Law. All of my beers so far have a little something extra added for flavor or a boost in alcohol.

I will make sure my next beer is pure so that if any German guys come over I'll have something to serve them.

Happy Beer Day.

SUTA

Last night, I paid my quarterly State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) for all my employees. For those of you who are employees, unemployment tax (both state and federal) is one of those taxes that employers pay for you without you generally knowing it is being paid. Isn't that nice of us?

Considering I am the only employee of my S-Corp, I hate paying SUTA and FUTA (like I love paying the rest of my taxes ... right?) because I sort of suspect that it would be hard for me to ever actually collect unemployment back from the government. I am the owner of my company, so technically I always have a job unless I close down my S-Corp even if I cannot pay myself. I do not know if I am correct about how hard it will be for me to collect. God willing I will never find out. But, even though SUTA and FUTA are not big expenses (in comparison to the other taxes I pay), I get angry paying them. As the company bookkeeper / accountant / owner / etc... I have plenty of opportunity to pay lots of taxes and plenty of opportunity to get angry at the IRS.

Last night, I got a surprise. My SUTA payment was about 1/3 as much as it was last year. Of course, I was sure that I had made a calculation mistake, but I did verify that, yes, my SUTA rate went down this year. I'm sure I have Mr. Obama to thank, and I am a little embarrassed that it took me by surprise. If I had 1000 employees instead of just one, that would be quite a savings. I thought Obama hated rich jerks like me.

Today, it hit me. Most likely the fact that I pay significantly less on State Unemployment Tax might just mean the Feds are going to get me (I do not usually pay FUTA until the end of the year). But, I just looked it up and the FUTA rate is going down too (although not necessarily for me ... FUTA has weird rules around who pays what based partially on what you pay to your State).

It seems odd that at record levels of unemployment, I have to pay less into the unemployment pot, but I guess I'm not going to complain. Its just one more thing I'll just let Tyler's and Connor's grandchildren pay for as our nation's debt continues to rise.

T.V.

According to an article that came up on my iGoogle portal, the average American is watching 35 hours of T.V. a week. (here is the article). I do not know how the average American has so much time on their hands. Unless it is hockey playoffs or football season, getting in more than a couple hours of T.V. a week just does not happen at my house. And, even if it is one of those critical times of the year, I just do not have 5 extra hours a day. Basically to get in that much T.V. time, I would have to have the T.V. on from the time I get home until about an hour or two after I go to bed. The article does mention that the stats come from neilson, and that if someone has the T.V. on but is not watching, it would not be able to track that. It is a pet-peeve of mine people who have the T.V. on all the time even when they are not watching (and I know people like that).

I mentioned the article to a couple of guys I work with who both sort of mentally took stock of the shows they watch a week, and even though they both apparently have a lot more time to watch T.V. than I do, even so, they did not come close to 35 hours. So, that being the case, if 35 hours is an average, some people must be watching 40, 50, 60 hours of T.V. a week ... right?

I am shocked. Apparently, I need to talk to the average american to ask for tips on how to get so much free time.

Tax Day

Due to a somewhat complex situation with company K1s, I had to file an extension with the IRS this year. Of course, I still had to do all the tax prep work because even if you delay your filing, the government still wants its money. And since my goal is always to delay giving my money until I have to, I do not come close to getting a refund. So, I wrote a large check to the IRS to send in with the extension.

Of course, the reason I had to extend is because I do not have final numbers on one of my companies, so I have to make a guess. If I do not pay the government enough, I have to pay a fee and interest. But, if I overpay, is the IRS going to give me interest on my overpayment? No. Does not seem fair, does it?

Then, of course, being the small-business owner that I am, I need to pay estimated taxes for the first quarter of 2009 on top of my "final" payment of 2008.

And now, I am not even done. I still need to finish up the last of the return once I get my last K1.

I hate tax day.

At least I am not one of those suckers who lent the government significant interest free money to the IRS this year. (anyone who gets a refund)

They don't need blood?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably know that I give blood about as often as I am allowed. My church runs a blood drive basically every 8 weeks, and I almost always go.

Today I got a voice mail message saying that my next appointment has been canceled, and if I would like to be scheduled for Abiding Hope's next drive in June, I could call back and they would gladly schedule me. I just went online to schedule the appointment for June. But then, I thought, "Well, I could probably go somewhere else ... I wonder if they can schedule me on the 25th for a different location."

So, I called the Bonfils Blood center and asked the nice lady if I could give elsewhere on the 25th. She asked me where I live and once she looked something up, told me, sure, I could come to the Bonfils facility in Highlands Ranch. Cool, I have to drive about 20 minutes instead of 10, but that is not bad at all. She scheduled me. I'm all set. Just have to remember to drink plenty of water ... blah blah blah etc...

I asked her if she knew why the church drive had been canceled, but she told me she is just in the call center and does not know.

I think that Bonfils is canceling blood drives because they do not need as much blood. The reason I think that is because CHFA (my current client) has periodic blood drives and canceled their last one. CHFA told their people that Bonfils asked to cancel because the blood supply is up and the demand is down. This is due to a reduction in elective surgeries. Can you guess why there are less elective surgeries? There are less elective sugeries because of the crappy economy. So, I guess besides gas prices being down, another plus to no one feeling confident to spend money is that the blood supply is up.

If you give blood or really pay attention at all, you know that blood centers are ALWAYs asking for people to give blood. The blood supply is always lower than they would like. But not now. At least, not now in the Denver Metro Area.

"So, if they don't need your blood", you may ask, "why are you giving blood?"

Well, my somewhat odd feelings (bordering on an obsession really) on giving blood are pretty well documented in this blog, so if you want details, you can search on "blood" and maybe get a pretty good idea. Really, it comes down to the fact that I like giving blood. Obviously, if Bonfils did not want my blood at all, they would not have accepted my "walk-in" appointment, so I do not think it is a matter of they won't be able to use my blood. I figure they have calculated their walk-in traffic is enough for now and they probably still want some people to come in. CHFA did explain that certain types were still needed and that was why some of the CHFA employees were getting phone calls. My O+ blood type is pretty common (I think it is the most common), so they do not care about me so much I'm sure, but like I said, if they decide they don't want my blood they can give me a call and tell me.

Anyway... it is just interesting to me that for the first time I can remember, a blood center is actually trying to reduce their donations.

I'm Sorry

If I see you as a parent with your child on a leash, I am automatically going to consider you a worse parent than me. I'm sorry. I know I am basing a harsh conclusion on a very limited set of data. I do not care how crowded it is or how many children you have. As soon as I see the kid on the leash, I smirk. I feel sorry for the kid and I mentally judge the adult holding the leash as cruel or incompetent or both. Yes, I know it is condescending and somewhat prejudiced emotional reaction. It is pretty arrogant for me to make that conclusion, but I cannot help it. The conclusion to which I will jump is that you are somewhat inferior as a parent.

So, I was in the library tonight picking up a book for my wife when a family of 4 walked in. A boy who was probably not quite 3, a girl who looked to be about 5, a dad and a mom. The boy was on a leash held by his mom. And as soon as they came in, the boy started screaming. Screaming may be a little of an exaggeration, but we were in a library and he was loudly expressing displeasure.

Now, ok we all understand that I just admitted a prejudice against parents who have their children on leashes. But in a jeffco public library? Really? And lets just forget the leash. Two parents two kids. One of the kids is crying. TAKE THE KID OUT OF THE LIBRARY. I don't like leashes but, I have an absolute PET PEEVE when it comes to parents who let their kids be disruptive in public places. I would not allow either of my kids to be one tenth as disruptive in a restaurant or a grocery store let alone a library. If something similar happened to me, the quiet child would go with Tracy and the disruptive child would be outside standing with his nose against a tree or a wall until he calmed down. He would then apologize to me and then we would go back in and apologize to his mom and the librarian or he would return to his timeout.

These parents handled things a bit differently. The dad went to a computer and told his wife to take the boy back to look at Thomas things. I did not stick around much longer so I do not know if that worked.

I do understand that in certain circumstances it can be difficult to keep a child civilized in public. But quite frankly, this situation should have been very easily controlled.

Beer Tasting

We visited Henderson, NV for Tyler's spring break this year. I brought four of my Sheppy Brews along with me and the night before we left, Tracy's cousin and his wife joined us at Grammy and Papa Lou's house. I broke out the 4 beers and gave everyone a little taste of each of the four beers:

• Classic American Blonde Ale
• 1776 Ale
• Eric's Red
• Maple Brown

Overall, I was pleased with the reception of the beer. Everyone was very nice with their praise without over-doing it so that it felt pretty sincere.

As it is the lightest, we tasted Classic American Blonde Ale first. It was the favorite of the group. Grammy and Lisa are not really beer drinkers and Jerry and Papa Lou prefer light beers, so it is not a surprise that they would prefer my lightest beer. But, I do have to admit that it is a good beer, and based on this response and positive comments from my sister-in-law before, I am going to make sure I brew this again and that I keep this beer in stock. Unfortunately, this was my last bottle, so I will have to make more soonish.

The second beer we tried was the second lightest, 1776 Ale. 1776 Ale is a very hoppy amber ale. The liberty hops give the beer an almost pine like taste and I think is very similar to New Belgium's Mighty Arrow. 1776 was not as well-liked, but did not seem to be disliked. This was simply a case of the style not being what the group was used to. To be honest, I also have to be in the right mood to drink this beer.

The third beer was my Eric's Red, which is my favorite brew so far. This is a deep amber / almost (but not quite) red beer. You can taste hops on this one, but they are not nearly as strong as 1776. This is a more malty beer. The 2-week conditioning period was not done yet, but it was close enough that I figured it was ready to taste. So, it should be even better when I try it next. I think I will try to keep this beer in stock. My tasting group liked this one very much as well.

Maple Brown is my darkest beer so far, and the last one we tasted. It was a major disappointment to me and clearly the least favorite of the group. Unfortunately, there is a definite alcohol taste to this beer, which overpowers the malt. I was unable to taste the maple at all. I am surprised I disliked it so much because I thought it tasted pretty good when I bottled it. I will let it condition a bit more and continue to try it, but I do not think I will brew another maple beer again for a long time.

It was fun having this little tasting party. Everyone was very kind with their comments. Jerry said he would be my sales guy when I was ready to go commercial with my micro-brewery. Of course, I do not really have any plans to go commercial, but it is fun to think about it.

I am glad people beside me seem to like my beer.

Valley of Fire

On Tuesday, we loaded ourselves in Grammy's and Papa Lou's Durango and headed out to the Valley of Fire Nevada State Park. I have to say it was really cool. There were lots of red rock formations, some of which we were allowed to climb on. We saw 4000 year old petroglyphs. It was pretty awesome. We even got to do a geocache on the way to the park and drop off a travel bug we picked up on our last geocache in Colorado. This one is an alligator that comes all the way from Florida. I do not know if this poor guy will like the Nevada desert!

This is a picture of some of the 4000 year old petroglyphs.

This is a picture of the CO Shepards among the Nevada Red Rocks.

Connor taking care of Grammy while the rest of us go on a hike.

The rest of the hikers (Papa Lou is the one behind the camera)

In Vegas

It is Tyler's spring break.

He got an extended break when we got a snow storm Thursday which closed school two days. Thursday was Tyler's first snow day ever. Friday was his second. That is sort of amazing considering we live in a place like Denver as opposed to a place like Nevada (for example).

We went to Las Vegas for Tyler's spring break. Well, Henderson, NV actually, but we can see the strip from the place that we are staying. My wife's mom and dad live here in the desert. I cannot imagine living here. I hate the summer in the desert and don't really like the fact that you don't really have a winter here. Actually, I think I am one of the few people in the world who probably would not visit Vegas (unless I had relatives living here and/or my wife made me come). It just is not someplace that excites me that much.

But the kids really like visiting their grandparents. And the weather this time of year is ok.

We drove this year. Utah has some interesting scenery and we have not taken our mini-van on a long road trip yet. Plus, I was sort of hoping we would get one of our huge snow storm and not have to go. We got a huge snow storm, but not big enough to stop the trip. Oh well.

On the ride out, we stopped at one of those Utah viewing areas and Tyler found this little lizard running around across the rocks. Tyler did a good job picking the guy out considering how well he was camouflaged.

Anyway, we are having fun in Nevada. Today, we are going to Valley of Fire State Park. It looks pretty interesting. Maybe I'll post some more pictures after we go.

Poor Irish

Lodo bars are packed with green clothed people today.

It being Tuesday and the fact that there is no way that many companies give St. Pat's day as a holiday leads me to believe that all these Irish people are unemployed.

Poor Irish forced to sit around all day drinking beers.

March

Here it is March already. I am not sure what happened to the winter. It seems we have had many more 50+ days than not this year. Hopefully we will get some snow in March and April.

Tyler's birthday is coming up. His party is this Saturday and the actual birthday is on the 10th. He is getting so big! His last basketball game for the season was this past Saturday. He is a head taller than most of the kids. He is at least 3 inches taller than the second tallest kid in the 5-6 year old basketball program. My baby is growing up.

I think I am obsessed with home brewing. I wake up thinking about beer. I spend hours reading about brewing on the Internet or books from the library. I bottled my Maple beer on Saturday and started some raspberry beer Sunday morning before anyone was up. I do not even like raspberry beer! Last Friday I made a trip to my Local Home Brew Shop and bought some DME. I am now looking at refrigerators everywhere I go because I need more storage space for conditioning my brews. I think about buying more equipment all the time. Where does this all stop?

Yesterday, I went on a bike ride with a facebook friend whom I knew in high school and whom I have not seen in over 20 years. He is in a wheelchair now and he took me hand cycling. Downhill was a blast. Uphill was torture. All in all, I had fun. It was a great workout and I hope to get out with him some more. Hopefully he doesn't get sick of me slowing him down! If I get to the point where I am respectable, my arms and shoulders will probably be just huge.

Anyway, that maple beer I bottled was really good when I sampled it before bottling. I might taste it along with my 1776 ale on St. Pattrick's day. This coming weekend I will bottle Eric's Red. I think I may even give it a try on the 17th, even though that will be a real short conditioning period. I need to decide what to brew next. My plan for the raspberry beer is to try it with Tracy on Mother's Day. That is such a long time to wait, so we might have to break down before then. I really hope Tracy likes it because I do not know if I would be able to finish 2 gallons of fruit beer.

I need that bigger refrigerator!

Thanks for the obsession, Tera.