More to Tell

It's getting harder to make time for these posts, but I will keep muddling through. My notes tell me that I was supposed to mention Wii, beer and Nick, but now I can't remember quite exactly what I was supposed to be blogging about. Oh well, I will start running off at the keyboard and something will end up in the post.

We Have a Wii

Embracing our second childhood, we've decided to start investing in video games. Actually, we purchased the Wii Fit, on the assumption that it will be way less embarrassing attempting yoga in front of a virtual trainer than it would be with an actual human being. And, it is actually kind of fun. I am getting a little tired of the way the system sort of wheezes when I step onto the balance board, but overall it's entertaining.

I suggested that to achieve the greatest fitness improvements one should Wii naked, allowing the greatest range of motion, freedom of movement and, if nothing else, serving as a powerful appetite suppressant. Denise is not supportive of this notion.

The bad news is that I have developed a little bit of Wii shoulder, hyper-extending the thing playing Wii Tennis. The good news is we haven't hurled the remote through our HDTV or knocked over any lamps or things of that nature. And we've had no wee Wii heart attacks working out, which is a good thing, given that our virtual trainers are probably not CPR certified.

Biology Experiment

I have, at long last, started my home brewing experiment. Actually the experiment has been running for the better part of three weeks and is approaching fruition. I refer to this as a biology experiment because God only knows what is growing in those bottles. I mean, the little yeasties are hopefully in there converting sugars to alcohol and CO2, but for all I know I've killed them somewhere along the process. And the greater concern is not that I've killed the benevolent yeasts, but that I've introduced some sort of bacteria that's converting everything to toxic waste.

I freely admit that I may have made plenty of mistakes in cooking up my first batch. I failed to introduce my hops at the appropriate time during the boil, proceeded to boil the stuff too long, for all I know may have contaminated the whole batch and who knows what else. Strangely, after a week of fermentation I went ahead with the bottling and sneaking a little taste of the results after the primary fermentation, I was surprised to find something that tasted oddly like an ale. Who'd have thunk it.

The bottle conditioning has been proceeding for a week and I've yet to have any bottles explode in the closet, so that's good news. Next Saturday is B-day. I'll crack one for a taste test then, but the recipe calls for another 3 weeks of aging for best flavor. For this first batch I'll be happy if I come up with something that will at least make a good marinade or beer-battered fish, even if it is otherwise undrinkable.

If it is the least bit drinkable you will be among the first to know.

Higher Learning

Nicholas continues to apply himself to his college education as exemplified in a personal best ski jumping for UC Davis.

This last weekend we drove to Davis for another UCD Waterski Team Parent Day and Benefit Dinner. It was a lot of driving, but a lot of fun as well. My advice to anyone who cares is to prolong ones college career as long as financially viable. Based on Nick's experience I think I'd like to retire to college. I mean ski all day, party all night, plagiarize the occasional term paper; what's not to like?

Jacob made the sojourn by bus and train from Humboldt to join us at the dinner and then joined Nick and team for the post event partying. Denise and I returned to the hotel for an attempt at a good night's sleep.

We arrived home late Sunday night after a 7-hour drive, pretty tired, but glad to be home. Leo seemed a little peeved at us for having abandoned him for the weekend. It took a while, but he finally warmed up to us and before long I was covered in dog slobber.

Time to go to bed. I am still really tired from last night's drive. And I'm sure Leo will want to get a little more slobber on me before the night is through. More later...