January 16, 2007 - Tuesday  | I saw a true hippie today He was wearing a long sleeved tye-dye shirt over another tye-dye shirt. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.
Oh, and I think I've got a boat. I just need to buy it.
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| January 13, 2007 - Saturday | bottling day!
The first 5 gallon brew: BOTTLING DAY!
Bottling Day: January 13, 2007
It looks good. It doesn't taste too bad either! And when I say not too bad, I mean
except for the yeasty taste, which will clear out a bit with age, it's actually really good.
My wife said it tastes like something you'd get at the store. I don't know about that, but
it's pretty good.
Here's a snapshot of the final gravity (1.010) and potential alcohol by volume (under 1.5).
That means that the actual alcohol by volume is almost 4%.
Here's the full cylinder with the hydrometer in it. It's a nice color too!
Close up of the cylinder, I tried to get the specific gravity measurement. I'm not sure how
well it showed up, but it's there.
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| January 12, 2007 - Friday | As nervous as a school girl My homebrew is almost done. It's slowed considerably, and is probably ready for bottling. I'll probably be able to bottle it tomorrow, if it keeps slowing down. If not, hopefully by Sunday because I'm headed to Seattle on Sunday afternoon.
That's right. I'm going back to Zipper to work with a designer and artist to figure out the patching that we haven't been able to really do before in our games.
So, my first real homebrew is almost done, and I'm travelling for work. So, my weekend should be fairly interesting.
I was kinda looking forward to possibly doing some coyote hunting, but I haven't heard back from Bucky, and it's going to be titty-ass cold outside tomorrow, so F that!
If I do anything outside this weekend, it will be walking to and from my car! The coffee and blankets will help the laptop keep me warm this weekend. The temperature outside has dropped back down to negative, and will stay there probably until the sun comes out, and probably a while after that.
Anyway, that's that.
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| January 9, 2007 - Tuesday | GOOD NEWS FOR SOCOM PLAYERS! I fixed the vehicle respawning today! WHOO HOO! It took me 2 friggin days to track down, but I fixed it. The vehicles will no longer be respawning invisible to CA players, they were working fine for S3 players.
Also, I took care of a few bugs today by saying they don't happen! It's pretty sweet when you can do stuff like that.
I made some good progress toward cleaning my bug list out. I spent some time marking duplicates and marking bugs that need to be worked on with a designer (hopefully I'll head to Zipper to work with him in person). I also tried to repro some bugs and sent them off to be checked by a tester. I started with about 20 bugs, and ended with about 16 bugs, 1 of which is fixed, I just haven't checked it in yet, and about 4 of which are being saved to be worked on with the designer.
So, PROGRESS!
Beer update: still bubbling like a mofo!
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| January 8, 2007 - Monday | Brew status, and Life status Brew:
It's bubbling like a mofo. It's pushed some stuff right out of the airlock, which means it's really going good.
Once the beer is brewed, and while I'm waiting for it to age in the bottles, I don't know what I'm going to do with the fermenter. I don't want to leave it idle, but I also don't want to get into brewing something that I won't drink. Maybe I'll get some cider started....who knows.
Life:
gearing up for a coyote hunt, which should be fun as crap
I've got a nasty cough. It's no fun. I promise.
I bought some shelves from Gottshalks for like 12$, which I'm goign to use to almost double my closet use.
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| January 7, 2007 - Sunday | the most I'm prolly gonna blog about my vacation there was lots of drinking
we spent some time at the care center, hanging out with my grandma
I went shooting with Jason
I also went shooting with my dad, brother, and my dad's friend
our subaru holds a lot of stuff, and does really well with long trips (but I still like my pickup)
we were glad to get home
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| January 6, 2007 - Saturday | First 5 gallon brew
The first 5 gallon brew
Brew Day: January 6, 2007
You can see my hydrometer cylinder, the empty can of hopped malt, the started yeast in the 2 cup measuring cup, and the fermenter filled with water. You can also 2 bottles and some misc kitchen stuff that happened to be on the counter.
I put the airlock on the fermenter, and I also put the spigot on. The spigot was a pain, it took 3 tries to make it leak-proof.
The wort boiling on the stove. I used the can from the above picture. It was "Real Ale," and it was hopped malt. It came out like melted carmel, all sticky and about the same color. I also added about 4 and a half cups (all we had) of sugar, and then a little bit of brown sugar to round out the almost 5 pounds necessary.
Here's the color. It's really concentrated at this point, but here's the color against the spoon. It's a nice carmely color, and it smells tasty by now.
The color isn't as strong now, but it's still a really nice color. I filled fermenter pretty full, and the spigot still isn't leaking! The spoon is long enough to stick out of the bucket, and even out of the picture. You can see the hydrometer sticking out right by the spoon handle.
Here's a closer look at the hydrometer floating in the wort. Initial Specific Gravity: 1.039
Different angle of hydrometer, looking at the balling scale.
I labeled my fermenter with a piece of tape (so I can remove it) with the date, and the specific gravity (1.039) and potential alcohol by volume (~5%).
I put it on a stool in my storage closet. I put it on the stool so that I can access the spigot to check gravity and alcohol content as it sits.
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| January 2, 2007 - Tuesday | 2006, top 10 Ok, it's the beginning of 2007, and I'm counting down my top 10.
1) Quitting Wal-mart/New Job
I no longer unload trucks. I no longer stock shelves. I now use my degree and I help with the SOCOM series of Playstation games. This is number 1 because it allowed almost all the rest of these.
2) First normal Christmas in 2 years
Because my job closed down for a whole week, I was able to go home to see my family during the holidays instead of working Christmas day.
3) My name in the credits of a Playstation 2 game
I got my name in the credits for SOCOM: Combined Assault. I love the game, and I poured my heart and soul into it. And it's a total blast to play.
4) Moving from the trailer park
2 I live in a nice duplex that feels like a house. We've got 3 bedrooms, and we use the hell out of it. I've got my own room for my office, shop, and storage.
5) Tikka
A totally sweet .30-06 with a totally sweet scope. I finally got myself a nice hunting rifle.
6) Shooting
I've shot more this year than ever before. Guns shot this year: my NEF 20 gauge shotgun, my 8mm VZ24 Mauser, my 7.62x54r Mosin-Nagant M44, my new Tikka .30-06 T3 Lite, dad's .32 special, dad's .22 (both the bolt and semi-auto), dad's .22 mag, dad's 12 gauge 870, Scott's Enfield Mark 1 .303 British, Jason's .45 XD, Jason's Ruger 22/45, Jason's SKS, Nathan's .45 Glock, Nathan's 9mm Luger-style Husquavarna (spelling?), and Nathan's .223 M4 Carbine with the 3 round burst (the police issue kind).
7) Motorcycle
I bought a 2006 Honda Rebel 250. It's not a super-bike, but it's a cruiser, and it's a ton of fun.
8) Crawdads with Mark and Bucky
There were more than enough for a lunch, a dinner, and another dinner.
9) Catfish
With my wife and Bucky.
10) One full year of blogging on myspace
I keep thinking I'll blog about my vacation, but I never really want to think about it long enough when the time comes to actually blog about it. Well, here's my top 10 of 2006.
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| December 31, 2006 - Sunday | the end of the year Well....it's been fun. From Christmas to New Years has been a fun time. There's been lots of drinking, lots of fun, and not enough relaxing. I'm really looking forward to a break from vacation, believe it or not. It's been a long vacation, and Jessica and I are ready to go home. We head back in the morning. 9:20 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove | |
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| December 26, 2006 - Tuesday | A moment's notice and I can be ready to go a few places around the Treasure Valley.
Give me a call. If you have my number, I can be places with a couple hours later.
I'll be here a few days. All you have to do is let me know if you want to hang out, and I'll be there.
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| December 24, 2006 - Sunday | MERRY CHRISTMAS I'm sitting around chiilin with my mom and brother. I hope you all have as fun of a Christmas as I am having. Peace, love, and good times to all. 11:34 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove | |
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| December 20, 2006 - Wednesday | One more day of work left this year! 
I have NO idea who this kid is, I just found it when I searched for "hooray" on google images, but she convey's my feelings!
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| December 16, 2006 - Saturday | Nice morning I started out getting up and making biscuits. Yummy buscuits always make a morning better. Topped off with a little huckleberry jam and a cup of coffee, and it was breakfast.
A few minutes later passed, and I was getting up and ready. I grabbed my Tikka and my shotgun, ammo for both, and enough jackets and stuff to keep me warm, and headed out. The first thing I was looking for was pheasants. I know a little draw where they like to hang out, so I headed there. About 100 yards up the draw, and I heard a flutter of wings. I couldn't tell if it was a hen or rooster because of the angle and light, until I saw the tail length. I pulled up and shot.
I had given up on my tiny little 5 shot out of that 20 gauge, so I was shooting turkey loads. It was no surprise when it went down like a rock. I'm a pretty good shot, I'm not being cocky, so, it really wasn't a surprise that I hit it. The suprise was that even after being hit with a turkey load, he stood up and started running! I quickly reloaded and shot him again. He fell down again. AGAIN, the damn bird jumped up and started running. This time, however, he was running in circles, and couldn't make it very far.
One of his wings was broken, and he stopped. I finally caught up to him and grabbed him by the neck, and started twirling. No pop. I had no axe or knives to just take his head off, so rather than obliterate him, I stepped on his head to crush his skull. The poor bird. It took 2 tries. It made me kinda sqeamish to kill it with my bare hands, which is why it took 2 tries.
Anyway, so I went to look for grouse out at White Pine. No good. The snow was too loud. I heard 2 grouse take off before I could see them, or get close enough. I gave up and headed back to the pickup.
I pulled the rifle out and set up so that I could use the roof of my pickup as a bench rest, my new sand bags and target boards worked beautifully in helping me align my scope. I made more progress in 15 shots today than I made in 40 shots last time. 25 yards only took me about 6 shots to get within a 1/4 inch of dead center. The next 11 or so shots were at 50 yards. I got really close to dead center. And when I say really close, I mean 1/4 inch AGAIN. I then took 3 shots at 75 yards. I was within an inch at 75 yards in those 3 shots. I was out of ammo, and headed back home. I took the long way and came home.
After a shower, my wife and I went out to the Co-Op for lunch and a few groceries and dinner supplies. That damn place is pretty expensive for regular groceries, but we weren't getting much and we wanted to eat there, because their deli and coffee shot are just amazing.
We walked out with a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz. I'm not a wine person, and neither is my wife, but this stuff is amazing. We bought it to pour into the pheasant, but we might not end up with a bunch left to cook with. It's tasty.
Anyway, it's time to go start looking at dinner preparations and stuff.
We'll see how the rest of my weekend goes, but it's been a good start!
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| A Mighty Wind As I drove to work yesterday, I saw lots of empty streets and parking lots. I also saw lots of little tiny branches and leaves on the ground, and not too much else. Oh, except for the occasional WHOLE TREE laying on the ground. I was just chilling, drinking my coffee and listenting to Lex and Terry, and headed to work. It was pretty close to 8am, and I took my extra scenic route on the way in.
I was pretty close to work, when I ran into a guy, a pickup and a tree. I stopped, thought about turning around, and then rolled my window as the guy came up to talk to me. I thought he was going to tell me just to turn around if I could. I know lots of roads around up there so I could have made it. Instead, he asked me for a tow chain. "I don't have a chain, but I've got a good strap you can use," I said as I stepped out of my pickup. I reached into my bed and pulled out my strap.
"I ran out of gas in my chainsaw, and I'm just trying to make the road passable. I don't know what they've been doing with this pickup, but there aren't any tow chains or anything."
As I walked over to his side, I noticed a big logo on his pickup door. He was from the North Latah Highway Disctrict. It took a couple minutes and then we got it wrapped around the tree, and then, I tried to hook it on his pickup. No luck. His tow hooks were too tight to fit the end of the strap. Luckily, he had a hitch ball and a stinger that he could put in his receiver. We got that put in, and he turned around. The strap end fit nicely around the ball, and we were in business. He put it in gear and started pulling. Or should I say spinning. All 4 of his tires were slipping a bit, but he started moving, and he pulled it out of the way enough that we could pass through.
Some advice for you all if you ever have a tow strap that doesn't have 2 good ends on it. The first time I used that strap, I tied it. The highway guy wrapped it, and just tucked the end around the strap. That's the way to do it. It tightened, but we had a huge loose end from unhooking from the pickup, and we were able to just unwrap it and go!
So, I rolled my strap up as he drove by and thanked me for about the 8th time. He asked me if the road I came in on was clear, which it was. He needed clear roads, he had no gas for his saw and he had no tow chain! I got my strap rolled up and headed into work. I got there and witnessed a small bit of carnage there. My boss's barn door had swung wide open and dinged his pickup, which was parked near the barn. I was slowly trying to figure something out to do with the door when David's friend drove up to feed the horse, sheep, and goats. We headed inside to check power. None. I made some calls to tell people not to come to work, and to tell my boss and wife that there was no power, and that it was a day off. So, we headed back out to the barn.
I was able to get ahold of David, and told him a bit of what we saw. We kept getting cut off, so we didn't really end up making any decisions. But Zipper was out of power and the fire alarm was going off. The fire department had no idea where to turn the fire alarm off. People were just leaving, and they never showed back up. It was a day off for them too.
It took a little bit, but we got the door so that we could shut it, and then we nailed it shut. We slapped a 5 foot 2x12 across the door and nailed it shut. It should be good for now.
Then, David's friend told me he had to fix his fence because a tree fell on the goat fence. Not just any tree, but a HUGE bitch of a tree. Probably a couple hundred years ago, it started, and the wind decided that it was done. It landed on the little temp fence that holds his goats, sheep, and horse. We started hacking on this tree and we were making some pretty good progress. A couple hours later, we had one half of the tree stripped, and we gave up. We put the fence as close to the tree as we could, hoping the goats wouldn't figure it out, and finally just quit. It was a HUGE tree. There was nothing we could do.
I drove home and spent the day relaxing with my wife. We watched the news and saw some massive damage everywhere. The winds hit 88mph in Pullman. It was crazy. On the 5 o'clock news, I saw that over 20,000 people were still out of power.
I went to bed. I don't know how, but we never got hit. We had some wind, sure, but our power never went out.
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| December 14, 2006 - Thursday | As Christmas approaches I'm pretty stoked about hanging out with my parents and brother for the better part of a week. It should be a ton of fun. We haven't all gotten together for that long in a couple years. I'm really hoping that we get a chance to just relax, but I also hope we get out for some shooting and such. It's really weird to think that this time next weekend, I'll be spending my last night in Moscow until 2007.
I'm really excited for 2007. I'll be turning 24, which means nothing really, but it's another year, and I'll be starting my 2nd year with Blevins Enterprises, working on the SOCOM games for the Playstation 2.
Oh, on the SOCOM note, I'm almost done with the game on the 2nd, or middle, difficulty level. I've got one more mission, and I'll be done.
Mark "Pain in the ass" Stacey got me thinking about fishing today....he's only a pain in the ass because he got me thinking about fishing. I really want to go. I was thinking about going to this place I know for some rifle sighting in, and then some grouse hunting and fishing, all in one trip. But, I want to hit this one draw for pheasants, so we'll see how the grouse/fishing ends up. Maybe I'll go elsewhere for grouse, and skip the fishing for now. I am kinda (ok, really) out of shape.
That's about all I have for today.
Wait, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I've had over 1000 profile views, and over 2000 blog views. CRAZY. I started this blog less than a year ago, on Jan 1, 06, and since then, 2000 people have read my blog.
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