Of course the random thoughts typically appear on Sunday, but I needed to wrap up the pumpkin beer reviews so that did not happen.  Since sharing my random thoughts is part of my self imposed and self directed mental therapy each week, I am just taking over Monday.  “Random Thought Sunday” should return to its regularly scheduled day at the end of this week.

With that said I will move on to a travel themed string of random thoughts, starting with what a guess are the more negative ones and moving toward positive from there.

Random thought #1 – If I have not mentioned it before, it is my opinion that if you cannot lift your bag into the overhead compartment that it is not a “carry on” piece of luggage.  Also, if you see that I am already half asleep with my head phones on and you still ask me to help you with said bag, don’t plan on me chatting with you on any level during the 4.5 hour flight.

Random thought #2 – I do not think that it would be unreasonable to expect an airline to provide at least some radio as an option to listen to on cross country flights.  I don’t mind reading at all, but I would very much like to drown out the sounds of the various bodily functions coming from the rest of the passengers while doing so.

Random thought #3 – As an example of travel karma I witnessed a tennis racket fall from the overhead compartment and hit a woman in the leg after she was a nuisance (to at least me) during the flight.  Sure I am glad she is OK, but I did laugh quite hard on the inside.

Random thought #4 – Surely there are people out there who can sleep well on planes (with or without any number of drinks), but I am apparently not one of them.  Having the middle seat does not help my chances either.

Random thought #5 – There are so many cool little places (and truck stops) in remote locations of the western United States.  Either that or spending 17 straight hours in a vehicle makes every stop seem spectacular.

Cheers!

A brief moment of anxiety for no obvious reason threatened to ruin what was to be typical relaxing Sunday for me.  Now that I think back, it was probably a combination of thinking that I lost my wallet and the two cups of coffee I drank.  I will consider the episode half anxiety and half caffeine high.  Now that I have straightened out my own confusion we can move on to . . .

Random thought #1 – I have no problems with using portable toilets, but I would prefer that they be stable and secure.  Using one that is not level and is rocking makes using an airplane bathroom during turbulence seem luxurious.  With that, was is the official name for those . . . portalets?

Random thought #2 – Is something that is called a club sandwich actually a club sandwich if it doesn’t have any bacon in/on it?  I don’t know the answer, but please let me know if you do.

Random thought #3 – So in flipping through the channels I find out that apparently their are some species of ants that may be able to kill a human.  Just great.  That is not exactly something that they should be including in the tourist brochures in places like Costa Rica and Australia.  I dislike fire ants quite a lot, but maybe I should consider myself lucky that I don’t have those other ones in my back yard.

Random thought #4 – Apparently having a car in the shop for various services and repairs twice in recent weeks was not a guarantee that they would tell me there was NO coolant under the hood.  Thankfully that seems to be the reason that my car dry heaved and flashed the check engine light at me out of nowhere this morning.

Random thought #5 – Going on a long walk on a gorgeous sunny day is really great fun until you realize that you are sun burnt and tired and somehow still miles from home.  Still fun, but I will be sure to bring sunscreen and water next time.

Cheers!

With a busy week ahead, it is nice to have a slow paced Sunday to enjoy today.  Oddly enough we went out and had a busy day in the rain yesterday, but have no big plans to leave the house now that it is sunny today.  There is a lot of stuff around the house to catch up on and some gold medal hockey action to watch later, so I am content with a day at home.  Happy final day of the Winter Olympics!

Random thought #1 – My good friend (and roommate from college) called me on my birthday to (in part) ask me what was going on.  Imagine our laughter when we realized that I was likely playing video games and drinking beer on my birthdays back then too!

Random thought #2 – The Wife brought to my attention that words come out of my mouth while watching (Syracuse Orange) college basketball games at home that are not known to be in my vocabulary or even in the English language.  I think that is quite awesome and I am not ashamed at all!

Random thought #3 – I need to stop drifting off to my happy place(s) when stuck or driving slowly in traffic.  Of course I enjoy my time there, but I also really like having my car in tact as well.

Random thought #4 – There are many rainy days where I wonder how I have lived in Florida for so long without owning an umbrella, but then the sun comes out the next day and I forget about it (until the next rainy day).

Random thought #5 – With every beer consumed I become more aware that environment and atmosphere have a lot to do with the perception and enjoyment of that beer.

I quite often find my head in the clouds.

Cheers!

Though I am not sure exactly what is going on downstairs, The Wife said she was making me an early (very slightly) birthday cake and I can smell and hear bacon.  With that, I must keep this short to go do some investigating.  Hopefully I can do some surveillance without being noticed.  I think I have an excuse to get into the kitchen for an early (very slightly) birthday beer or two.  That type of behavior would definitely not raise any suspicions.  Happy Sunday! 

Random thought #1 – Very (very) quickly approaching my 30’s is exciting as I am viewing it as the first full decade of my adult life.  No reason to be bummed at all.

Random thought #2 – I did not think anything could make the aromas of BBQ (that wonderful combination of smoke and meat) unappealing.  Apparently mixing it with some cigar and cigarette smoke can do that.

Random thought #3 – I admit my guilty pleasure of watching Olympic Curling when I have the chance, but there must be more to it than I am aware of.  Otherwise they just (often) make it more complicated than an oversized game of shuffleboard should be.

Random thought #4 – There is no particular reason for it, but even with an enticing issue of Saveur dedicated to it I have no pulling desire to ever visit Los Angeles.

Random thought #5 – Having friends to provide you with empty bottles, boxes, and six-pack holders for home brewing purposes is a very good thing.  Having friends with good senses of humor is priceless.  See what I found in my driveway on Friday . . . .

A round of applause for Gregg please!

Cheers!

It is great when birthdays fall on holidays since it gives me a better chance at remembering them on time.  So Valentines Day always helps to remember to wish a happy birthday to one of my younger brothers.  Though I am older than him I will still withhold his name and age to protect the (mostly) innocent.  With that, I can now say how bummed I am that football season is over, but how very excited I am that all of my attention can turn to my beloved Orange basketball team and the home stretch of their season.   Now on to some thoughts from this last week before The Wife and I settle in with a few good beers for some Olympics, Daytona, and (most important to me on this day) college basketball . . .

Random thought #1 – Maybe I am jaded because I spent so many years driving in the snow, but a steady rain is no reason for highway traffic to slow to 15-20 mph.  It is just rain people!

Random thought #2 – Not having the heat on during a cold spell is a good way to get attention from your animals.  Sixty degrees is apparently the threshold at which my pets become very affectionate and cuddly.  True Florida critters.

Random thought #3 – The calmness of mind during yoga is not quite there for me mostly because I am very uncomfortable for a good portion of the time.  That and the dogs keep trying to participate.

Random thought #4 – Short track speed skating is a few thrown elbows away from being roller derby on ice.  That is some good Olympic watching!

Random thought #5 – When you have to take time to think of what your final “random thought” is for the week, it is no longer random.  Maybe it is time for me to pull the “Improve Your Brain Power” book off the shelf and sharpen my memory a bit?  Damn me for not writing things down!

Prost!

Being busier than usual this past week, I would have expected an excessive amount of random thoughts to go with today.  However, I guess being busier meant that I wasn’t writing them down over the course of the week as I have made a habit of doing.  Lesson learned I suppose, but a few of them seemed to pop back into my head over coffee this morning and I always have enough garbage floating around in my noggin to fill in the rest.  Now on to some thoughts for the week before settling in for some football . . .

Random thought #1 – Though I do not often watch the weather before leaving the house, I know that the chance of rain goes up significantly when I put my shoes on to do so.

Random thought #2 – Is there a good reason why the big game cannot start a bit earlier in the day?   Waiting around the entire final day of the two-week break is mildly torturous.

Random thought #3 – The excitement of restarting my exercise/fitness routine has quickly gone away as I learned that it now hurts to raise a pint glass to my mouth.

Random thought #4 – It has been quite a while since I have brewed beer at home and currently I don’t even have the ingredients to do so.  Apparently I am putting way too much thought into what I should brew next.

Random thought #5 – The cold was never what bothered me, but after seeing the amount of snow that certain areas of the country are getting this week I am reminded of what exactly made our decision to move south so easy.

No thank you! (via Susan Walsh/AP & http://www.guardian.co.uk/)

We are now at the last day of January and it is just feels like an excellent day for my random thoughts.  Tomorrow is exciting for me since it not only begins “Great Divide Brewing Co. Month” here on the site, but also marks the beginning of the month where I will be turning 30.  There is also a little bit of a side (beer related) project that will debut on the site in the very near future.  I suppose those will be the consistent themes that you will see for at least the next four weeks.  Now on to the mind purging . . .

Random thought #1 – Starting with my current beef with a beer commercial (you will know who I am referring to).  You absolutely do what you have to do and use what you have to use when carrying multiple beers back to your buddies while at a sporting event. However, giving any of your buddies the one that you carried back in your teeth in completely unacceptable.  That one is yours, you dope!

Random thought #2 – Simply watching somebody bench over 600 pounds, as the bar flexes a bit, makes my spine hurt.  What an amazing collection of athletes there is at a national weightlifting event (check back tomorrow for photographic evidence).

Random thought #3 – Waving your hand at someone does not make it OK to pull your car out in from of him or her.  To the best of my knowledge your hand motion does not override any laws or rules of the road.

Random thought #4 – Sunday morning bike rides are a great idea even when it is 20 degrees or so colder outside than you expected it to be.  Just be sure to pedal faster to stay warm and consider wearing pants instead of shorts.  Then make sure to jump in the pool when you get home because even though the water is extremely cold, it is still warmer than the air outside.

Random thought #5 – There is simply no disputing the fun of playing horseshoes with friends in your backyard while drinking beer.  It took only a very short time to be reminded of that.  Thank you to the FK crew for that and for helping me empty some bottles for future home brewing use!

Some of the aftermath.

It should be pretty obvious what I have been doing this week and what I have going on in the near future after reading through this list.  “Random Thought Sunday” has arrived at the perfect time, allowing me to take a short break from the work around the house and getting me back in the living room in time for the NFL games coming up very soon.   There is even a bit of beer news thrown into the mix today just for fun.  Without further delay . . .

Random thought #1 – Having friends or family coming to visit from out of town is great incentive to finally complete projects around the house that have been put off for months.  Of course that inevitably means you will do nothing to the house for the months after the visit.

Random thought #2 – I am a sucker for the opportunity to have a beer flight, whether from the same brewery or many different ones.  Why make yourself settle on just one beer when you can try six?

Random thought #3 – Is it the fumes that put you into a trance while painting?  It is often an incredibly tedious task, but the hours seem to pass by very quickly.

Random thought #4 – Learning that at least one more (good) brewery will be canning their beer really got me excited this week.  I am not sure why, but it just feels right to drink beer out of a can every now and then.

Random thought #5 – It is amazing how much more efficient I am with household tasks with a clean garage at my disposal.  Now that also means I have a lot of work to do to get it messed up again.

Cannot wait!! (via http://blogs.westword.com/)

Until the next time . . .

With it being such a nice day (though very breezy) I am conflicted about staying inside to watch football all afternoon, but with only a few days of NFL left this season I will likely give in.  I do think that I can cross a few outdoor chores off the list before doing so though.  Since the clock is a tickin’ I will quickly move on to a few thoughts from the week . . .

Random thought #1 – Though I appreciate the warmer weather that we are again enjoying in Florida, part of me misses that cold spell we had.  Maybe the northerner in me is not entirely gone after all?

Random thought #2 – Apparently Spring is coming earlier this year since there were already Spring seasonals (or at least one) on the shelves at the local grocery store yesterday.  I am still working my way through some Winter beers that I have, but that is no reason to complain.

Random thought #3 – When a big dog (or two) is chasing a squirrel there is no screen enclosure out there that can hold them back.  At least the one we have at our house cannot do so.

Random thought #4 – If only for the fear of eventually breaking my hand, it may be time to add some padding to our coffee table before watching my next Orange basketball game.  Unfortunately that only gives me until tomorrow.

Random thought #5 – I really dislike the task of raking leaves and I have every intention of waiting until they are done falling before doing so this year.  One of the only things that can make raking the yard worse is having to do it more than once.

Until next time . . .

Though I could take the easy way out and use this as my daily post, I will still have a beer review coming later today.  Think Cooperstown.

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Since yesterday The Wife got her half marathon in for the weekend today is a somewhat lazy, NFL playoff watching, (probably) beer drinking Sunday.  There is absolutely no reason for me to be upset about that lineup for the afternoon.  If all goes well I may even bottle some beer today to round out an excellent weekend.  Now for my weekly collection of randomness . . .

Random thought #1 – So I have always said that if it was ever to snow in Florida I would move even further (farther? . . . whatever) south.  I suppose it is time to start packing since I would prefer not to be known as a liar.  That or I can get by on the technicality that it did not accumulate on the ground?

Random thought #2 – It is incredibly frustrating to be outsmarted by a single cell organism as I seem to have been in the last few days, even if there are billions of them.  There is no way that I am giving up though!

Random thought #3 – It seems that Twitter was invented for people like me to stay more current on the news (or often sports news in my case).  My attention span can handle one sentence or so at a time without much of a problem.

Random thought #4 – When you have time to spare, getting lost can often be a really good thing.  Even more so when you can pull up a map on your phone whenever you need it.

Random thought #5 – Having a pair of shoes that squeak with each step might just drive me insane.  Sure I cannot hear it when I am in a crowd, but being off on my own is almost unbearable!

Congrats to The Wife for not getting frostbite!

Until next time . . .

This is a slightly different angle on the random thoughts for the week, but this is what has been on my mind.  I suppose this is the time of year where we all try to set some sort of goals for the new year.  These are not necessarily resolutions, but rather things that I feel I need (or would like) to take care of this year.  Surely more will be added in the coming weeks, but these will give me a good place to start.  This is all in addition to patching the giant hole in our dining room wall, of course.

Random thought #1 – I really would like to finish reading the handful of books that I started and have yet to complete.  Reading half a book seems to be a habit of mine and it would be nice to fix that.

Random thought #2 – Sure I would likely need to start again at the beginning, but I want to continue my efforts to learn a second language.  It is something that I feel is important to me.

Random thought #3 – It will soon be time to build myself a proper home brewing setup.  I will not be ready for the big leagues anytime in the near future, but I am ready to at least take a shot at AA ball.

Random thought #4 – It will be important for my mental well being (and The Wife’s) if I make a better effort to relax more and not obsess about the small(er) stuff in life.

Random thought #5 – Now is the time to take control of my professional life.  I feel reinvigorated, more focused, and ready to direct my path rather than having it dictated to me.  Balancing #4 with this will be part of the requirement.  This year will be fun and interesting if nothing else.

Cheers to a great 2010!

Welcome to 2010!

Here is a little beer study guide of sorts for the new year.  Enjoy!

An actual Blue Moon? (via http://dailycontributor.com/)

A long Christmas weekend involving family and friends is a good way to wind down the year.  Having Christmas on a Friday turned out to be much better than the years where we have to deal with it on a Wednesday.  With another short week and another long weekend coming right up, the new year will have every chance to start off just as well as this year will close out. Time to get to work on the resolutions in the next few days, but for now here is what came to mind this past week . . .

Random thought #1 – It would be nice to find a way to help the poor souls that work at Best Buy the day after Christmas.  Having seen the situation first hand I hope that at least their day goes by in a blur and is over before they know it.

Random thought #2 – If only traffic could be as free-flowing every day as it is on Christmas day.  It was just fantastic.

Random thought #3 – Now having seen a Snuggie in use close up I am adding it to the list of things that I wish I had invented.

Random thought #4 – Having to drink a few beers to be able to put the groceries away in the fridge is a good problem to have once and a while.

Random thought #5 – I am pretty damn excited about the overall prospects for the upcoming year and am looking forward to getting it started.

Let the countdown to 2010 begin!

Happy Holidays to you all!

Heineken bottles put to good use! (via http://www.interiordesign.net/)

A little closer look. (via http://www.interiordesign.net/)

That is all for today. . . Cheers!