blog.circusgeek

a personal blog with nerdy bits thrown in

Author: ryan

  • Kelly leaves town, I play a bit hard

    Yesterday early afternoon Kelly picked me up from my work so I could driver her to the airport. After dropping her her off, I got halfway home before noticing her phone sitting on the passenger seat. Drats! So I turn around and speed back to the airport, park, rush in and find a paging phone. I hoped she would hear it, I never ever pay attention to those things myself. Fortunately a few minutes later she came walking out of the crowd. Crisis averted.

    I went home from there (figured it’d be quicker for me to get back working if I didn’t drive all the way back into downtown.

    Later I took the bus to Greater Trumps to hang out with Snooks on his birthday along some some other friends. Later my brother T showed up and we buzzed over to Rose & Thistle for a couple more pints and some food (mmm… sausage roll).

    Felt a bit, ahem, delicate all day long. It was a long day.

  • A totally sweet Christmas present arrives

    One of my cousins(-in-law) got me one of the most awesome gifts a beer lover could get, ever… a few months subscription to the Beer of the Month Club (more specifically the Microbrew Beer of the Month Club). Today my first shipment arrived (!!). I received 12 bottles, four different styles, two each from two different featured breweries. The ones I got today were from the December selections, two from Atwater Block Brewery out of Detroit (Salvation IPA, and Vanilla Java Porter) and two from Nutfield Brewing Company out of New England (Old Man Ale, and Black 47 Stout).

    So far I’ve tried the Salvation IPA (which was very good, and this comes from someone who doesn’t typically like IPA’s, especially those overly-hoppy kind typically brewed here in the NW) and the Old Man Ale, which was (is, as I’m currently sipping on it) DELICIOUS… a great balance of malt, hops, and a nice light and yet complex flavor. I’m excited to try the remaining two styles (which I may well do later, if so I’ll update this post).

    Pretty rockin awesome gift. Thanks T! 🙂

    I’m tempted after my gift subscription ends to extend it to include some of the imported beers. I’ve gone through the selections from 2007 and they include beers from all over (Poland, Germany, England, Turkey, Czech Republic, France, Scotland, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, and Sri Lanka). For more information you can also go here for information on other ‘of the month’ clubs (wine, cheese, cigars, chocolates, etc).

    UPDATE: just cracked open the Vanilla Java Porter, very good. It’s got a coffee and slightly chocolaty start with a vanilla finish. Pretty tasty.

    UPDATE 2: now having the 4th and final style I received today, the Black 47 Stout, which is also very delicious without being overly strong, and a nice malty and chocolaty finish. Mmmmm.

  • 4 gigabyte Horse Brass

    Last Friday I ordered some RAM for both Kelly and my laptops (through my work’s IT department, saving about $40 from what I’d have paid otherwise). After ordering I was told it would be 3 to 5 business days. I arrived to work this morning and had the RAM already. Woohoo! So I borrowed the tiny screwdriver required and upgraded my MacBook Pro from 2 GB to 4GB (the maximum), and later tonight upgraded Kelly’s MacBook too. So now we’re both maxed out on what we can do to these machines, and it was massively cheaper than adding such an upgrade through Apple (each 4 GB kit I just bought came to just under $100, the same upgrade when ordering the laptop at Apple’s site is a whopping $700!)

    Before going home I met Snooks at Horse Brass for some beers, joined later by Kelly. Mmmmm… delicious Beamish on nitro.

  • Good and Bad Movie Review

    Watched a couple movies this weekend, as Kelly and I had some Netflix starting to pile.

    The first was Shoot ‘Em Up, which was, well, very disappointing. I understand what the film was going for; a cheesy, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek action flick with silly one-liner’s and lots of gun fighting and car chases. Shoot ‘Em Up had all that, however it failed to pull it off. Clive Owen‘s delivery of the one-liner’s just didn’t work (I imagine the film would have been much better had Bruce Campbell been cast as the lead character), and I groaned out loud more than once at how stupid the film was.

    The other movie we watched was Cinderella Man, the story of Great Depression-era boxer James J. Braddock directed by Ron Howard. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The story, sets, costumes, and acting were all good, and it was just enough to practically erase Shoot ‘Em Up from my brain. Almost.

  • Working for the weekend

    After two whole days of work I’m already pooped, however it was a good couple days. My energy level was at 11 (versus the usual wavering between 6 and 9) from all the time off. I wish I could have a week off every couple weeks to re-energize. It does the brain good.

    For some late Friday fun, be sure to check out this post by my friend Snooks. It will make you smile. No, seriously. It WILL make you smile. Unless there’s something wrong with you.

  • The end of another year

    Happy New Year! Last night Kelly and I had a small gathering at our house (friends who, like ourselves, didn’t have plans) to snack and drink away the last few hours of 2007. My sickness has just about run it’s course so I knew I was fine to have some beers (mmmm… Smithwick’s), however after enough beer I felt fine enough to have a few cigarettes, and am paying the price for those today (‘The Sick Strikes Back’). Otherwise I left the evening relatively unscathed. Kelly, on the other hand, is a wee bit delicate this morning. 😉

    One benefit to throwing a party are the leftovers, of which we have plenty. I say benefit, though it’s all fatty foods (dips, chips, sweets, etc) I don’t need, but will nevertheless eat at all day.

    Here’s short summary of my 2007:

    Now, on to 2008…

  • Sick, dammit all to hell

    Hrmph. This figures. I have a nasty head & chest cold. It started the day after Christmas (Boxing day), and hasn’t let up yet. I’ve spent the last 3 days in the house coughing and blowing my nose. This SUCKS. I take time off from work… valuable, precious time off work… and I get sick. Argh!

    I’ve watched a bunch of TV (more Law & Order: Criminal Intent than most people see in an entire year), some movies (including finally watching Blood Diamond, good film), and playing Call of Duty 4 when my head feels up to it.

    I’m starting to get antsy. Mid-day today I felt pretty decent, but by 4pm it all started going wrong again, and now, even after Kelly went and picked up Thai take-out (mmmm… spicey fried rice from Tuk Tuk), I’m completely stuffed up. I am, however, saying ‘to hell with it’ and am sipping on a beer. I figure, it’ll probably help me sleep, so whatever. And it’s Friday.

  • Christmas ‘n stuff

    O' Christmas TreeMerry Christmas (and other, less religion-specific seasonal wishes)! Last night Kelly and I met my family out in Hillsboro for a Christmas Eve church service, followed by a short stop at my sis-in-laws parents place for some food at their annual open house thing. At around 9pm Kelly and I left the quiet shindig and headed up to my folks house to spend the night. After a few hours hanging out with the family (mainly my mom and my youngest brother C) Kelly and I went to bed. Since the spare room was full, we spent the night in my folks 5th-wheel trailer, a giant, apartment-sized thing that’s parked in the lower driveway.

    Snow at my parents house on Christmas dayWe woke up around 8:00am, pulled on our coats and walked to the house where we got some coffee and some heavily sugared cookies in us to wake us up. After Brother T, sis-in-law, and nephew arrived we got around to opening gifts. Then, during the gift giving, it started snowing! And then, it just kept on snowing. By the time we’d finished opening gifts the ground was getting very white. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a White Christmas, and it’s very rare nowadays (compared to when I was a kid). Bonus photos: Kelly enjoying the snow, and the burning of the torn up wrapping paper and empty boxes.

    Kelly and I left my parents place before dark to make sure and get on the highways before the snow got any deeper. We made it home and were unpacked by 5:30pm, early enough for me to install and play a little bit of Call of Duty 4. Pretty sweet! At around 7pm we met Snooks & L at Kennedy School for a few Christmas Day beers.

    Oh, and no, I didn’t get the life-sized Cylon.

  • Last minute gift ideas

    Cylon Anybody looking for a last-minute gift idea to buy me? You can buy me this life-sized Cylon Centurion!

    That’s right, a Cylon complete with the eerie red eyes and audible hum sound.

    I have no idea where I’d put such a thing.

    Perhaps I’d place Fred (I’d call him Fred) in the living room where it would creep Kelly and I out as we shuffle downstairs each morning for our coffee?

    Maybe Fred would find a good spot right outside the front door to scare off petitioners, Jehovah’s Witnesses, meter readers, and postal workers?

    Either way, you would be assured that your $7,900 wouldn’t be wasted.

  • Family get-together, & beers with a friend

    Woke up around 8am today after crashing around 10pm last night. I guess I’m still feeling exhausted from the work week (and I might be fighting a bug, feeling generally blergh). I spent most of my day tinkering about the house, cleaning up music files, and playing ‘tech support’ for a friend.

    This afternoon Kelly and I went to my Aunt’s house for a Christmas gathering, where I got to visit with with some family I rarely get to see, including my cousin “J” whom I had a really fun time chatting with, something that rarely happens.

    After leaving my Aunt’s place we met our good friend JB at the Mash Tun for some drinks and some fun conversation. While there I got to try the Tun’s current brews, including the Watership Brown and a stout (the name escapes me), both of were pretty good. The barkeep had at one point poured himself a little sample of both combined and said it was really good, so I had my next pint a half-n-half of the brown and the stout, and it was pretty delicious. Ended up having another couple of those before Kelly and I went home. 🙂

    I still need to wrap gifts. I keep getting distracted. Hrmph!

    It sounds like Kelly and I will be going out to my folks place tomorrow night and staying through Christmas day. I think I’m going to bring my old WiFi router out to my parents and leave it there, so I can bring my laptop and get online without being stuck in the back room. I will probably blog again from my folks house tomorrow night. If not, Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to y’all.