I’m in the process of moving all my photos to SmugMug, a dedicated photo hosting site. Trying to self-host everything is a pain, and I can’t upload the size of image I’d like. SmugMug lets you upload the original size image and has no limit on the number of photos. I have photos from a few recent trips up there now, and will be working to get the rest done over the next week.

“A similar report Wednesday showed oil, gasoline and other fuel supplies unexpectedly rose sharply. Traders saw both the petroleum and natural gas reports as reasons to sell, as they reinforce data that show consumers are cutting back on their energy use.”

-http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080717/oil_prices.html

It would seem that oil being so expensive encouraged people to use less.
Huh, the laws of supply and demand seem to work. Imagine that.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Serj Tankian.

Thanks to Dave for bringing this amazing piece of entertainment to my attention .

Having recently had the opportunity to visit two of the local farmers’ markets, I thought I’d share a few thoughts.

Last week I stopped by the Sparks farmer’s market in Victorian square. I was less than impressed. While I understand that it is early in the growing season and many growers don’t have much available yet, there was still a disappointingly high ratio of fast food/trinket vendors to actual fruits and vegetables. If I had to guess, I’d say the farmer’s market portion of the event was less than 10%. All but one of the growers were from California.

Yesterday, I found the first annual Sommersett farmer’s market. While much, much smaller than the Sparks variety, there were more vendors selling actual fresh food. I counted six booths compared to the five in Sparks, and only two non-farmer booths compared to several dozen in Victorian Square. It had much more of a neighborhood event feel, and at least three local farmers represented.

I’m sure both events will grow as the summer progresses, but at this point I can’t imagine any reason to return to Sparks. I look forward to checking out the various other markets that take place around here, including the soon to open West St. Market. I have high hopes for that particular venue.

The Sparks Farmer’s Market takes place in Victorian Square every Thursday 4-9PM through August 21st, and the market in Sommersett Towne Square is every Wednesday 4-8PM through August 20th.

…to describe this video. So funny and entertaining, while absolutely idiotic at the same time.

Every so often, my job takes me to neighboring towns. Being in northern Nevada, that almost always equals small towns. If I happen to be there around lunch time I like to pick a local deli or cafe at random and try to find a local newspaper to read while I eat. Its amazing how fast this makes me feel like the world just slammed on the brakes. There’s a sudden clarity about life. No one is worried about traffic, the only politics being discussed are local ones, and no one seems in a hurry to go anywhere.

Now I wouldn’t want to spend very much time in most of these places; I thoroughly enjoy living in a moderate sized city where there is easy access to amenities and usually always something going on. I would even begin to miss rush hour traffic after a bit. However, its… refreshing to pull out of that for short periods of time. It’s almost the same feeling I have after waking up from a really good nights sleep.

I never really realize how different a city can be from the small town U.S.A. type of place where I grew up. Spending just that small amount of time there immediately brings back the little differences; everyone knows everyone, the newspaper is full of articles about local high school students and extensive coverage of the smallest street repair, people randomly talk to you as if they’ve always known you. The same type of things exist in larger cities, but they get lost in everything else that is going on, and the scale of things change their meaning.

While there’s a long list of things I despise about small towns to go right along with this, I still enjoy feeling like I’ve dropped out of the rat race, even if just for a few hours.

I’m sick of upselling. It started with fast food restaurants for me. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t asked to supersize or the equivalent. Now they’ve really crossed the line.

I do not, repeat DO NOT want to buy additional services when I call Charter because my cable internet is not working. I called tech support because I wanted a problem fixed. If I was interested in additional services (ones entirely unrelated to internet, mind you) I would call sales. To top that off, the Charter tech support person sounded genuinely offended when I tersely replied “No” to his sales pitch for cable TV and premium channels. “Well I just want to make sure we are meeting your service needs properly, no need to get upset.”

Slightly less frustrating, but even more ridiculous is the convenience store upsell. Yes, your local gas station or quick stop will probably ask you if you’d like a newspaper or cup or coffee with that pack of gum. This morning I stopped a bought a bottle of orange juice and was asked if I wanted to purchase a donut as well. Don’t you think that I’d have grabbed one from the shelf 16 inches away if I wanted it?

Showing us just how screwed up the telecom industry is in this article, a Verizon staffer talks about the ridiculous incentives they are offered for selling additional items, and even the punishments they are handed down if they don’t.

This seems to be such a horrible business model to use, but it appears to be invading every facet of business. What ever happened to customer service? Apparently “The Customer is Always Right” has become “The Customer Doesn’t Know What They Really Want to Buy”.

There’s a new brewing game in town, and their name is Buckbean. Located just south of the interesection of South Rock and East McCarren, Buckbean is a medium-size brewing operation. They’re created their space out of a larger warehouse type building, and installed a brewing system with a 30 BBL capacity. That’s 30 barrels of beer, or just under 1000 gallons.

They currently have three beers; the Original Orange Blossom Ale, the Black Noddy Lager, and a Red Ale whos name I can’t remember. The Original Orange and Black Noddy will be the first two beers available via 15 or 5 gallon Keg, 64 oz. growler, or 16 ounce can. Tell your favorite bartender about them now!

All three of their beers taste smooth and well refined. You’d never guess they just started operations. The Original Orange starts crisp and clear with a slight citrus note, and finishes just a bit sweet and brings back the hint of citrus. It’s the ideal warm weather refresher. The Black Noddy is a fine example of a black ale, with the richness of a porter and the clean taste of a basic lager, topped off by a smooth finish. The red ale has a clean simple taste with no surprises.

I met one of the owner’s and another woman (perhaps his wife?) who were every bit as nice and hospitable as you’d expect from a small family owned bed and breakfast in a rural mountain town. It’s quite refreshing to meet people with obvious passion for what they do.

So, I suggest that you stop by, if you happen to be in east Reno, and give their brews a taste. The tasting room is open Tues-Thurs from 11-6 and Fri-Sat 11-7. 1155 S. Rock Blvd, Reno NV.

Cheers!

My fourth batch of home brew beer is almost ready; it’s been in the bottle for almost two weeks.

At this stage in the game, I feel that I’ve learned enough to have a fairly complete understanding of the process. I’m no longer reading directions at every step, or worrying about missing or screwing something up. I’ve come to the realization that its actually pretty hard to do something that will actually cause the batch to fail.

A few things I’ve learned:

• People have been making beer for thousands of years, long before exact measuring or laboratory grade sanitizing chemicals. As long as common sense is used, it will turn out fine. If the beer were to become contaminated, it would not carbonate and would smell like a dorm refrigerator.
• As long as you use enough base fermentables (barley, wheat, etc), some hops, and a good yeast you will get decent beer. Mixing and matching those ingredients is of course the key to being a good brewer.
• There are a few tools that make the job a LOT easier that you will not find in most starter kits.
  • Having a good boil pot and large spoon to stir your beer with is essential. Make sure the pot fits on the stove!
  • A hydrometer is very handy to tell what the alcohol content of your beer is, and to tell when its done.
  • A copper coil (heat exchanger) for cooling the wort is pretty much essential; without it the process will take a lot longer. You can’t add the yeast until your wort has cooled below 80 degreed Fahrenheit or so.

Most of this is mentioned in various books and guides, but it is mixed in with many other recommendations. If I had followed all of the suggestions I read, I would easily have spent hundreds more dollars than necessary. And of course, you’re mileage may vary.