So web 2.0 it makes babies cry.

There is an article about Ron Paul in this month’s Esquire magazine.  While I did manage to learn quite a bit about Ron Paul in the article, and perahps I dont’ think he is as goofy as I once did, I found this infographic to be the most entertaining.

President Obama, Sarah Palin, George W Bush, and some of my other favroites are displayed!

Since around the start of the year, I’ve been doing my best to really reduce the amount of $$ I’ve been spending at lunch, as well as the intake of crap I’ve been eating during it. My solution so far, soup. Now I’m not going to tell you that I’ve mastered the art of the Amazing Soup Diet, even though it does sound good. I don’t have much time for it. I bring leftovers as often as I can, and since I’m trying to clear out my pantry again, I’ve been cooking more. As far as days when I don’t have leftovers, it’s off ot the selection of soups in a box under my desk. Variety is key, including low fat as well as tasty fatty versions for days when I am hitting the gym or just need a bit more of a comfort food style.

Some tips that seem to make this easier:

• I have found that that it actually hinders my efforts if I buy from big box clubs such as BJ’s or Sams. Reason being, variety. If you have only two or three flavors of soup, you are going to get really tired of them really quickly. Every week a different brand of soup is on sale, go grab a nice varied selection.
• Soup isn’t always healthy, read the labels.  I keep really healthy options on hand for weeks when I’ve been bad at night,  and more flavorful ones for when I’ve been good or going to gym.
• If trying to lose weight, watch out for not only the fat content on the soup, but the crackers.  I try to limit myself to 4 Club crackers per lunch, but that is more of a guideline and sometimes I need to increase it.
• Keep a little TVP (textured vegetable protein) in your magic lunch box too, just a few tablespoons will not only add protein to anything, it will add some texture, which helps cut down on the need for fatty crackers. 
• Give yourself a reward day during the week. Let’s face it, some days you just don’t want soup or leftovers.

I had off yesterday for President’s Day, which I used to take care of two important things, my house and my booze.  First up was the house, following my win against the termites, I applied two coats of Drylock to my previously untreated walls, refreshing the general area.  That being completed for the day, and I a beer or two in, I switched gears to the booze. After all, I did have to let the paint cure! One of the biggest pains for me is where to put fluids as I’m transferring them.  There are beer buckets, and carboys of wine and potassium metabisulfite, it’s always a process to rack or move something.  So I finally broke down and purchased a spigot for some of the empty juice buckets, drilled the hole, and verified that it doesn’t leak.  This should make things much easier/faster.  In addition, I treated myself to an auto-siphon,  picked up two gallon jugs for some test batches of fruit wines, and who knows what.  After the tortuous process of peeling the labels off of what seemed like a billion bottles (or just over a case), I started to sterilize everything.    Next I racked the Syrah into a bucket, cleaned the carboy, put the wine back in, then added some chitosan for clarity.  Just to note, I previously added a bit of potassium sorbate as well as MBS to kill off some fermentation and avoid fizzyness.  After that, I decided to bottle the batch of Bavarian Wheat I’ve had going.  I’m a bit nervous about it, I left it in the primary bucket for 21 days, it was COLD down there, and I think it needed a bit more time.  It smelled great, can’t wait to taste it.   I also, started up a 1 gallon batch of “White grape raspberry wine” and some “Ginger Beer”.

Sadly, it looks like we lost a few posts from 2010.   Here is the rest of the year in short:

July:

• Did some traveling
• Went to some Phillies and Riversharks baseball games
• Of course, a lot of drinking and picnics
• Helped run a benefit which raised about 3k for a family.

August:

• Plenty of drinking and  enjoying the summer with my friends and family.
• Our annual fishing trip was a failure because I wasn’t involved enough.
• Shot some big guns at the Widows Sons first annual ATF.
• Did a pub crawl in Rehoboth

September:

• Nearly got into a fight with some jag-off at the Red Bull Flugtag cause he felt he was entitled to take the spot I had been standing in for 5 hours.
• Did a pub crawl in Philly, missed the ferry on the way back, well sorta…..
• Again did some traveling, put lots of seat time on the bike.
• Helped at the Hogs for Hounds Benefit by the WS.
• Started a new batch of Syrah.

October:

• Did a few rides/poker runs, all enjoyable.
• During Restaurant week, I reviewed a few new places for the other blog.
• Went to see Social D in Philly.
• Hit a few Halloween parties, as well as a late Oktoberfest (it’s actually in September)
• Joined the Knight’s Templar, confirmed my belief that one should only join the Royal Arch path after they are a PM

November:

• Started off the month in Key West, how can you go wrong with that???
• My guys did a great job at GLI even if some people are already predisposed to dislike us, but that’s fine, it makes us stronger.
• Plenty of family/friend times between the holidays and wine tastings and such

December:

• Installations, Installations, Installations.
• Finished up my year as WM, what a year and experience it was.  I learned a lot about people, an experience I might try to do some things differently, but not that many.  I have many many thoughts on this, but sadly I’ll need to keep most of those close to my heart.  I’m glad I gave a year of my life to the lodge, but it’s time for someone else to take the reins.

January:

• Started off 2011 with a nice kiss from a nice girl, or two.
• Started my new role as Lodge Secretary, lots of work to get in order.
• Started Geocaching more often, thanks to a new portable GPS as well as one for my car.
• Visited Massachusetts for the weekend
• More wine tasting’s,  I won my first contest with a Zinfandel
• The first GLI I wasn’t required to be at, but I did goto the M&W meeting to help get the assessments sorted out.
• I didn’t do as well at the Shipwreck Brewery Chili cookoff as I had hoped, 5th place
• Started a batch of Bavarian Wheat Ale, can’t wait to taste this one and start another.

These are just some broad strokes, but as always been busy and I like it that way.

In keeping with my riding the bike for at least 15 miles a month routine (it’s been many more on the non winter months), last night I took my ride for January.  Which clearly it was the frosty ball run.  For the most part, I’ve been keeping fairly warm, but I’ve got a few issues to resolve.  First, I wear old school Under Armour, the one with the fuzzy inside, I assume it’s what they call the Cold Base now, as I got mine years ago.   The last ride I took in December, there were snow flurries coming down, and just the UA under the jeans wasn’t enough.  So last night I wore a pair of long johns over the UA.  That seemed to help cut the wind down on my legs.   I think what I need to do is put fleece or something inside the pant legs to really kill the wind, that and remember my hand/toe warmers.  Beyond that, it was a good run. I’m still working on the fogging of the goggles part, but I think I can solve that fairly easy.

Sorry for the crappy pic, I was freezing.

When Santa Claus comes to town this week, he’d better watch out — because the federal government may be making a list of his crimes (and checking it twice), the Libertarian Party warned today.

 

“Hark the federal agents sing, Santa is guilty of nearly everything,” said former Libertarian Party press secretary George Getz. “The feds know when Santa’s been bad or good — and he’s been bad, for goodness sakes.”

Does Santa belong in the slammer? Instead of stuffing stockings, should he be making license plates?

Yes, said Getz, if he’s held to the same standards as a typical American. 

For example:

* Every December 25, the illegal immigrant known as Santa Claus crosses the border into the United States without a passport. He carries concealed contraband, which he sneaks into the country in order to avoid inspection by the U.S. Customs Service. And just what’s in all those brightly colored packages tied up with ribbons, anyway? The Drug Czar and Homeland Security want to know.

* Look at how this international fugitive gets around: Santa flies in a custom-built sleigh that hasn’t been approved by the FAA. He never files a flight plan. He has no pilot’s license. In the dark of night, he rides the skies with just a tiny bioluminescent red light to guide him — a clear violation of traffic safety regulations.

* Pulling Santa’s sleigh: Eight tiny reindeer, a federally protected species being put to hard labor. None of these reindeer have their required shots, and Santa’s never bothered to get these genetically-engineered animals registered and licensed. It’s no wonder: He keeps them penned outside his workplace in a clear violation of zoning laws.

* But Crooked Claus the Conniving Capitalist harms more than just animals — he’s hurting hard-working American laborers, too. Isn’t Santa’s Workshop really Santa’s Sweatshop, where his non-union employees don’t make minimum wage and get no holiday pay? Add the fact that OSHA has never inspected the place, and you have a Third-World elf-exploitation operation that only Kathy Lee Gifford could love.

* No wonder Santa is able to maintain his monopoly over the toy distribution industry: He’s cornered the Christmas gift market. Santa dares to give away his products for free in a sinister attempt to crush all competition — just like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Antitrust Lawsuit Memo to the feds: Is Santa Claus the Bill Gates of Christmas?

The bottom line, said Getz: “It might be tough sledding for Jolly St. Nick this Christmas if the government decides to prosecute him.

“We’re just surprised it hasn’t already happened. After all, Santa Claus is everything that politicians aren’t: He’s popular, reliable, and gives us something for nothing every December 25th — instead of taking our money every April 15th.”

by George Getz

Judging from the lastest pics this year,  I have been busy.  There have been crazy nights with the family, crazy family dinners,  benefits,  wine tastings,  of course there was also the trips to Washington for the Phils, Boat Drinks, Buehler’s, and Malibu for Joe’s Wedding.  And those are just the ones I actually took/posted pics for!

Of course, one of the most important things that has happened to my life since February,  my bike.  During the coldest and wettest weekend of March I successfully passed the  motorcycle safety class, which was good because my mind was all over the place then.   About two weeks later I purchased a used Honda Shadow and I’ve been riding it as much as I can.   I reached that first milestone of 1,000 miles, then doing my first run.  There is just something therapeutic about jumping on the bike and riding a few miles and letting things work out in your head, or go away long enough for you to enjoy the experience.

I’ve also been very busy being WM of Mozart Lodge #121, it really is like a second full time job.  I love it, but it’s been a stressful few months, and I’m looking forward to a small break in so much to do each night.  From this task, and some of the other people watching I’ve been doing, I’ve actually wondered why I never went into the field of sociology.  Of course, a lot of this has involved Lionshead Puzzle Caps, so expect that page to be updated soon!

ps. I love how everyone is pissed about the oil spill, and yet so few are doing anything about it.