Category Archives: My Life

To the Beginning of 2011

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So what happened this year? This past year was no good. No. Correction. The past 6 months have been no good. In thinking about it, the first half of 2011 was really, really good. It is where I wanted to be and stay forever.

What happened between July 1st and now is too much to write all about. Besides, I don’t want to make a big list of all the bad things that happen. That will just make me dwell on them. Let’s just say that there was a lot of loss.

So that’s it. 2011 was a lot of love, happiness, fun, comfort, and pure bliss followed by an equal amount of loss, sadness, depression, stress and everything else that comes with it.

I’ll just box way the details of the second half of the year, remember the wonderfulness of the first half of the year, and make a promise to spend the whole of 2012 to get as close to the beginning of 2011 as I can. Does that make sense?

New Job

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After a few weeks of searching, I have landed myself a job. It’s not quite what I was doing before, but it’s a good job. It’s a Computing Services (Computer Specialist) position at Windward Community College. I’ll be their Mac guy. Kind of fitting I think. Right now I’m only signed on as a casual hire, but I’ve put in my application, and since I’m already working there, and have a reference from a current staff member, I’d like to think I have a good chance of getting the position.

Thanksgiving in Hana

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Thanksgiving. I couldn’t wait to get back to Maui. I went back the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I spent the weekend hanging out with the kids. Gavin exclaimed over and over, “Dad. I want to do something with you”. So I did. Much of the week was like that. And Leif. He was talking so much. He kind of just rambles on and throws words in to get his point across. Pretty darn cute. We played lots of Crazy Eights.

Gavin at Kapuna Appreciation Night saying his family’s names in Hawaiian.

Wednesday was pie day. While Holly was at work, I had to make a pumpkin pie and an apple pie. The apple pie had to be the one my brother made when we were in NY. In order to get the recipe, I had to call him and get it. So I did. Not only that, but we had a full conversation for like ten whole minutes. And it wasn’t awkward. Go figure. Anyway. I got the recipe and made that pie. It came out awesome. I’ve been instructed to perfect the recipe and make it a tradition.

On Thanksgiving morning, I woke myself at 4:30 am to drive up to the airport to pick Mary up. It was a pleasant drive, it being so early and tourist free. We were able to get back home in time to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade.

Food. Can’t have Thanksgiving without it. The smells of the house were delightful. The air was filled with the aroma of broccoli casserole, sweet potatoes, stuffing, popovers, and, of course, gravy and turkey. There is nothing like a paper bag turkey stuffed with sausage and apple stuffing. Oh yeah.

Saturday was Holly’s birthday. Mary made a super chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. It was also set-up-the-tree day. We pulled out our Christmas decorations and set up our 6 foot tall fake tree. We had to pause for a short bit before putting on the lights.

Once Astrid got all tired from the tree that we obviously put up for her, we continued with our decorating activities. Who knew you could bleed from this. Poor Holly leaked all over the living room after stepping on a metal train stocking hanger. We fixed it with eggnog. Her foot, not the train. That is still broken.

Finally, the tree was complete with lots of lights and plastic ornaments. Having a kitten this year, it would have been unwise to pack the tree with glass.

Later in the evening, we did cake and presents. It was a pleasant day. Sunday morning, we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II before driving up to the airport. A week wasn’t nearly long enough. But it was a wonderful trip. Holly even got to knit yellow stripes. That makes me happy.

Brewing Beer Is Therapy

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What a difference having a wort chiller makes. I haven’t perfected the usage of it yet, but even still, it cut my brew time down by at least an hour and a half. It would have cut it more if I didn’t shoot water all over the kitchen with the hose. It’s a learning process. I think next time I’ll use the sink faucet as the source of my water instead of the hose.
It was great though. Two passes through the chiller brought the temperature of the wort from 212 deg. F down to 75 deg. F. all in only 10 minutes.

Afterwards, I placed it in the fermenter to let the yeast do their thing. Then I put it in my new mini fridge, although, I did have to take a hack saw to the door panel to make some more room. Fits perfectly now. And I didn’t even have to remove the freezer section.
It will take a little more time to get my beer situation fully set up here, but it’s getting there. Once it’s all set up, Ill be able to whip out batches with the greatest of ease once again. And that makes me very happy, which I need right now. Some people drink lots of beer in times like this, but me? I like to make lots of beer. It makes for great therapy.

Preparing for Beer

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I’ve been longing to make my next batch of beer. I’ve been living with Mary for a week now and I just haven’t had the space to do it. Today I decided to make room in the Harry Potter closet for my fermenter and supplies. This resulted in buying a mini fridge somehow.

I found a mini fridge on craigslist for cheap that was a nice size. I made a few emails and ended up driving to Wahiawa to pick it up. I should have known that the person selling it was military and lived on Wheeler Air Force Base. I had to go get a day pass so I could drive on base to their house. That’s when I realized the car insurance card had expired 4 days prior. So I had to call the insurance company who had to call Mary who then had to call me back to talk to Private Cobb to tell him the car was insured. Sheesh. Military. Anyway, I managed to pick up the fridge and get it home, but not before checking out the awesome flying machines.

Before leaving to fetch the fridge, I had started work on the closet. I emptied the whole thing out into the living room, after which there was no room for actual living. We decided to put up a few shelves in there to help keep from having to stack so many things. Halfway through putting up the shelves, I left to fetch the fridge. Upon return I finished up the shelves and started sorting the trash from the donations from the items that had to go back in. Shortly after that, I had a car packed to the brim with donations and trash. Shortly after that, I had a more organized closet with a corner for beer supplies. Mission accomplished. Tomorrow morning, I make a quick run to the dump, then I will create beer. I am so excited.