The Heavy Bolt

The Heavy Bolt car is Chris' take on the Chevy Volt. He constructed this monstrosity for GE Engineer's week pinewood derby competition for the engineers in Longmont. The open class has no restrictions and in general weight is key. The guy across the aisle from Chris spent the weekend hollowing out his block, shaping it, and filling it with lead. Chris spent a few minutes strapping a heavy bolt to the block. Whatever the results, everyone loves the Heavy Bolt and victory is guaranteed.

Our Beer Adventure

Our neighborhood beer and pizza joint, Hops and Pie, had Pliny the Younger, a Triple IPA from Russian River Brewing Company, available to the first 50 people in the door of their establishment today.  Chris has been talking about this all week.  We weren't sure how crazy it was going to be, but we were on our way home from Costco a half hour before opening and decided to do a drive by.  The line was fairly short, so we got in line.  We were number 21 & 22 in the door and Pliny the Younger was guaranteed!  We each got a 10 oz. pour for $8 a pop.  Below is an article that better explains why we would wait in line and pay excessively for a stinkin' beer!

A liquor store near where Chris works carries Pliny the Elder, the Double IPA, from Russian River, but you can only buy 1 bottle every 3-4 weeks when they get their limited shipment in.  We both agree that Pliny the Younger is very good, but we like Pliny the Elder better.

They wait all year for this beer: Pliny the Younger returns to Santa Rosa brewery

By Derek Moore

Press Democrat, Santa Rosa

Posted:   02/03/2012 11:56:48 AM PST

The kid is back in town.

That means long lines outside Russian River Brewing Co.'s downtown Santa Rosa brew pub and lots of voice mail messages on brewer Al Gorton's phone.

"I get a lot of friends this time of year," Gorton said Thursday at the company's south Santa Rosa production facility.

Gorton was in the process of filling kegs with Pliny the Younger, a Triple IPA (India Pale Ale) that is so popular with beer aficionados that people come from all over just to sample it.

Last year, that included beer enthusiasts from Japan and Denmark, said Natalie Cilurzo, the company's co-owner.

Pliny the Younger, which routinely earns raves from critics, packs a wallop despite its relatively low alcohol content compared to, say, vodka.

Credit the hops, which Cilurzo said share genetic properties with the main chemical found in marijuana and magnify the beer's 10.7 percent alcohol content.

"It's Pliny the Elder on steroids," Cilurzo said, referring to another Russian River India Pale Ale that is available year-round.

The Plinys were uncle-nephew Roman naturalists and historians of the first century A.D. The elder was credited with the first botanical classification of hops.

Russian River introduced Pliny the Younger eight years ago. But it wasn't until BeerAdvocate rated it the top beer in the world in 2009 that things got loopy.

To avoid selling out of Pliny the Younger, the company no longer sells

the prized concoction to the general public in kegs or growlers. Instead, customers have to belly up to the Fourth Street bar or at a select few other establishments where the brew is sold, mostly in the Western United States.

It's released the first Friday in February, and in two week the kegs will be dry.

Russian River made about 30 percent more Pliny the Younger this year, Cilurzo said.

On Thursday, Gorton was in the process of filling 307 kegs. "The Younger makes me older very quick," the brewer quipped.

The beer's popularity mirrors the explosive growth in the craft brew industry nationwide. Cilurzo said preliminary figures reveal that sales were up 14 percent in 2011.

She said Pliny the Younger is not a huge source of revenue for the company because it is expensive to make and results in lost production time for the company's other offerings.

But people are expected to line up long before the Fourth Street pub opens at 11 a.m. Friday, and at $4.50 for a 10-ounce glass, to celebrate the kid's brief return.

Soup for the Soul.

We are at a gourmet soup and appetizer charity event benefitting Porter Hospice and St. Anthony Hospice.

BzzAgent: Phillips SatinPerfect Epilator

I received a Philips SatinPerfect Rechargeable Cord/Cordless Epilator from BzzAgent last week.  At first I was really excited about this opportunity.  I hate shaving and the frequency it requires.  I also find I don't have time to go to a salon for waxing.  When the box arrived  and Chris saw what it was, he commented that Pam had an Epilady which was basically a metal coil that ripped hair out at the roots and it was miserable.  Well, I didn't believe the SatinPerfect fit into that category with advancements in technology, but I did get a little scared.  

To find out what others had experienced, I went to Amazon to read reviews before I tried it out.  The consensus was it does hurt, but also that this particular model is one of the least painful out there.  So, I charged the SatinPerfect overnight.  The next morning I turned it on.  I have to warn you, it sounds very scary.  It is not the nice little hum that you would expect.  Well, lets just say I didn't get around to trying it out for a few more days.

Knowing that I had to try this product out sooner or later, I finally bit the bullet.  It  hurts!!  Most reviews that I had read prior had described the pain similar to getting a tattoo.  I have not experienced a tattoo, but can say I felt like I was being electrocuted all over my legs.  I definitely let out a few yelps during the process.  I noticed higher sensitivity to the pain around my ankles.  I did both legs in around 30 minutes and I did become more comfortable with the sound of the SatinPerfect and amount of pain during this time.

I didn't notice much in the way of redness afterwards which is normal according to the instruction manual.  I can say that my legs still feel like they are being shocked, especially around the ankles, and it has been at least 40 minutes since I turned off the SatinPerfect.  There is an optimal hair length of 3-4mm when using the SatinPerfect and I was above this threshold because I kept putting this trial off which may have contributed to the pain.

It is messy.  The SatinPerfect left extracted hairs all over the place.  I recommend using this over the tub, or having a vacuum cleaner handy.

The SatinPerfect also has regular shaving attachments for more sensitive areas and also came with an awesome LED lit tweezers which will be used for my eye brows.  The LED light is ingenious, and the tweezers have an excellent grip.

Even though I was a little gun shy at first, if I get to shave much less frequently and get results as good as waxing at home when it is convenient to me, I feel the discomfort is a small price to pay.  The instruction manual also says the more you epilate the more your skin will become accustomed to it and less pain will result.  One concern is ingrown hairs which the manual also discusses as well as steps to take to prevent them as well as minimize pain.

I will post more regarding results in a couple weeks.  In the meantime, if you are interested in $20 off this product at Amazon, let me know and I will send you a coupon code.

Forgot About These...

Here we are at the Nuggets game last month with our friends Amy and Kirk:

And here is Erica gauging her wingspan against Chris Anderson aka Birdman:

Oscar Season

The Oscars are a week away.  Click here for a list of Nominees.  The nominated pictures that we have seen are: Drive, Midnight in Paris, The Help, Moneyball, Bridesmaids, and The Ides of March.  We don't have a favorite in this group - they are all so different.

We want to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Tree of Life, and The Descendants.  But that will not happen in the next week.

We don't usually get really into The Academy Awards, but here are a couple things that might make it more fun this year care of How About Orange:

Print out this 2012 Oscar Ballot and cast your own votes.

A little Oscar Bingo, Anyone?  Click here and here to download 2 sets of 10 Oscar Bingo Cards.

The Bingo cards are comical.

Plastic Footballs

We try really hard not to take plastic bags home with us from the store.  It inevitably does not work.  Chris bought and installed a plastic bag holder in our pantry to help us corral all of the plastic bags in the house.  Once we are filled to the brim, we take them to Target or Home Depot to recycle them. 

We still always have overflow from our holder and usually into another bag 'o bags.  But then I found this:

It won't help with the number of bags we have, but it hopefully might help the amount of space they take up in our pantry.  It is quick and easy too, like folding paper footballs when you were in school.

Video from Origami Spirit.

At the Symphony

Tonight Devotchka played with the Colorado Symphony.  It was a fantastic show.

If you are not familiar with Devotchka, you have heard them if you watched Little Miss Sunshine.  They performed the entire score and much of the soundtrack for the movie.

Here is one of our favorite songs:

Happy Valentine's Day Chili!!

...and wine.  

Chris and the Icicle

This huge icicle was hanging off the front of the house by the door.

Utilitarian

Today we put up wire shelving in the utility room and organized. We were able to clear the closet space beneath the stairs and everything now lives here.

We found an old Best Foods jar from the 1930's and a sample of Hill's Nose Drops.  The Best Foods jar has a really cool shape.

Quinoa Bites

These were really easy to make. You could put any kind of vegetables in them you want.  Next time, I would finely chop the spinach.

We bought a 4 pound bag of Quinoa at Costco. It says it is pre washed, but I don't believe it. Quinoa needs to be rinsed really well or it will taste bitter. I like to cook it in our rice cooker.

Ingredients

2 C Cooked Quinoa
2 Large Eggs 3 Carrots, shredded
1.5 C fresh Spinach, chopped
1 Medium Shallot, Chopped
2 tsp Garlic
4 oz. Cheddar Cheese
2 Tbls. Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
Mix all ingredients together.

Place rounded drops of the mixture in a well greased muffin pan and firmly pack with your fingers.

Bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes.

Makes 24.

http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2012/01/24/cheese-and-vegetable-quinoa-bites/

Record Snowfall

15" on the ground today, the largest single Snowfall in February since the early 1900's.

Have You Seen This?

Erica likes the Ewok  and Chris likes the ATAT.  Gotta love those clever Germans.

Workin' Hard for the Money

Erica has been working looong hours lately.  Chris has also been bringing work home with him, and has also had many an early conference call for the past few weeks.  

Erica is starting a new job on Monday, February 13th.  So, besides dealing with the busiest time of the year, she is trying to get things wrapped up before she takes on new responsibilities.  Same company, same title, just reporting to the Colorado office (instead of the Dallas office) and moving from Behavioral Health back to the Medical side of the world.

It's a very good thing.