Reading and repairs

The number of books that I read to my son has now increased to a rotation of four. He lines them up on the floor, and when he decides to put them away he takes them, one at a time, to the bookshelf. We've been in the house a lot because the weather has been extremely cold. There's been a lot of reading.

Last week was only a two day school week with President's Day and two days cancelled due to cold. I'm sure next week will have at least one cold day. Temperatures have been below zero in the morning.

After swimming last week I was driving home in a light snow on a side street and hit a patch of ice. I was only doing about 15-20 miles per hour and slammed into the curb tire first. I knew I knocked the car out of alignment and managed to limp the short distance home. There I saw the tire had some chunks chopped out but it was not flat, yet. Limped to a repair shop that is open on Saturdays and hoped for the best, which did not quite happen. Needed a center arm and ball joint, which they could not get that day, in addition to the alignment so we had no car last weekend.

Picked up the car Monday afternoon, after waiting for the bus downtown in some freezing cold weather and was told the rim on the tire was bent, but they moved it to the rear so the car is drivable. Had to cancel a reading in Pittsburgh after getting the bill and have to make arrangements to get a new rim next week.

Today we had about half a foot of snow, which is equivalent to two feet in just about any other northern city. Roads were a mess. The temperature did get above freezing for most of the afternoon so the heat pump activated. I had to pour water on the blades to get some of the snow off as the fans were not moving. I also noticed this.



Steam freezes into interesting shapes, eh?

I'm Not Cheap When it Comes to Beer, but There are Limits

Friday night we took a voyage up to Whole Foods in Dublin. The journey had a specific purpose. When we walked in the market we went past the produce and saw a very lengthy line of twenty somethings holding empty wine glasses. Must have been wine sample night.

The place was crowded. I really think the number of drinkers was more than the number of people doing their shopping. There were groups of people wandering the aisles, drinking wine. If it helps business by turning a supermarket into a pickup spot one night a week, who am I to be cranky about it? I just was not prepared for the crowds, or at least not expecting a bar when I was shopping for tea and a specific beer.

Rockmill Brewery is located in Lancaster, Ohio. It opened up in September and makes four beers. All of their beers are made from organic products, including grains and hops. Their beers are made in a Belgian style, which made me sit up and take notice as I think Belgium makes the best beers in the world.

Yes, I know Pilsner Urquell is my favorite, but Belgium makes the best variety. If I had to drink the beer of one country for the rest of my life I would choose Belgium.

We chose the Tripel, which is rather pricey, and their most expensive at $16 for a 25oz. bottle. (the other three cost $13)

After negotiating past a belching hipster in the parking lot, and a trip to Jeni's, we made it home and opened the beer.

It had all the right components of the Belgian Tripel - the aroma, the color, the lace of the foam on the glass. Beautifully balanced in flavor with an appropriate for the style alcohol content of nine percent. Honestly, a dead ringer for one of the world's best, made in Lancaster, Ohio. I give the brewers top marks for this and will try the others as soon as I recover from the visit to Whole Foods. I'm glad this brewery's approach is to keep the quality at a top level without going completely over the top with exotic ingredients and excessive alcohol and hop content, like Dogfish Head does. Their production is so limited it is only available for retail in a few spots in Central Ohio.

I'm still a bit concerned about the price point. While shopping today I price checked Chimay Tripel, and it costs $11 for the same sized bottle. I admire Rockmill's commitment to quality, but when your product costs five dollars more than an authentic Trappist Ale, you may want to reconsider your pricing. It's obviously not an every day beer, at least it should not be! It would be nice to be able to afford it more than every few months.