Birthday Bash In Burlington

There will probably be at least two more trips to Vermont in our future.  I feel that we conquered it in a culinary sense, but there are adventures that need to take place and Autumn sights that were unable to be seen in early August.  Our anniversary is on October 16, so I think that an anniversary trip someday is pretty much a certainty.  

We arrived in Burlington via Delta Airlines, from Kansas City to LaGuardia in New York City first.  Erin's folks were waiting for us at the airport.  They took us straight to the Bel Air Motel, a quaint little family owned motel about a mile walk from the downtown area, and the Church Street Marketplace. 

With our stuff dropped into the hotel room (we could unpack later) we were ready for lunch, and so we dined at the Church Street Tavern.  We may have cut off the waitress when she began to ask if we wanted anything to drink, as Heady Topper had still yet to be tried by your favorite beer connoisseurs (assuming Erin and I are your favorites).  It is definitely an amazing beer and deserves to be highly ranked.  We would have to have side by side tastings with Pliny the Elder and some others to give our own assessment, but for now, I will not argue that it is the number one beer on Beer Advocates Top 250 Beers list (which, by the way, now has 6 beers from Toppling Goliath in Decorah, IA, ranked at 16, 17, 26, 35, 82, and 94 at the time of this writing; GO IOWA!)  

Erin following Trish and Joseph past the Church Street Tavern

Erin enjoying her first Heady Topper (just in from rain)

We walked Church Street a while after lunch tasting wine from East Shore Vineyards, buying some flannel shorts from the Vermont Flannel Company, and browsing books at the Crow Bookshop.  I couldn't leave Crow without buying something, so I got a sticker.

Switchback Brewery was a short drive away.  A simple brewery, they currently only have five different beers, four of which were available for tasting.  We went ahead and got the sampler to give them all a go, and I found both the Slow-Fermented Brown Ale and the Roasted Red Ale were my favorites.  Pleepleus (our monkey) has been forgotten on many of our most recent trips, so he was happy to come along to Burlington with us and try the different beer.  He is such a lush.  Pleepleus talked us into getting some stickers and a tap handle from Switchback. 

Roasted Red, Extra Pale Ale, Switchback Ale, Pleepleus, and the Brown Ale

We put our name in at The Farmhouse Tap & Grill for dinner and our table was ready before the bartender could pour our five flight sampler.  The beer list changes almost daily.  In fact, looking at it today (only four days after this experience), I can only identify two of the five still on the list.  Erin and I split the Beer Battered Fish and Chips and the Farmhouse Veggie for dinner.  This place was amazing and we would recommend it to any future visitors.  Especially since they had both Heady Topper and Sculpin IPA available in the can.

The Farmhouse Tap & Grill

Trish and Joseph left us to our own devices after dinner, retiring to the hotel room.  As we walked around, The Whiskey Room caught our eye, which apparently is an extension of Ri Ra the Irish Pub.  Enjoying another small sample of four beers they had on tap (no whiskey for us that night, please), we had a conversation with a couple named Mark and Botcheva.  They were both from Asheville, NC.  In talking with them, we decided that we would travel there for our fifth anniversary in 2015 (since Boston is planned and booked for this year).  They wrote a note that they would meet us downstairs at The Thirsty Monk on October 15, 2015 at 8pm.  We exchanged no contact information.  Will it be another Before Sunrise/Before Sunset occurrence.  Stay tuned, and we'll let you know.

Feeling very well for the evening, we should have probably called it a night.  But then we walked by Das Bierhaus.  Erin asked, "Shall we stop for one last beer?"  Although "no" is in my vocabulary and I've used it many times in my life, in a circumstance such as this one, there is no possible way the synapses in my brain could have created the path that was needed to utter such a negation.  One more it was, and it was served up by one of these German bar maids.  

Enjoying a half pint at Das Bierhaus

A combination of factors including, but not limited to, the following, played a part in the headache I had in the morning that kept me in bed until 11:30: (1) the mild concussion I received during Ragbrai 6 days prior, (2) the diet Erin and I have been on since early June which has lowered my tolerance level, (3) the few waters that I also should have drank (like Erin) during the evening, (4) the two Heady Toppers I put down that day.  Erin was completely fine, which didn't seem fair, since she kept up with me all evening it seemed.  She was able to have a morning exploration of Magic Hat Brewery among other places that I missed.

I needed air, so I walked the mile to Church Street and met Erin, Trish, and Joseph at Leunig's Bistro & Cafe, which provided us a Parisian experience at a Vermont price.  The Mozzarella & Pesto Melt sounded good and seemed to be all that I could stomach at that time.  We even enjoyed the meal outside on Church Street.  It was a very pleasant lunch. 

That afternoon, Erin and I enjoyed a zen-like experience at Dobra Tea where we shut off our cell phones and wallowed in the calming ambiance.  I enjoyed some green tea called Long Jing Tiger Spring.  The green teas we ordered put us in just the right mood for the pedicures that would soon follow.  First, I had to purchase The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson at Phoenix Books right next door.  Then, a blissful first (and not last) pedicure.  It was like walking barefoot on soft carpet when we strolled back to the hotel afterwards for naps and postcard writing. 

Many of us experienced the highlight of the trip that evening, wetting our beak and filling our bellies at the Burlington Hearth American Flatbread, which housed Zero Gravity Brewery.  They sat us next to their earthen oven where we were entertained by the amazing efficiency of their pizza making assembly line.  Erin and I ordered a large half and half Pepperoni and Peppers/Roasted Tomato Salsa, and a small buffalo chicken style pizza.  I added a side of dry-hopped habanero-cider hot sauce to our order because it sounded like something I would like to dip my crust into.  I tried two Zero Gravity beers, the Blue Gribben session IPA and the R. Prime American IPA.  The R. Prime I had to try as it is named after the famous Indian mathematician Ramanujan and employed the use of Simcoe and Citra hops.  The entire meal was a frickin' fantastic experience.  

Pleepleus let us know when our table was ready with this cool buzzer

The earthen oven used to cook the pizza

Joseph and Trish posing with Pleepleus before dinner

Erin and I topped the evening off at the main part of the Ri Ra Irish Pub, which at the time we thought was a completely different establishment from The Whiskey Room.  I ordered a half pint of the Magic Hat Big Hundo that I didn't get to try earlier that day while Erin had a Heady Topper.

I woke up early Saturday morning to journal and read.  Joseph got us Green Mountain coffees from the Gulf gas station next door.  Once everyone else was up and dressed, we went to Handy's Lunch for breakfast.  This was an old fashioned diner that was a must while you are visiting Burlington.  Earl gave us many recommendations when we told him we were off to Stowe and Waterbury for the day.  You should take time and meet Earl by watching this short video.

On our drive to Stowe, we made a brief stop at Green Mountain Coffee in Waterbury to learn about Green Mountain and a little more about coffee.  I found it fascinating to learn that one coffee tree produces about 1-1.5 pounds of coffee beans.  That means Erin and I need the production of 46-52 coffee trees each year for just us.

On up the road we pulled over at the Stowe Mountain Resort to walk around and take some pictures.  I could only imagine what the Fall colors would look like or how alluring those ski paths would look with some snow on them.

Stowe Mountain Resort Free Gondola Ride from parking lot

On our drive back to Waterbury, we stopped at the Amazing House of Jerky which wasn't that amazing.  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some Kangaroo and Wild Boar Jerky though.  It was pricey, but at least we can check that off our list now.

At the Cabot Annex Store, we tried several different types of cheeses and I coveted their beer cooler.  Trish told me I should try some habanero infused maple syrup.  A bottle of that sits in the cupboard now waiting for my next pancake, waffle, or bowl of oatmeal.  

Ben & Jerry's Factory was next, but we didn't stick around for a tour.  We browsed the gift shop, at which we picked up a Chubby Hubby magnet (my favorite) and postcards I sent to some of you.  We ordered some small cups of ice cream, too.  I ordered Candy Bar Pie and Erin ordered Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream.  In doing some research after the fact, I was very glad that I tried Candy Bar Pie.  You can only get this at the scoop shops and not in grocery stores.  It is peanut butter ice cream with fudge flakes, chocolate nougat and sweet & salty pretzel swirls.  It honestly felt like it was hand crafted just for me. It was 'sofa king' good.

The Alchemist was right next door to Ben & Jerry's. This is the brewery that makes Heady Topper. It is currently not open to the public, but has a photo op on the front lawn so we took advantage.  

We had quite an excursion that morning and it was time for lunch at the Prohibition Pig. I ordered a beer called 'What is Enlightenment?' from the Hill Farmstead Brewery, a session IPA with Simcoe and Amarillo hops.  With my stomach just a little full with jerky, cheeses, ice cream, and what-have-you, I ordered the Staff Meal salad, which had arugula, roasted brussels sprouts, grapes, and toasted hazelnuts.  The Pro Pig was another winner.  It was difficult to find a place at which we could not be pleased.  I had a draft of Heady Topper and got a trucker's hat before we left. 

All of us needed a nap after our little adventure that morning.  I napped about a half hour before getting up to write some more postcards (that's my thing).  Once it was 5:30, I went in and woke up Erin and told her, "Um... it's 5:30, and we're in Burlington for our last night."  She agreed it was time to stop napping. 

We walked down to Citizen Cider to shake things up a bit, and give something else a try besides beer.  We ordered a sample of five ciders and found that Full Nelson was our favorite.  The description of the Full Nelson told us to "imagine an IPA, a bubbly champagne, and a hard cider sharing a totally awesome three-way high five," so you can guess why that may have taken 1st in our book.  I'm not sure why they felt it necessary to include 'high five' in the description.  They seemed like extra words that weren't really needed. 

Pleepleus agreed that Full Nelson was the best.

Following these wonderful aperitifs, we walked to have a small plate dinner at Sotto Enoteca, which is a wine bar that is attached to and owned by the Trattoria Delia Restuarant.  We each ordered a glass of wine and then shared several plates of different dishes.  It was a really fun way of having our last meal with Trish and Joseph in Burlington.  We really enjoyed the great conversation, the great wine (did I mention the bottle we ordered after dinner), and a great time.  It was a wonderful birthday celebration for Trish, who will not actually have her birthday until the 8th, and we were so thankful for them wanting to spend it with us and helping us get out there.

As they headed back for the hotel, we headed straight for the Vermont Pub & Brewery.  Yet right next door to Sotto, for the first time since we were there, the door was open for this place called What Ales You.  We had to stop for a beer.  

Pleepleus is such a trooper.

All weekend, Erin and I were excited to try the sours and a Vermont cheese plate at the Vermont Pub & Brewery.  The best looking sour on their menu, the Tulach Leis, a Flemish Style Vermont Sour Red ale, was gone.   And they were out of the Vermont Cheese Sampler.  Talk about a buzz kill.  Instead of sending us away from Burlington with a bang, The Vermont Pub & Brewery sent us away with a fizzle.  They deserve a second chance someday, earlier in the evening and one of the first things we do.  

Then we flew home the next day.  That brings me to right now... which is how these stories always end.  With now.  Now is all we really have, I guess, so we better enjoy the shit out of it.   

Ragbrai 2014

This Ragbrai was my sixth in a row.  Sometime after my fifth, I was seeking for a way to experience it differently than my previous five times.  It was early on that we decided to find a driver and experience Ragbrai without a charter service, but with a smaller group.  I didn't regret this decision at all, and had my best Ragbrai yet.  

Our team was composed of Erin and I, our friend Jonathan Vieker, his sister Becca Vieker, Becca's friend Rachel Gehringer-Wiar, and her father Dennis, who offered to drive.  Since three of us had never met Dennis before, he thought that meeting him through his Driver's Delight blog would be a good idea.  He was correct.  I knew instantly that we would be having a good time. 

Jason, Jonathan, Becca, Rachel, and Erin at the back tire dip site.

Ragbrai is a fantastic event.  Every year, they find a new route from the west side of Iowa to the east side, with a new set of overnight towns and a new set of pass-through towns.  This change is what keeps Ragbrai strong.  It is, however, a very long event.  At 7 days, many people have difficulty finding a way getting this much time off.  And on top of that, why would they want to spend 7 days of their vacation biking across Iowa during the hottest part of the season?  If you shorten it to a more workable 4 or 5 day event, then you would limit the event to the elite, who can handle 85-110 mile days every day.  Well, why not just have a "tour" of Iowa instead of crossing it?  Then you somehow miss a stronger element of accomplishment.  

Even though the ride began on Sunday morning, July 20th, the adventure began for Jonathan, Erin and me on Friday evening.  We loaded up the car and headed to Ankeny, IA, where we would be departing on Saturday morning.  Our trip to Ankeny found detours to the Albia Brewing Company and Peace Tree Brewing Company.  My cousins Davey and Glenda took us in Friday night in Ankeny and shared beers with us.  They sent us on our way after filling us up with coffee and an awesome breakfast.  

The bus ride to Rock Valley was long and we had to detour around the town because of Ragbrai traffic.  We ended up camping in a hay field that was extremely buggy.  Bug spray was a necessity.  That evening, at the 9 o'clock hour, Jonathan started what may be a new Ragbrai tradition by playing Taps to an appreciative campground.  

Off we went from Rock Valley, making our way across Iowa.  Dennis, new to driving for Ragbrai, was very in tune with each of his teammate riders, and learned very quickly what was important in a good campsite.  He could usually find us the best shade, and in close proximity to bathrooms, showers, and an outlet for recharging all of our technical gadgets.  One of our favorite nights, he bent the rules and found us a little private cove with many trees between the middle and high schools in Mason City.  It was our own little oasis.  

Leaving Rock Valley at the beginning of Ragbrai

Dennis and Jonathan talking at our Oasis in Mason City

My dad and his best buddy Lonnie were also on Ragbrai, using Lake Country Cyclists as their charter.  They are a great charter service, and dad was using them for the sixth time in a row.  After Erin and I went and visited with them after our fourth ride in Mason City, Dad came over to visit our camp for a while.  He was able to meet the team and observe our operation.  I was sad to hear that Dad and Lonnie had decided that this was going to be their last Ragbrai.  After seeing our operation and hearing our stories for the week, I bet dad could be convinced of another if he knew his driver would be a guy like Dennis. 

There were several pros of having a smaller group.  One of which is that it is easier to find shade for few than for many.  For a huge charter, it is difficult to find a campground where every tent can share some shade.  This isn't the case when your group has four tents.  Another is the control over snacks and beverages.  We could have Dennis pick us up specific food and drink from grocery stores between camps.  On the century loop day, he met us in the meeting town of Bancroft.  Jonathan and I found some really good beer at a liquor store in Bancroft that we were able to purchase because we had a driver at a meeting town!  These things can't happen with a charter.  

There were a few cons of a smaller group as well.  Showers were the pay-for kind only.  We didn't have a camp shower available although that could be remedied in future years.  This cost me approximately $22 extra for the week then it normally would have by using camp showers.  Really, that isn't that big a deal.  Another might be the larger social aspect that is missing.  I enjoyed the smaller group, as the bonds could grow tighter over the week.  I did miss, however, the larger social group.  With a larger group, you are more likely to run into someone within your group to ride with for a while if you happen to lose the one that you were with.  There is a less chance of that happening with a smaller group.  

In the wee early morning hours of the sixth day of Ragbrai (still dark) the thunderstorms hit Waverly.  Taking down a camp in rain is absolutely awful and is the worst part of Ragbrai if it has to happen.  Erin and I sat in our tent and got completely packed and ready to ride.  We found that the rain wasn't going to stop for another few hours, but that didn't stop Erin.  She took off for her ride in the rain.  I remained in the tent and researched some places that the rest of us could go.  Without breaking down our camp yet, we hopped into the truck and went to Duos Coffee and Ice Cream.  We drank coffee and played Battle of the Sexes with a few other riders until 10am.  The rain had finally let up.  We went back to dismantle camp and get riding.  Our official start time: 11am.  That was the latest I had ever started a Ragbrai ride.  

Being at the back of the ride meant larger portions and sometimes some deep discounts.  As service ending times neared, overstocked Gatorade started selling for $1 rather than $2.  Jonathan's and my breakfast burritos were overstuffed with all of the fixings.  It was a new experience.  Somewhere along the route, I broke ahead of Jonathan and I rode in a few pace lines to make up some time lost.  About 10-12 miles from our last overnight town of Independence, I had a horrible wreck. 

I put the tag they left on Bicycle after wreck inside the crack of my helmet

After release photo with cracked helmet

 The center of the road had about a 1 inch crack that is a danger for cyclists.  I was aware of it, but must not have taken it at the angle I needed.  It swallowed my bike tires.  Instinctively, I pulled my bicycle up out of the cracks, but I was already at a tilt that I could not correct.  The next thing I remember was waking up on the pavement.  I never did get to talk with a rider that could describe in detail my fall on the pavement or the aftermath that ensued.  All that I got was someone telling me I had been unconscious for 2 minutes.  They asked me a few basic questions that I couldn't answer right away, which let both them and me know that I had suffered a mild concussion.  Once the answers started coming to me, I wanted to sit up and get off the road since I was still lying in the middle of it.  They wouldn't let me.  I wasn't being stubborn.  I knew I was fine.  The ambulance took me away against my wishes to the hospital in Independence where I had an unnecessary MRI to tell me what I already knew: I suffered a minor concussion but was fine otherwise.

I learned something very valuable over the course of that evening and the next few days.  Some of the most difficult obstacles and challenges in life to overcome are those that nobody around you expects to overcome.  I think everyone pretty much assumed and even advised that I not ride the last day.  Erin had already made up her mind years before riding Ragbrai again that she wasn't riding the last day.  I could just ride with her.  My own mind was even trying to talk myself out of the ride.  

At camp that evening, I found a person to fix a broken spoke on the back wheel and found a new helmet.  I wanted to take all the steps so that in the event I wanted to ride, I could.  On the morning of Day 7, I got up and got my bike clothes on.  It seemed automatic.  I knew if I didn't ride I would regret it not only all day, but all year.  Day 7 was close to my best day of Ragbrai.  

Rachel, Erin, Jason, Jonathan, and Becca in Clear Lake

Jason, Jonathan, Becca, and Rachel dipping front tires in Mississippi.

Ragbrai is more of an adventure than a vacation.  Although it is both fun and a challenge, it is the struggle one goes through to finish that gives riders a sense of joy and accomplishment that lasts.  I learned that during Ragbrai 2012.  That year, I witnessed several of our team members stop riding during the miserable heat or after their stuff got soaked during a heavy wind and rainstorm.  I felt an overwhelming sense of pride having finished that ride.  That memory helped me put the bike gear on for the last day and finish Ragbrai XLII.

My Controversial Questions

When I was a child, many questions would enter my mind that people of faith would tell me I shouldn't worry about or should not ask.  Today's atheist seems to portray the standard Christian as one who would be offended by the questions I ask, but that doesn't seem to be my experience.  It seems to me that many Christians with which I am familiar would be OK with my asking them.

Before I ask them, be warned that some of you may take offense or believe this blasphemous.  These questions I do not ask about the 'real God' in which you believe in your mind.  I ask these questions of a hypothetical God that doesn't exist in my mind.  If you choose to compare and contrast the two, and accidentally confuse them, you may get offended.  

1. Why would God lay out so much evidence that goes against his existence as the Bible portrays him, that a logical person receptive to this evidence like myself would than not believe in him, and thus banish this person to hell if he truly 'loves' them?

2. Why would God, whom my mother believes in and worships, and to whom is very devoted, reward her with a 'heaven' where her son is absent, and is burning forever in a lake of hellfire?  What kind of heaven is that?  Does this not contradict the idea of heaven?

3.  Why does the Christian God answer prayers with 'Yes', 'No', and 'Wait' with the same statistical frequency as the Muslim God, the Jewish God, and all the other gods, as well as with the same frequency as what would happen with random chance, or if you had just asked your lucky rabbit's foot?  What is the point of prayer?

4.  Along the same lines as question 3, why do bad things happen to Christians with the same frequency as bad things happen to Muslims, Jews, Atheists, etc?  Why do good things happen with the same frequency?  Shouldn't a higher frequency of good things happen to Christians than do other people?  Shouldn't a higher frequency of bad things happen to non-Christians?  (Are the happenings of September 11, 2001 a sign that the Muslim God wins?)

5. What is God made of?  What composes that which makes up God?  Is there an infinitude of Gods, each one level above the other?  (These questions are just as ridiculous as those that ask what are we made of, and so on and so forth, miraculously ending with 'therefore God').   For those of you satisfied with the idea that God has always just existed, why couldn't you accept, with how you understand the time continuum, that matter has always existed?  After all, the sentence 'before there was time' is nonsensical.  Think about it.

6. Why, when God makes decisions to take someone you love away from you too early (in a freak accident, say), do you still feel the need to worship and praise him?

7.  Why does God allow his followers to get cancer, aids, or suffer horrible deaths?  Why does God allow his follower's children to be raped by pedophiles?  How wise is this God that you so admire?  If I were God, I wouldn't have created pedophiles in the first place.  But here I am, being a Monday morning quarterback.

8. What kind of God requires you to worship and praise him?  Doesn't this seem strikingly familiar to a tyrant king?  I'm sure you don't believe me to be as wise or loving as your God, but if I were God, I wouldn't require you to worship and praise me.  I wouldn't require you to give any money to an organization that would than use it to build a temple or sanctuary in my honor.  Nor would I require your money so that you could pay for somebody's living expenses so that they could get up in front of you week to week to preach to you what they couldn't possibly know: my wishes (which would be to not waste this money in the first place).  On top of that, all tax free, and thus not helping the economy in the least bit.  If I were God (with my infinitesimally less wisdom than the actual God that you believe in), I would have you instead use your money and time each week for your own devices, hoping that you would naturally find it in your heart to give your time or money to charitable works and deeds.  Think of how much your city would gain in revenue just in the property taxes alone if there were something else in place of all of these churches.  This doesn't even scratch the surface of how much money is wasted.

9. Why do many of you think there would be no morality without God?  Why do you need someone looking over your shoulder with a reward for good deeds and punishment for bad deeds in order for you to do what is moral?  Isn't it more admirable for me to be good with no promise for reward and no fear of punishment for not doing good, than for the believer to do good?  

10.  Why, in your belief of an afterlife, are you constricted to believe that some entity can control whatever ethereal being you will become without your body?  What constricts you to the thought that you couldn't go where you please or do what you want?  If your name was not in some 'book' and you were told to go to 'hell', what could possibly stop you from just saying, "YOU go to hell!" and then doing whatever you wanted?

11.  The Bible is a single, solitary book.  Why do you need to spend so much time studying it?  Did you not get it on the third time?  When reading it the first time as a child, I remember filling in the large gaping holes and contradictions with some fanciful story that seemed to satisfy those around me (as long as I believed, that was all that mattered).  When reading again with a mind for critical thinking, I found that although much of the book had some great versus (and wisdom), much of it was repulsive.  How can you take a book that is pro-slavery and misogynistic so seriously?

12. Why are there so many versions of the Bible?  Did humans over the years feel the need to clean it up a little... fill in some gaps?  Why wasn't one enough?

13. Why is there little evidence and information of Jesus outside the Bible?  Why, with this little evidence and information, is there even less evidence that this possible Jesus character said or did anything remotely close to what is suggested in the Bible?

14.  Why do you put so much belief and faith in a book written so long ago by ancient people, and so little faith in the people right in front of you?

15.  Why does the answer that you provide for the question 'Where is God?' sound like it could also serve as an answer to 'Where is the magical and sacred Flying Spaghetti Monster?' or 'Where does the tooth fairy reside?'

16.  If God has a 'plan', then what is the point of prayer?  You will either pray for something that is or is not part of God's plan.  Since you are unaware of God's plan, are you just happy in your delusion that your prayer may change the course of his plan?

I encourage my Christian friends to comment with their answers, experiences, and/or questions.  I promise to be tolerant and respectful of your beliefs as long as you are tolerant and respectful of mine.

Plus/Minus Grading

As far back as I can remember, I have always been graded with a plus/minus grading system.  This has nothing to do with why I favor a plus/minus grading system today.  As a student, I never would have cared or would have spent any time or energy on debating how I would be graded.  My philosophy never revolved around the grade I received, but rather what I was learning.  Not every student is like this, however.  Many focus primarily on the grade they get rather than what they learn.  Which grading system will do a better job at fostering learning, and take away from how one is graded?

A student came to visit me in my office hours recently to see where she was at in the class.  I updated my grade book to calculate her weighted average thus far, and we found that she was sitting around an 83%.  She wanted to know whether an A was still possible at this point with the third exam and the final still yet to come.  I had to tell her that, although possible, it was extremely unlikely, as she would have to essentially have perfect scores on all of her remaining work.  She became obviously distraught, fighting hard to keep her devastation contained.

Where did any motivation to learn statistics for the rest of the semester go at that point?  This student has to simply maintain their B.  As long as she stays above 80, she'll maintain her B.  Some might argue that it would be nice to provide that student with some motivation at the end of the semester.  Here is something that I would have loved to tell my student: "You're currently sitting on a border line between a B- and B.  With some improved work you can easily get a B, and if you really work hard, you can even get a B+ by the end of the semester."  This is opposite of the current system, in which I was forced to say: "Yeah, you're pretty much fucked."  Well, not those exact words.

As assessment goes, there is no argument that the current system is a better form of assessing students.  Any Netflix users out there?  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to rate movies using 1/2 stars?  Or maybe out of 10 stars instead of 5?  Face it, the more stars you have, the better you can rate the movie.  It is analogous for the plus/minus grading system.

I've heard individuals say there will be more bickering from students over borderline grades.  More so than now?  Currently, the borderline grade is the difference between 3 and 4 grade points multiplied by the number of credit hours.  This is the difference between 9 and 12 grade points with a 3 credit course.  With a plus/minus, the same exact border in a 3 credit class is the difference between 10 and 11 grade points.  And you say there is going to be more bickering?  I've also heard a plus/minus grading system will cause MORE stress.  How is it more stressful on more smooth borders than on our current system with HUGE jumps in GPA?  Please explain.

Suppose Cindy is sitting in C world on the verge of getting a B and Bill is sitting in B world on the verge of getting an A.  Cindy and Bill are two very different students.  At the end of the semester, Cindy barely gets what she needs to move up to a B, while Bill barely falls short of obtaining his A.  They both get B's.  This is not only boring it is NOT right.  Bill deserves to be distinguished from this other student.  Bill deserves a B+, while Cindy deserves a B-.

Students will argue this will deflate the grades of the top students.  No it won't.  Your top students will get a 4.0.  Your students that would have normally received a 4.0 in a straight grading system that are in the 90-93rd percentile, will now be recognized as such.  They will be getting the 3.8-3.99's at the university, as they should.  After all, if you can't get a 4.0 at half of the universities in the country that have a plus/minus system, why should you be getting a 4.0 at Truman?  Come to Truman!!!  We give away our 4.0s like participation ribbons at races.

I don't like the GPA or grading system in general.  I wish we could just give numerical scores at the end of the semester.  Here is why.  Suppose I'm looking over an applicant's transcript and find they have a 4.0.  I'm going to ask whether that student ever dropped a class.  I'm going to look over their transcript for difficult classes within and outside their major.  Did this person avoid difficult classes for the purposes of this 4.0?  How about this other applicant with a 3.0 that never dropped a course, and took extremely difficult courses during their undergraduate time.  This lover of learning, who could apparently care less at what they were getting grade point wise, is the person I'm going to hire.  Forget your 4.0 bullshit, and your dance with dropping courses and avoiding difficult classes for the purpose of maintaining that 4.0.  Quit focusing on the 4.0 and how you are graded and learn something.  Leave the assessment up to the professors, which is who it is up to anyway.

My LASIK experience

My first appointment at the IEC in Kirksville was to see if I would qualify for LASIK.  Some people will not.  It turned out that I was a good candidate for LASIK.  When asking about the price, they weren't able to tell me anything specific.  They said it would be between $1200-2500 per eye.  That is a very large ball park when you are trying to set money aside in a Flexible Spending Account.  What value do we pick between $2400 and $5000?  My recommendation is to budget for the maximum amount and expect to pay that, because you very well may.  My cost was $2099 per eye, from which an insurance discount of 15% was applied.  We underestimated, and as a result, our FSA is already cashed out for the year with several more prescriptions to fill.

Then there is the scheduling.  This was when I envied those that live in larger cities, that can have it done a little more conveniently.  I was given one day for each month of 2014 from which to select.  All of the days available I had something going on.  I selected one and found subs and moved things around to make it work.  And so it was that I would have LASIK done on March 19, 2014. 

One week prior to your LASIK surgery, you are to have a pre-LASIK visit.  One week prior to that, you are to stop wearing contacts so that your eyes get a break from them.  For two weeks, I wore glasses, which was something I had gotten used to not doing.  It made me appreciate the surgery more in the end.  At the pre-Lasik visit, they map out your eye and get the information they will need to tell the laser.  Something that they forgot to remind me to do was begin antibiotic eye drops a few days prior to the surgery.  I received a reminder call of the surgery (as if I would forget) telling me I should already be on the eye drops I knew nothing about.  I started them right away and got a day's worth in.  That was good enough.

On the day of the surgery, they instructed me to arrive a little before my appointment time of 10:30am.  As in any doctor's office, there is a long, long wait.  They are always frustrating, these seemingly avoidable long waits.  Even when they finally called me after almost 2 hours, they took me back to a room where they prepped me and had me wait another 20 minutes or so.  It felt like forever until the doctor's assistant came and asked if I was ready.  Um.  Yeah.  I had been ready for 2 frickin' hours.

Before I go into any more detail, you should be warned that this isn't for the easily queasy.  Although there was no pain, these details could potentially make one a little faint, and perhaps even decide against having such a rewarding procedure.  OK.  You've been warned.

They walked me into a cold room, and before lying me flat, gave me a little stuffed lion named Harry to hold onto with both hands and not let go.  Upon lying down, they told me not to cross my legs for the whole procedure.  I think these were simple distracting things that would take my concentration somewhere other than creating a flap on my eyeball.  It worked in a small way.

Once I was positioned correctly, holding and petting my new friend Harry, staring up at some red and green lights, the doctor put several drops in my right eye after covering my left with a patch.  My guess is that these drops were both for moisture and a local anesthetic.  After a few moments, he taped my eyelids open.

With eyelids taped open, the doctor placed some sort of device around my eyeball.  My guess is that this was the 'structure' or 'base' that was needed for what came next.  A small dome was placed onto my eye (or the 'base' that was around my eye) and the doctor requested suction.  I could feel the suction, but I could only imagine my eyeball lifting a little out of the socket because I couldn't feel it.  At this point the doctor told me that things would be going dark, which they were.  He asked when there was total darkness.  That was when it was time for the worst part.

Again, let me repeat, there is no pain.  It was only the worst part because you know what is happening, you feel what is happening, you hear what is happening, and you smell what is happening.  The sensation is a vibration of the eyeball.  Since the device cutting a flap in your eye is right there by all of your sensory organs, the sound is like a jigsaw.  Then the smell of burning flesh hits your nose.  They say it is only the smell of the laser, but I question that.  I'm not going to lie, this made me shiver slightly and get a little queasy.  If you are prepared for a jigsaw sound, the smell, and the sensation you will be fine.  I was prepared for everything but the sound, so that took me by surprise.

Once the flap was created, the rest is easy peasy.  The suction went away, and my vision returned.  A tiny instrument came in to view and opened up the flap, as if opening up a window into another universe.  I was then instructed to look at the blinking red light, as this is where the laser would come from.  The doctor centered the machine and I could hear his assistant say something like "first three sessions at 15 seconds."  Then the laser began doing its work.  There is nothing awkward about the laser except the sound, which isn't anywhere near as bad as the noise that cuts the flap.  I saw the light flicker as the laser did its work.  She may have then said something like "two sessions at 11 seconds" before another round of laser hit me.  After each of these "sessions," things were clearer.  There may have been five of these such sessions, I can't remember.

When the laser was over, the tool came back to close the flap.  A tiny brush came in to apply what I imagine to be some sort of adhesive.  The 'structure' thingy was taken out, I received eye drops, and then the tape was removed so my right eye could finally close.  The patch was then removed from my left and placed on my right.  The process was repeated for the left eye.

The whole process felt like it took 10 minutes, which probably means it took less.  They had me sit up and open my eyes.  It looked as if I were underwater, which I guess the adhesive was causing.  The assistant asked me if I was OK because I looked pretty pale.  I wasn't going to get any paler, so I was fine.

I was walked back over to the room I waited in and given a pill.  This pill helped me sleep on the entire drive home and for a few hours after arriving at home.  I took a short walk that evening and wanted to sleep again.  The eye drops are non-stop right now.  

The next morning I was measured at 20/15, and told that my vision would only improve over the next month.  I'm a happy camper.  Except for having to give up Harry.  That was tough.

Canning an All-Grain Yeast Starter

It has been a long time since I brewed without using a yeast starter.  Even if I'm using Wyeast, I still like to slap the pack and give it a head start in an Erlenmeyer flask.  This takes a half-hour to 45 minutes of my time a few days before brew day, considering prepping, boil time, cool time, pitch, and clean up.  Then I was introduced to canning yeast starters through the Deputy Chairman of the Kirksville Guild of Brewers, Mike Martel.  Pop the top, pitch, and your yeast is started.  What a time saver.  So, I decided to give it a try today. 



In the above picture you see the eight canning jars that I would be using, the pressure cooker, and the pot that was steeping about 1.5 lb of grains in a little over a gallon of water.  After steeping for 30 minutes at 150°F, I put the burner on high and brought the wort to a boil making sure to take the grains out before the temp got above 170°F. 

Once I brought the wort to a boil, I used a ladle and funnel to pour the wort into the jars and put them in the pressure cooker that already had boiling water going.  Once the 8 jars were filled, I put the pressure cooker lid on, turned the burner on high and brought the pressure up to 15 psi and boiled for 15 minutes (15 @ 15). 

After 15 minutes I turned the burner off and took the pressure cooker off the burner, then let the pressure decrease naturally.  Once it came down, I took the lid off and arranged my beautiful jars of canned wort in a few rows for a nice picture.

Now, the next time I brew and get my yeast started, it will save me at least 8 * 30 min = 4 hours.  This was about an hour process, so I net 3 hours saved.

Well, then I took time to write about it, so I really haven't saved much time at all when you think about it.  I hope you enjoyed the information at least.  For a lot more detail (maybe too much in my opinion), check out Canning Yeast Starters from a Sept. 2006 issue of Brew Your Own magazine.

Brewing Beer

Introduction

Brewing Beer is such a fun and rewarding hobby.  I began brewing in the summer of 2008.  My first batch was brewed from extract.  I bottled and enjoyed it immensely, mainly because I had brewed it myself.  I converted a freezer into a four tap kegerator, and have brewed most of the batches since then for the keg. 

The times I brewed fluctuated and I could not get into a brewing rhythm nor find any consistency.  Some of my beer was good, some was awful, and a few were so-so.  Not making good beer is a horrible motivator for making more beer.

How I got started brewing again

Flipping through a few Zymurgy and Brew Your Own magazines one day in September 2013, I found some scientific and geeky articles written on brewing science.  Since I am statistically and scientifically minded, and my professional scholarly work as well as my personal enjoyment of brewing had become stagnant, I decided to combine the two and rejuvenate the hobby that I hold dear.  Since I also like writing, which has also become inactive, I'm making an attempt to throw that in the mix as well. 

The first steps were to change a few things and energize a dormant homebrew club in Kirksville.  After thinking on a name for the club, I woke in the middle of the night with a "Eureka" moment as the name Kirksville Guild of Brewers popped into my head.  We would be the KGB. 

Thanks to Jerry Jones for much of the help on this logo

Although I dived right in and poured a lot of initial energy into defining what this club would be about, we took it slow and steady to gauge whether or not a club like this could exist.  It definitely could.  We are now 17 members strong and have a KGB bank account.  Transfers for t-shirts have been ordered.  The t-shirts will be here soon.

Beer Brewed

I've been consistently brewing beer again since October 5, 2013.  I brewed two Northern Brewer kits: The Rebel Rye Porter and the Anarchy in the UK British-Style American IPA.  In November, two more: The Tongue Splitter and the Kiwi Express IPA.  Sometime in December, I had four of my own homebrews on tap for the first time since I can remember. 

Erin surprised me with all-grain equipment for Christmas so I could finally begin brewing all-grain.  In early January I brewed another porter that would take the place of the Rebel Rye, and later in January I brewed a red ale reusing yeast from a previous batch.  This was the first time I experimented with that, and I found it exceptionally easy.  It only saved me around $6. 

On February 5, I brewed a version of Two-Hearted Ale from Bells that I will brew again and again until I perfect it.  This beer is the reason I will be taking very detailed notes every time I brew.  On the 16th of February I brewed my own made up recipe for the first time using a single malt (2-row Rahr) and a single hop (Amarillo).  In early March, I was able to enjoy four all-grain beers on tap for the first time. 

It won't be ready for the KGB March 22nd meeting, but I brewed a Fixed Gear (Lakefront) clone on February 22.  It was supposed to be the red ale entry for this month.  Even though I could rush it, I already have a red that I will submit, so I decided to be patient and let it continue conditioning. 

Yesterday (March 13), I finally took advantage of my Spring Break and had an "all things beer day".  I brewed The Plinian Legacy, an all-grain kit that is Northern Brewer's tribute to Pliny the Elder, one of the best beers in the world.  I also bottled my porter and red ale so I could create some keg space for the Fixed Gear clone that I'm about to keg and The Plinian Legacy.

The Plinian Legacy

One of my main difficulties in all-grain brewing is using the correct amount of water in the beginning so that when you are done, you have very close to 5.5 gallons (or whatever your goal end volume is) to ferment.  There are brewing calculators for this, which I used.  Here were my estimates for the mash:

15.25 lbs. of grains * 1.25 qts/lb = 19.0625 qts ~ 4.75 gallons

 

So, I heated 4.75 gallons of water to a strike temperature of 165°F and put it into the mash tun along with the grains for a 60 minute mash at 151°F (I used this brewing calculator to help me determine the temp).  The temperature was very close to that when I put the lid on the mash tun.

To mashout at 170°F for 10 minutes, the brewing calculator informed me I needed to add 2.5 gallons of boiling water to the mash (you need to do this slowly as to not scorch the grains). 

 

Easy math shows that I have used 7.25 gallons of water thus far.  Since I want to end with 5.5 gallons, I need to add 5.5 to the amount I will lose to the grains and boil off.  I estimated that I would lose

15.25lbs * 0.10 gal/lbs = 1.525 gallons

 

to grain absorption and 1 gallon to boil off. So, 5.5+1.5+1=8 gallons will be the quantity of water I should use.  Since I already used 7.25 gallons I heated 0.75 gallons for the sparge water. 

 

In hindsight, the boil off was underestimated since 1.1-1.25 gallons boiled off.  I also underestimated the loss to absorption by about the same amount.  The post mash volume was ~6.25 gallons which was shy about .25 gallons (since I was calculating a 1 gallon boil off, I needed 6.5).  The volume right at the end of the boil was barely over 5 gallons, so again, I underestimated the boil off.  Paying close attention to these values this time will definitely help when I brew again. 

 

As I was reading "Yeast" by White & Zainasheff that day I employed two more strategies with this beer.  The first, I chilled the wort to a temperature below at which it would be fermenting.  My beer will be fermenting at 66-68°F so I chilled it as close to 60°F as I could get it. "The benefit of this process is controlled yeast growth, which often results in better overall yeast health" (White & Zainasheff).

 

Since it also had a high OG at 1.080, I aerated the wort with pure Oxygen using a stone, and then did it again in the morning (16 hours later).  "In those cases, where yeast need large reserves to ferment the beer to completion, a second addition of oxygen between 12 and 18 hours after pitching can make a tremendous difference in attenuating the beer to the desired level" (White & Zainasheff). 

 

I followed the tips, so we'll see how it comes out in another month.