I have a fork and spoon problem. Let's ban those too.

America has a problem.  The problem is that Americans, as a whole, are unwilling to look at a situation objectively and come to a reasoned and practical solution.  In this case, I'm talking about the recent mass shootings and the debate around gun control.

I'll be up front. I don't own any guns, nor do I plan to in the near future.  I do, however, believe in The Constitution and all of it's Amendments, specifically, the 2nd.  In my view, we'd still be a British Colony had guns in the hands of the public not allowed us to fight for our Independence.  I also feel that in a free country, you assume certain risks for your freedoms.  One of them is that occasionally someone is going to make a mistake and/or abuse their rights and harm someone.

The debate around gun control based on these incidents is like outlawing wheat because people are allergic.  The analogy isn't perfect but you get the drift.  Many, many people own firearms legally, use the safely and live productive lifetimes with them around.  They're a tool, and tools, when used properly, are a benefit to society.

Here's the question that I ask myself:  If someone walked into a crowded theater and began hitting people with a baseball bat, would I we be wanting to ban baseball?  No. We wouldn't.  Swords?  No.  Heck, if we extended the current thinking, we'd be banning forks because we're overweight.

The real problem is how we treat each other and how we, as human beings, value other life.  Something was and is clearly wrong with the individuals who perpetrated these events.  They clearly valued other human lives very little and their own even more.  We should be investigating how and why we weren't able to identify and treat these individuals for their problems prior to their actions.

Personally, I do blame my fork.  Of course, when I don't lose weight after the fork ban, I'll have to ban my fingers as well because I'll still eat more than I should.

So the Mayans were practical too?

Like the mainframe programmers in the '70's, the Mayans simply made a practical decision about when to end their calendar.  As I suspected, the end of a calendar isn't some dire prediction of doom. It's an opportunity to start with a clean slate and move toward something better without the shackles of time to drag you down.

The year 2012 was eventful even if the supposed apocalypse didn't occur. It did see quite a few significant events, at least for me and my family.  Here's a recap.

Family

Where to start?  I suppose you could say that this was our year to try new things.  Everyone in the family did something that they haven't before.

In February, my son, daughter, and I started talking karate lessons in Grafton.  In particular, we are practicing Ed Parker's American Kenpo with a fantastic instructor.  My daughter and I are currently at orange belt and working toward purple.  It's been a great way to spend some quality time with my daughter while learning and exercising at the same time.  I've always wanted to try a martial art and this one seems to agree with me.

After a bit of a hiatus, the kids and I have started playing pen and paper role playing games again.  Our neighbor across the street has been interested in playing for a while and I offered to run a game for them.  With a few exceptions, we've played weekly since June or so.  It's been great fun and a good way to spend time with my son doing something he enjoys.  I expect that we'll be playing for the next several years.

Lastly, for me at least, I began a hobby that I've been interested in since I was in college.  I've had the equipment for several years but actually started brewing my own beer in August with the help of my neighbor.  In particular, this is a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy.  The act of crafting, and drinking, the beer speaks to an inner need to create things that taste good.


Friends

Thanks to my wife, karate, and brewing, we have begun building a network of friends in Massachusetts.  This was something that took us quite a while when we moved to Puyallup in 2000.  Thankfully, we have a few neighbors that we get along with very well and enjoy doing things with.  We've also been spending time with a few of my new friends in karate.

I look forward to continuing the building of those friendships in 2013.

Work

My job has been an interesting and enjoyable ride since our relocation to MA in 2010.  I've had a total of 3 different managers in that time, but those changes were primarily due to attrition. The first 2 managers have moved on to other positions outside the company.

The good news here is that I've been offered, and accepted, a promotion in 2012 and am working toward building programs and processes that improve our group and the IT department as a whole. It's interesting and exciting work. I look forward to 2013 and what my professional life hold in store.

Recently, I spoke at a user conference.  While I've spoken in front of groups before, I haven't done so in front of so many.  It was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.  I'm resolved to do more of this in the future.


I'm not the sort to make New Year's resolutions.  I find that I don't keep them anyway.  Instead, I choose to look at every year as an opportunity to learn and grow.  This year will be no exception.  My message to my friends and family is this:  Keep striving for what you want. Keep learning. Keep growing. Never give up.  Lean on those that you love.  Seize the opportunity in front of you.

Happy New Year!

You have failed me.

I had a long post mostly written that tried to articulate my feelings on a few of the current events of this year and today.  I deleted it.  I can sum up my feelings in the title of this post.

My government, and I mean both sides aisle, have failed me in every way imaginable.  They are so wrapped up in their petty bickering over who's plan will win that they fail to realize that we, the American people who put them there, are going to pay the price.

I am not apathetic though. I am angry.  My anger will come out in my votes at the polls.  Any candidate, regardless of party, who did not vote with America's best interest at heart and instead voted with their party, will not get my vote. Period.

That said, the majority of my anger will be directed at the current Republican candidates.  They've lost their way and capitulated to extremists in their own ranks.

I leave you with the words and ideas of Warren Buffet. I would wholeheartedly endorse this plan.

Let it snow.

I'm still working on a long, somewhat racy post for me.  I hinted that I have a lot to say but I want to spend the right amount of time saying it.  As I articulate my thoughts, I find that I need to make several passes at the process in order to say what I mean.

On another note, it's almost Christmas and we're stay-cationing in Massachusetts.  All of the presents are bought. The wrapping will occur tomorrow.  I'm making smoked salmon lasagne for our meals and that's about it.  Should be very relaxing and a good way to spend a vacation.

I'll do a "year in review" later in the week.  It's been a busy and eventful one and I'm looking forward to 2013.

A good ending

Well, they will continue to get my business.  The call went well and my shipping was refunded.  After some discussion, I was able to understand that I could, now that I had the proper parts, change them out.  I asked the technician to note on my account that if I broke the regulator, they'd make it right.

I did that this afternoon and I am officially in business.  The Kolsch is in the keg and carbonating!  Yay!

Sit back, relax, and have a homebre..wait. what?

I'm annoyed.  Seriously annoyed.  I recently purchased a draft dual keg system from a rather large and reputable home brew supply store in Minnesota.  I was, per the packaging, led to believe that I would receive everything I needed to transfer my freshly brewed beer into a nice, aluminum keg.  I could then wait a fraction of the time it would normally take and begin to enjoy my freshly brewed creations.

This is not the case as of today. What I received was a single, wrong piece on one of my items.  Unfortunately, it's a crucial piece that connects the CO2 bottle to the kegs and both carbonates the beer and allows me to serve it.  After a call to the very helpful technician, who told me that this particular problem has occurred before, I opted not to take his advice and directly connect my pre-made gas line connects to the flanged valves.

Hey. I'm a smart guy. I can figure out a way to retain the most flexibility with my setup and still be able to use the gear this weekend.  At the same retailer, I was able to find the part I needed. It is, incidentally, a male stainless steel 1/4" barb X 1/4" flare adapter that looks a lot like this.

So I happily ordered 2 of these items (and the hoses and clamps to fix things up) and requested rush shipping. I received my package tonight, as promised.  What I didn't receive, as promised, was the item pictured above. Instead, what I received was a male 1/4" shutoff valve.

This is the item that should have been attached to my regulator in the first place.

I'll be calling them tomorrow.  On my agenda:

• Refund shipping charges
• Refund incorrect parts

or

• Replace regulator all together that includes all of the appropriate parts

How they handle this tomorrow will determine if they get my business again.

The Money Shot

Speaking of said Oatmeal Stout.  A bottle that I gave my neighbor, whom I blame for my newfound joy, turned out exactly like mine.  This is why I brew.

Patience is a virtue

If I've learned anything since I've started brewing, it's that patiences is indeed a virtue.  I used my lack of it to advantage with my first brew. It was a honey wheat that I started drinking within 2 weeks of brewing and only a few days in the bottle.  I was able to learn how the flavor changed over time.  I was lucky in that I hit the right amount of ABV, remaining yeast in solution and bottle conditioning to have every bottle well carbonated by the time I popped the cap.

My second batch was an oatmeal stout. The original recipe called for a cold steep of coffee to be added to the secondary fermentation vessel, which I omitted.  That, combined with a bit of over hopping,  produced a very hoppy stout that I hesitate to call an oatmeal stout. It's more like a Imperial Stout or Russian IPA.

Here's where the patience part comes in.  I bottled this batch over a month ago. Almost every bottle that I've had or given away has been moderately flat.  I attributed it to not using enough priming sugar when I bottled.  Last night, however, I opened one and poured it into my favorite glass. I was rewarded with a rich, thick, 2 finger head that lasted for the entire glass.  I'm going to ensure that I'm not subject to an outlier and crack another tonight and see if it give the same result.  If so, I'll make sure to update my notes to allow for 4-6 weeks of bottle conditioning next time before sending these out the door.

Brewing side note:

In Primary:
Strange Brew - Killer Kolsch

On deck:
Dry hopped ESB
Northern Brewer - Houblonmonstre Tripel IPA

I absolutely LOVE intelligent television.  One series that we, as a family, watch is The Big Bang Theory.  Here's a sample of why:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dql26ssMcVI

It's getting a little Kolsch in here..

This summer, I finally took the plunge into home brewing with the help of my neighbor.  It's been a blast and I think, like many others, I've found something that I may do for the rest of my life.  It has the perfect combination of science and art to make it fun and enough variability to keep in interesting as well.

This weekend, I brewed my third batch of beer.  This batch was something much lighter and less alcoholic than my previous two batches.  It's a Kolsch style brew.  If you think of a standard, mass-produced beer, you'll have the basic idea.  The primary difference with what I did and what the big breweries do is in temperature and the fermentation process (i.e. yeast).  Your Miller's, Michelob's and Budweiser's are lagers, which ferment at lower temperatures on the bottom of the brew and for longer timer periods than your standard ale.

A Kolsch is an ale from the Cologne region of Germany that has lager-like qualities but ferments in the 65 F range.  We'll see how it turns out.  I pitched the yeast yesterday and as near as I can tell, active fermentation has begun.

UPDATE:  Fermentation is going strong on day 4.  I used new airlocks that behave differently than the ones I've used in the past.

Changes. Again.

I'm resurrecting this site again. I tried TypePad and liked it but couldn't justify the expense for the number of times I posted.  But, I've got enough to say and no place to say it, for posterity's sake, so here I am again.

Here's a quick rundown of the changes:

• Name: changed to Northeast by Northwest. It's really the nexus of who I am right now.  I was born and raised in the Northwest.  I can name 40 different variation of rain as proof.  But, I now live in the Northeast and have fully embraced certain parts of the culture here.
• The URL: Yeah.. it now matches the name. nexnw.blogspot.com.
• Content:  Going to be a mixed bag of very disparate stuff.  Food, beer, games, technology and yes, some politics.

I'll also start tagging my posts so you can filter out what you don't want to see. I'm nice that way.

~J.

Twenty years & still going strong: Part 3 "The Reunion"

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Never forget

As I sit here, I am forced to remember a day 8 years ago and all that has occurred since. I was just returning to work from a conference in Washington D.C. A close friend & co-worker called me in a panic asking if I'd heard what happened. It was just after 6AM PST. He then, while I was on the phone, described the 2nd aircraft hitting the 2nd tower.

As people slowly began to arrive at work, all of us were transfixed by the images on the news. We wondered if friend or colleagues were affected. The investment industry is a fairly small community and many vendors, colleagues and clients were based in Lower Manhattan. No real work was completed and the markets were, if memory serves, unreachable due to the telephone networks being down.

Many of us went home early as air travel was halted by order of The President. I sat at home with my wife and kids, wanting to keep track of happenings, but not wanting to expose my young children to the horror.

Looking back, the only good I can see that came out of this event was a distinct and focused effort by business and government to ensure that recovery from disasters was an up front and primary issue going forward. The so-called security measures and heavy handed legislation are not what I'd call "good." The Department of Homeland Security isn't either. Too many personal freedoms have been lost as a result of the goverment "protecting us."

Never forget those that lost their lives both on the air and on the ground, but don't let that be an excuse for giving up personal freedoms and abandoning the will to fight for what you think is right and protecting your way of life.

Twenty years & still going strong: Part 2

(You can find Part 1 here.)

Friday continued:
I left off last time lamenting the fact that I felt like I was not very nice to Amber my senior year of high school. As the commenters on that post would agree, I was probably a little too hard on myself. I was who I was at that time, which is to say that I was a self-important teenager who probably said and did things that were horrible and didn't realize it. I should clarify one point, however. My comments in Amber's yearbook seemed very out of place while I was sitting in her kitchen 20 years later. That was the major source of my feelings on the situation. I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but it just struck me as not a good thing to say.

Joe & Dani:
Joe and Daniela showed up around 40 minutes after I arrived. I think I was just finishing up my first beer of the evening. It was a good thing too. I was in for a special treat. They had brought a case of "The Champagne of Beers." For the low brow folks reading this, that's Miller beer. I believe that the pizzas that Amber had put in the over were done as well. Drinking Miller and eating pizza while on the Harbor is a truly special experience. I think I described going home in my last post as being "uncomfortable." This was 100% the opposite.

As always, Joe & Daniela's arrival increased the fun factor by 10. Between the 2 of them, they could easily turn any gathering into a party. Bar Mitzvah? Easy. Garage Sale? Puh-lease. Funeral? Definitely. I had no reason to believe that the rest of the night would be any different, and I wasn't disappointed.

Michelle & Kristelle:
If memory serves, Kristelle & Michelle (..and that rhymes the way I'm saying it in my head right now.) showed up around 30 minutes after Joe & Dani. It's almost as if they snuck in, because 1 minute we were all in the kitchen enjoying our champagne (of beers) and the next they were cruising in the door with their suitcases.

Kristelle was soo funny that I don't think it took more than 5 minutes before I was laughing so hard that I almost blew champagne (of beers) out of my nose. I'm going to skip over the actual topic. Don't ask, 'cuz I won't tell. Actually, that's not much of a stretch because I was left speechless then too.

We took the opportunity to get a few pictures before we left. I'm pretty sure Amber took this, which is why she's conspicously absent. I think I'm the only one who doesn't still wear the same size as in high school. Sheesh.



The Bar (a.k.a. Stiffy's)
It's a long-standing tradition that on the Friday before a reunion for HHS that anyone who can meets at a local bar. It was at a place called, of all things, Stiffy's. I could go on for hours on the name. I won't.

The Friday event is always very casual. My experience at our 10 year reunion was less than stellar. My daughter was 13 months old and I wasn't really sure what to expect. A classmate who I suspect had a crush on me found me and told me a long story that I won't relate. Needless to say, it wasn't fun. This time it was better. I think around 20 people were there, as well as a quite a few other people. We arrived a little later than usual and I guess that we missed quite a few other classmates that were there earlier in the evening. Steve B, I'm talking about you, pal.

The first person I ran into was Neil Meyer. Yes, Neil, you're taller. This was phrase that could have madeyou money over the course of the next 24 hours. I was also very lucky to meet Neil's lovely wife. Marty Skinner, who, I've known longer than just about anyone else, was there too. I could (and probably should) mention the rest, but this post is getting long in the tooth already, and I haven't even gotten to the reunion yet. It was all pretty much a blur of laughter & drinks. Mostly laughter, but drinks were a close second.

I should mention 2 things at this point. Firstly, it wouldn't be a reunion without a teeny little bit of drama. We had a little, but as we found out later, it was more the alcohol talking than anything else. I think all was forgiven in the the end. Secondly, what's up with the ass-grabbing? I've learned to live with my distinguished good looks over the years. But ladies (and gentlemen), keep your hands off of my ass. I think it was grabbed twice, and I honestly can't remember exactly who did it. Actually, I remember one of them but she'll remain nameless.


In any case, it was a great time. The picture to the right here pretty much sums up the whole night. Laughter & silliness. Thanks ladies. A good portion of the fun I had is due to you two. :-)

The Hotel:
As with all things, the night had to come to an end. Amber & Daniela headed back to town, while Joe, Michelle & Kristelle (yep.. still rhymes) headed to the Quinault Beach Resort, where we were staying.

The drive was uneventful, thankfully. Joe and I still drive insanely fast down that road and still pass like everyone is standing still. We checked in at around 1:15 AM. Joe, Kristelle and I went to the bar for a drink. As luck with would have it, the casino bar was dead, empty and closing up. So, instead of a drink, Joe and I picked up a fabulous sandwich and some bottled water. Actually, the sandwich's only redeeming quality was that it was solid and edible.

It was with the help of the friendly bar staff that Friday night came to a close. We all turned in for the night.

Next up will be "Part 3: The Reunion"..

A way opens

Heck with it. I don't need to have a theme. I do, however, need to write, express and get things out there. I don't expect to see anything come of this, but after a long while, I am comfortable with just putting my thoughts down and leaving it at that. With that, I'll post more often without the pressure of making sense. :-)

Twenty years & still going strong: Part 1

I went to my 20 year reunion for high school last weekend. While I'm not at a loss for words on the subject, I am having some difficulty accurately describing how much I enjoyed seeing people I haven't seen since the last reunion, and in some cases, longer. Like the trooper that I am, I'll do my best.

Friday:
I left work a little early to beat the traffic. I guess I didn't hold the monopoly on that idea, as it was bumper to bumper from Southcenter to Fort Lewis. I'm not just talking about the regular, heavy traffic, I'm talking about the "never get above 10 mph" traffic interspersed with long, single lane stops. It was grueling.

It was only bearable because I was trading text messages with Joe & Daniela the entire way down. " Yes, I'm 30 minutes ahead of you". "No, traffic still sucks down here. When will it end??" You get the idea.

As I drove into Aberdeen, I decided to make a restroom stop at the local Wal-Mart. Why? I have no idea. I guess I was a little hungry and not thinking clearly. Anyway, I went inside and it hit me. I haven't been back home, except to see my brother under what I would call "stressful circumstances", more than just a handful of times, yet it always feels like home. Not the warm, fuzzy "grandma's making cookies" type of home, but the uncomfortable sort of home that you never really want to go back to. It hit me how much I've grown since leaving The Harbor. My worldview is so altered that I just don't feel as comfortable there as I used to.

With nature no longer pestering, I decided to try and find Amber's house. I was a little nervous, to tell the truth. The last time I saw her was at our 10 year reunion. I cheated used my iPhone to give me the aproximate location, and after several trips around the block (Yes, Amber, you need to put the numbers back up), I made it there. I called my wife to let her know that I made it to town and would be meeting up with friends. My other motive was at least give the police a last known point on the off chance that I was at the wrong house and wasn't to be seen again.

As luck would have it, I had the correct house. Amber was a very gracious hostess. I showed up before everyone else, so we spent that time catching up, looking at old yearbook photos and talking about who we thought we'd see at the bar that night. I was appalled at just how big a jerk I was toward the end of high school. The things are wrote in Amber's yearbook, while meant to be in jest, sounded horrible. I felt bad, especially as I was sitting in her kitchen. (So yeah, I was an ass, Amber. Sorry. Thanks for not holding it against me. )

(More to come in Part 2...)

Jeff

Dusting off the table..

After a long while, I think I'm going to start using this thing again. I still don't have a *really* good idea, but I'm feeling the creative urge. I've had enough people ask if I do this to finally give in and start writing again. We'll see how this goes.

Oh, how blue I am not.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

There. I did it.

It's a good thing virus writers are idiots.

Slashdot | Extortion Virus Code Cracked

Part of my job is to ensure that the network at my company remains secure. I follow security mailing lists and various other things to keep abreast of security threats. The above "extortion-ware" was something that scared the shit out of me when I first heard of it.

Thankfully, the idiot who wrote it didn't follow good programming practice and left the password unencrypted in the code. The article has the password, but if you're too damn lazy, it is:

mf2lro8sw03ufvnsq034jfowr18f3cszc20vmw

Have fun.

Feel the power..

A buddy just sent this to me. While some of the acting isn't perfect, the fight scenes are well put together. I'm impressed. Check it out.