OH MY GOD IS THAT THE SUN?!
So guess who actually got sunburnt this weekend?! If you guess me, you are correct.
It was a fairly busy weekend, as all my weekends seem to be these days. Friday I went to group meeting and then met with the guy whose samples I'm running for research; we discussed some results and some future work, and I returned to work with a metric assload of samples and standards to run. This Friday I'm meeting with another student who wants me to run some of his samples; he's actually coming to sit and watch the machine with me so that he can learn some about it. (Oh shit, need to email him -- okay, done)
I've been making myself buckle down on research lately. It really sucks working 50-hour weeks, especially when work has been so intense lately, but I have been saying for almost a year now that I need to get focused on this research project so that I can get done with school. I am making myself do this, on Fridays and overnight on the machine and hopefully it will turn into enough of a project that I won't have to start doing other work, because I can't fit much more into my schedule right now. Anyway, it's not bad as long as I don't give myself the choice. I'm exhausted and I end up sleeping away half of my Saturday or Sunday, but that's just the price you pay, y'know? I'm making myself go and get this done, and it's going to happen.
Friday afternoon we ran out of time for the gym, so we went on an ~1 hr bike ride on the Towpath Trail. It was a gorgeous day, and we went all the way north, past Peninsula -- I've never been past Peninsula on the Trail, and it's really, really pretty up north. I want to do it again on some day we have more time for it. I love biking. (Anyone want to do a biking-picnic day with me??)
Anyway, Friday night we had Bogdog practice and then brewed another beer. Practice was alright. We are at the point where we haven't added more than a song or two in months, and we haven't gone through the entire set in a night since... I honestly think since 2008, since we've been trying to work on the songs individually (better parts, effects, etc). It's frustrating because the things holding us back are stupid: (1) a certain member of the band (2) scheduling practices and (3) a certain member of the band. A while ago I was feeling like I was the only one who wanted to keep playing -- no one else seems to care or schedule practice or leave time in their week for practice or even think about it -- but it was still fun enough that it was worth it. Now, not so sure. Haha. Maybe I was just in a bad mood. We'll see if we can practice more than two weeks in a row or something.
We did brew another beer, too. We're moving into partial mashing, which is a sort-of intermediate between the easy malt extract method we've been using in the kits and the "all-mash" method that requires a propane tank and a wort cooler (hahaha no). It's supposed to make beer that's more flavorful, more unique, more customizeable, etc. than a regular malt extract recipe/kit, so here's hoping. We've been starting with some actual recipes from books and then putting our own spin on things -- modifying it to fit our equipment etc.
You basically "mash" the grain by putting it in a small amount of water at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time and let the enzymes convert the grain starches into fermentable sugars. I bet that is the nerdiest sentence you've ever read about beer. We use a cooler to mash in, which worked alright (we were a little flaily; we hadn't planned it out too well). Then the mash goes into the boil like everything else and just becomes another part of the wort. With partial-mash, you get half of your sugars from this mash procedure, and the other half from the usual malt extract.
This weekend we made an Oatmeal Stout. It's actually going to be a Cinnamon-Vanilla Oatmeal Stout, because Jason likes to throw things into the beer, but hey -- it's his recipe. I think it's going to be good, actually.
Friday night was actually pretty awesome: after the beer brewed, it was pretty late, but it was so nice and warm outside that four of us ended up cuddling outside, under some blankets, lying in the grass and looking at the stars. I managed to keep my astronomically-verbose tendencies under control (I love constellations; doubly when drunk) for most of the night -- and we actually saw shooting stars! Well, by 'we' I mean 'everyone except hilldo', but that's just what he gets for being such a blanket-stealer (you blanket-stealer). The shooting stars were awesome, and it was really kind of nice and peaceful. One of my favorite things about where I live now is being able to see the stars.
Saturday I slept the hell in. We did some chores around the house (aka 900 piles of laundry go!), and then went up to a friend's house for a 30th birthday party. It was a bonfire, which was pretty sweet, although it was too windy to set off the Giant Pile Of Crap so I had to make do with a normal-sized fire. The party was fun, although fairly uneventful (which can be a good thing).
Sunday we put the bikes on the car again, hit the nearest trailhead, and biked to the gym. It was so nice out! It was almost summer-hot. We biked the ~5mi down, did our weights, and then biked ~5mi back. While parking our bikes we saw a little baby bird who was seemingly JUST learning to fly; he hopped around us and chirped a lot. That made me happy. (What made me less happy was being chased around the garage by a wasp!) As much as I want to run a 5K, I really like biking too, especially when it's so nice out. And that's how I got sunburnt. I had actually put sunscreen on my face, but in one of those "Ha ha, I'm sure I won't need this" moments; my arms were a bit pink that evening, so I guess the sun showed me who's boss.
Things I did not do this weekend:
Anyway. It's beautiful here, again. I love this.
It was a fairly busy weekend, as all my weekends seem to be these days. Friday I went to group meeting and then met with the guy whose samples I'm running for research; we discussed some results and some future work, and I returned to work with a metric assload of samples and standards to run. This Friday I'm meeting with another student who wants me to run some of his samples; he's actually coming to sit and watch the machine with me so that he can learn some about it. (Oh shit, need to email him -- okay, done)
I've been making myself buckle down on research lately. It really sucks working 50-hour weeks, especially when work has been so intense lately, but I have been saying for almost a year now that I need to get focused on this research project so that I can get done with school. I am making myself do this, on Fridays and overnight on the machine and hopefully it will turn into enough of a project that I won't have to start doing other work, because I can't fit much more into my schedule right now. Anyway, it's not bad as long as I don't give myself the choice. I'm exhausted and I end up sleeping away half of my Saturday or Sunday, but that's just the price you pay, y'know? I'm making myself go and get this done, and it's going to happen.
Friday afternoon we ran out of time for the gym, so we went on an ~1 hr bike ride on the Towpath Trail. It was a gorgeous day, and we went all the way north, past Peninsula -- I've never been past Peninsula on the Trail, and it's really, really pretty up north. I want to do it again on some day we have more time for it. I love biking. (Anyone want to do a biking-picnic day with me??)
Anyway, Friday night we had Bogdog practice and then brewed another beer. Practice was alright. We are at the point where we haven't added more than a song or two in months, and we haven't gone through the entire set in a night since... I honestly think since 2008, since we've been trying to work on the songs individually (better parts, effects, etc). It's frustrating because the things holding us back are stupid: (1) a certain member of the band (2) scheduling practices and (3) a certain member of the band. A while ago I was feeling like I was the only one who wanted to keep playing -- no one else seems to care or schedule practice or leave time in their week for practice or even think about it -- but it was still fun enough that it was worth it. Now, not so sure. Haha. Maybe I was just in a bad mood. We'll see if we can practice more than two weeks in a row or something.
We did brew another beer, too. We're moving into partial mashing, which is a sort-of intermediate between the easy malt extract method we've been using in the kits and the "all-mash" method that requires a propane tank and a wort cooler (hahaha no). It's supposed to make beer that's more flavorful, more unique, more customizeable, etc. than a regular malt extract recipe/kit, so here's hoping. We've been starting with some actual recipes from books and then putting our own spin on things -- modifying it to fit our equipment etc.
You basically "mash" the grain by putting it in a small amount of water at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time and let the enzymes convert the grain starches into fermentable sugars. I bet that is the nerdiest sentence you've ever read about beer. We use a cooler to mash in, which worked alright (we were a little flaily; we hadn't planned it out too well). Then the mash goes into the boil like everything else and just becomes another part of the wort. With partial-mash, you get half of your sugars from this mash procedure, and the other half from the usual malt extract.
This weekend we made an Oatmeal Stout. It's actually going to be a Cinnamon-Vanilla Oatmeal Stout, because Jason likes to throw things into the beer, but hey -- it's his recipe. I think it's going to be good, actually.
Friday night was actually pretty awesome: after the beer brewed, it was pretty late, but it was so nice and warm outside that four of us ended up cuddling outside, under some blankets, lying in the grass and looking at the stars. I managed to keep my astronomically-verbose tendencies under control (I love constellations; doubly when drunk) for most of the night -- and we actually saw shooting stars! Well, by 'we' I mean 'everyone except hilldo', but that's just what he gets for being such a blanket-stealer (you blanket-stealer). The shooting stars were awesome, and it was really kind of nice and peaceful. One of my favorite things about where I live now is being able to see the stars.
Saturday I slept the hell in. We did some chores around the house (aka 900 piles of laundry go!), and then went up to a friend's house for a 30th birthday party. It was a bonfire, which was pretty sweet, although it was too windy to set off the Giant Pile Of Crap so I had to make do with a normal-sized fire. The party was fun, although fairly uneventful (which can be a good thing).
Sunday we put the bikes on the car again, hit the nearest trailhead, and biked to the gym. It was so nice out! It was almost summer-hot. We biked the ~5mi down, did our weights, and then biked ~5mi back. While parking our bikes we saw a little baby bird who was seemingly JUST learning to fly; he hopped around us and chirped a lot. That made me happy. (What made me less happy was being chased around the garage by a wasp!) As much as I want to run a 5K, I really like biking too, especially when it's so nice out. And that's how I got sunburnt. I had actually put sunscreen on my face, but in one of those "Ha ha, I'm sure I won't need this" moments; my arms were a bit pink that evening, so I guess the sun showed me who's boss.
Things I did not do this weekend:
- Write any words at all.
- lunaticdiscord. I didn't even check my email (thx for 250+ unreads this morning guyz)
- FFEX documents WHICH I AM GOING TO DO TODAY, I SWEAR
Anyway. It's beautiful here, again. I love this.