Hey look, a post not entirely about beers.

So, the past month and half have been......... interesting.

Did the whole "oktoberfest drink all the beers in the world that don't taste exclusively like hops/brett/candy/fruit" thing, and here's what I've gleaned, in the quick and dirty:

1. Most breweries don't make a good Oktoberfest 6 pack.

2. Of those that do, they are in extremely limited supply (Left Hand, I'm looking at you)

3. There are 3 Pumpkin beers worth drinking. The rest taste like artificial flavors in Michelob Ultra.

Thankfully, there have been a few beers that have gotten me through.

Bell's 25th Anniversary Ale. It's just a fucking good beer. No special ingredients, wild yeast, huge stats. Just a super solid ale, A La Phin and Matt's. Nice ballance, good mouthfeel, strong, but not overwhelming flavors and aromas. It's been almost a month since I've had one, so tasting notes are going to be iffy at best.

Founder's Nemesis. Supposedly a barleywine. deffinitely strong enough, but it's all licorice and hops. One bottle tasted suspect, almost soapy, but the rest were solid. Rach pounded 2 in one night before realizing that they were no chump. Lulz ensued. Lots of dark flavors, definitely off the beaten path for a BW.

Aecht Smoked Marzen. Part of the Oktoberfest taste-a-thon. Like drinking an entire fall BBQ, smoker and all (in a good way). Seriously. It tastes like smoked meats.

Other than that, nothing of note as far as beer goes. Been taking it easy as the job search continiues, schedules tighten, and frankly, I don't have the energy to do any involved tasting. However, with Christmas beers around the corner (or should I say, in front of our faces- St Bernardus and Bridgeport already have offerings on the shelf, and Affligem is shortly behind them), I should probably get ready for another round of seasonal disapointment. I know that I have a few solid offerings to look forward to: Schlafly x-mas, Bell's x mas, Delirium Noel, etc. Oh, and Boulevard BBQ. I still have a 2009 bottle, which ought to be delicious. Had a 2006 test run bottle. A little oxidized, but I don't think it had been kept in the best conditions. Sour Quad is a VERY intersting beer. Possibly something worth exploring.

Other than that, there's more dark/roasty stuff to look forward to. Boulevard Dark Truth is coming out in 4 packs. Great Divide just put out a Smoked Baltic Porter (yum, hopefully). Southern Tier probably has something delicious from their Black Water series (if you missed Creme Brule this year, you really really missed out). KBS is essentialy around the corner, and rumor has it that Flying Saucer has a keg of Founder's Canadian Breakfast. Imma need some of that, plz.



OK. Done with beer.

The yob search has been frustrating. It seems that as soon as a decent job is posted somewhere, it gets filled. I mean, shit's brutal out there. Since August, I've missed out on AT LEAST 6 jobs of 45k plus benefits by less than 12 hours. I woke up at 4:30 am to take a fucking CDL test, passed with flying colors, only to learn, as I was pulling out of the DMV lot, that the 25 dollar an hour union position had been filled. FML.

However- one semi bright spot. While casually glazing over the myriad sales/retail/bullshit positions on one of many classified sites, I stumble across a "Tech Consultant" position with Sprint. So, I'm all like "Fuck it, might as well". Lo and Behold, I get a call for and interview. Of course, however, they want me to come in the day AFTER my day off, in the middle of the day. So, I make up a story and basically peace out of work, and go crush the 'view. One problem. It's north of North Kansas City. I mean, I already drive way too far for work, but come on. Crossing rivers and shit?

Whatever. I'll take it. Free phones galore. Less drama. No "hey help me out with my sexual harassment lawsuit" bullshit. Less drunks. 5 days a week. Mo Money. Room to Advance. All i have to do is be able to learn how to fix cell phones, and be told what a terrible person I am, constantly by customers. So, a general improvement from my current job.

One thing, though. I may have told my interviewers (who happen to be the person I'd be working directly with and the person I'd be working directly under) that I am going back to school for a computer programing degree.

I am?

I guess so. Plans are made to go back to school (again), start a new major (again), and learn how to program things. I found a program for programing games at JCCC (which happens to include courses on creating artificial intelligence- can you say "SKYNET"?) that looks promising. So, I guess I'm going to do that now. I mean, it seems pretty sweet, but it's just sort of out of left field.




I spent 13 hours today away from home, on work related business. All I want is to end humanity. And smoke all the weed that this tiny blue planet has to offer while doing so. Is that too much to ask?

That or I seriously need a back rub.