Making a bed is easy...

With the looming new apartment, and new puppy in said apartment one thing came into focus: the mattress on the floor bed that I have been sporting for four years just wasn't going to cut it. So with this in mind I sat down with a pen and paper and made some plans.
That weekend I made my trip to Lowe's and decided it was time to build a bed. Now I should mention that though I've built many things in my life not all of them have worked out as planned, so needless to say I was a bit nervous about building a bed seeing as I would be sleeping on it. So after the purchase of some pine boards, some stain, and some hardware it was time to get down to business.
The basic design was pretty simple and the cutting took less than an hour. The time consuming part was the staining, but luckily I'm pretty good at staining so it turned out pretty well. Overall I'm very happy with the finished product and expect to build a few more pieces of furniture in the future...unless my bed collapses after posting this....

The best hamburger I've ever eaten...

This story, as with many stories today, begins in the magical realm of eBay. As many of you know I like to make things, especially things that I can eat or drink. Those that know that also know that I am a big fan of eating things that at some point in their lives were animals (I may be a carnivore). And so one day while on eBay I stumbled across a meat grinder and knew that it must be mine. And so a week and $8 later I had in my possession a cast-iron meat grinder.
That Saturday I made the fateful trip to a local butcher shop and choose my meats carefully. 1.35lbs of bacon and a 3.5lb chuck roast. These would soon be fused together to make an incredible burger. And so mere hours later I pulled what turned out to be the best hamburgers I've ever had the pleasure of consuming off of the grill. Paired with a nice Belgian White beer and some homemade red potato fries and it could have been one of the best meals I've prepared in a long, long time.

Oh where, oh where...

It's been a little while. I've been busy moving and haven't had Internet. Look forward to some new posts soon.

Bottling Day

It's finally that time: bottling day. My first batch has now been moved from my 5 gallon carboy to 48 12 ounce bottles. A quick easy process and in 2 short weeks I'll be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor...unless I screwed up.

Being a father figure

Well, my most recent adventure is a long term adventure. If you know me then you know I like animals (Except for cats) and it's probably no surprise that I'm a dog guy. As a little background my family has always had dogs from Rottweilers to Chows we've had our share, but there's one breed that's always had a special place in my heart: Boxers. You see when I was little my family had a Boxer named Rocky and he was perhaps the best dog ever. No matter how much I bugged him or tried to get him to eat dirt he wouldn't mind. Unfortunately he passed on and so ever since I've always wanted another Boxer (Though I know I'll never replace him.) And so on April 3rd I made the trek to Sparks, Georgia to take a look at a litter of Boxer puppies. When we got there as soon as we got out of the car there was a herd of puppies running straight for us. After an hour and a half of playing with all the puppies, watching them, and talking to the breeder I finally made my choice. He's currently staying back home with my parents until I move to my new apartment so he's probably being spoiled rotten as we speak.

Seven days and still bubbles...

As an update to my last post it's now been one week since I started my homebrewing experiment and so far so good. I had a little bit of overflow during the initial two days, but that subsided and it's been clear sailing ever since. Next Friday I'll check the alcohol level and if the fermentation is complete I'll go ahead and bottle my first batch.
So with my first batch nearing bottling any suggestions for my second batch? Just to refresh this batch is a Belgian White similar to Blue Moon or Shock Top. I think my next might be a bock or lager. What do you think?

"But you could have just bought it at the grocery store..."

Most people who know me know that I'm more than a little DIY. I like to do anything possible myself from working on my bike and cars to cooking from scratch. And so it was one faithful Thursday afternoon as I was riding home from work I noticed a small shop on Tennessee Street. The Homebrew Den.
Now I've thought of brewing my own beer many times before, but it just never seemed convenient, with a store in town it turned convenient really quick. And so a few short hours later I had gone home, changed, hopped in my truck, and gone to The Homebrew Den and back and now had all the supplies needed to make beer, wine, and mead (The last two will come into fruition later in the year.)
And so Friday night I set upon my task sanitizing, boiling, stiring, making a huge mess (Malt is sticky.) But after a few hours I was able to pour my brew into the carboy. Now I have 4 weeks to wait until I will be able to pop the top on my first homebrew and take a sip of something akin to Blue Moon.
Upon telling my Mom about my new hobby (To be honest I've probably got to many hobbies as is) her only response was "But you could have just bought it at the grocery store..." I don't think she gets it.

"It's the Cadillac of machine guns..."

"It's the Cadillac of machine guns..." That was the quote of the day on Saturday.

Let me give a little background: I own guns. I enjoy shooting guns. With that said I also realize that owning a gun is a responsibility and therefore I decided to take a firearm safety course. It was a good class that went through a lot of useful information and included a little over an hour of range time (Which is always fun.)

The guy who taught the class has been a SWAT officer for over 30 years and near the end of the class he was showing us some of his gear and pulled out an MP5. It was only seconds later that he would utter those fateful words "It's the Cadillac of machine guns..." and so I knew what had to be done.

Twenty seconds later I had a loaded magazine in one hand and the MP5 in the other. Needless to say this was a big moment. It was going to be the first time I had ever shot a fully automatic firearm. I slammed the magazine in and slapped the bolt closed and was ready to go. Mere seconds later I had disposed of thirty rounds of amunition and was left holding the gun unable to wipe the stupid grin off my face. I've shot a lot of different guns, but never anything like this. It was smooth, it was polished, it was refined, and it was fun as hell.

What is "A Day in the Life..."?

The concept for "A Day in the Life..." is simple: I want to challenge myself. I want to push myself out of my comfort zone. I want to try new things. I want to have new experiences.

So here it is: at least once a month I am going to try something new. It could be something small like attempting to cook something new or traveling somewhere I've never been or it could be something big, but in the end it's all about enriching my life.

So here we go, let's see what happens and where I go. I hope that maybe you'll decide to do the same, step out of your comfort zone, and see the world beyond your front door.