Oh Glorious Day! The local news channels started declaring Gloom and Doom yesterday and by this morning it was full blown, “worst storm in the last 12 months.” Sadly enough people actually believe it. After living in Northern Illinois for 30 plus years, I know that whenever the local weather service calls for severe weather there is only about a 25% chance that it’s going to be close to what they call for. IE, originally it was supposed to hit at noon today, as of right now it’s not going to hit until after midnight. They are calling for 3-12 inches of snow. More like 2-3 with their record.

I already had employees ask me if they are going to close the office tomorrow. My standard answer was a resounding no. I even told my people that if they call and say they canÂ’t make it in, IÂ’d drive over and pick them up in the morning. However, I will charge them for gas. I have never missed a day of work in my life due to bad weather. Even when we did get a couple of feet of snow in one storm and I had a 45-mile commute, I didnÂ’t miss work. There has not been a situation that good safe driving canÂ’t get you where you are going.

Of course all the people are at the store buying bread and milk. I canÂ’t remember which blogger did a post on it, but every time they call for bad weather everyone runs to the store to buy bread and milk. IÂ’m not sure why, but they do. This means the roads are packed with panicked drivers trying to race and beat one another to the store. Right now the real threat isnÂ’t the possible snow covered roads, itÂ’s the idiots out rushing around. I saw three accidents on my ride home tonight. The snow hasnÂ’t even started yet!

Personally, I would like to see 2-3 feet, yes feet, of snow. We havenÂ’t had a good snowy winter in years. It could drop a foot of snow a week between now and New Years and IÂ’d be a happy man.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:52 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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IÂ’m getting around to trying one of the beers in the sample case I thought I would hate, the Tommy knocker Maple Nut Brown Ale.

The same brown bottle with front and back labels. On the front we have a Tommyknocker pouring maple syrup into an ale barrel. We have the standard back label with a short story about what a Tommyknocker is and a description of the beer. It also tells me that I should drink this beer before December 11 or it will taste bad. I guess IÂ’m cutting this one close.

When poured into a glass, it has a dark cola-like coloring to it. Light passes through, but you really canÂ’t see whatÂ’s on the other side of the glass. There is very little head that quickly dissipates. Even with trying to make as large of a head as possible, it just wouldnÂ’t form. The only thing I accomplished was large bubbles.

The smell is very sweet. You have a scent of chocolate malts with maple syrup. In fact it almost smelled like I was drinking some kind of flavored pop. The taste was nutty with just a hint of maple syrup. Surprisingly it wasnÂ’t very sweet. It had a mild sweetness to it; there is no bitterness at all.

This ale is very smooth with a light body. There isnÂ’t much to the weight, and it has a velvety texture on the tongue. It drinks too easily. I finished off this drink in less than ten minutes, and that was with typing this review.

ItÂ’s an okay beer. This would be a good beer to give to someone that isnÂ’t much of a beer fan. My wife liked the taste, and she isnÂ’t a beer drinker. ItÂ’s a little on the wimpy side for me, so IÂ’m going to give it a 5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Og of Neanderpundit is regaling us with tales of drivers on his way to work. More specifically about the “Blue Hairs” as he calls them, and the idiots that drive fancy cars that believe it gives them a right to hot rod through traffic. His little tale reminded me of an ongoing annoyance I’ve had for the last couple of months.

As some of you may remember, I tend to have a lead foot. Typically I drive about 10 mph over the posted limit. IÂ’m generally not the fastest car on the road, but IÂ’m definitely not the slowest. I donÂ’t care if people pass me and I donÂ’t mind passing people. Although I do hate it when they whip around me just to slow down. Especially if they are making a turn and come to an almost complete stop. But that is not what I want to talk about.

There is a stretch of road that I travel down every day to work. ItÂ’s only about four miles long, but in that stretch the speed limit goes from 30 to 35 to 40 to 45 miles per hour. When I start out on it IÂ’m doing 40 miles an hour and just about everyone is passing me like IÂ’m standing still. Every time the speed limit increases by 5 MPH, so do I. Again IÂ’m generally being passed rather easily. Finally, when I get to the stretch of road that is 45 MPH, IÂ’m doing 55 MPH. However, now all these cars that have been passing me are now being passed by me.

Can anyone explain this to me? I mean IÂ’m still doing 10 over the speed limit. Speeding tickets in the state of Illinois increase in severity based on how fast over the speed limit you are going, not on how fast in total you are going. Thus doing 40 in a 30 has the same fine as 55 in a 45. However, doing 50 in a 30 has a larger fine then 55 in a 45. Why the hell do all these morons not accelerate past 50? I donÂ’t know, but I get annoyed when they start boxing me in and I want to go.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:28 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Eric, the Straight White Guy, is creeping me out. He has some kind of camera system hooked up to his computer. ItÂ’s kind of unnerving to watch him, watching me read his blog. ItÂ’s almost like having someone reading over your shoulder. Excuse me; IÂ’m going to go unplug my camera to make sure he really canÂ’t see me.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:56 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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For dinner tonight we had left over Chinese food. Clone loves him some fried rice. The problem is that he loves it so much it gets everywhere. As anyone with children knows, you canÂ’t just pick up rice off the floor. You need to vacuum it up. Of course, even though itÂ’s messier, it is easier if the rice dries before you attempt to vacuum it. Ktreva just wanted to clean up the mess so she pulled out the vacuum and started cleaning.

Guys, this is why I donÂ’t hire a housekeeper. Why pay for one, when the wife will do it on her own?

Anyway, she was vacuuming away when all of a sudden the power brush started making a funny nose and started to smell funny. Ktreva turns off the power to the brush, (but not the vacuum) and is looking at the brush. When I ask her whatÂ’s going on, she tells me she thinks there is something wrapped around the brush roller. It took me three times of telling her to turn off the vacuum before she actually listened and did it. I try to get it from her to check it out, and she insists she can fix it. She is telling me this as she is yanking on the some hair wrapped around the brush roller.

Finally I convince her to let me take a look at it. Not that it wasnÂ’t amusing to watch her try to unroll hair from it one strand at a time, I just didnÂ’t want her to hurt herself or the vacuum. I open up the power brush and remove the brush roller. There is a lot of long, fine; blonde hair wrapped around one of the ends where the bearings are. After looking at the brush, it appears that her hair had wrapped in between bearings and the attachment bracket. The friction had caused it to melt into a clumpy mess. I also noticed that the roller brush is not rotating like it should on the bearings. As I free it from the case the whole bearing assembly explodes sending tiny ball bearings all over the place. (Thankfully I was in my workshop).

I come upstairs and I say, “It’s broken, I can’t fix it.” Mostly I was talking to myself out loud. Ktreva hears me and yells from the living room, “Great, we have to buy a new vacuum.” To which I respond, “What? No, I can repair it.” She snipes back with, “You just said it was broken and you can’t fix it.” Me, “Well yea, the roller brush is broke, I can’t fix it. I can repair the vacuum. I’ll just need to order a new roller brush.” She comes back with, “If you can repair it, then you can fix it.” Me, “Yes, I can fix the vacuum, but the brush roller is FUBAR. I can’t do squat with it.” Her, “Then it can’t be fixed?” Me, “What? No! I can fix the vacuum; I’ll have to order a new roller brush to do it. Dammit woman, listen to me when I speak. The vacuum can be fixed; the roller brush is broken beyond my ability to fix it. It’s just a part. I can buy a replacement one. Damn women not knowing a thing about fixing stuff.”

IÂ’m just hoping the swelling from where she hit me with a pan goes down before tomorrow.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:15 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Ahh, the olÂ’ chunder bucket has had a workout this week. First Clone started getting sick around 2:00AM Wednesday morning. He seemed to recover by Noon on Thanksgiving. Friday my mother has come down with the same bug. Apparently she was blowing chunks most of the day. Saturday morning Ktreva and her Grandfather both have a case of Technicolor yawns. By Saturday afternoon my sister was tossing cookies and Boopie was starting to feel like he was going to spew.

At this point IÂ’m the only person in my immediate family that hasnÂ’t gotten sick yet. Today all the parties seem to be recovering. At this time IÂ’m going to call this illness ContagionÂ’s Revenge. ItÂ’s payback for me not being able to have an enjoyable and relaxing holiday.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:27 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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When I think of all the great Christmas songs, I think of certain singers. Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Bob Rivers, ETC. Occasionally you get someone else that decides they want to make a Christmas Album. Ie Mariah “Dog Whistle” Carey.

But guess who wants to have the next great Christmas Album? ThatÂ’s right, no other then Billy Idol! Go Listen to his rendition of Oh Christmas Tree on his My Space site.

Yea, itÂ’s a special album.

Update: Here's a video! I may just have to buy this album.

And...

Posted by: Contagion at 11:11 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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It’s over folks. Thanksgiving 2006 has finally come to an end. My in-laws are on their way back to Kansas. My parents and sister are off doing their own thing with a resounding, “I have plans today and tomorrow”. I tried my damnedest to be civil the whole time; unfortunately Ktreva did bear some of the frustration last night after everyone had gone back to their hotels.

I opted to not take the Jack DanielÂ’s route as I thought that with everything else going on, it might just cause me to explode in an angry fit of honesty. Where that would have been much blog fodder, it also probably would have caused much strife in the Contagion household. At one point yesterday I was ready to take some of that new ammo and redecorate the interior of my living room brain matter greyÂ… and not necessarily my in-laws. It was just a passing thought with no seriousness to it, but still.

This morning before everyone went their separate ways we all had breakfast, that was fun. Especially since overnight Ktreva came down with the flu and I had to deal with all the boys, my parents, my sister, and my in-laws all by myself with no support. I think at this time I really should explain something to everyone. When I have family functions, I tend to not stay for more then 2-3 hours before leaving. Especially if there is extended family involved. I really hate some of my auntÂ’s, uncles and cousins. Many of my readers may not understand that, as I know you are close with your families. IÂ’m not. IÂ’ve always been the black sheep, the different one, and the one that doesnÂ’t think, act or behave like everyone else. After three hours of dealing with these people, IÂ’m ready to get the fark out of Dodge. On Thursday I spent 9.5 hours with them, yesterday I spent 8.5 hours with them, and this morning I spent 2 hours with them. IÂ’ve spent more time with my family and in-laws in the last three days then I have in the last 12 months.

But at least there was some humor out of the whole situation. This morning on the TV I saw a commercial for Lowe’s. They where talking about some sale, I wasn’t paying attention, but I did catch one piece from it. “…That way you can have you house all finished before your in-laws say, this room will look nice once you finish it.” That spoke volumes to me. Ktreva has been working on the woodwork in our living room for 7 years. She is nowhere done with it. She was the one that wanted to do it, and took the job on; she doesn’t want me touching it. Yesterday her grandmother said to me, “This room will look nice once you finish the woodwork you started 7 years ago.” When she is speaking about Ktreva and I, it’s y’all… so she meant me.

The kicker is that this morning at breakfast my mother, Ktreva's mom, and Ktreva's Grandmother decided this is going to be an annual tradition. They are going to do this every Thanksgiving. I think next year I'm going to find a part time job working security at the mall.

AhhÂ… such is life. Anyway, youÂ’ll have to excuse me; I need to go check to see if KtrevaÂ’s chunder bucket needs emptying.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:49 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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ItÂ’s black Friday, and as IÂ’ve stated in the past there is nothing that would make me want to go out shopping today. Well that was until yesterday. Between the Thanksgiving feedings the lady folks got together to look at adds for today. Ktreva found an add from DickÂ’s Sporting goods that stated ammo was 50% off today only from 5:30 AM to 2:00 PM, maximum 6 boxes. This morning I woke up around 6:30 AM and headed into the madness that is Black Friday. I didnÂ’t think ammo was that big of a Christmas commodity, so I didnÂ’t wake up too early.

DickÂ’s wasnÂ’t that busy when I arrived, and they did have their ammo on sale. I picked up 4 boxes of .357 and 2 boxes of .45 ACP. After I made my purchases, I called my friends J-man and Graumagus to advise them to get off their butts and head down there while the sale is still going on. Then I had a moment of genius. I have a friend that works at Gander Mountain and is working today. Maybe I could get Gander Mountain to honor the competitorÂ’s sale, thus getting another 6 boxes of ammo at 50% off.

Gander Mountain was also not busy upon arrival. I was able to find my friend and I asked if they would honor their competitorÂ’s sale. He advised me that normally they donÂ’t, especially on Black Friday, just because of the nature of the sales. Then he added that since I had the ad with me AND because IÂ’ve purchased a lot from them over the last year they would match the deal. Unfortunately their ammo selection had been picked over. They had the same Remington .357, but they didnÂ’t have the .45 ACP. But they did have it in the Blazer Brass. I decided I needed another 100 rounds of .45, and picked up the Blazer Brass.

Then my friend looked at the coupon, much closer then I did. The actual sale is buy one, get one at 50% off. DickÂ’s (Whom the ad is for) gave me all the ammo at 50% off. Heck, the guy working the counter even told me that all the ammo was 50% off. I may not have gotten as good of a deal from Gander Mountain, but it was still good enough. Between the two sporting good stores, I ended up with 600 rounds of Ammo for just over $110.00.
One canÂ’t argue with that. I normally spend that amount buying half of what I bought.

IsnÂ’t that a pretty sight?

Posted by: Contagion at 06:46 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Happy Thanksgiving. ItÂ’s that time of year when all AmericanÂ’s get together to give thanks for everything theyÂ’ve received over the last year. As some of you may recall I had a horrible experience with my family at Thanksgiving last year and vowed that I was going to do my own thing this year. Around September my in-laws advise my wife they want to come to town to spend Thanksgiving with us. We, meaning me as I do 95% of the cooking for special occasions, are not prepared to cook for that many people. Fortunately my mother says she wants us to come over to her house, none of my aunts, uncles or cousins are coming. We told my mother that KtrevaÂ’s Mom and Grandparents are coming to town, so my mother told us we could all go over to her house.

This sounds like it’s a good deal right? Nope, my in-laws don’t like me. Comments that have been made to me are along the lines of I’m controlling Ktreva, holding her back, keeping her from seeing her family, not providing well for the family, etc. My favorite was five years ago when one of them told me, “We just don’t like you”. Ktreva doesn’t believe any of this, because they are all nice to me when she’s with in earshot, but not when she’s not around. They also make comments to her that leads her to believe that they like me.

So far this Thanksgiving is going to be dealing with my Mother, who thinks sheÂ’s the boyÂ’s mother and that IÂ’m still 16. My sister who thinks IÂ’m too hard on the boys. My in-laws that hate me and my father, who will be my only ally that may help me out.

So this Thanksgiving IÂ’m thankful for Jack DanielÂ’s. It calms my stomach, my nerves and in the right moderation will keep my brain just soaked enough to not care.

On a lighter note, I have Thanksgiving presents for every one in the extended entry.
more...

Posted by: Contagion at 08:58 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Some Thanksgiving gift...the guys get a sexy woman, and the gals get...well, I try not to say words like that.

Happy Thanksgiving anyway!

Posted by: Mrs_Who at November 23, 2006 10:00 AM (nG9ng)

2 Happy Thanksgiving, dude, and thanks for the present.... From the Poke-a-hoe tribe is she?

Posted by: Wes at November 23, 2006 10:01 AM (eZAe8)

3 Happy Thanksgiving, man...

And thanks for the present.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at November 23, 2006 10:05 AM (Hn1Gg)

4 Hrmm...I always loved women with sharp objects

Happy Turkey Day dude!

Posted by: BloodSpite at November 23, 2006 11:03 AM (ZTGJT)

5 Umm... thanks I think. *grin*

Dude! Next year it's time to lay it out with the families... your family gets one holiday for themselves alone. Either Thanksgiving or Christmas... it's your family day for the 4 of you and then you get at least one where you can kick back and relax without needing the help of Jack. We always did Thanksgiving.

Anyhow, I hope the day goes better than you are expecting. Or at least that Jack helps out a bit.

Posted by: Teresa at November 23, 2006 11:09 AM (5UR9t)

6 Just focus on Sunday. You can make it til Sunday. We love you. You know that!!

Come to the light.....

Posted by: Tammi at November 23, 2006 12:33 PM (Sz1NJ)

7 Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by: Consul-At-Arms at November 24, 2006 02:19 AM (I0cnc)

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The in-laws are coming to town for Thanksgiving. That means itÂ’s time to clean the house from top to bottomÂ… They are going to be here tomorrow and we havenÂ’t started yet.

ItÂ’s going to be a long night.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:46 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I’m still alive. Yesterday did not go as planned. After grabbing all the gear I loaded up the family into the truck and headed to the MetroCentre. Ktreva kept telling me the whole time that I was being foolish and I was going to get hurt. Finally as I approached the sign-in table she stepped in front of me, crossed her arms, hitched her hips and stuck out a leg. She said, and I quote, “If you sign that piece of paper to try out, you are going to be in more trouble then you can imagine. Trust me, you don’t want that kind of trouble. Oh, and you know that thing I occasionally do that you really like, that you say I'm really good at and want me to do more of… keep it up and never again.”

Thus I ended up watching the tryouts from the sidelines. There were some guys down on the field that made me look svelte and others that made me look like I was a professional athlete. I donÂ’t know how many of them actually made the team. After a couple of hours I left and met up with Graumagus at Hooters for beer, hot wings and the afternoon game. Yea, it tore up my stomach, but it tasted real good.

So my dreams of being a UIF football player have been dashed. On a lighter note, when we left the building I realized that I had forgotten CloneÂ’s backpack at our seats. While running in to get it, I stepped wrong and gave myself a leg cramp. Maybe it was a good idea that I didnÂ’t try out.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:56 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Bum leg? Try being a Green Bay Quarterback.

Apparently mobility isn't a requirement :-/

Posted by: Harvey at November 20, 2006 06:27 PM (L7a63)

2 I love your wife so much.

And no, not that way. Damn, you and that "art"....

Posted by: Tammi at November 20, 2006 06:57 PM (3UQTn)

3 Darn. I was looking forward to really cool injury stories. You should have threatened her with your super-acid spit...

Posted by: Ogre at November 21, 2006 10:02 AM (oifEm)

4 It's good that Ktreva is there to save you from yourself. Though it would have been cool to be able to go watch you play...

Posted by: Richmond at November 21, 2006 11:52 AM (e8QFP)

5 Jeebus Caristy... you wuss.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at November 21, 2006 06:49 PM (Hn1Gg)

6 You have a good handler. Thank god she knows which tricks to use to handle you.

Posted by: og at November 22, 2006 08:21 PM (lMlMh)

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Hey, I didnÂ’t know this. ItÂ’s National Ammo Day. After try-outs IÂ’m going to have to guy buy 100 rounds.

Thanks to the Conservative UAW Guy for keeping me updated.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:29 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Right now Ktreva isnÂ’t speaking to me. SheÂ’s very upset at a decision IÂ’ve made. Today the Rock River Raptors are having open try-outs, and after much deliberation IÂ’ve decided to try out. For those of you that donÂ’t remember, the Raptors are the local United Indoor Football league team that I support.

Every time I watch a football game I see guys on the field and I think to myself, I can block better then that. Now I know the NFL players would kill me, but this is the UIF. These are the guys that werenÂ’t good enough to make the NFL, CFL or even the AFL. I actually stand a chance against these guys. So IÂ’m going to try to get a position on the line, offensive or defensive.

Sure I havenÂ’t played football in 17 years, IÂ’m out of shape and have some medical problems, but next year I will be too old to try out. If IÂ’m going to do it, this is the year. In about two hours IÂ’m going to head down to the MetroCentre and try to walk onto the team. Right now Ktreva is giving me a laundry list of reasons for why I shouldnÂ’t do it. Mainly because IÂ’m out of shape, have some medical problems, will probably create some new medical problems and IÂ’m just too old for this type of nonsense. She mentioned how I canÂ’t bounce back from injuries like I used to do. Bah! What does she know anyway?

On a slightly related note, IÂ’ve heard from numerous people that the Raptors have a commercial with me in it. From what IÂ’ve been told they focus on me at one point when IÂ’m cheering the team during a game. I have yet to see this commercial, so IÂ’m not sure how big of a dork I actually look like.

Well, IÂ’m going to go get ready and argue with Ktreva some more. Wish me luck! And I promise to give you an update later on how I did.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:12 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Harvey of Bad Example was unhappy with his rating in the blogosphere over at the The Blogebrity Widget. I headed over to see how I ranked.

Hey, I'll take the B-list. I thought I was going to end up on the D-List.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:48 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I donÂ’t even know how to start this post. Something happened tonight that I just didnÂ’t expect tonight and it scared the living daylights out of me. I was in the kitchen getting Clone something to drink when there was a knocking at the front door. Before I had a chance to answer it, Clone ran to the door. He unlocked the deadbolt and let a guy into the house.

The guy was trying to deliver a pizza. We hadnÂ’t ordered a pizza. It didnÂ’t take long to figure out he had the wrong house; he meant to go to the neighbors. After he was on his way I scolded Clone for answering the door and explained that he is NEVER to answer the door, he is to get either Ktreva or myself.

Fortunately this turned out to be nothing, but the thought of him letting some stranger into the house scared the ever-loving shite out of me. I know he has seen Ktreva or I answer the door a thousand times, and was just doing what he thought was right. Even after explaining it to him, I donÂ’t think he understood the gravity of the situation. IÂ’ve been raking my brain thinking of things I could do to prevent this from happening again and IÂ’m coming up with a blank. We have a chain on the door that is high enough he canÂ’t reach it, but that isnÂ’t always the solution. Like tonight, Ktreva was on her way home, and chaining the door would have locked her out of the house. ItÂ’s just not practical to use the chain every time we shut the door.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate them. Until then, IÂ’m thinking weÂ’ll just have to suck it up and use the chain. The next time he might let in the local homeless guy that comes around every couple of weeks looking for a hand out. The last thing I want to do is to try and wrestle him out of the house.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:46 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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We work on to the next of the TommyKnocker beer from the sample pack. TonightÂ’s choice is the Ornery Amber Lager.

Again we have the brown bottle with front and back labels. The front label has the TommyKnockers playing pranks on a human. They are tying his shoelaces together, lighting matches in his boot and putting a mouse in his lunchbox. We have a standard back label, again with a dating system and a little story about the beer.

The Ornery Amber has a clear amber color to it. There isnÂ’t a hint of cloudiness or sediment to it. When poured into the glass there is a filmy white head that dissipates quickly leaving a ring and some lacing on the side of the glass.

You can smell the fruity yeasts with a very mild hint of malts when it is brought to the note. The scent is very faint and after the first couple of sips is almost indiscernible. On the first sip you could taste a slight caramel malt flavor with a hint of nuttiness. There is a tangy aftertaste with a mild, but pleasant bitterness to it.

Ornery Amber is light bodied ale with a good carbonation mix. ItÂ’s easy in the mouth and goes down smoothly. This is one of those beers you would empty the bottle before you realized it leaving you wanting more.

This is a decent beer. ItÂ’s nothing to brag about, but I could see myself drinking a six-pack of this in a night, or maybe during a football game on Sunday. This beer ranks a 6 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I have been conducting interviews for a week and a half now. If IÂ’m lucky I will be finished by Thursday. At one point today I was ready to start hitting my head against the desk in the middle of an interview. The person being interviewed didnÂ’t even have a clue as to the position they applied for. I almost yelled at the individual to get out of the room, fortunately I had momentary control over my mouth and just smiled.

No, this person is not getting the job. Sadly enough, they weren't the worst one either. Even worse, they scored in the top 20 percent of candidates interviewed.

If IÂ’m lucky I will be done by Thursday. If it goes any longer I think I might lobotomize myself mid-interview with my pencil.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:42 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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“When he hit his butt, the ball came squirting out”

As heard last night during the Tampa Bay Vs. Carolina game. For a split second I wondered if I was watching gay pr0n.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:35 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Dark times have graced the political front in my little city. According to local news sources the City of Rockford and Winnebago County have decided to get into the professional sports business by purchasing a minor league hockey team.

The public agency that owns the MetroCentre wants to buy the Rockford IceHogs and reinvent the popular hockey team as a minor league franchise for the Chicago Blackhawks. The transformation would be part of a long-discussed $20 million renovation of the aging “big orange box” in downtown Rockford.

~Rockford Register Star

The “big orange box” they are referring to is the Rockford MetroCentre. It’s an arena that was opened in 1981. It’s currently where the Rockford IceHogs and the Rock River Raptors play. Unfortunately in the last couple of years it has started falling into a state of disrepair and really does need a renovation. The seats need repair, and the plumbing in some of the bathrooms doesn’t work. The last time I was there, the restrooms by the main entrance had no working sinks. It would be nice to see them actually fix up and redesign it. It’s pretty ugly right now, and is pretty much an eyesore.

Personally I would have rather they closed it down and built a new one closer to the interstate. The MetroCentre is currently located in downtown Rockford and is hard to get to. The traffic is pretty thick going to and leaving any event. According to a local radio station 1330 AM WNTA (Yes, I was listening to talk radio) it would cost substantially more money. I canÂ’t remember exactly the figure they gave; I believe it was in the 9-figure range. Since they would probably end up having to increase taxes to pay for that, IÂ’ll take the renovations. According to the press conference the money that the City of Rockford and the County are investing into the new MetroCentre is not going to raise local taxes any, I like it even more. Then again in March they may try to raise the taxes saying that in order to cover the costs, they need extra money. I did hear they are going to try to get a referendum passed to do an overhaul on one of the main roads that leads to the MetroCentre. So I guess I will end up having my taxes raised either way. Yea, the voters might say no, but they wonÂ’t. There isnÂ’t a tax this city doesnÂ’t like.

So what does this have to do with politics in the city? It seems the Mayor, the MetroCentre Authority, the city council and county board are adopting Chicago style politics to get this done. First they spent a year working out the details with the Chicago Blackhawks behind closed doors. The only reason we know about it now is because the local media caught wind of the story and broke it to the public. That in itself is not so bad.

HereÂ’s the problem. Currently two local businessmen that bought and brought them to Rockford own the Ice Hogs. They have been playing at the MetroCentre for 8 years and have a decent sized fan base. The problem is that they are part of the United Hockey League. The MetroCentre wants an American Hockey League Franchise and Chicago Blackhawks affiliate. If they finalize a deal with the Blackhawks, they are going to kick out the Ice Hogs and bring in this new team that they will own.

Wait, didn’t the article say they want to buy the Ice Hogs? The way that is worded is kind of misleading. They want to buy the name and logo from Dr Kris Tumilowicz “Dr. T” and Craig Drecktrah, the current owners of the Ice Hogs. They don’t want the team

Centre Events officials said more than $500,000 a year would be saved by combining hockey and MetroCentre operations. The front office staff of the IceHogs would be retained, but players and coaches would not.

Basically the local government is squeezing these businessmen out of their own team. If they donÂ’t sell, what are they going to do? They have been leasing the MetroCentre each year for their games. If the MetroCentre kicks them out, they will have no place to play that can hold an average audience of 4,400. If they sell, they are only being offered $540,000.00. Which according to the UHL and owners is far less then what the team is worth. Plus, he will no longer have anything to do with the team. HeÂ’d go from owner to spectator. Those are some pretty strong arm tactics. IÂ’m afraid this may just be the beginning this kind of politics in Rockford.

IÂ’m just glad Rockford doesnÂ’t have Home Rule. IÂ’d hate to see what these local politicians would do with that kind of power.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:51 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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