Ski Dummy Race 2010

Well, I have mixed feelings about this one.

Last year, two of my friends and I competed in Seven Springs' ski dummy competition. It's a pretty ridiculous competition, but usually that is the only type of competition that I get myself involved in.

This year was much simpler than last. This time we didn't use a water jet, a MIG welder, or even an angle grinder. This year we built it somewhat Macgyver style. A couple feet of PVC, a few nuts and bolts, a little cardboard, and of course...duct tape. Tons of duct tape.

Last year, three of us built the dummy in about 1 1/2 days and managed to win a trophy. This year, we had a little trouble getting together because of everyone's busy schedules, so I ended up building it alone in about 12 hours. I nearly scrapped the plans of competing about five times, but my ever-supportive wife pushed me to finish it up.

Results...

1 person, 12 hours, 2 trophies. Not too shabby.

To be completely honest, it was pretty lame this year. I only had one guy competing against me. I'm still proud of the fact that my dummies have been the only ones to finish the race two years in a row.

Even though I left the competition feeling a little let down by the turnout and a little overcompensated with trophies, I'm glad that I did it again this year. Plus, we all went out for breakfast afterward again and the food was awesome. You can't beat a good breakfast day.

Tongue Splitter Pale Ale

It's been a long time since we've brewed. Unfortunately, brewing costs money and life seems to have been leaving my wallet a little on the empty side.

Well, we finally got some more ingredients the other day and we got back to work. We figured we'd try yet another new style, so we went with a Pale Ale. I would place it closer to an IPA though. Appropriately named Tongue Splitter Pale Ale, this five gallon batch has five ounces of hops. We used Sterling hops, Nugget hops, Glacier Hops, and two ounces of Cascade hops. Our house smelled incredible for hours. This brew should have some fantastic bite to it.

I think I fell in love with Sonya even more when she came running downstairs to tell me something and stopped in her tracks to say, "Oh my God! Our house smells delicious!"

You have to love a girl that appreciates a good brew.

Primary fermentation went very well. It just finished up last night. I'm getting ready to run downstairs right now to rack it into secondary. So in about five and a half weeks from now, I think we're going to have a pretty amazing beer.

I'll make sure to post something once we try it out.

Next week we plan to brew a Cream Ale. This will be another new experience. I've never brewed a Cream Ale before. I'm pretty excited.

But how couldn't I be? It's HOMEBREW!

Another Excellant Hobby

Recently, I decided that I don't have nearly enough hobbies. Although Sonya would probably disagree.

I've always wanted to own a wood lathe, but never got around to actually getting one. Now that Sonya and I have a house with a basement, I decided it was time to clean it out and build a workshop.

What house is complete without one?

My new lathe came in last week and I am very excited to get started on my newest craft. Sonya is happy that I finally cleaned out the basement.

I got the lathe from Grizzly Industrial, Inc., which is now my favorite place to shop. While I was checking out, I noticed a link called Gift Cabana. It peaked my interest for some reason, so I decided to see what it was.

The Gift Cabana made me very, very happy.

It turns out, it is a gift registry and it just so happens that I'm getting married this summer. I'm not sure if Sonya is quite as excited by this find as I am, but I am beyond thrilled to say the least.

I'll post some updates on my lathe adventures in the near future.