That about sums it up.

Yeah, that pretty much encapsulates my Fourth this year. 

Actually, that's more like every day this summer.  Not a bad thing.

Current beer-scale: a HOT 9.4

I know how I want to bike the drive this year

That's got Pedal Pub written all over it.

God I hope someone does this, and I hope they're passing out beers.

Current beer-scale: 8.1

Micro brews!

Ah yeah!

Just b/c we're out in the burbs doesn't mean I can't drink. Add a couple of IPA's to a sampler and I'm feeling pretty great.

Two Brothers has a really impressive setup; they actually have vials of yeast that homebrewers could take home, along with entire ingredient kits. Very home-friendly setup, with some of the least friendly employees I've ever seen. Seriously, the staff behind the bar all looked miserable.

It probably didn't help that the place was insanely packed with people waiting for tables, but once I made eye contact and had a beer I no longer cared. Any night I can get a flight of beers is a good night in my book.
Current beer-scale: 5.6

But will they cover the spread?

Ah, what a day what a day! NFL starts tonite, and there's Hi Life at home to have with beef nachos for dinner! That's setting up for some fun.

"Hello friends..."

Fall is unarguably here, now that I've pulled on the arm sleeves and and doubling up on allergy meds on a daily basis. ND-Michigan this weekend, with good tickets and a long day in car set up for Saturday. Not crazy about the possibility of spending 5+ hours in traffic, but I'm in too good a mood to worry about that now. What it boils down to--will the Saints cover the 6.5 tonite?

It's not bad riding weather.

The sun is out, the sky is blue, and I've got beer, nachos, and football to look forward to. I'm so happy, I could be Homer Simpson.

Current beer-scale: 6.5 & climbing!

That was rough, but well worth the trip. And in all actually, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. 1200 miles in just over 30 hours, plus another 300+ in the rental. What hurt the most though was the look on my friend's face as one of the pallbearers as the funeral service ended. Just heartbreaking.

That look alone made me glad he had so much support there for the day. I got to unwind a little at the Buffalo airport, where the LaBatt is delicious from being so close. That was the best beer I've had in a long time.

Current beer-scale: high and unquenched.

never been happier to say good bye-week

Wow. There's a dull roar in the back of my head after a fourth straight week of close finishing and drinking way more Saturday beer than I planned to. I've never been so glad to see an off week coming up in the football schedule. At least it was a great morning to ride into work.

Golden Tate right before he was somersaulted to the 3-yard line in OT (credit AP).

Never mind NBC 5 kept cutting out or going to "Access Hollywood" or whatever retarded celebrity crap so I didn't actually see the play. At that point I could barely watch anyway. But christ almighty did that game have everything, and winning makes everything tolerable. I still can't believe that late 2-point conversion counted and thank god it did, so great job Robert Hughes on pushing the entire pile into the endzone with you. Now let's hear the Bears beat the Lions senseless (b/c I'm down to a radio now that the digital conversion happened vs the old office tv) and it'll be another fantastic weekend.

Well, fantastic when I'm not thinking about the message from HR I had when I got in this morning at least. It seems a manager position above me is suddenly open, and they want to meet about it early this week. So it's feast or famine; get laid off or possibly take a position with the institution that was going to lay you off with a slightly better title, working w/people you really don't trust anymore. Goody.

Just keep ridin'. Things will work out.

Current beer-scale: 6.7, way higher than it should be after all the drinking yesterday. Thirsty.

more of this=long week

I don't know if I have the energy to watch back to back Stanley Cup games, let alone how someone would be able to play them. While I appreciate the no-wait instant gratification of getting another game tonite, I'd rather see the team I'm rooting for with everyone in their mid-30's get a day or two to rest, especially after the previous series.

It's the same kind of head-down "let's get this started" that I approached my commute home today with, but at least now I have beer. I knew it would be rough, but after spending the entire day watching the sun shine off the lake I had to take the path home just to be out there for a while. I should learn to ignore my instincts better.

A picture perfect afternoon of sun on the lake...

Yeah, it was great out. I can't complain about everyone else being out there either, b/c what can you expect in Chicago on a great day. Expecting it doesn't mean anyone slows the fuck down and isn't a total douchebag though. And that includes me, after passing enough groups biking or skating 3 across and getting cut off by someone who couldn't figure out how to downshift when he couldn't make it up the hill in front of us. All the spandex in the world might help you look like you know what you're doing, but if you can't actually figure it out on the road get out of the damn way.

I think I'm just anti-spandex. Unless it's one with a brewer logo on it. That's about it. Anti-spandex, unless it's pro-beer. Speaking of which, it's time for some hockey (maybe I should approach the next commute like a skate and just start checking people).

More amber ale. Always more amber ale.

Current beer-scale: 5.7

a little on the nose, you think?

I was out running some errands today and made a critical error.

Curiosity getting the best of me, I ventured into Performance Bike on Halsted to check things out. Like ever other snob out there, I'm dubious of a bike I can buy online and have shipped for a couple hundred bucks, but what the hell. If nothing else, they seemed to have some decent prices on tubes and other accessories if I need anything else this summer.

It was pretty crowded for the middle of an afternoon, and I was able to browse without anyone checking on me until I stopped in front of the single speeds for a while. That's when I learned about the "hipster" line being on sale for the time being.

Ah, the hipster line. Granted, in my cut off pants and nutcase helmet, I could pass for hipster in most places. I was also sporting a Captain America t-shirt, but without a trace of irony. Cap kicks ass. At least last night I trimmed most of my hockey beard off. But I'm still uncomfortable purposely buying a bike marketed by a chain specifically to an alt crowd.

Whatever. If I end up buying another POS for winter-use something out of the "hipster" line would fit the bill pretty well I think. All in all it was a more pleasant diversion than I expected it to be when I decided to stop by.

The only real errand I ended up getting done was picking up more beer. It took more than one stop too, b/c for whatever reason Binny's left me strangely unsatisfied. Again, it's not like I had anything else to do. Which is why the beer comes in handy.

Current beer-scale: 8.1