All posts by warren

Played it til our fingers bled…

November 26, 2013Awesome, Family, Fun, TechnologyAwesome, Family, Fun, I don't usually like video games...at all, Technology, We are gods of rock!warren

I never really understood the Bryan Adams song, Summer of ’69 where he talks about playing his guitar until his fingers bled. I mean, first of all, how? And secondly, why? I just never understood what it meant to play a guitar I guess. Fast forward to this week. I have long wanted to tinker with playing bass guitar. I don’t know why but I just like the sound of bass. They say a lead guitar gets the girls but a bass guitar gets the gigs. I don’t really want either but I think I would prefer gigs over girls since I sort of like the girl I have. So, by dumb luck (the best kind of luck), I discovered Rocksmith 2014, a “game” that works on all of the various gaming consoles. I happened to have a little extra money that I had been saving up so I hooked dumb luck together with extra money and bought a new bass guitar and Rocksmith 2014 for the XBox!

We hooked it all up the other night and started playing. You see, the game comes with a cable that allows players to hook a real guitars (bass or 6-string) into the system so a real guitar becomes the game controller.

Playing Rocksmith 2014 on new bass — The game screen

It’s pretty cool how game-play merges with guitar-play. Basically the player sees notes coming down the screen and has to adjust fingerings and hit the string at the right time. The system picks it up and measures tone, accuracy, timing, etc and adjusts the notes to the player’s accuracy. There are a number of different songs that span the 80s through today. It doesn’t teach players to read music but it does build experience with playing notes on a real guitar and teaches a form of tab playing for guitar (check out this guy playing).

So, Isaac, Abigail and I played for a few hours the other night and had a lot of fun. I kid you not, though…my fingers are still numb! I stopped before my fingers bled (I am sharp that way) but now I definitely get that there is a painful part of playing guitar that I hope will be overcome with callouses and experience. I don’t know if I will ever amount to much as a rock star, but I am sure enjoying the chance to play now and the kids and I get a lot of time to goof around together! With my playing, it is more likely that our ears will bleed than our fingers!

Powerless

November 20, 2013Cabin, TechnologyCabin, Frustration, Maybe I need to rock down to electric avenuewarren

I was walking from the parking lot to my office the other day when I glanced up and saw the power pole that serves our building. I usually try to ignore ugly stuff but for some reason, I decided to look up when I heard the flapping of wings. Air-borne rats (aka pigeons) are dangerous creatures when you walk underneath so I wanted to be able to dodge their bombs. So, I looked up and noticed this monstrosity hanging on the pole above me. It always makes me wonder who decided it was a good idea to hang so much stuff on a single pole and who the unlucky person is that gets to work on that mess. It’s funny though, how important electricity is in our lives…why else would we tolerate such a mess?

Anyhow, I am still without power at the executive deer stand. You may recall that we installed the meter base and trenched the conduit in September. The system was inspected without problem and we have been waiting ever since. I know things like this take time and I also understand that this installation is rural and somewhat hard to access, but it’s not that hard to get to.

I have talked with the power company guy several times and he is very nice and very apologetic but I surely wish I could get good news soon! We have spent time the last few visits wiring the interior components in hopes that our work will somehow bring about the electric elves to fire up the connection to the power company. I am losing faith in that idea but we toil onward! And really, it’s ok. I think the exterior plugs look nice and the porch lights around the doors look classy.

We added a big spotlight at the peak of the roof to scare off raccoons and zombies and other magical creatures. For now though, I am still powerless as far as power goes. We have done well building the place using only a generator but once I got the meter base set, I can barely function without “real” electric. Funny how that works isn’t it?

Luxurious

November 14, 2013Fun, House, ThoughtsDon't hate me because I am beautiful..., I'd like to take this time to thank the little people, Lifestyles of the not so rich and famouswarren

I get picked on from time to time and usually by my wife. Oh I know, some of you who know her well would never believe it, but it’s true…she picks on me!

Ahhh...Jergens lotion! — Ahhh…Jergens lotion!

So the other day, were were both complaining about “winter hands” so I went to the store and started sniffing for the right lotion. I don’t like hand lotion much but bleeding knuckles suck so I suspend my dislike for the winter months. Still, I don’t want to smell like a girl. So I popped the lids on some and did the sniff test. The scents were all over the place…some were stinky or girly or reminiscent of the southbound end of a northbound moose.

Finally, I happened upon a bottle of Jergens – original scent. I knew I had my lotion! I love this stuff! It instantly transported me to my childhood where one of my relatives had Jergens in her house. As a child, that smell was one of luxury. I have no idea why but that’s how I viewed it. I look back on it now and it’s silly, but my child-brain kicked in and it didn’t matter…I wanted to enjoy that luxurious feel in my home. And sure enough, Jergens lotion is great! It doesn’t stay oily and it works well on winter hands! So I told Emily my story using those words and she has been picking on me ever since! I don’t even care though…I am living a luxurious life!

There is a second part of the life of luxury I live…

The other night I was preparing to jump in the shower around 11pm. It was a “work night” and pretty typical of my usual routine. I cranked the water on, waited for it to heat up and jumped in. I had my washcloth all lathered up when all of a sudden, water shot everywhere except out of the shower head. I looked and the flexible pipe broke where it attaches to the wall. We have long had a cheap low-flow shower head on a junky flexible hose that had a mind of its own. It finally broke which didn’t make me sad. Breaking at 11pm made me sad as neither Emily nor I had gotten a shower and we didn’t want to be unshowered for work the next day.

I decided I would just go to Walmart for a replacement. It’s the only place open at 11pm. They had a wide assortment of junk but I spied one shower head that had a metalish hose rather than an all plastic hose…sold! They didn’t sell any hoses without the head but I never liked the hose or the head we had anyhow. Surely, the metal hose has to be better than the plastic one that broke.

My new shower head — Ahhh, the life of luxury!

So here is the luxury part. I didn’t realize it until I got home but this was not a low-flow shower head. It was an “EcoSpa” and had green ink on its packaging. It wasn’t until I got home that what made it “eco” was the “water-saving pause switch”. Talk about worthless. I saw “USA” on the package when I grabbed it too…I was feeling pretty good …until I got home. It was packaged in the US of A. Talk about a whole bunch of marketing crap! Anyhow, I feel bad having a water-wasting shower head, but I have to tell you, the regular flow shower head is super nice. I didn’t realize how pitiful the other was until I installed this new head (at, oh, about 12:15am) and grabbed a shower. Talk about luxurious!

Please don’t judge me for using all these highfalutin things. I promise to ask Emily to use the pause switch when she shaves her legs…

Thanks Obama

November 12, 2013FunThanks Obama!warren

Double whammy…just when I was used to Daylight Savings Time, we go and switch to Standard Time. It’s dark when I get home now! Thanks Obama! And to add to it, it snowed today! I don’t understand what I did to make you so upset with me but this snow is not cool! Thanks Obama!

Big trucks and other stuff

November 5, 2013WVCoal...it's what's for dinner, Cold sucks, Dark sucks, Winter suckswarren

West Virginia is famous for a few things…we have mountains and mountain people and mountain music and mountain stories. We have both poverty and wealth. We used to be a blue state but are now a red state. We play football here and some folks make a little moonshine now and then. There is natural beauty and a state-wide small town feel. There are lots of things but biggest on the list of what WV has is coal. It’s all over the place here and it is a major part of the economy and conversation and politics and daily life for many people.

We were driving around last weekend and came upon a slow-down in traffic. One of the large coal trucks was being moved. Well, it wasn’t an entire truck, but rather just the bed of one. And really, this probably wasn’t even the biggest coal-truck-part I have ever seen here but it was the one I saw when I had a camera ready. Coal is big here and so is the equipment. It’s hard to imagine a truck like this one working at a mine site hauling load after load of coal, all day, every day. And most mines have more than one truck. It’s amazing how much coal is here and what it means to the state and country, good or bad. I won’t voice my opinion on the coal matter. I really only wanted to show a pic of how big some of the not-the-biggest-equipment-I-have-seen-here really is.

Other than that, I also wanted to lament the recent frosts we have had. I do not like fall/winter/cold/dark so boo on this leaf and it’s stinking frosty edges, pretty or not!

County Soccer Champs!

October 31, 2013Fun, WVFun, Hello free time!, Soccerwarren

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was the head coach for the middle school boys’ soccer team. We finished the season last night with the county play-offs where we won 4-0! During the regular season, we had a record of 11-1 which made us the number 2 seed.

Semi-finals games were played Monday where we beat the number 3 seed. In a big upset, number 4 beat number 1 which left us to play the number 4 seed for the championship game. After some political nonsense, we finally got to the final game Wednesday afternoon where the boys were super excited!

I played soccer and other sports too as I was growing up. In particular though, I played soccer in high school and I was a fair player…certainly not good, but tolerable. Still, I liked sports and enjoyed time on the field. I do not think I was ever as in to it as the boys on this team were though! Their energy was electrifying and I think I got more hyped up than I have been in a long time!

Boys soccer champs! — The girls’ team won too!

So, anyhow, we shut out the other team and ended our season on a super high note! I am so proud of these boys and truly enjoyed the last few months getting to know them better, teaching them what I could and encouraging them to be good young men!

It’s never too soon for eggnog!

October 25, 2013Awesome, Food, Fun, ThoughtsAwesome, Eggnog is from the gods!, Food, Funwarren

Like many folks, I typically get irritated when I see the big box stores roll out Christmas stuff before Halloween. I mean, seriously, why do they do that? I am still trying to wrap my mind around the end of summer (though these freaking cold temps are helping to make it feel real to me now!) I cannot possibly contemplate Halloween already, let alone Christmas!

Southern Comfort eggnog is from the gods!

Anyhow, soccer season is finally coming to an end. I don’ know if I ever mentioned it but I am the head coach for the middle school soccer team where Isaac attends. We have had a great year and are in the play-offs for the county championship next week. It’s dark early now and as I have regular work during the day, our soccer time is limited…and increasingly cold. After practice is over, we are usually pretty well shot.

The kids enjoying Southern Comfort eggnog!

I was delighted last night as I returned home, to discover that Emily had been to the store and found eggnog! And not just any eggnog but the very best eggnog of all, Southern Comfort eggnog! Please, people at Southern Comfort, make a product page so I can keep up to date on when and where I can find your eggnog! I would marry it if I weren’t otherwise attached to my wife and kids! It’s amazing stuff! Nectar of the gods I sometimes call it!

It's always so sad when you get to the bottom of the glass! — It’s always so sad when you get to the bottom of the glass!

The Southern Comfort eggnog replaced my exhaustion as it coursed through my system and made me awake and alive once again! I am still not quite ready for Christmas (or even Halloween really) but Southern Comfort eggnog will soothe my soul through both Halloween and Christmas! Bless you Southern Comfort, bless you!

Finally, a porch roof…almost

October 24, 2013Cabin, FamilyCabin, Family, Wood...it's what's for dinnerwarren

In addition to working on sorghum when my brother was here a couple of weeks ago, we worked some on the deluxe shed. If you ever looked at some of the old pics, you might have noticed the big space above the door where we didn’t put siding. We left a gap where we planned to eventually tie in the porch roof to the house.

That tie-in finally happened! It took a tremendous amount of work, a lack of good sense and a little liquid courage but we raised a beam on which the roof rafters would rest. Once that was done, it was all down hill. I ended up buying 12′ long boards for the horizontal boards that came straight out from the house. The angled boards that form the slope of the roof were 16′ long though I really only needed to span 14′. Unfortunately, our big box home improvement stores don’t sell 14′ boards.

Anyhow, all of that is to say, we got big boards and they were heavy so I am glad my brother was here to help. I ended up getting treated lumber because I could find it (sometimes stuff is hard to find in a big box store…including helpers who know where all the things are located) and because it was only a few dollars more expensive overall. Treated lumber is almost always wet from the treatment process so weighs a lot more than typical boards. Did I mention stuff was heavy and that I was glad my brother was here to help?

So, we got the basic frame up and, one of these days, we will add sheathing and tar paper and metal to finish this thing off. I am mostly excited because I think it makes sense why we left the gap in the siding now. I know people who live up by our place think I am crazy but at least this one weird thing now (hopefully) has an explanation! I just need to connect the decks and I think that will button up a lot of the remaining questions!

Sorghum Cookies

October 18, 2013FoodEnough already!, Food, Recipe, Sorghumwarren

I hope, dear friends, that you don’t mind hearing a little more about my sorghum. You see, I am just so happy to have followed this whole process through from getting the cane mill to planting to finished product. I am already planning a much larger patch for next year so we should have a really nice bit of syrup by next fall.

Making a mess of the mixer — Isaac and I made the cookies…of course, the mess too

A few people have asked me where I got the sorghum idea…I was reading Mother Earth News magazine and saw an article on the topic. I was intrigued and started my mill hunt. I found that sorghum is finding a new life in people reviving the art of sorghum making and I just had to be a part of that.

Finally, last night we got to really enjoy the fruit of our labor…I made sorghum cookies! Holy cow they are good! I stole the recipe from here.

Best Sorghum Cookies

ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine (I used unsalted butter)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sorghum
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream margarine (or butter), shortening, and sugar. Beat in sorghum and eggs; set mixture aside.
3. In an another large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly with wire whisk.
4. Gradually mix flour mixture into creamed ingredients until dough is blended and smooth.
5. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Dip tops in granulated sugar; place 2 1/2-inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool on wire rack.

Store in tightly covered container to maintain softness.

My cane mill/sorghum stuff

Making sorghum – Part 3

October 17, 2013Canning, Family, Food, Fun, History, Nature, WVFamily, Sorghum, Turkey fryer to the rescue!warren

I know, I know…you could barely contain yourself, waiting for the conclusion to the sorghum saga. In my last post, I described how we pressed the sorghum cane to extract the sweet juice using our Kentucky No. 0 Cane Mill. We didn’t really pay much attention to how much juice we actually got but it was enough to make me smile. Of course, anything greater than “none” would have made me smile. Anyhow, we got several gallons of weird looking green sorghum juice.

Cooking sorghum syrup — Cooking down but still green

To make the juice into syrup, one has to cook the water off of the juice which thickens the liquid into syrup and converts sugars and starches into wholesome goodness that is otherwise known as sorghum (or sorghums as the old timers call it).

Originally, people cooked the juice on a wood fire in a large cast iron cauldron…sometimes several feet in diameter. The cauldron had a lip which allowed the cauldron to sit on a circular brick or stone wall inside of which a fire was built. Sorghum cookers got more sophisticated and built long, shallow evaporator pans with baffles which allowed the cooker to add juice to one end and move the sorghum through the pan to the other end as it cooked where syrup was eventually pulled off. Either of these options are still viable but involve a good bit of money to purchase or make. I already have a good bit of money invested in the cane mills and couldn’t see spending any more this year.

Cooking sorghum — It thickened nicely and turned a beautiful amber

It occurred to me that a turkey fryer is not much different from an old fashioned cauldron so we decided to cook our juice in a turkey fryer over propane. I know, it is not too authentic but I had to go with what I had. One of the first things that happens when one turns on the heat under sorghum juice is that a tremendous amount of nasty foam rises to the top. This happens every time as a part of the process and the foam has to be skimmed and discarded. I had a ladle I used to dip it off of the top. We stirred the pot nearly continuously to prevent burning the syrup. It took a few hours over low heat but the juice gradually cooked down and thickened. The smell of the mixture changed from wet pumpkin (almost as bad as wet dog) to sweet…sweet something. I can’t really describe it but it was a nice smell. Finally, the color changed from green to a beautiful amber color. We tasted often and watched it thicken. I finally decided it was done and pulled off the end product. We ended up with 2 quarts plus a little of homemade sorghum syrup and it tastes great!

We learned a lot and, more importantly, spent a lot of quality together-time. We didn’t get enough sorghum to make it extrinsically worth it, but satisfaction in seeing a product through from field to jar is worth a lot to me. Seeing my kids helping out and enjoying time spent is worth a lot to me. Feeling some connection to how old farmers in WV might have produced their own sorghum is worth a lot to me. The syrup is really a secondary part to all of this, but what a sweet bonus it is!