HomeMade Root Beer '08

I don't know when I first encountered this Christmas tradition but it was certainly not yesterday...the making of the traditional homemade Root Beer. We didn't make any last year, and the year before that I had a dud bottle of extract, so I ruined a batch. This year is more promising, however. I made the 20 litre batch, but found an interesting recipe that can be used to make just a 2 litre pop bottle full. Click here to have a look at it. If you do try this one, let me know how it turns out. Frankly, it scares me a little in that it calls for 1/4 tsp of yeast in 2 litres. That's almost 10 times what I normally use. The carbonating process can be a bit risky. See this YouTube video if you want proof:

of course I use glass bottles...no danger there ??!!??
James is checking for spiders :)

and Debbie did utter...

"Tom, don't put any more wood in that stove !!!"

Winter rims and tires...

An unexpected frozen sprinkler pipe rupture at work got me a free afternoon off today (the brighter side of mixing water and electricity, but I digress). I took advantage of the time to buy winter tires and even got them installed. Cheap black steel rims seem to be running in the 60-70 dollar range, and Canadian Tire in Clayton Park just happened to have in stock, 4 Sacchi "winter alloys" (perhaps they saw me coming) at $99 a piece. I bought their "cheapest" 205-60R-16 winter tire; a Hankook I*Pike RC01. They are listed as "starting at" $41.99, but that must be the wheelbarrow size, since mine were $94.99 each. Anyway, long story longer, Debbie's new ride is now ready to tackle the winter season...the wheels look similar to the stock alloys, and are likely worth the convenience of not having to pay for repeated tire changing etc.
In short: Merry Christmas dear :)

It's the most wonderful time...

Yes, I'm excited about Christmas...here's a shot from 2003 (I think). The "bound" Christmas Tree pales in comparison to Chevy Chase's, but oh well...

SolarPoweredLaserBeamGuitar !!!

...well, not quite, but after tiring of the ink jet cartridge refill struggles with their associated $100 price tag, we took a small gamble on an HP P1005 B/W Laser Printer. Staples was selling them for $59.82. They want $77 for a refill cartridge...

I'm impressed to say the least. It only has USB connectivity, but I should be able to shoehorn it onto my home network via the Linksys NSLU2 which has 2 USB ports. The printer is silent until called on, and it can spit out 15 pages per minute. See more info on this printer.
HP of course, are not entirely daft. The regular cartridge is good for about 1500 pages, but the printer comes with a "special introductory" version that they state will print 750 pages. If I was not a stupid consumer, I'd almost think that it was only half full :)

Memories...

While at the Ottawa airport last week, I noticed an art exhibit by Christopher Peet. One of his prints is of my old primary school:

click on the photo to order a copy for a cool $350 :)

Sometime around September of 1967, my sister (I think) led me up those steps and deposited my into the jaws of primary education. I did grades 1-3 in the brick building in the background, and returned to the front structure for Grade 4. As I recall, the older school off to the right had been converted to a furniture warehouse by the time I came along. All three are long gone now.

Yikes !!

...an old friend sent me this, and I couldn't help sharing...
Job opening in Fort McMurray , Alberta
Position: Surveyor.
Salary: $200 per hour (tax-free).

Qualification: Must be fast on your feet. Isn't it comforting to know that when you are about to become a bears breakfast your co-worker is standing there taking photos.