Fixed Again

Well, the car repair that I mentioned last time wasn't as bad as I thought. I bought a new Engine Temperature Control Sensor at the Saturn dealership and asked Tuffy's to install it. They installed it for $10, so all in all, it only was $35. However, the wire harness was broken also, so I had to buy that too, which was another $30. I had to splice the wiring harness in place of the existing wire set, but otherwise, it wasn't too bad. Now, the car runs like new. I can't believe how much of a difference it made. This is likely the reason I was getting poorer gas mileage too, as the computer wasn't sensing the coolant temperature properly, and thus allowing too much fuel in the mixture. Oh well. Live and learn. Hopefully, this will be the last repair in a long time. For some reason, I've got a good feeling about my car, a feeling that I'll have thousands of trouble free miles ahead. Ah, if life were only that simple.

Feeling the Need to Decompress

I had a slight nervous breakdown this morning. Our dog, who normally sleeps the entire night, woke up wimpering at 4am this morning. Apparently, she had to go to the bathroom. This is really odd, as she can hold it until her normal wakup time of 6am. So, my wife got up and took her out. Let's just say the dog has had some bathroom troubles the last couple of days and leave it at that, so I suppose she couldn't hold it any longer. While doing so, she encountered a snake. Not a big one, but my wife thought it might have been at least a foot long. Probably a little gardener snake, but nevertheless, I don't like snakes. Ick!

After breakfast, the dog encountered a spider on the steps. My wife said she jerked her paw back from this huge spider (bigger than the size of a quarter). Not sure if she got bit or not, but it's something we'll have to watch out for.

And, our cat is sneezing. He never sneezes, and he's been sneezing all morning. Is he getting an upper respiratory infection, or did he just get into some dust in the basement?

Our daughter started the 4th grade this past week. Yesterday was the first full day with homework, and I failed miserably. I didn't look at her binder, nor check her backpack. So, we didn't get everything done that we were supposed to. Sigh. And so it begins anew. It seems she has a large amount of homework for a 4th grader, but I suppose it will only continue to build over the next several years.

My car is acting up again. The coolant light is now on most of the time. I believe I've traced it to the Engine Temperature Control Sensor. It's a plastic sensor that often cracks, resulting in leaking coolant. So, I'm on a mission to try and get that replaced today. Ugh. It's not something that our budget can really handle at the present moment, and I suppose I could wait, but I also don't want to be stranded again.

I'm not sure I'm exactly pleased with my White Zinfandel batch of wine. I tasted it yesterday morning, and it just seems bland now, and watered down. I did top up with a liter of water (the recommended amount), but I think it really hurts the character of the wine. Hmm, time will tell, and we'll see what a few months of bulk aging will do. My Port tastes very good though, albeit perhaps a bit on the sweet side. It's definitely got a healthy alcohol kick, almost 18%. I intend to add at least one bottle of brandy to bring this up to about 19%. I had a drink of it yesterday also, and wow, did it give me a quick buzz. I drank it on an empty stomach, and quickly thereafter, my head was spinning. It was my first buzz from my own homemade wine. LOL! It was an odd feeling.

We're heading to the Nebraska State Fair this weekend. Ooooh! I know, you're jealous. Ha. Seriously, it's always been a tradition in my family to attend when I was younger, so it's for more of the nostalgia if anything, but it was an OK time last year. Plus, they are supposed to have a huge Cabela's display, and that should be neat to see.

I'm sitting at Panera Bread as I type this, enjoying a chocolate chip bagel with raspberry cream cheese and a diet Pepsi. I feel weird sitting here with a laptop with others staring in my direction, but at least I'm being productive.

I do feel better. I don't feel as stressed, and think I'm ready to take on the day now.

What a Mess

I learned (the hard way) how easy it is to make a mess while making wine. Yesterday evening, I decided to stabilize my second batch of wine, a Winexpert Port style wine. It was finished fermenting, and I only had to add in a few additives and let it rest for another couple of weeks. It wasn't that easy.

First, you have to stir the daylights out of the wine to degass it. I've got a plastic drill attachment that I use for this. It worked marvelously on the first kit. Well, on this kit, I was so fascinated with watching the gas bubbles expel themselves, I forgot about friction. I was spinning the drill so fast that I melted the plastic stirrer. LOL! Yes, it was like I had a piece of taffy coming out of the end of my drill. Oh well, it was only $7, and once it cooled, it re-hardened, if not a little warped. It should still work.

Then, I decided to take a measurement of the specific gravity of the wine, to get a finished reading. This is an indication of how much sugar is in the wine. I had already topped up the carboy (glass jug) with the extra wine, so it was full, within 1" from the stopper. I plunged my tester all the way to the bottom, not thinking about the fact that the wine would be displaced (i.e. up and out of the carboy). So, about 2 cups of wine cascaded out the top and down the sides of the glass jug, all the way to the carpet! *&%#!

So, I calmly proceeded to get the steam cleaner and a scoop of OxiClean to clean up my mess. It worked wonders. I was amazed at how well that stuff works. Needless to say, I learned a valuable lesson. It never occurred to me to put down a drop cloth. I never thought I'd spill like that. Sure, a drop or two here or there would be OK, but 2 cups of red, Port-style wine? What was I thinking. At least it was cleanable.

So, now I've got some empty containers. I'll be starting my 3rd batch very soon, likely this coming week. It's another kit, a Blackberry Cabernet. Yum. It's a wine-cooler style drink, but without the carbonation. It should be really good. I think I'll add a little bit more sugar though, just to give it a little higher alcohol content.

Family Card Party

This past weekend, we had a family card party at our house. It's a chance for many of my brothers and sisters to get together and just have some fun, relax, drink a few drinks, and play some cards. Playing cards in our family dates back decades, and likely stems from my Grandma and Grandpa Fern and Ralph. In recent years, I haven't played as many cards as I once did, but whenever I get the chance, I enjoy it very much.

We last got together this past Christmas and played tournament-style 5 point pitch at my brother's house. There were 12 people playing, at 3 tables. It was a blast. I decided to do the same. You see, the host of each party dictates what we'll be playing. In fact, my brother-in-law bought a traveling trophy. It's quite nice actually. It's a marble statue, with our family name engraved, along with the words "Card Shark". The winner of each tournament gets to keep the trophy, with the idea that it'll travel to each new winner's house.

We all had a great time. The weather was really cool, so we didn't even need the air conditioning. We bought fried chicken from our local grocery store, and also sought some brisket from a local BBQ joint. My wife made everything else, including potato salad, macaroni salad, appetizers, and desserts. A great time was had by all, and it was good to see my brothers and sisters again who I don't get to see that often. Two family members from out of state were not there, and one other brother was enjoying the motorcycle rally in Sturgis.

Reshuffling Finances

Well, it’s become painfully apparent that we’ve been spending more than we make. Ouch. I’ve known that for awhile, but it all came to a head this evening. I’ve always been very meticulous with our finances. I prepare a budget, and for the most part, we follow it. But, I’ve never budgeted those extra expenses, such as hobbies, clothes, entertainment, and so forth. Also, my wife is switching jobs, and I was unsure of her payment schedule, i.e. when her old teaching contract would be paid out. In other words, I budgeted an extra pay check that simply doesn't exist. Also, throw in a lot of car repair expenses over the last several months, and we’re way over our budget. In fact, if we continue at the pace we’ve set for ourselves, we’ll be in the hole three to five times over by the end of November. LOL. So, we need to adjust our spending habits, and really tighten our belts. I’ve got several options to pursue. None of them are really appealing, but in the end, you have to do what you have to do. I’m not surprised that we’ve reached this point, as I knew it was coming for awhile. Well, it’s time for a change. It’s time to cut the credit cards, eliminate all of the frivolous spending, and adjust our tastes. I do have an emergency fund set up, and that will remain what it was intended for, emergencies. I’ve been able to add to the emergency fund over the several previous months, but for now, we’ll have to let it sit as it stands. And, with a shuffle our finances, and a change in priorities, we’ll be OK. We might be eating gruel for awhile, be we'll be OK. Ha.

New Winemaking Webpage

I decided to create a website for my winemaking. I thought it would be rally interesting to document my progress, talk about the equipment I use, and the wines I’m making. I also wanted to pass along tips and tricks that I’ve learned. Plus, I came up with a name for my wine. Actually, my wife came up with the name, and at first, I was skeptical. But, it grew on me, and Vanilla Sky Wines was born. Take a look. http://vansvault.org/vanillasky/

My Next Wine

My winemaking continues. The first batch is essentially done, and is now aging in a carboy. I racked it this evening off the dead lees into a fresh, clean Better-Bottle carboy. It tastes OK, but I think a few month’s aging will really help. It’s actually pretty smooth. Still a little yeasty, but it’s OK. Using the autosiphon was a little tricky though. I couldn’t get the last few cups of wine out. I tried to start the autosiphon manually, but ended up with a mouthful of dead lees. It was pretty gross, so I gave up. I ended up adding a couple of bottles of White Zinfandel to top up the carboy. So, we’ll let it set for a couple of months, and see what happens. It definitely will be drinkable. Will it be good? Time will tell. We’ll see.

About a week ago, I started a new batch of wine. I started a Port-style wine kit. While at the Winefest in Denver, I tasted a few Port wines. Mmmm, they were very good. Port wine is a fortified wine, usually a high-alcohol content that is quite sweet, often a dessert wine. So, I got a Port kit and it’s fermenting now. It’s about 5 days in, and right now is about 11% alcohol. In another day or so, I’ll need to add another pound of sugar to get the alcohol content as high as possible before the yeast die out. Then, when it’s done, I’ll fortify with a bottle of brandy. This should boost the alcohol level to about 20%. I’m really curious how this will taste. Traditional Port is aged for years and years. I know I won’t have the patience for that.

After the Port, I’ve got a Blackberry Cabernet ready to go. This is another kit. It was intended to be a cooler-type of wine. Similar to a wine cooler or an Arbor mist, with an alcohol level of about 6%. I intend to add about 5lbs of sugar before fermentation to bring the alcohol level up to about 12%. This should make a traditional style wine, but sweeter like a wine cooler. The fruity flavor should be interesting.

And The Curse Continues

Our dishwasher quit working a couple of days ago. I loaded it with the dinner plates and set the cycle. A couple of hours later, my wife noticed that there was water on the floor in front of it. The dishes were clean, but somehow, water leaked out. I unloaded the dishes and tried to run another cycle to see where the water was coming from. It wouldn't fill with water. It would reset, but it wouldn't fill. I checked everything that I know to check, and it all looks OK.
Somewhere, there's likely a plugged tube though, and unfortunately, my knowledge of dishwasher repair is limited. So, I scheduled a service call.

I tell you, if it weren't for bad luck, we wouldn't have any at all. That's par for us though, as we always get shafted, period. Driving back from our vacation, we encountered a semi truck that kicked up a rock and put a big chip in our windshield. I'm not sure if it can be repaired or not. Unfortunately, it's right in the field of view of the passenger side, so it's not in a good spot. A few weeks back, our car was backed into at Perkins while we were having breakfast. Of course,
it was a hit and run. No note, nothing. So, we have a scraped up bumper now too on our shiny new car.

This is the 3rd new appliance to break in our house in the last 21 months. Hmm, either we really are cursed, or they just don't make things like they used to.

I Could Get Used to This

Another day of vacation, another day of rest. We didn’t do much today, but it was a really nice feeling to just lounge around and relax. We went to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. That’s always fun! We took a load of things to the Goodwill store, and I surfed the Internet. Ahh, what a life. Tomorrow is my last day of vacation, and then it’s back to the grind.

Vacation

We recently got back from a 4 day vacation in Colorado Springs. I have a brother and sister that live there, so it was good to get away to see them. We had an enjoyable trip, and really had a great time.

The first day, we really just relaxed. We did some shopping, we drove through the mountains, we went swimming at the motel, and had a BBQ at my brother's house. It was a fun day, and nice to just do things at our leisure, and not be on a schedule.

The second day, we went to the Royal Gorge. We've been their several times, but we hadn't been in about 12 years (our honeymoon), and we also wanted to take our daughter. It was fun, but really, really hot. That evening, we attended a Chuckwagon supper. The food was really good (better than the Chuckwagaon supper in the Black Hills), and the show was soso. We thought the show in the Black Hills was better.

Then on Monday, we drove to the top of Pikes Peak. My two nephews and one of their girlfriends hiked to the top (I was supposed to hike, but chickened out), and we were helping to deliver a car so that they would have a ride down. It was a scary drive, (I haven't driven it, and the last time I was a passenger was about 25 years ago). My wife was particulary concerned, but we made it safely.

Then, we drove home. Our original plan was to spend the night in North Platte so that we could visit the Nebraska Archway, but the thought of sleeping in our own bed won out, and we drove straight home.

All in all, it was a quick vacation, but we had a really nice time, and it was good to get away, if only for a few days.

Welcome to My New Blog...Again

Well, it became apparent that the blogging software I was using before was extremely vulnerable to hackers. In recent weeks, I was getting aboug 100 comments a day, from various IP addresses, each with lewd, vulgar links. Too many bugs in the software, and I decided to bag the whole thing. I've still got the posts in my database, and hopefully, if I have time, I'll move them over. In fact, I've still got posts that date back to October 2003 in the archive, so maybe I'll add those too. It's a big chunk of my life that has been documented through occasional posts. So, I've switched to a commercial blogging service. That way, I don't have to worry about the details, and can continue to add posts.