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grtmtnchic

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Posts posted by grtmtnchic

  1. they didn't have any ski stuff available. Bummer.

     

    Did you go down to the "gear garage"? That's where all the ski stuff is. It got moved down there at end of season.

     

    OK, I have to admit it...I just started working there :whistle: I'm new in Seattle and it's a great place to meet outdoorsy people while I'm getting settled. If you're in there returning your 15 year old summit pack because a strap *finally* broke, yep, I'm your girl...I'm at customer service. Be nice! And don't mess with me :eveeel: Seriously, though...come by and say hi if you're in the store - my name's Lisa

     

     

     

     

  2. KCRW - the best radio station I've ever found. I haven't lived in LA for 8 years, but I still stream that station regularly.

     

    Isn't that just a regular NPR station?

     

    NO - check out the Morning Becomes Eclectic show and Metropolis (Jason Bentley) for awesome music (IMHO)...there are a lot of shows (music, political and otherwise) that are unique to KCRW. You won't find them anyplace else. Plus they have all the great NPR progs. that aren't on every public station like This American Life.

     

  3. As I understand it, and from talking to brew supply shops, the high-cost of hops has a lot to do with a disasterous 2006 growing season combined with a large warehouse fire which destroyed 4% of the entire US crop.

     

    On top of that, as grtmtnchic points out, a lot of hop farmers quit the business a decade ago when there was a glut of hops on the market, but now all that oversupply has been depleted, allowing no relief to the awful season of 2006.

     

    The big brewers tend to manage their own hop farms to ensure consistent "quality" so I think its mostly micro-brewers and home-brewers being hit by the rising cost of hops.

     

    Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that! I mostly stopped paying attention to it when my ag education ended in 2002, so my info is old! Thanks for the more up to date info.

     

    Either way, the depletion of hops has little to nothing to do with farmers switching to corn for ethanol production like someone suggested.

     

    As a biofuel, ethanol SUCKS, and it's giving biodiesel a bad rap. Now congress (ruled by oil barons) is HOPING to restrict ALL biofuels because of the food "crisis", and they want to blanket all biofuels because of the impact ethanol crops have had on the food economy. The real story is they want to persuade everyone through fear tactics that all biofuels are bad so that we'll keep driving on gasoline and they'll keep getting rich off of us. There is a HUGE difference between crops used for ethanol and crops used for biodiesel - biodiesel uses byproducts of the food industry and doesn't take away from food production whereas ethanol uses a whole crop and directly competes with the food supply. While they are both technically biofuels, one is far more sustainable (and efficient) than the other.

     

    Just pay attention to the hype that is rampant in the news right now and you will notice that there is (intentionally) rarely a distinction made between biodiesel and ethanol...it's a total conspiracy to convince people that BOTH are bad and BOTH are causing the rise in food prices when really the problem is only being caused by Ethanol. Friggin' oil bastards! Will they ever be rich enough?

     

  4. Hops prices are going through the roof because less land is being utilized to grow them, as it's more lucrative to grow other crops- and hops are more finicky to grow, and take more specialized equipment to do it. I've spoken to a couple of the local brewers and they've said that they're buying up the hops all they can. It's going to make the super hoppy West Coast IPAs pretty expensive to produce.

     

    Well, what I was taught in my Ag. classes is that the problem with hops started when the process of preserving the useful part of the hop cone (lupulin) was put into practice. Farmers stopped growing hops because there was a glut of preserved hops that would supply brewers for many years out...less market (lower price) for fresh hops. It's kinda ironic that there's a shortage now! A lot of farmers in E. Wash. put housing developments (not corn) ontop their hop fields and made a lot more money off of them!

     

    I'm sure the beer "crisis" will get a lot more attention than any kind of food crisis and will be sorted out quickly :brew:

     

     

     

     

  5. Fun diversion!

     

    You are Wonder Woman

     

    Wonder Woman

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    87%

    Hulk

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    85%

    Supergirl

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    72%

    Spider-Man

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    70%

    Catwoman

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    65%

    The Flash

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    60%

    Green Lantern

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    60%

    Superman

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    55%

    Batman

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    55%

    Robin

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    55%

    Iron Man

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    55%

     

    You are a beautiful princess

    with great strength of character.

     

     

     

  6. Find bliss while keeping the brain active.

    Hard to find for most. That's why I like the European model of month long holidays. Just think how you would feel after a month off. I am a contractor at Microsoft and do just that. 100 days off after each year. It reconnects me with what I liked about my job.

    Perception is everything.

    All that you know is just a variation on basic energy theory.

    Call it the big bang, quantum physics, God, or whatever.

    We are all just vibrations in a very large stew.

    If you are not happy, it will reverbrate into every part of you and make you sick.

    Feed your young but don't sacrifice your health.

     

    I like your take on things. My MO is to take a year off after every 6 of working. I still take time off during those six years, but for me it seems I need a full sabbatical every 6 years or so to create new neural pathways...helps me stay out of a rut.

     

    Ever read Po Bronson's book What Should I do with my life? - case studies about people asking the question. It's interesting. Work won't make you happy, nor will a relationship or anything else outside of you...gotta find that peace from within.

    Thank you. More people should fall in line. :D

    But seriously folks,,,,,,, I get no respect.

    I have heard many old people say they wish they had spent less time at work and more with their kids. NEVER the other way around.

    Ask a centurion what the secret to old age is and they will usually say "hard work, play a lot, eat your vegetables, and work your brain every day."

     

    Well right about now I could use a little more time at work - I'm at the end of one of my little sabbaticals...and I need a job!

     

  7. Find bliss while keeping the brain active.

    Hard to find for most. That's why I like the European model of month long holidays. Just think how you would feel after a month off. I am a contractor at Microsoft and do just that. 100 days off after each year. It reconnects me with what I liked about my job.

    Perception is everything.

    All that you know is just a variation on basic energy theory.

    Call it the big bang, quantum physics, God, or whatever.

    We are all just vibrations in a very large stew.

    If you are not happy, it will reverbrate into every part of you and make you sick.

    Feed your young but don't sacrifice your health.

     

    I like your take on things. My MO is to take a year off after every 6 of working. I still take time off during those six years, but for me it seems I need a full sabbatical every 6 years or so to create new neural pathways...helps me stay out of a rut.

     

    Ever read Po Bronson's book What Should I do with my life? - case studies about people asking the question. It's interesting. Work won't make you happy, nor will a relationship or anything else outside of you...gotta find that peace from within.

  8. Me too. Which is why I think it is possible to just hang in there and wait out the crappy times at work. Changing your setting won't change your mood that much for that long. Want to really change things? Change your perception.

     

    That's a really good point...maybe I should try it!

     

  9. Youth is not only a number.

     

    It is, however, refreshing to listen to and always a fun trip down memory lane.

     

    Yup, eternal dreamer here. One of those really annoying optimists who thinks anything is possible!

     

     

  10. Ah, the voice of youth.

     

    All that shit changes when you have people depending on you for food and housing.

     

    Oh, Absolutely!!!! I'm totally spoiled (and not that young) because I have no dependents. Yah, so don't listen to me ;)

  11. I found it pretty easy to bullshit my way through interpreting symbolism in DeLillo versus cloning DNA.

     

    OK, so Delillo is easy...better example: my senior seminar was on Ulysses by James Joyce...I think deciphering that piece of crap is akin to cloning DNA.

    tumescence, detumescence. The description of the path of the firwork in the middle gives visual representation to the allegory of the day described in the novel. Done.

     

    Bullshit or comprehending?

     

  12. I am in the same place and really hating my job and wishing I was in some sort of trade work where I can be outside. Someday maybe.

     

    I've gone back and forth on that issue myself - left my office job for working in agriculture (on an ATV inspecting vineyards all day long, changing pipes, cutting hay, pruning trees...), but then went back to an office job after a few years. A lot of "trade work" doesn't have the same mental stimulation as a lot of indoor jobs...if I could find one that used both mind and hands, I'd be happy!

     

    I think the important thing is to listen to your gut - do what you feel you need to be doing, and then be open to that changing. Of course, some people would see my career path as a bit flakey cuz I'm open to a lot of change!

     

     

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