Tasty dessert

I've heard of such a thing, but tonight was the first time that I've had a beer float. No, not a rootbeer float, I'm talking about stout and ice cream. Wow! What's better, my wife's the one who made me serve it up.

I poured half a bottle of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout over two scoops of vanilla ice cream. The first sip was amazing - it just screamed Chocolate! There was something about the ice cream that made the chocolate just jump out and grab me. This very well may be the best float I've ever enjoyed - no more rootbeer or Coke for me, just give me beer. I'm looking forward to trying this with an Old Rasputin next time.

Mmmm Beer

I can't think of the last time we stayed at a restraunt nearly 3 hours and spent less than 50 bucks. That's how good a time we were having at the new Taco Mac near Perimeter last night. We arrived just after 6:00 and there was a wait, so we headed to the bar. We ordered a Delirium Temens and a St. Bernardus Abt 12 on draught. The barkeep put the darker St. Bernardus in front of me and was a bit shocked when I pointed out that he had the beers reversed. I love that my wife knows how to order beer!

When we needed a refill at the table she challenged me to try something different. It's easy to try something new, but it's trickier to find something new and good, so we called over Cooper the manager. Hey, how better to test out the staff of a great beer restraunt during a soft opening than to quiz them about beer, right? He had some good suggestions, but once we mentioned our Beer and Cheese Tasting, he called over the GM. Donald suggested a beer for me to sample but was knocked back on his heels when my wife ordered a Salvator on draught. Instant respect! I finally settled on a Sierra Bigfoot, which is a barleywine and packs quite a punch.

The night just got more fun from there. Donald dropped by several times to talk about beer and then wanted us to try one he had just gotten in - Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen. Throughout the rest of the night the staff kept dropping by asking how we got talked into trying the bacon beer. Yes, it tastes like smoked bacon. (In case you're wondering, we'd like to try it again before dinner with bread, a good cheese, and some salami.)

Needless to say, thumbs up to the newest Taco Mac. They may not have the most taps in the chain (only 100 beers on tap, down from the Crabapple location which has 102), but it brings some much needed quality beer to the North Atlanta area. The staff was great despite the rush, so kudos to E, Caela, Greg (the beer geek who needs to learn to like bacon!), and everyone else. And thanks Donald for the beer! We'll definately be back. Now if only they had a good dark chocolate cake on the menu to go with that Old Rasputin which is on tap...

How to Lose Friends and Turn Away People

Among the many unique traits of Christianity which makes it unique is the command to forgive. If a Muslim is wronged, the Prophet says that it is good if he forgives, but it is permissible for him to refuse to do so. Christians do not have that luxury. A group of friends from church were talking about forgiveness the other night, and we were discussing exactly what that compulsion requires and why.

As we were talking, I started thinking about a group that I used to be a part of. It was a group of friends who had known each other for several years, but some of us were closer friends than others. We would get together occasionally to enjoy the best beers we could get our hands on, and in the interim we would trade emails discussing everything from proper city design to theology. But, as recent studies have pointed out, it's very easy to misunderstand and to be misunderstood when trading emails. And all of us were, at some point, rude or cowardly. Rather than point out the times when I was hurt or offended I tried to put aside what had happened. This is not forgiveness.

There's a reason why the Bible says that the sun should not set on our anger. When we do not give someone the courtesy of knowing that we have been hurt, then he can't do anything to make it right. It's especially worse if we just wait for the offender to come to us to apologize; we're either trying to manipulate the other person or feel better about ourselves when we do that. My experience with my friends now teaches me another reason why we should deal our anger immediately.

Over time I came to expect that the people in our group were out to offend me. Eventually it came to the point that I didn't even want to talk to them any more, and ultimately I left the group (and on pretty poor terms, too, I'm afraid). The bad part is that when I was asked why I left I couldn't come up with a reason. Too much time had passed between any single time I was hurt. By the time some guys in the group tried to make things right, I couldn't tell them what was wrong. Rather than being able to list a bunch of small offenses which could be made right, all I had was this huge, overarching bad feeling about the group as a whole and a bunch of the guys in it. What could they possibly do at this point to repair that?

If we deal with small things when they happen, then it is easy to forgive. As time goes on and the offenses build up, forgiveness becomes more and more difficult, to the point that we may never be able to save the relationship. This is what has happened with the guys who I once called my friends. I can only hope that I'll keep this lesson in mind and not make the same mistake again.

Karma

I'm really not one who believes in Karma. I hold my Hindu friends in too high esteem to use a concept from their faith lightly, and their beliefs are incompatible with mine. However, there are some times in life when life does come full circle.

My mother was raised on a farm. I spent every other weekend of my life from infancy through high school at that farm. My family still owns the property, but we sold our cows to the man who now leases the land after my grandmother passed away. Truth be told, I spent most of my time there wandering around the 300 acres, fishing, or playing, but many of my memories center around the time that I spent helping my father and my uncle tend to the cows. Some of the tasks were simple enough, like herding the cattle from pasture to pasture and trying to keep them from wandering down the road in the process. Others, however, really stand out - like steering bulls.

Rendering male calves infertile is very important to prevent inbreeding. It somehow fell to my father (maybe because he was the city boy) to actually do the tough work while my uncle had the much more pleasant job of catching the animal's head in a chute. As a kid my responsibility was to help drive the bull into the chute. Once I was old enough I then inherited my father's role. Fortunately by then we had progressed from the box cutter (yes, that's right) to a set of giant pliers-type things. It is a strange sight to watch a giant beast suddenly fall to its knees without so much as a cry because of the pain. (It's especially strange when you're underneath the bull finishing the job and you have to jump out of the way!)

These were the thoughts on my mind two weeks ago as I was heading to the urologist. My wife and I have two beautiful boys. We love them, but we just cannot handle another pregnancy, so we decided that a vasectomy was in order. Thanks to a good friend of mine, I was distracted from thinking about farm animals during the 45 minutes I spent in the waiting room (that's just wrong), and it never entered my mind during the "consultation" with the doctor which lasted about 5 minutes and consisted of a very fast recitation of the potential risks. But after the male nurse taped my manhood into place and wiped me down with iodine I had plenty of time to think while waiting for the doctor to arrive, and all I could think of was the torture we put those animals through. I hoped that the doctor would take more pity on me.

I was spared a great deal of pain, although I never knew that Novocaine would make testicals feel heavy. And there are some places where I never want to feel a needle again, much less whatever he was using that wasn't a scapel (contrary to popular belief no-scapel vasectomy does not imply laser). Fortunately the recovery was aided by excellent painkillers and a few bags of frozen peas, neither of which were afforded to those poor steers.

Now that the pain is over and life has returned to normal, I am having some
buyer's remorse. I don't know why. We don't want any more kids; pregnancy and infancy are hell; and the side effects of the pill can be pretty bad. Maybe it's the fact that things still don't feel quite the same down there. Or maybe there's just something universally devastating about sterility. At least I've had the opportunity to have offspring, which is more than I can say for those steers.