|
|
|
shelf life of Ballast Point Sculpin
Thursday, November 18 2021
While I was at the office in Red Hook today, Gretchen was going crazy with the day's New York Times Spelling Bee, and by the time I got to it there wasn't much left for me to do. It was, as I said to her in a message, a "smoking crater." The panagram was "humbled," but that had already been found. I found only two or three more words, including "emblem" and "hubbub." That last one triggered the "queen bee" screen, since it was the last word left. Gretchen and I put our brains together and play almost every day, but this was only our third or fourth queen bee. I celebrated by taking a picture with my phone and doing a screen grab. But I was too self conscious to take a selfie with Jason there. But then Jason announced that he was leaving for the day and would not be coming back to the office "until warm weather," which he indicated would be in April, assuming the lease on the office (which will have ended by then) gets renewed, which it probably won't. With him out of the office, I could take a selfie.
We were treated to unseasonably warm weather conditions today, complete with sunny skies and gentle breezes. I was able to get a Bubbie's burrito and eat it at the picnic table across the street as if it were still September.
Among the contents of the office refrigerator that had been there through the whole pandemic (until it was cleaned out in July) were a number of beers. Those beers had then been sitting on a table near the office microwave since then, unclaimed. One of those was a Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, widely considered to be one of the best IPAs in the world. Towards the end of the day, I put it in the refrigerator. And on the drive home, I enjoyed it as a road beer. It might've been good once, but that long time spent refrigerated and then at room temperature had damaged its flavor, making it taste more malty and very slightly skunky as well, and not in a good way.
Back at the house, Gretchen was just beginning some sort of poetry teleconference, so I had to be quiet. It was warmer outside the house than inside it, so I opened the front door to let some of that warm air in.
Later Gretchen told me that Powerful was in the hospital due to a mysterious rash that had suddenly appeared, and his new housemates were being just as unpleasant as ever, demanding to know when Gretchen "could get there." A rash might not sound like a big deal, but when you've recently received a heart transplant, things like that could be a warning of some sort of unwelcomed immune response. In the end, Gretchen didn't have to go to the hospital; Powerful was released with some topical creams and was returned to his unhappy housing situation.
Me taking a selfie with the Queen Bee today. Click to enlarge.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?211118 feedback
previous | next |
Me taking a selfie with the Queen Bee today. Click to enlarge.