A non-linear narrative.

Non-linear narrative? A certain otherness?

hmmmmm - I think that describes my blog!

I gotta contact Columbus Power and Light and mildly complain about their electrical sub station that has all of a sudden appeared outside out windows.

Before the aliens landed we had nice dark sky and could seethe Milky Way every night. Now since the space crafted landed we get this every night.   As you can see the light pretty much blast away the stars.  Can some one contact Cbus Power and Light and tell then they are wasting electricity?

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I was at Hydro Street Brewery last night "helping" figure out the burner situation for brewing and  . . . .wait, I'm having a non-linear moment. . . . . .if anybody knows where we can get a stock pot range let me know, they automagically hook up to Natural gas and would be perfect!

ANYWAY - the atmosphere there was outstanding and I was having some deja vu moments but . . .from where!   Then I realized later that it was from some pubs we went to on St. John in the Virgin Islands.  There were two guys playing a fiddle and guitar, laughter and drinking in a very relaxed homey setting.  A wonderful mixture of people.

The Brewery is doing wonderful with zero advertising (except from me and Facebook (which is also me)).  I've put on the binders for advertising and have not BEGUN to get the word out yet.   The place is hopping every night. For example , they go through 50 pounds of potatoes a night with their awesome home cut fries along with over a barrel of beer.

They have had to supplement  their beers with a few from House of Brews and now have Tyranena on tap to help fill the void.    Aaron the brewmaster said all 10 taps should be operational with HSB brew by February when the grand opening is.

Hydro Street Brewery Co and Eatery

In case you are wondering the grill is open . . . . . ALL THE TIME!!!   And they will be open News Year Eve.

On a side note I made Nut Brown Doggie Beer Biscuits that will be available at HSB.  And look for Grinders Island Brews on tap in the future! Although brewing will be done at HSB headquarters.

In case you are wondering those two areas in the front  of the brewery are earmarked for a hydroponic herd garden.

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BTW - it's funny the crap Walker is getting now that the truth came out about "his" expansion of Badger Care.  OOPS - I guess he forgot to tell everyone that he was ORDERED to expand it as opposed to out of the kindness of his heard (which he originally claimed).

No wonder he has told people he HATES Madison.  all of that truthfulness get's in his way!
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Have a great New Years Weekend and be careful.

Rod

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Need more Gas

Man - trying convert a propane burner to a natural gas burner is harder then expected.  Three plumbers said it is impossible but looking at the burner websites they have special attachments and in fact MY burner which DJ gave me for Christmas a few years ago is actually set up FOR natural gas.

You see the problem is that "we" have a huge natural gas grill and we want to brew under the range hood.  Propane seems like it would be the easiest way but even with outstanding ventilation maybe it's against the law?????  So since there is natural gas why not use that for the burners.   hmmmmm
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Here is something I found yesterday .

I was actually surprised how fast I got this Beer Stereogram - just crossed my eyes a little and BAM there it was. I asked my optometrist about these after looking at a book of Stereogram's and then not being able to read any thing for about an hour. He said the are very GOOD for your eyes and likened them to exercising your eyes. (not exorcise which is like spinning your head around -  I caught that one balderdash)  The eyes get tired and thus, no reading.Like when you work out and you feel all weak.

 

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Clear night last night so I decided to try some star photos.  I took this last night - 30 seconds at f400  3.6 with a super wide lens.  I'll try again with a different lens - HOWEVER - even with the electric company blasting light at me from over the ridge I was able to get a nice shot.  I think I could have gotten the Milky Way but for the Electric Company.

Betelgeuse (arrow)- Classified as a red supergiant, Betelgeuse is one of the largest and most luminous stars known.   

Looking South about 10:00

Supergiant's are the largest stars in the universe in terms of volume. If Betelgeuse were at the center of our Solar System instead of ol' Sol, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt possibly to the orbit of Jupiter and beyond, wholly engulfing Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Holy CRAP!!

That is why determining how far away it is is difficult! It is believed to be about 640 light years away and  it's thought to be only 10 million years old, but has evolved rapidly because of its high mass.

Yea it's orange and there is a reason which is way to boring for me to type.

OH - the super bright star below the moon these days is Venus.
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Comedy's on TV are sometimes funny but normally very very few are actually LOL funny and how many times do you really want to watch a rerun of a comedy - not very often.  But there is a show on now that DJ and I have had actual LOL and tears in the eyes funny!

New Girl just keeps getting better. This is from the 1st episode.

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Hydro Street Brewery Menu

Note - I'm looking for a water quality report for Columbus or Sun Prairie - anybody know where I can get one??  Not what chemicals are in the water but what minerals! 
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Below is the current Hydro Street Brewery and Eatery menu. Just thought I would post it. The potatoes are awesome and even though I had a burger on day two and Sandye was still learning the grill it was really good. Being a former grill cook at three restaurants there is a learning curve to every new grill. Where is the hot spot where is the cool area and how hot is the anyway!

Aaron is having some brewing problems with hooking up a natural gas line to his propane burner for brewing but HOPEFULLY that will be resolved today.

As for buisness, they are doing very well for zero advertising and are going through about a barrel of beer every day and my guess is that will at least double in summer. I suspect that while most profits have come from beer so far the grill will start to make some good money (I'm thinking at least 60%). And BTW - I'm an investor. If you would like to invest talk to Sandye (tell them Rod sent you). I believe what they offer is a good deal.

A seriously perfect location, excellent CHEERS type atmosphere, good food, good beer and the two people running the place (on zero sleep it seems) really have their act together, MUCH more then I personally could do. It's a labor of love. If they had sat back and had contractors do all the work, forget it. But building a business with your own two hands, that's different.

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WOW nice December weather-wize if you are not a winter lover.  This will go down as one of the warmest Decembers on record.  We have had only five days with highs below freezing this month and are 4.3 degrees above the average high and 7.8 degrees above the average low.

Snowfall?  We have had a total of  3.8 inches of snow compared to an average of 17.0.  Yet, we are above the average in precipitation.

As for frost depth.  Dane County has 1 inch! 
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I got a call from a customer wanting some shots of Bascom Hall.  I had a couple but had not done anything with them.  The woman liked what she saw at Sweet Lips Gallery so I knew I could not have a normal photo.

Bascom Hall

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Here is an insanely gross article.  Read at your own risk

Sanju Bhagat, 36, of Nagpur, India, had been teased his whole life because of the giant bulge in his belly, which made him look like he was "nine months pregnant." One night in 1999, he was rushed to the hospital in pain, and doctors decided to operate on what they suspected was a "giant tumor," says ABC News. But according to Dr. Ajay Mehta, what they found was much more frightening. "To my surprise and horror," says Mehta, "I could shake hands with somebody inside." Indeed, there was a "strange, half-formed creature that had feet and hands." Bhagat suffered from a rare medical condition in which the fetus of his twin brother became trapped inside him while he was still in his mother's womb, surviving for decades as a parasite by leaching blood, complete with an "umbilical cord-like structure."

OH MY GOD!  I feel I need to take a shower now!  
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OK - how about getting some cute back in your brain.

Here is Caydance at Christmas.

Caydence, baby Syd, Jenny and DJ

And one of baby Sydney (why always put "baby" in front, will people think that Sydney is just a very short adult)?

Here is Syd flopping around on the floor.   HOOO HOOO HOOOO!!

Have a great Tuesday!

Rod

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Alternate ROW parking in City parking lots! BS!!!!

For all my work buddies I have some sad news - Dave Allwardt collapsed a few days ago and is in the hospital until further notice. Some sort of recurring infection and other complications with his weight. It's all I know but according to his wife he is in bad shape. Let's pass on some warm thoughts for him.

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SNOW - Columbus received 1.5 inches of snow last night with 0.09 inches of precipitation. Like humans my dog was totally excited about this event but I'm sure the "fun" will wear off shortly.

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ahhh - NEVER MIND!

I said my peace

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Hydro Street Brewery is Open for Bigness!

The day started out poorly Tuesday.  You see Tuesday was the day of the big building inspections and when I stopped in I found Sandye and Aaron not in their normal stressed out chipper mood but more in a stressed out dragging slightly grumpy moving slow mood.

Seems the night before the big day they ordered food from another established establishment in Columbus and some tomatoes seemed a little . . . "off"  as they touched their taste buds.  But being hungry they continued to eat.  Bad idea.

Of course that was the night after two assumed drunken love birds who could barely walk crashed through their big front window.  Ahh the life of a brewpub owner.   At least some bars in Columbus allow their customers to get falling down drunk as Columbus finest are busy keeping track of when yard signs go up!

All went well and at 4:30 the doors officially opened.

unnamed male - First Patron

The above photo is of an unnamed male who was the very first customer. Unconfirmed rumors were that he had been camping out for 3 days waiting to taste the sweet nectar of Hydro Brew.    Sadly,  Aaron the brewmaster,  was at home doing what people do when they eat bad tomatoes so Sandye had no wingman and the grill was closed.   Daughter Oakly(sp?) in the background  was on hand acting like bouncer/custodian/helper person.

At the unadvertised soft opening where only the 400 million facebook people knew about the opening, a nice sized crowd appeared out of nowhere to the delight of everybody involved.   40s music played in the background and beer and laughter were bouncing off the walls.  Fantastic atmosphere!

Doc from the Capri came in and he and I talked a while. AND OF COURSE he say "So your Rod Melotte" (this is being said entirely all too often) which once again put me on guard. Seems he has a large photo of mine in the Capri which was given to him.  He said a friend purchased it in Portage at the Trails End Supper Club and gave it to him as a gift.

Here is a photo of the Capri that is hanging in Hydro Street Brewery and Eatery AND at The Capri.

The Capri

Did you know that that in the late 1800's people would store their wood stoves above the Capri in the summer?.  They had to hoist the stoves up with a pulley system and there would a a few dozen iron wood stoves up there.  Weird.

 Have a great shortest day of the year

Rod

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Lots of snow . . .but not this year . . .YET!

Troy Aikman was in Chicago to announce a football game one weekend when he noticed a special telephone near the Bears bench. He asked a nearby player what it was used for and was told it was a hotline to God. Troy asked if he could use it. The player told him, "Sure, but it will cost you $100.00."

Troy scratched his head, then thought, what the heck. I could use some help picking games. He pulled out his wallet and paid the $100.00. Troy’s picks were perfect that week.

The next week, Troy was in Texas when he noticed that same kind of phone on the Cowboys' bench. He asked what the telephone was for and was told "It's a hotline to God. If you want to use it, it will cost you $500.00."

Recalling last weekend, Troy pulled out his wallet and made the call. Troy’s picks were perfect again that week!

The next weekend Troy was in Green Bay at Lambeau Field when he noticed the same kind of phone by the Packers' bench. He asked Aaron Rodgers "Is that the hotline to God?" Aaron said, "Yes, but it will cost you 35 cents".

Troy looked incredulously at Aaron and said, "Wait a second, I just paid $100.00 in Chicago and $500.00 in Texas to use the same phone to God. Why does Green Bay only charge 35 cents?"

Aaron looked at Troy and replied, "In Green Bay, it's a local call"
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Tomorrow is the solstice, the shortest day of the year and the day we start are long slow climb to summer. The earth is the closest to the sun but also tilting 23.5 degrees away from ol' Sol.

This December, at the moment, is the 7th warmest December in history. There is no frost in the ground yet and I doubt we will have a white Christmas which is not really that unusual. In fact a white Christmas only happens 4 out of 7 times but we have had five in a row.

Since 1970, 71% of winters in Madison have had official snowfall totals of over 40 inches, with the most recent 30 year average of nearly 50 inches even after you eliminate the recent 100 inch winter.

Between 1900 and 1970, only 30% of winters had snowfall over 40 inches. The average was only about 35 inches per winter.

Between 1900-1970, there were 8 streaks of more than 3 winters in a row with snowfall under 35". There were no streaks of 3 or more winters with over 40". There has only been one such streak under 35" since 1970 but 4 streaks of 5 winters or more over 40".
 
Bottom line - we get a lot more snow now then we did when we were growing up (if you were born in the 50s and 60s).
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Totally Geeked out!

So the City of Columbus website says

"Have you got a question for someone "at City Hall"?

Got a suggestion?

Or a complaint?

Well.... here's your chance.... Just click on Request Tracker

to get in touch with someone in city government who can (and will) respond."

Odd - I've registered twice and have gotten zero response! 

Here is the crazy thing the Police Department does.  They say that you can not park on EITHER side of the street on snow emergencies (3 inches or more snow), (even though everyone wants alternate side parking but they do not complain to their Aldermen) HOWEVER - out of the kindness of their hearts you are free to park in the City Parking lots - HOWEVER - there - you have to figure out what row because it's ALTERNATE ROW PARKING ALL THE TIME in the FREAKING PARKING LOT and you can get a $30 ticket.

How anal is THAT!  Yet - no one complains to their Aldermen.  Seems Alderman have a pretty easy job since no one ever tells them what they want.

If you want to tell your Aldermen something here is a map so you can figure out who to complain too.

So now you know where you are - here is who to complain too!

Columbus Aldermen
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Packers - the only reason I'm sad is that the Pack still so not have home field through out the playoffs!  I don't mind if they lost - almost happy actually. NOW they can concentrate on the big picture. The Superbowl.  Injuries are mounting up in some critical areas, the front "O" line.

I gotta give credit to the Chiefs - they played a really good game.   OH - The field goal kicker that scored all the points is Mr. Irrelevant - He was the very last guy drafted in the draft! 

OH - The Patriots vs. Tebow - Did you see after the game when the woman was interviewing Brady and her first question to Brady was ABOUT TEBOW  LOL   
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Sort of rushed today as I'm heading to the Brewery for the hanging!

I have to rent a hammer drill to get through the reinforced tungsten walls for getting a little nail for hanging a few more images!  Then I'll let them have their ultra important inspections and MAYBE MAYBE Hydro Street Brewery will be open at some point tomorrow!

SO - I gotta get going.  (actually coffee is ready and I have to get some food in me).

And Christmas?  I received an iPad early - WOW - I am in total geek heaven.  If you go to the Weather Channel App you can see the entire world weather systems in almost real time from space - WOW - BUT WAIT.  You can zoom in more and more and more and more until you can see DJs car parked next to Jenny and Josh's house!!!   GEEK OUT!!!!!

You can go from this

   
To this - and all points inbetween

Geek me out the door!!!

I remember when there was a technology lull.  For a while there was a time when hardware could not keep up with the software.  Memory was still expensive.  Then there were developments in hardware and outstanding software caught up.  Now with the advent of game consoles like PS3 and Xbox and software is no longer stuck with so many versions of operating system they can go wild.

I believe we are on the cusp of some major life changing developments in how the world interacts.  With SO MUCH free knowledge available at you finger tips we are bound to reap benefits.

I downloaded a travel magazine (for free)  and I can touch the screen and BAM - I can instantly see where they are.

When I got my very first computer job for the State of Wisconsin my keyboard (seriously - this is 100% true) - my keyboard had no "1" and no "0"   I had to use a capitol "I" and a capital "O". 

I could go on and on - I probably will this week  LOL.

Cheers
Rod

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