August 25, 2007

I'm Home...and why AmerenUE Sucks

Well, I have completed round one of life on the road. I was a road warrior this past week and it was productive working out of town 1500 miles away. I will tell you about some of the things I saw and the behavior of humans when I get a little more time. But, for now I need to vent at the electric company we are stuck with in the St. Louis region.

It's name is AmerenUE and they just can't get their act together. I got home from the airport last night and the power was out. Again! And as I write this it's been 20 hours and still no lights. I have just started figuring out what I have to throw away in the freezer and refrigerator. And then go to the store and replace, when the lights do come back on. What do you think would happen if I deducted this cost from their bill? I do. They would charge me a late fee and keep adding it on to future bills. Then they would eventually cut off the service. (Gee, that's where I am now. No electric service)!

What is with the apparent idiots who are managing this company? Why don't they do scheduled maintenance on their power grid? I am blogging wirelessly at this point at a local coffee shop and I am pissed. Ameren keeps asking for rate hikes and to this point the state of Missouri has told them no except for very minor ones. Ameren keeps making promises and excuses for itself. Everyone who uses their power has the same fear. That they will come up and the power is either off or has been off. This is the third time in six weeks I have been without power and Ameren is either unwilling or unable to solve the issue. It's quite frustrating!

August 12, 2007

The Joy of Good Beer

As you know if you read this blog regularly I like my beer. I have written of some I have tasted in the past but these are a few I have tasted this summer (in no particular order) that I have really enjoyed.

Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale is a refreshingly good ale. And it has a nice hoppiness to it utilizing Cascade hops. It is brewed by Green Valley Brewing in Fairfield, Ca.

Boulevard Pale Ale is another very good ale. It doesn't have the overly hopped taste of some others I have had but it leaves you with a pleasant taste in your mouth as the last of this Carmel colored liquid goes over the back of the tongue. It is brewed by Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City, Mo.

Bully Porter This too is made by the fine folks at Boulevard. It has a malty flavor and what tastes to be a hint of chocolate at the back of the mouth.

Goose Island Honkers Ale and Goose Island IPA It really isn't fair to lump these two fine products together but for brevity I will. Goose Island does an outstanding job with each of them. The Honkers Ale has a nice bitter taste that goes down very smoothly. As far as the IPA it is outstanding. But, then again I have a weakness for IPAs. It has a very strong hoppiness to it but with a hint of fruit flavor. They are brewed by Goose Island in Chicago, Il.

Schlafly APA This is a stronger version of the brewer's Pale Ale and is dry hopped. It starts out with a nice bitter taste and then mixes in a malty flavor in the middle before leaving with a fine bitter aftertaste. It also has a citrus hint to it of either grapefruit or mango. Whatever it is I think this is one fine beer.

As you can see from reading above I like well hopped ales and the stronger the better. I have sampled many of these beverages this summer while visiting with my great neighbors H&G who have provided me with many fine beers. Thank you M family!

Snooze Channel Five

The local NBC affiliate claims to be the "news leader for Saint Louis".

If you believe that you are a bigger fool than Barry Bonds. Is that why it lead it's Friday night newscast with the closing of a river bridge 70 miles away that impacts only a relatively small portion of it's audience? The biggest story in the area was a severe power outage in the Central West End of the city.

Sure, the bridge closure was relevant and deserved to be covered. But, it obviously was not the lead story. The reason the children running the newsroom at this idiot station made that decision was to jump on the I-35W collapse frenzy and tell their peers what a big story they have in their "backyard".

As I've said before local television news in Saint Louis is an oxymoron, and KSDK is the worst of those stations that have a "news" department.

August 09, 2007

Not Only a Fool But an Idiot

Barry Bonds, with a lot of help from muscle building illegal steroids, finally surpassed Hank Aaron's 755 home runs. Here is how the record book should read.

Barry Bonds 756*

*indicates tainted record from abusing steroids and cheating for many years.

When Bonds was interviewed after hitting number 756* he was asked if the record was tainted. Bonds said "No".

Yeah, right.

August 06, 2007

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Lauren and Dean on their marriage Saturday afternoon. They will do well together and have the support of two very solid and loving families backing them. Dean and Lauren I wish you well. Thank you for a great day Saturday and for allowing us to be a part of the day!

Congrats to Saint Louis Hall of Famers

This is a little belated but I want to congratulate two fine St. Louisans who have been inducted into their Hall of Fames in the past week.

Last Sunday, Rick Hummel of the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch was inducted into the writer's wing of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. As I have written previously, Hummel is a shining light at an otherwise dismal publication. He covered the Saint Louis Cardinals on a daily basis for about 20 years and worked with the likes of Red Schoendienst, Joe Torre, Whitey Herzog and Tony LaRussa. Hummel is very good at what he does and still provides interesting insight into baseball on weekends. He is very deserving of this honor.

On Saturday, the National Football League Hall of Fame in Canton inducted Roger Wehrli into the halls of it's honored members. Wehrli played cornerback for the old St. Louis Cardinals and was a Pro Bowl player for many many years. I count myself fortunate to have seeen him play in person not only at old Busch Stadum but also at Faurot Field in Columbia when he played for Missouri. Wehrli too is very deserving of this honor. He made a difficult position look easy and took on and negated some of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the NFL.

Congratulations to both of these gentlemen on their achievements.