Dogs

Our dogs are very hard to photograph with a consumer-grade digital--They move so fast that by the time the shutter trips, they have turned 180 degrees..



That's a fairly typical stick for Bella--Much smaller and she either loses interest, or comes back with something she feels is big enough. If we let her, she'll carry it all the way home, with people in passing cars pointing and laughing...

Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA

More isn't better. More bitter (hoppy?) than I like, and although the flavors are similar to the 60 minute, "too much" sums it up for me.

WEB Griffin

W.E.B Griffin reminds me of Chipotle (the Burrito Restaraunt)--I like both, but neither has much effective variety. You can make lots of different combinations, but from a limited menu of options. I'm currently reading his "Presidential Agent" series, and there is a ton of re-used elements:

*Wealthy man is in the military or police even though he doesn't need the money. (Badge of Honor, The Corps, Brotherhood of War, Honor Bound)

*Wealthy Main-line Philadelphia (Badge of Honor, bits in other series)

*Long lost relatives in different countries are reunited, everyone is wealthy. (Honor Bound, Brotherhood of War)

*A successful (and usually wealthy) ladies man falls in love with an inappropriate woman. Turns out she's madly in love with him, but has been afraid to admit it. They allow the affair to continue, even though it jeopardizes a high-level mission if they are caught. (Badge of Honor, Brotherhood of War, partly in The Corps)

*Famous Grouse Scotch (The Corps, and I think others)

It is hard for me to separate the distraction of repeated bits from the story, but I don't think this is one of his best.

Too late

A few weeks ago, a local thrift store had a Rolex Submariner in the showcase. I asked to look at it--They wanted $700. I came to the conclusion that it was more than likely fake--I'm no expert, but the brushed surface looked coarser than I would expect. It was a mechanical movement, but only ticked 6 times per second. Most modern Swiss watches tick 8 per second. According to my (later) Googling, the Submariner switched to 8 per second in the late 1980's.

A co-worker has an interest in mechanical watches, and is also a thrift-store shopper. I would have told him about this watch, but he was on medical leave at the time.

When I came to work today, he was wearing it.

Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA

Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA is really, really good. I'm not a fan of bitter beers, and I was a little nervous when I picked it out--The other time I've tried an IPA, it was more bitter than I liked. I'm no expert at catagorizing a beer's flavor, but there's a distinct grapefruit taste that fits well. Well balanced, nothing overpowering, but lots of good flavor.

I will be buying more, even though it is out of my way.