Libation Education

Recognizing the importance of continuing education, Jonathan and I attended a lecture at the Arizona Science Center this past Friday night.  The academic topic of the evening: The History of Beer.  In addition to the lecture we were promised local, craft brewers providing samples of their brews.  Since Jonathan has a distinguished beer palate we were quite excited to not only support local brewers, but also to enjoy some flavorful craft brews.  Oh yeah, and that whole science lecture sounded pretty interesting too.

Redwood irrigation pipe for orchards.

The showing/sampling of the craft brewers was flat out disappointing.  Two of the three available options were not what I'd call "craft", and the third was a brand Jonathan doesn't much care for.  Two of the breweries are chain brewery/restaurants that span the continental U.S., one of which we used to visit infrequently in Arlington, VA.  And, to top that off, the beer they were sampling wasn't even as tasty as when its served in their restaurant.  Oh well.

With small foam cups in hand we toured the Science Center. Sans billions of screaming children running about, its actually a pretty fun place to check out.  We visited the outdoor water area before touring the building zone and eventually taking a quick tour of the brain.  There was still a lot more to see and play with, but the lecture started at 8 and since the previous lecture filled quickly we decided to get in line as to not miss out.  We started chatting with a young couple that sat next to us and what do you know, the guy was from Alabama and the girl was born and raised in the California bay area!  They were both very friendly and witty and a pleasure to chat with before the lecture started.

The history of beer, and the very simplified molecular science that was presented was very interesting  I appreciated the presenter's laid back style and easy going flow.  His presentation could have been far more overwhelmingly scientific, but keeping with the spirit of the beverage it was funny, interesting and educational. Ironically similar to how people see themselves after a few brews.

Saturday's highlight was certainly the post workout treat, or more appropriately a post work out nullification, of Lo Lo's chicken and waffles, followed by the donating of a toilet to the Habit for Humanity Restore.  The donated toilet that had been residing in our backyard for over a month after having been replaced in early July. Unbeknownst to me at the time of marriage, Jonathan seems to have a bizarre habit of collecting toilets. Never thought I'd have to acknowledge that I have a limit to the number of stray porcelain thrones I'll allow to reside in and around our house.  We still have one hanging out in the backyard, "For parts" he tells me, and one in the back room that is to be connected in the hall bath, one of these days. 

On the same topic of bathroom projects, Sunday I finished cutting and finally set the counter top tile for the master bath sink. I added grout to complete the project on Monday and although its not perfect, its altogether not bad for a first time tiling project complete with custom cut tiles.


We finished the weekend up with some Olympics and an always entertaining, at times painful, Toby back-ride. I think Toby would agree, a successful weekend for sure!