My blog n'at

(if you  cant see the video click Teaspoon marks his territory)

Watch out where the Teaspoon goes, don’t you eat that yellow snow…

I can’t even make this shit up. Just watch the video.

If anyone freaks out about it they should, as sickpuppy would say, headbutt a train.

what a joke.

Lushie hates shower doors and apparently knew when we did the walk-through that they were coming off. Personally I could care less but really, you think I’m going to fight over it knowing a loss was coming? The doors came off with no problem but the tracks, yeah that was another story.

I posted on Twitter asking the easiest way to get this removed without ruining the tub. We had tried the day before with  the usual razor and flat screwdriver didn’t work. My M.I.L. was down this weekend an pulled out this paint stripping tool and said give it a shot. IT WORKED! It made enough of a dent that I was able to get most off once it was started. I need brush up on my caulking because that stuff wasn’t coming off without a fight. The downside was the funk water that was under the bottom track.

The end result is what you see above. Neighbors started whispering about piece of the bathroom being on the front porch. Apparently its a neighborhood that doesn’t see much turnover of residents so I’m sure everyone is curious.  Oh trust me, there are more changes to come! I’ll need somewhere to brew beer and bbq outside

I was fortunate to marry into a family who loves to clean. OK love may be a strong word but they appreciate keeping your house clean. I’m not talking about a light dusting and saying you cleaned or painting over dirty walls, we’re talkin scrubbing floors and windows on a regular basis. Not because we’re dirty but just “that’s what you do”. You clean ceiling fans, bathtubs and scrub scrub scrub.

It should come as no surprise that when we have moved anywhere we scrubbed down after the previous residents. When you think about it you don’t know what the people before you did and honestly it helps give a fresh start. The house we’re moving into has taken 4 days of scrubbing down and painting with the basement still to go. That bucket pictured above was 1 of several from washing down the bedroom walls and bathroom. The bathroom alone took hours of cleaning before I even got started on removing the shower doors (more later on that task).

Next up for me is the basement which I’ll go into detail in the future. There was a fair amount of stuff left over from the previous owners that I need to go through and from what my brother told me, its the traditional Pittsburgh basement. In other words, hella dirty which was similar to most I grew up with before my dad had this crazy notion to make the basement a man cave. Thankfully the bro has a shopvac that I can use before we start moving since I want to paint before we suck up all of the storage. I should make chalk outlines on the floor.

Disorganization drive me nuts and I need to learn to be patient when it comes to a new house. I know that I can’t fix everything before we move in so my list of things to do will be long. Finding time to balance that, family time, school and my craft beer work will be an interesting feat. This week I’m going into each room and around the yard to make a master list of things I see that need fixed/updated.

Oh and don’t you worry about that beer cellar, I have an area scoped out

It’s practically new besides the dust its collected in our basement since last November. We’re moving soon and need to start getting things out of our basement. Here it is on the IKEA site. Sells for $49.99, you get it for free if you pick it up. May have an end table to go with it.

This is back up on the block and if no one wants it we’re tossing it in the trash since it wont fit in any of our cars.  Nuff said.

more coming soon…

Lushie picked up beef kabobs from Giant Eagle for dinner tonight. They’re soaked in red wine (don’t ask me which, its not on the sign). Really, how can you go wrong?

Saturday while in 85F heat we thought “Hey, this would be a great day to take Teaspoon to the Arts Festival!” OK I’ll be honest, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds for him, he was under shade with a constant breeze and sunscreen while I was the dumbass walking around in shorts, sneakers, wait for it… and 2 shirts. Whenever I wear a polo I always have a t-shirt on underneath it. As luck, and my wardrobe would have it a black tshirt. Fluffy guys don’t like the heat so no matter what I’m screwed for the next 3 months.

The Arts Festival is very cool event to check out if you’re in Pittsburgh the first 2 weeks of June each year but make sure you pack an umbrella because it ALWAYS rains at some point. (Not simple shower rain but monsoon downpour and on this day though, it was just freaking hot). You can walk around Point State Park and the area surrounding Gateway Center to find incredible pieces of work from artists all over the country. That maybe why you go. Me, I’m there for one thing, festival food!

We gave Teaspoon his first taste of a staple in Pittsburgh cuisine with a small piece of Funnel Cake. He did 3 chews, looked confused and promptly spit it out to go back to his crackers. Don’t worry bud, I’m not a big fan either. Lushie settled on her go-to of fresh lemonade and I hit the sausage tent with fresh peppers. I don’t know why but that is my go-to when I see things like seafood being served by a guy that hasn’t washed in a couple days. I just can’t justify eating seafood that’s been sitting out all day in the heat and then gets cooked in front of you. I’d have an alien coming out of me.

The festival season for me has started and we’ll make our way to a few key parish festivals so I can humiliate old people with my crazy bingo skills. I grew up on church festivals and work a couple carnivals (Harborfest woooo)  so I appreciate any events like the arts fest or any outdoor event.

I enjoy walking around with my wife and son to public fairs which is odd because even 5 years ago i scoffed at the idea.

Maybe I’m at that point in my life now where I find joy in simple family outings like this.

Maybe I just really want to find the ultimate festival food

Maybe I’m becoming my dad…

The deal is done and I am now officially a home owner. I have to admit that the entire process wasn’t that bad and I’ve been told we were fortunate. The couple we bought off of were really nice and in fact this was their first house also. They told us about the neighbors, the best places to eat and who has delivery. It’ll be different that’s for sure especially when I have to fix my first thing and not wait for the landlord to come over 3 months later.

Signing the papers was very laid back and we were done within an hour. I couldn’t tell you what half the papers were I signed (I think I bought a bridge) but by the time I was done my hand was sore and all I could think of was “goddamn I betcha Red Lobster would be fantastic right now” so we did it.

We had someone watching Teaspoon for us and since this was the first dinner alone we’ve had in over a year we savored every bite. Half way through my glorious meal it hit me. I took Lushie’s hand and said “Holy shit we own a freaking house!” We looked at the papers once more and there it was, the mortgage would be paid off in 2040. We would be 64. Talk about a kick square in the nuts.

I know you’re wondering too; here’s what I had at Red Lobster. Lobster tail, bacon wrapped scallops, bourbon glazed shrimp on mashed taters and a corn mix

Next up is moving and we’re farther along than most people think. My question to parents is how the heck do you move with a kid since his crap has to get boxed up also. Teaspoon is already pitching a fit.

I’ve recruited my moving team. All of them are rookies to moving us so you vets can sit back and snicker. Fortunately for them the heavy pull-out couch has been gone for awhile and there is nothing else that creates that many obscenities.

We have a lot more surprises coming up. stay tuned!

(click here to see the entire gallery on Flickr)

What an incredible evening! Tuesday night a lot of the work I’ve done on SIDT paid off when I was invited backstage to hang out with Zane Lamprey (and a few beverages) before his Drinking Made Easy show started at Mr. Smalls Theater. I was contacted a couple weeks ago by Zane’s PR people asking if we would be interested in talking with Zane. They knew of the podcast and thought we would be a great fit. Were we ever!

As we walked up to the door we were greeted at the door by Steve McKenna who was already downing some beers. Incredibly nice guy but that may have had to do with the fact I was carrying a box of  presents.

• 1 growler of East End Monkey Girl
• 1 growler of Erie Derailed
• 1/2 gallon of Rebel Yell whiskey
• 750ml Brookside whiskey
• bag of misc. swag from Bocktown whom also provided the growlers
• 1 Gray Kangaroo personal alcohol filter
• 6 pack of SIDT hangover preventer – a.k.a. Pedialyte

The “green room” I think it’s the old sacristy which is where we chatted up Marc Ryan. That’s right, Mr. Smalls is in an old church. Pittsburgh likes to convert old churches into venues for mass consumption of alcohol.

The interview with Zane turned out amazing and will be posted shortly. He was very welcoming and we really appreciate that he took time to hang with us 10 minutes before he went on stage. The man was in the zone. If his name sounds familiar, Zane was the host of a show called Three Sheets which aired on MOJO, FLN and, as he announced at the concert, Travel Channel will be airing all episodes. Zane said he’d be in touch again to give us an update on everything.

This was my first time seeing a comedy act on stage since I won my Comedy Central private party with Lewis Black so I forgot what it was like until that front row was blasted by the acts. LOVED it! People, when are you going to learn not to heckle the talent. You’re gonna get burned.

The tour is called Drinking Made Easy which is also the name of his show on HDNet this fall. In fact as he tours around America he is recording episodes. Unfortunately Pittsburgh got snubbed but we do hope he returns soon.

Zane gives you an education on the basics of alcohol which you may not know. From a craft beer angle I have to say he covered us rather well and showed what goes into beer and how its made. Afterwards we hung out with some SIDT fans which I do have video of and will get on You Tube shortly. It goes along with the EP we recorded for so you’ll need to sit tight for this week.

I’m not a fan of books and in fact I hate reading but after picking up Zane’s book “Three Sheets: Drinking Made Easy! 6 Continents, 15 Countries, 190 Drinks, And 1 Mean Hangover!“ I finally found something I can get into and not get bored outta my skull. Once I finish the book I’ll write a review.

Its been almost a week and I’m still geeking over it. It’s good to be the SIDT.

hi. i’m still here but its the busiest i have ever been.

closing on the house is close.

I can’t wait to leave this current place. The pincher bugs are back and so is the water in the basement… which we reported a full year ago now. I know you cant wait to find out where I rent.

class is wrapping up for the summer and I can’t wait to stick a fork in this class.

I’m done early 2011. thank god

work is crazy busy right now and I wish I had a day to organize everything or at least another machine to work on.

this fall will be epic with the current schedule. I geek thinking about it. god i love my group.

sidt is 4yrs old and just passed the 800k download mark. our popularity is at its highest and I have to spend my summer packing up to move. figures eh?

think that will stop me from going to events? ha!  OK, ask Lushie first
because of the show…

i picked up a side gig doing something with craft beer.

no I’m not a bartending. no its not at a brewery but can involve one. yes it pays.

if you look close enough you’ll see those glasses are held together with gorilla glue. I’m a resourceful mofo!

so, how are you doing?