Hockey, Home Improvement, and Beer

Today I finally finished the Doggie Detention Center. It was a lot more work than I thought. I spent a lot of time with a rasp and a chisel either fixing sloppy workmanship (from someone else) or cutting little grooves in posts so things would fit flush.

My mom’s damn cordless drill doesn’t have the power to drill screws into a pressure treated wooden post. I can do it with my hand so it isn’t that tough. I’ve given up on the thing. I used an old beat up Black and Decker drill with an extension cord and a screw driver.

Any argument to the superiority of Canadians over Americans can instantly be won by examining the screws they use. Canadians use Robertson which are vastly superior to the Phillips head screws the Americans use. I gave up using the Philips that came with the hinges and used Robertson instead. They weren’t black but they drive so much better, the bits are tougher too.

On one of my many trips to Bowser to get something I needed for this project I bought four beers I’d never tried before. They were expensive and sold in single bottles. Today I also bought a six pack of another beer I’ve never tried and will briefly comment on them. In fact I think I’ll open another Thirsty Beaver right now.

I can’t say I’m that big of fan of Thirsty Beaver Amber Ale. It has a clever name and it is from a small BC Brewery. Owen has always liked Tree, but I prefer Okanagan Spings or Shaftebury of the BC microbreweries that are fairly well distributed.

The other beers I tried recently were Démon “The Brewmaster’s Beer”, Wee Heavy, Double Chocolate Stout, and Royal Oak Traditional Bitter. My favourite of the bunch was Démon from the Czech Republic. The one I liked the least was Belhaven Wee Heavy. I don’t like Scottish Ales I guess. The one I’m most familiar with is McEwan’s Scotch Ale which gained a reputation in our first year as being the strongest beer you could buy. I believe I likened the taste back then to cough syrup.

Young’s Double Chocolate Stout contains actual chocolate and you can taste it a bit. It is a very dark beer. It is not overly bitter. I was also worried about Royal Oak Traditional Bitter, as Bitters are another style of British beer that I’m not overly fond of. Royal Oak also wasn’t too bitter and went well with the stake I paired it with.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have started. I was up and digging fence post holes early this morning and I kept at the deck until it was done. Now I can take it easy for a couple days. I want to give a shout out to Robert Esche who isn’t my favourite goalie or anything but he was sporting a cool mask today. It had Johnny Cash on it along with Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams Jr. and Kid Rock. He and Dwayne Roloson both made over fifty saves, yet they both lost in double over time. I guess if your give up over fifty shots on goal it doesn’t matter how well your goalie plays you are asking for trouble.

My hockey pool guys keep excelling, I like my chances next time. Right now I’m leaning towards protecting Lecalvier, Gagne, Allison, Turco, Drury, Kotalik, Koivu, and Vyborny. I also have Savard. I have to make at least one trade and get a draft pick or something as I can only protect 8 guys. My other option is to trade two of these guys for one guy I really like.

This entry was originaly posted on April 22nd, 2006, it was last edited on March 15th, 2019 and is filed under: Canada and tagged: Beer, Home Improvement, NHL.