Kegerator Raider

It's finally done (mostly).  We bought the mini fridge a few months ago, and the huz bought needed items a few at a time, then we both got sick and then we were just too busy, but now it is done!

First step was to drill holes in the door for the taps.  They are off center so that when the fridge is opened, the hoses don't have to travel far and aren't in the way.

We needed a board for the inside of the door to stabilize the taps, so huz cut a section from a fence slat we had lying around and sanded it down.

He smoothed up the holes and then put spacers in them and then installed the taps.

After cleaning and sanitizing the keg, he racked the beer from the carboy to the keg.

He hooked up the lines and the Co2 and then realized he had misjudged the size of the Co2 tank and the regulator and only one keg would fit.  This is why its only mostly done. The Co2 tank should have fit on the small shelf at the back of the fridge so it would sit behind the two kegs.

We did manage to get one keg filled and hooked up, but when we opened the tap all we got was a small stream.  Crap!  A tiny piece of hops must have gone up the dip tube inside the keg and clogged it.

More to come as we figure out a way to unclog the first keg and get both kegs inside and still have them hooked to the Co2.  We also need to either build or buy a stand so the fridge is off the ground and at a comfortable height to use the taps.  The stand will also be useful to hide the Co2 if we have to have it sit outside the fridge.

Pretties

I forget the name of these, but right now they are just about the only pretty plant in our yard.

EDIT:  They're Alliums

New Things

We should all be open to doing, thinking, seeing, and eating new things.  When you are, life can sometimes be very interesting and fun and you have the chance to discover new enjoyments and loves you would have never found other wise.  With food, for instance, always try anything and everything offered to you at least once and if you don't like something, try it again anyway every so often.  This philosophy allowed me to discover my love of Thai and sushi, as well as to discover, to my surprise, that my once utter hatred of cottage cheese and yogurt are gone.  I now eat both regularly for breakfast.

Anyway, on Monday, a friend of mine that works on my same floor came to my desk and very matter-of-factually told me that I was to go downstairs with her right then and sign up for the gym (we have an incredibly nice one here at work).  This friend has been trying to get me to work out with her for weeks and has been worried about me with my health issues and I have come up with some excuse every time.  She decided it would be easier to simply not give me the chance.  Keeping an open mind, and relying on my philosophy, I said, "Yes, ma'am." and went along.  I had the idea in my head that maybe I could go down and grab the form and come back to my desk and conveniently forget to fill it out.  Too bad she thought of that too.  She made me fill it out right there in front of her.  Hmmmm, okay, well I can just not use it right?  Yeah, no.  I get back to my desk and shortly start receiving appointments for classes.  She signed me up for a class almost everyday.  Sigh.  I have not been successful in motivating myself and here's a good friend, in my face, willing to do so for me, so I better just suck it up and go.  I need the support and motivation.

The first class she takes me to was that very same day.  These classes are specifically designed for people to be able to get to them on their breaks and to get as much out of them as possible.  Each one is only 15 minutes.  She takes me to Core class.  Core works your torso and all the key muscles there in.  It started out simple and easy, be on all fours and slightly lift one hand at a time, then one knee at a time, but you must do so without moving or shifting your torso.  Seems simple.  Then the instructor starts adding more complicated things.  By the end of that 15 minutes I was sweating like a pig and my whole body was shaking and I never left my hands and knees except for a few things she had us do on our backs.  By the end of the day all the main muscles in my stomach and sides were killing me.  Did you know you use muscles in your sides to open doors?  Did you know that a lot of the doors in our building are heavy?

Tuesday, my friend takes me and another friend down to do some cardio on our own.  We did five minutes each on the treadmill, elliptical, and bikes.  I came back upstairs and very sarcastically started telling a few people she was a very mean taskmaster and she was forcing me to hurt myself.   My friend knew I was kidding, everyone else knew I was kidding.  Apparently my boss didn't think I was.

I came in to work Wednesday morning and found out from the huz that my boss very rudely went to this friend and came down on her for not giving me a choice and how dare she force me to do all this, and on and on.  Oh man.  I was so embarrassed.  I don't know what to say to my boss.  At any point, even when my friend very first came to my desk, I could have said no and she would have dropped the matter.  I know I need this and I know this is the only way I'll be able to get myself to do it.  My friend and I went down on first break just to do some stretches and I talked to her about it.  I felt so bad.  She was very understanding and all is well.  She was worried about coming to me about it and so went to Andy instead.  I have been making offhand comments to my boss all day about how good it all is and how I'm very glad my friend helped me get started, but I just don't know how to flat out tell her that she shouldn't have done that.  I feel it was out of line.  I'll have to think on that one.

Anyway, I was signed up for a class yesterday called a circuit class.  My friend had to leave early and I debated about not going, but I surprised even myself and went alone.  I'm very proud of myself.  There are lots of weight machines in our gym and the instructor designates which ones to use (she changes which ones from time to time I guess) and then starts her timer and tells you when to switch every 30 seconds for almost 15 minutes.  30 seconds on each machine doesn't sound like a lot right?  After using all 10 machines, I felt like every single muscle in my body had been used.  What's nice, tho, is I didn't feel abused by any given machine because I wasn't on it long.  I actually enjoyed it even!  She then took us thru some stretches and we were done.

Today, I don't have any workout appointments, but I have a feeling this friend of mine will "make" me do more cardio. I'll let you know.  I have a yoga appointment tomorrow and am actually looking forward to it.

Welcome to my new life I guess.  Can't wait til I see some results!

Wordless Wednesday - Fuzzy Piddies

Doggy Door

Our little schnauzer, cute as she is, is a big ol' chicken.  She's timid and scared of everything.  She obviously did not read her own breed manual (SO not like a schnauzer is supposed to be lol). Anyway, when it's warm, she plays the in and out game.  Every five minutes.  It's tiresome.  I want out, just kidding, I want in.  Sigh.

We don't really have anywhere convenient to put a doggy door and I don't want to invite bugs in by leaving the door open, and our sliding door is skinnier than standard and so an insert wouldn't work, and so we convince her she really doesn't need to go out.  Or at least we try.  After about 10 minutes of her standing by the door, staring at one of us, pawing the door and us, we give in.  Well, a few weeks ago I found this neat little thing that will turn any screen into a door.  I was very excited about it and the fact that it was about $20 made it even more appealing.  So I bought one.

If we hold it open for her, she will go thru, but we can't get her to do it on her own.  She's scared of it. Grrr

If anyone has any good ideas on how to teach a timid dog to use a doggy door, I'm all ears.  Coaxing, treats, and outright pushing don't really work.

Money Baggs

And yes that is spelled correctly :)

The Huz threw some bills on the bed and Baggs thought they were great fun.

The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster.

We hired new people and I have been having to write training material and workflows and then I  have to train and be a mentor to one of them.   Before they were hired, I was trying to be optimistic about it all, but as I started the training materials, I started really thinking about my tasks ahead.  I don't like teaching.  I really don't think I'm any good at it, no matter how well I know the subject.  Huz does his best to reassure me and so does my boss, but my anxiety has been creeping up.  Then, just before they started I got a nasty cold and I was out of pto.  Great.  More anxiety, more stress.

I usually fight going to the doctor, but this time I went in without hardly a second thought.  Can't miss work.  The doc tells me it's a cold, it's a virus, and there is nothing he can do.  Lovely.  On top of that, when the nurse took my blood pressure it was really high, about 160/104 if I remember right.  No wonder I have been light headed and headachy with no energy or stamina.  Great.

Okay, it's just the stress at work that's causing it, it'll go down.  At least that's what I kept telling myself.  I decided to get a blood pressure machine anyway while I was getting cold stuff at the pharmacy.  Just in case.  High blood pressure does run in my family, so it wouldn't be entirely surprising if my time had come.

Well, it did.  All week I kept checking and rechecking.  Staying home and quiet, I did get my bp to drop 20 points, but 146/101 isn't much better.  I lost hope.  I decided I needed to get out of the house and so we went out Sunday night.  I come home and it was back in the 160's.  That confirmed it for me. 

The new people started on Tuesday and I was anxious all day, even tho they are great people.  Wednesday I went in to my regular doc and she confirmed my fears and put me on a bp med. I went about Thursday depressed but trying not to be.  It didn't help that I had to go to the bathroom about 20 gazillion times either.  The new pill is a diuretic.  I've never been on a diuretic before.  Its very inconvenient.  For someone who has never really had to go to the bathroom all that often in any given day, it was quite annoying.

It's starting to ease off, but I am having to be better about a few things.  Like making sure I really have enough water in a day.  I dehydrated myself yesterday by accident because I didn't really feel thirsty and just didn't think about it.  Oops.

Anyway, all this along with a persistent cough from the cold, I was feeling really old and tired and like I was falling apart before my time.  However, I got over it and have accepted it, and am finally starting to feel better and get some stamina back.  My bp is still a little too high but the doc said it would take one to two weeks before I really started to see it drop.  I have however, lost about five pounds.  Guess I was retaining water and didn't realize it.

Hopefully I will continue to feel better and this pill will bring my bp down into the correct range and all will be well again.  What's one more pill right?

Besides, considering everything that I have the potential to get, and the fact that I know people going thru a lot worse health troubles, bp isn't too big a deal as long as I stay on top of it.