I will be in San Francisco over the next five days and will not be updating while I am there.

Look for a good round of updates when I return!

A scheduled trip to Denver for work turned into a nice week with a mini-holiday in the middle. Having to work the July 4th week away from home allowed me to plan a small vacation and make the trip more fun. Jess got a trip on Frontier for Tuesday night and we thought a quick trip into the foothills of Colorado would be fun with stop in downtown Denver for some brewery touring and beer tasting.

My flight into DIA was uneventful. Flight 399 pushed back from the gate at 6:15pm CST, just a few minutes behind schedule. After a brief wait on the taxiway, the pilot commenced a rather long take-off roll. I was seated in 15C, an exit row on the 737-800 but with minimal recline. After the first “ding” signifying we were at 10,000 ft. I took out my laptop and watched an episode of “The Office” and waited for the snack to be served.

Forty-Five minutes into the flight and service began with options for the snack being a tuna sandwich or turkey sandwich. I opted for the turkey even though I brought pizza on-board for this flight (the woman next to me brought a hamburger) and a glass of Chardonnay. I finished watching the episode of “The Office” and started working on a side project of mine that I hope to have up in the near future. One observation about the flight was that even though it was full, the service was quick and efficient. The crew went out of their way to make sure everyone was accommodated.

Our arrival into DIA was smooth and as we pulled up to the gate I knew the airport would be almost completely empty. Walking into Terminal A, I saw a few people waiting on a couple of delayed Frontier Airlines flights but other than that, it was the normal, fairly deserted terminal. One thing that annoys me about DIA is the train that takes you to the baggage claim area. Yes, it’s nice but people just cram into it because they want to get to their bags as soon as possible (though most of the bags take a while). What starts as a nice stroll through the airport turns into a free-for-all at the baggage carousel.

I carried-on but my co-worker checked his bags, so after he collected them we headed to the AVIS pick-up area. We were upgraded to a Mercury Mariner and exited the airport grounds, making our way to the hotel in Westminster, CO.

Two days of work and I headed to the airport to pick-up Jess, ready to enjoy the quick little holiday. Jess’ flight was on time and I parked to make it little easier for her to get her bags and not be worried finding me in what is sometimes a mess known as the DIA passenger lanes. We made our way to the hotel, dropped off our bags, freshened up and headed downtown for dinner. We knew we wanted to try a few breweries and thought we would try one on Tuesday and a couple of others on Wednesday. For this night we picked the Breckenridge Brewery which was catercorner to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. The atmosphere in the place is just like any other large restaurant/bar and we were ready to try a sampler but the waitress informed us that they don’t do samplers on game nights because the bartender is too busy. I was a little perturbed by this because the place had settled down and most of the crowd had made their way to the game and they could have easily made us a sampler if they really wanted to. Needless to say, we just ordered a couple of beers, I had the Proper Hefeweizen and Jess had the Summerbright Ale. Both were great light beers, perfect for summer and they went well with our dinner.

We paid and made our way outside, ready to walk-off some of the calories we had just taken in. Strolling around downtown we decided to head toward the 16th Street Mall and enjoy the evening. The sun was setting and the crisp air of the Mile High City was refreshing. Downtown Denver is done right. There is plenty of sidewalk space and everything seems to be well thought out, especially the underground bus terminal. After about an hour of walking we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel.

   

On a whim that night, we decided that we would get up early and head to the foothills to enjoy the beautiful weather and maybe make our way to a casino in Black Hawk. After a good nights rest, we did just that. The drive to the foothills was breathtaking and we made mental notes of places to stop on our way back so that we could snap some photos. Arriving in Black Hawk, we quickly decided we would try out a couple of the nearby casinos and then make our way back to Denver. We parked and headed into the Golden Mardi Gras Casino. $20 was going to be the total that we would spend at the casinos and got our cash and put a few bucks in the penny slots… I know what you’re thinking, “Penny slots?!” but in all honesty it was just for fun, as neither of us had ever been to a casino before. Losing some money on the slots, we played video poker, where our luck did not improve.

We needed a break from the cigarette smoke and went outside to enjoy the beautiful mountains that surround this little town. They are absolutely amazing. Still having money in our pockets we wanted to try our hand one more time, so we went into the Ameristar casino and went for the penny slots again. Then we tried out the video poker… Our luck took a turn for the better as Jess won $14. We were happy and invested $5 in another game. A few deals later and Jess won $44.25, enough to pay off our losses for the day and come out on top. With that, we were off to cash-out and head back to Denver, stopping to snap a few quick pictures.

         

Our first stop in Denver was the Wynkoop Brewing Company. It is a neat little brewpub with a real classic feel. The ceilings are ornate with carvings and a 1920’s-esque appeal to them. The beers we were served were Light Rail Ale, Railyard Ale, Two Guns Pilsner, Cascade Cream Ale, and Cherry Bomb Weizen.

The Cherry Bomb was interesting but dry. The sweetness of it was not overpowering and it was refreshing with little aftertaste. The bartender described the brewing process as the beer simply aging with fresh cherries in it, which explained the not too sweet flavor. Cascade Cream Ale let us down a little bit, it had a great starting flavor but finished dry and bitter. We were hoping for a much smoother finish as the name “cream” had led us to believe. Two Guns Pilsner was very similar, finishing dry and bitter but starting light. Nothing too impressive about it. The Railyard Ale was hands down the best of the bunch, with strong flavor and a smooth, easy down finish. Light Rail was too light and not flavorful enough for us, leaving us wondering if it was actually beer. We did have a light snack of beer bread and artichoke dip which was awesome. I definitely give Wynkoop a 4 out of 5.

   

After paying our tab, we made our way across downtown to the Great Divide Brewing Company. This is an interesting place because it is not a restaurant or brewpub, it is merely a tiny bar and tap room. They give four free samples and after that there is a minimal charge for more. Our samples for this trip were the Ridgeline Amber, Denver Pale Ale, St. Bridget’s Porter, and Wild Raspberry Ale. All of these were good beers. The Ridgeline had great flavor, with a slight aftertaste. The Denver Pale Ale was a little too hoppy, in our opinion, for a pale ale but was still a very good beer. St. Bridget’s Porter was interesting, as it reminded us of a seasonal fall beer. It was heavier (not unexpected) but had a wonderful flavor. Wild Raspberry took the cake though. I was expecting to be overwhelmed with raspberry flavor but in fact it was extremely mild and added a lot of life to the beer.

The bartender left a little to be desired at Great Divide but overall it was somewhere I’d visit again. We actually ran into someone from Sugar Land inside of the place, we chatted for a while and he was on his way. One of those random encounters you really don’t expect. One note, the beers at Great Divide are actually available in Texas at Spec’s and Central Market, should you decide you want to try them yourself.

   

The day concluded with us heading to a local park to watch the fireworks displays, many of which could be seen from our vantage point. Jess left on Thursday, I finished up work on Thursday and Friday and headed to the airport for the trip back to Houston. There was about a 2 hour delay on our flight due to weather in Houston and I eventually left Denver at 8pm MDT, arriving in Houston around 11pm. It was a great mini-vacation in the middle of the work week and made my trip to Denver much more enjoyable.

My personal use of MySpace has dwindled to almost nothing. For one thing, the usefulness of it has worn off. During college it was a good way to keep up with some of the people I didn’t see as much but wanted to keep in contact with. After college it served the same purpose, but it does a poor job of it.

Facebook is turning into the same clutter-ridden, time wasting, and overall useless site as more and more “applications” get introduced. It used to be, I could go on Facebook, grab an e-mail address and send a quick message, now I have to wade through all of the graffiti applications, zombie punching, and food fight junk just to get to the same information. This, coupled with the introduction of non college-aged users has lead to a decline in the use of Facebook for me. It’s just easier for me to keep all of my friends in my contact list than it is for me to try hunt down their information on these websites.

Music now plays in the background on certain Facebook pages and I am inundated with who to vote for on others, it just gets old…

Well, it’s actually not random, it’s an observation from sitting in Panera Bread to get internet access to transfer some files that are important and hearing a guy talk as loud as he can on his cell phone as he conducts business.

It is one thing to use Panera Bread as a jumping off point in the morning to get some e-mail done, make a few quiet phone calls, and start a productive day but it’s the complete opposite when you are obnoxious about it.

So, to the bald guy seated on the couch who obviously thinks he is the center of the universe, turn down your phone, lower your voice, and conduct yourself in a professional manner. I don’t care what you’re renting and neither does anyone else. We are just trying to drink some coffee and eat a pastry while we check our e-mail.

I had the opportunity to do some beer tasting on a recent business trip to Denver, Colorado.

I visited the RockBottom Brewery located in the area known as the 16th Street Mall.

The atmosphere was lively, young, and very welcoming. While waiting for our table, my co-worker and I made our way to the bar where we were quickly greeted by the bartender. The brewery has six standard brews and a daily “Brewmaster’s Choice”, which for us was the “Mad Cow Milk Stout”.

Overall, the beer menu was well-rounded, from the very light, perfect with a heavy dinner beers, to the dark and Guinness like stouts. The lighter, aptly named “Lumpy Dog Light Lager”, was just too light for my taste. It was smooth but didn’t have enough flavor to make it taste like a beer.

My next taste was the “Buffalo Gold”, which I compared to a mouthful of bees. It was bitter with a strong aftertaste. “16th Street Wheat”, the third in my series of tasting, was excellent, though there was a definite wheat feel to the aftertaste. The last of the lighter beers was the “Falcon Pale Ale”, which was hands down the best beer of the night. It was light but flavored perfectly.

Dark beers were the next thing on my list to try and I started off with the “Red Rocks Red”, an Irish beer with a smooth taste, great color, and perfect smell. My least favorite of the group was “Molly’s Titanic Brown Ale”. There is no good way to describe, except to say it was like sticking a moldy rag in my mouth. Yeah, it was that gross. Rounding out the beers was “Mad Cow Milk Stout”, a heavy but very good tasting beer. Though it probably would not be my first pick for a stout it was a perfect addition to the night.

If you are in the downtown Denver area and like to taste new beers and enjoy good food, check out the Rock Bottom Brewery.

When most people think of McDonald’s they think of greasy burgers and chicken nuggets that may or may not be actual chicken. Well, if you are a coffee drinker then you may want to think of them as a coffee shop.

I know, at first, I was a skeptic too. I saw the commercials about fresh-brewed coffee and scoffed, telling the people around me that “it has to taste terrible”. My heart has done a 180. This morning, for no particular reason at all, I decided to stop by McDonald’s and get a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese biscuit. It has been at least a year since I have had one and a craving just came over me.

When I ordered, I decided to stray away from my safety net of orange juice as my drink and asked for a coffee. I paid, received my order, and made my way to work. I opted to save my taste test for the office.

My first impression was the smell. The coffee does not smell extremely strong or overwhelming, just light and what you’d expect if you brewed your own pot. My first sip was sugar-less and cream-less and it was perfect. Overall it tasted smooth, not bitter and did not have a coffee-like after taste. Compared to some Starbuck’s flavors, this coffee knocks the socks off them. I added a little cream and my morning was complete.

If you are a coffee drinker then at least give it a try. I know those in the northeast prefer their Dunkin’ Donuts coffee to Starbuck’s so maybe those of us down here will make a slow switch to McDonald’s or our local small business coffee shop.

The sun was finally peaking out from the clouds after a long two days of thunderstorms. He drove to the airport, hitting pockets of rain on his way. As he looked to the sky, his hopes grew that the flight would be on time. His exit was next, he signaled and drove the car up and around the flyover.

Parked in the dark and silent garage, the car was entirely too close to a van that had been poorly put there. He removed his luggage and walked toward the terminal, keeping on the lookout for a less crowded way through security. The boarding pass kiosks were empty and knowing that he was not checking bags, he made his toward them. A quick input of his information and he was on his way to the security line.

The lines grew but he grinned, glancing down at his new shoes, a pair of comfortable, sleek, slip-on loafers and knowing that his trip through the gauntlet would be easier than other’s.

As expected, security was a breeze and our valiant business traveler stopped at the electronic flight status boards to check his flight’s departure chances. His jaw dropped as he watched the departure time jump from its original time, 6:35pm to 7:00pm, then 7:30, and then finally settling at 8:15pm. Hope was still there but it was fading fast. His head lowered as he made his way to gate C-29.

Again, he was dumbfounded when he reached the gate. A throng of people had surrounded it and appeared to be preparing a siege against the gate agent’s computers. The plane they were waiting for was stuck in a far off city after being diverted away from the thunderstorms that surrounded the airport. Our business traveler walked around like a Lieutenant watching after his platoon, observing those who were tired, stranded, and had lost all morale.

A break in the crowd led him to a semi-secluded area where he could sit and watch the chaos from a distance. It reminded him of a riot, minus the throwing of rocks and the overturning of cars. He watched as aircraft slowly started to trickle toward the different gates, letting off their precious cargo of men, women, and children, all of whom looked tired and downtrodden.

As 8pm approached, the business traveler gathered his bags and walked toward the gate. The situation had not been made any better, in fact, it was worse, with even more people standing and waiting for the flight to board. The gate agents slowly started calling the rows, finally, row sixteen was called and our businessman was off to Denver…

Today marks the 63^rd anniversary of the Battle of Normandy, the largest combined land, sea, and air operation in history.

The battle started the evening before with paratroopers and glider troops going in behind enemy lines to help prepare the beachheads. Around 3am, the shelling of the German positions started and would mark the beginning of a battle that would last two more months, ending with the securing of Paris.

Three million troops took part in the invasion and the battle would be the beginning of the end for Adolf Hitler’s regime in Europe.

Today, let us remember the 45,000 killed in action during the two month battle and the sacrifice that every serviceman and woman made to secure a continent from the grasp of dictators and ensure this country’s freedom.

Cindy Sheehan has given up her protest, leading a lot of war supporters to cheer. She was staunch anti-war figure and did have a family member pay the ultimate price for her right to say what she said.

I do not necessarily agree with everything that Sheehan said but something in the article that I linked to above struck a chord with me.

“I have tried ever since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful,” she wrote. “Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives.

“It is so painful to me to know that I bought into this system for so many years, and Casey paid the price for that allegiance. I failed my boy and that hurts the most.”

I must say that I agree wholeheartedly with her and it’s a tragic realization. Americans are ignoring the events that surround them and the cost is just now being realized. Soon, if something does not change, we will be a nation of television watchers with very little understanding of what is happening around us.

Sheehan also points out a flaw in the anti-war movement, personal egos. The egos of those who have the ability to enact change have crippled the anti-war movement and in my mind, the Democratic Party, from making any serious advances.

Life is fragile, so the one thing that irritates me more than anything else is when I see a child maneuvering freely in a moving vehicle. How do parents allow something like this?

This morning I watched two children, neither older than five years old, roll down the rear passenger window and stick their bodies halfway out of the car. The driver, who I assume was the parent, did not seem to mind at all. I wonder if they would have noticed if one of the children fell out.

Of all of the precautions a parent could take a seatbelt is the most simple. You buckle the child in, you tell them not to touch it, and you reprimand them if they do. Even better is a car seat. These parents who blow off the law will either be responsible for their child’s death or for that child’s misunderstanding of rules and authority.

I just cannot believe that something so easily preventable is ignored so very much.