Categories
ramblings of a madman

…out on the town.

Last night, and again this morning, I managed to get away for a few hours from sitting around the house. No vegging out on TV. No reading. No cooking, cleaning, or eating. I met up with a coworker and we went out for some food and drink. Now if you are familiar with Los Alamos, you quickly understand that there isn’t much in the way of choices, especially on the weekends.

My coworker, who is wrapping up about 30 years at Los Alamos, is moving. His plan is to vacate his place of residence, move back east for the holidays and when the new year starts, spend some time on a change of station with the DOE (Department of Energy) in Washington DC.

The downside, from my perspective, is that I will be missing a coworker who was part of my coffee cabal. No more conversation about work, bad managers, great coffee, discussions about science, economics, or whatever.

My task to get a life will become more and more…however you want to describe it.

We had planned to both retire this year, and now he is off for a few more years in the land of make believe. And I will be here, soon starting on my 32 year in the Land of Enchantment.

So the afternoon’s festivities started by walking to a local drinking establishment. We chose Boese Brothers Brewpub, which was only a half mile walk from our perspective abodes. I have been to this establishment several times, especially in the summer months, as they set tables outside in the grass and on the sidewalk. Usually go there with another coworker, but I can save those stories for another day.

Screenshot 2021-12-12 at 12-16-28 Boese Bros Brewpub – Los Alamos

There were a couple of basketball games on the TV screen’s when we entered. Largely empty but there were about a half a dozen people there when we arrived. It was too cold to sit outside so we grabbed a table and ordered the Double Dead Red, an advertised red ale at about 8% alcohol. Not too hoppy but tasty. As we were conversing, and our waitress was wondering whether we would have food with our libations, she mention about a new establishment right next door, which served cocktails. Neither one of us was aware of it and thought we would check it out. As the dinner hour progressed, we each consumed two of those, along with a sandwich the had chicken, green chili and other fixings. My friend had the panini and I had the club. After about 2 hours of food and drink, it started to fill up and we were ready for more adventure.

With that, we moved on to the next establishment for cocktails. Upon entering the place, we spied several coworkers who had gathered for somebody’s birthday. We didn’t join them but certainly noticed that the place wasn’t very full. This place, right next door, opened about a month ago in Los Alamos. Called the Long Pour, it is a cocktail bar that serves drinks made from vodka, agave spirit, gin and bourbon that are being crafted at the Boese Brothers’ distillery in Albuquerque. I had mentioned to my friend that I thought that would be an excellent side-gig after retirement, one which I could put chemistry to practice.

Had we bothered to read the local on-line news paper, we would have learned that the establishment has been open for about a month…

The Boese Brothers now have opened several establishments in the state, as I was able to explore as I wrote this post. One can find more about their efforts here:

https://nmdarksidebrewcrew.com/2021/05/24/boese-brothers-takes-advantage-of-slower-times-to-add-something-new-to-its-menu/

Obviously the next time I venture off to Santa Fe, I will have to check out Desert Dogs.

So after another couple of hours and more libations, we vowed to return and managed to walk home after venturing out on the town. Parted company and agreed to meet up the next day for Sunday coffee.

While I mentioned that my friend was moving, I failed to mention that he provided me with some books from his vast collection that he is downsizing as he contemplates his move.

Some classic works of literature now added to my collection. Great reading for the throne.

I am pretty sure that the “dear Asshole” will be very worthwhile as I contemplate work over the next few months.

As Sunday morning came along, I found myself out and about, walking to the coffee establishment in town, as I have come to do on many weekends where I do not have the kids. Of course, it is getting cold, snow in the higher elevations, and the local celebrities were out and about…

The two geese who call the pond home…Homer and Edna.

I introduced TheMcKeeSpot Readers to Homer and Edna in a previous posting (August 8, 2021). Water was cold, some ice in spots, but there they were, just floating(?) in the water at Ashley Pond. I passed them on my way to Starbucks. There I had some coffee, Pikes Place I think, and my friend showed up for more conversation. As it was over coffee, the topic often focused on work.

Out of the house, exercise walking about town. Food and libations. All in the span of a single weekend. Some of my readers might think that I was getting a social life outside of kids and horses. Well let’s see what tomorrow brings. Until next time…

Categories
life

Frustration and a funk…continued

It has been almost two weeks since my last post. I am still in a funk. I am still frustrated. Whether it is at work, at home, or talking to the kids, this blasé feeling continues.

I find myself thinking a lot about it. Why am I frustrated? What is causing my funk? It could be caused by a great many things in my life. I look around at the insanity that there is in the country, in the world. I look inward and wonder about my own sanity. What is it?

Sometimes writing helps, but the fog bank that covers my mind is fairly significant. Writing reports at work is long stretches of sitting at the computer staring at the monitor. I try talking to my kids, to my coworkers, my friends. I cannot put my finger on the problem. What is the problem? Should I be concerned?

I remember one morning about seven years ago feeling like this for quite sometime. Going through some heavy things, divorce and all of that. I was pissed. I was getting screwed. I was confused. What did I do wrong? Long sleepless nights. Well that one day, I think I got up and thought I would go to work early…too early. Could not sleep. Drove to my office and thought this was all bullshit! Turned the car around and went for a drive. Drove from Los Alamos to Telluride. That is over 300 miles on some fairly scenic roads. Driving the back roads of Colorado, snow on the peaks, green forests. Managed to get to the New Sheridan Hotel in time for lunch. It was a beautiful day.

Walked in to the bar and ordered a beer. That was it. Had a cold beer.

Finished the beer and walked out of the hotel. It wasn’t even a fancy beer. But it was cold and quenched my thirst. I was relaxed. The first time in a long time. It was a beautiful day. Took a deep breath, got back in the car and drove home. Forgot about everything that was bothering me. They say that driving can do that. Not sure if it was the serenity of the countryside, the carefree attitude of just blowing off work, the stress in my life, the fresh air. I love Telluride and wish that I could live there all year round.

Anyway, I returned to my reality and realized that I blew off work, blew off picking up the kids, blew off the world around me. All of those stressors suddenly came back. People were out looking for me. My phone had literally hundreds of text messages. I had turned the damn thing off before the trip. The police were out looking for me. I didn’t call into work so there was the whole fitness for duty matter. I was relaxed and at peace. I did nothing wrong, was in complete control of my faculties. I felt great. I actually chuckled at the whole thing. The first really humorous thing that made me laugh in a long while.

Yes people were concerned. But I felt great.

Maybe it is time to take another road trip.

Categories
ramblings of a madman

one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer…

Woke up this morning and in the shower I found myself singing the George Thorogood and the Destroyers tune “One Bourbon, one Scotch and one Beer”. Not sure why. Didn’t have a drink the night before. Whatever. It was just running through my head.

As I was reading early in the morning before getting the kids up, I looked up the lyrics and the history of the song. Often such studies start with Wikipedia. There I was able to read that the song was first written and recorded by Amos Milburn in 1953, and with some different lyrics by John Lee Hooker in 1966. Finally the George Thorogood version was comprised of two separate John Lee Hooker songs in 1977.

Anyway, the tie to the picture that I included is my list of summer drinks, which I think will help me pass my summer evenings home alone while reading.

Buffalo Trace is one of my favorite bourbon’s. I describe the taste as sweet with a hint of brown sugar, vanilla, and toffee. I really enjoyed my visit to their distillery in 2017 when my daughter was competing at the Kentucky Horse Park. The Macallan is a tie to Rush. Their great drummer, Neil Peart is a fan of Macallan and I agree with his taste. My first drink was from a bottle of the 15 year old that was a present from a coworker. The flavors include oak, honey, spicy and orange zest. And finally, the Samuel Adams Summer Ale has a bright citrus flavor comprised of orange, lime and lemon. It taste great after working outside for a few hours.

Anyway, I find periods of my life are defined by songs. I’m guessing this is the summer of one bourbon, one scotch and one beer. Of course, all in moderation.