Scooter Chronicles

One of my son’s namesakes, Nigel Mansell, was recently feature by ESPN as one of the Top 25 Racers of all time. Mansell falls in at number 24. It was nice to see another Formula One star along with him in the first five of the series (Niki Lauda). I remember Mansell as being rather brash, but backing it up on the track. He never let down. It was great watching him compete, and very hard, against his teammate Nelson Piquet (another fave of mine) when both were driving for Williams in the mid 80’s.

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My brother Todd,...

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Marcia and I have been joking around, or more like hoping, that we would run into Sen. Barack Obama somewhere in the last six weeks with the focus being on Pennsylvania. Well, we missed a golden opportunity yesterday. Sen. Obama showed up at one of my favorite establishments: The Bethlehem Brew Works.

Of course, even if he had shown up at a much lesser liked restaurant, we still would have loved to have been there.

A couple of weeks ago I finally got to the Six Pack Shop. It’s a beer store that sells all there beer in six packs, or even single bottles. And they have an amazing selection. For those of you living in Pennsylvania, you know how rare and wonderful that is, in a state that mostly only allows beer sales by the case.

One nice thing about this place is that they have about five selves of beers that you can mix and match a six pack for a special price, no matter what the cost per bottle is. So I tried five new ones and had one that I haven’t had in a couple of years (Bethlehem Brew Works’ Rude Elf Reserve).

Erie Brewing Company’s Railbender Ale
A very malty ale. Very surprising....

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I haven’t been able to try any new brews lately. Part of that is trying to save money. I bought two cases of beer in December. I usually only allow myself one case a month. However, I made these two stretch. And they are still being stretched. Come the first of April I will be down to the last bottle of those two cases. That leads to the second problem in not trying anything new lately: not having anywhere close that sells a wide selection by anything other then a case. There is one place that I know of, but it’s a good 15 to 20 minutes away, and it’s always out of the way. Hopefully I will get back there. But until then I am tethered by what the local seller has in cases, and I only stick with what I know I like...

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Beer Can Appreciation Day
Thanks to Marcia’s Uncle Joe for passing this along. He sent me an ECARD regarding the “holiday.” You can find out a little more about it HERE.

Now, I am not normally one to drink beer from a can. It’s just not as good. Though my Uncle Steve pointed out that Yuengling’s lager actually tastes as good, if not better, from a can then a bottle. I have tried it from a can recently, but couldn’t make a hard and fast conclusion. ...

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Trying to catch-up on a lot of stuff that I have seen and want to comment on, or just other things that I have missed.

Happy Birthday Mom!
Forgot to post my Happy Birthday wishes to my Mom. It was back on November 30th. With all the hub-bub of Nigel’s party and my parents trip out here, I totally forgot to mention it here. Of course our down time didn’t help either.

Nigel’s Two Year Old Check-Up
Nigel had his two year old well visit last Tuesday afternoon. All continues to go well, though he is a bit behind in talking. This has been a concern of mine and Marcia’s for a bit now, and we have been trying to push him to say more. We bought a book a few weeks...

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… with Norm MacDonald.

Marcia’s Update
Marcia is home. There was a feeling that nothing was going to get done during her stay. The first doctor that saw her couldn’t understand why she was admitted. I think it was a matter of them not getting the necessary information from her family doctor. After parts of three days and two nights, they didn’t get to far though. They started her on a preventative med to fight the migraines. She is to follow up with the doctor in 10 days to see how it is working. In the mean time, she is to stop taking other certain meds to help “detox” her system....

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Other then one incident, our vacation turned out to be a great get-away. We didn’t see all that we wanted to, and part of that was to save money, but we did make sure that we enjoyed our time. It all started with the drive down to Virginia, where we left five minutes ahead of schedule. A couple of years ago my Mother-in-Law traveled with us to Virginia, and she had brought along a crossword puzzle. With us helping her fill in the answers, we realized how it helped pass the time. We had bought a couple of books to bring with us, and Marcia started one just as we got on the beltway around Washington, DC. It seemed that in no time we were just miles north of the exit for Ashland, Virginia. With little traffic and the crossword puzzles...

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Joyous Buschna!
I am a day late, but I hope all of you had a Joyous Buschna.

Of course, many of you don’t know what Buschna is. (Pronounced BUSH-nah) Buschna is the made-up holiday for those of us with Eastern European heritage. It is the day when we go out and feast, mostly on sausage and potatoes and sauerkraut, and wash it all down with a good beer.

Though quite honestly, anyone can celebrate Buschna, and we welcome all that want to. The whole idea was to get a holiday in August (which doesn’t have any) to fill the void between July 4th and Labor Day. So mark August 15th on your calendar and remember to wish everyone a Joyous Buschna next year!

Late Birthday Dinner...

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Friday
After I got home from work, Marcia, Nigel, and I headed down to see our friends Andy and Yvonne. It has been a while since we have seen them, especially Yvonne who has been traveling for her “second job.” (She’s a writer.) Nigel had been in a cranky mood for much of the day, and it sort of continued while we were visiting. The biggest issue now is that anything he can reach is something that he must have, therefore if you take it away from him the tantrums start. They don’t necessarily last long, especially since we brought his blocks along, which he loves.

We ordered out from a local steakhouse, though I think it may be a chain. It was a great choice since both Marcia and...

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