The Abyss

It's Christmas Eve, and I managed to get myself a 22oz bottle of The Deschutes Brewery out of Bend,  Oregon called Abyss 2010 Reserve.About $10-12 bucks a bottle. I popped the top and it is going to be a good Christmas. Abyss is an Imperial Stout that comes out in a Limited Run each year and it can be hard to get your hands on a bottle as it is quite good. It is also quite evil at 11% ABV. An Imperial beer is normally double the grain used in the wort, which means it has twice the kick. I think I will make this my yearly Christmas Tradition. I might regret it in the morning but that's why Santa helps me out. Lets me get up dazed and lets my kid take control of the morning, all I have to do is get out of bed and rip open some presents. I can do that. This year is really good, a bit sweeter than last year but very well balanced considering the ABV thats in there. I give it a 9.4 out of 10.

Giro d' Italia Board Game

So I have considered buying this board game about the Giro and today I pulled the trigger.

I bought it from Amazon and the game itself is made by Rio Grande Games

Photo above from Amazon.com

Here is the product description directly taken from Amazon.com

Product Description

"In this simple yet fascinating cycling race simulation you decide the placement and energy management of your riders facing all the elements of the Giro d'Italia: sprints breakaways falls cracks punctures bonus time made and broken alliances final sprints. What is your specialty? Will you be best on plains and sprints? Will you fly in solitude on the mountain top? Or will you display a charismatic leader talent? At the end of the track only the finest strategist and the humblest hard-worker will win entering with Giro d'Italia games in the legend of the greatest Cyclists of all time. There are three differences between Leader 1 and Giro d'Italia the game. The latter has the real time rule special cards to be played once during the race and an Appendix with pictures showing how to build all the stages of the 2009 Giro d'Italia."

There is also a review over at board game geek on this too. Here is that link:Boardgamegeek Review

When I get my hands on it I will do a review heavily slanted on a bike nuts perspective.

Photo above linked to Board Game Geek

Photo above linked to Board Game Geek

Photo Above linked to Board Game Geek

Home Made Pot and Pan Rack

This is some more information on the previous post. It is a list of materials so if you wanted to make your self a rack of similar capacity you could.

All materials were purchased from Home Depot. All fittings and pipe were 3/4" Inch

6  3/4" Floor Flanges, the round part with 4 pre-drilled screw holes that you can screw 3/4"pipe into.

6       3/4" T's

4      3/4" Street Elbows

6        24"x 3/4" pipe...2 were cut, I took off 1" 3/4 so that the center to center measurement would be 24" on the shorter ends, remember I made a rectangle 48"x24"

6     3 1/2" x 3/4" pipe also called Nipples

I used # 10 Philips wood screws at 1 1/2" length

I screwed everything together with no teflon tape or Pipe Dope, It's not going to hold water so it does not have to seal. Just start threading things together an the only real tricky part is the last piece. What I did was mount everything in place and I saved one of the short 24" pieces of pipe for last. The one I cut 1 3/4" off. This goes on the short end of the rectangle into the 2 street elbows. So I threaded one end as tight as I could and used a pipe wrench to tighten it up a bit. Then I lined it up with the other end and backed it out a bit so it would thread into the other end. Perfect, no need for a union and plenty strong to hold up some pots and pans...If you have questions, leave a comment and I will reply...Ed

Latest Project

So Christmas is almost here, and I have had a really hard time trying to find my wife the best gift. She is a cooking, Foodie, Chef person, but does not need any more cookware. I finally decided upon a pot rack. After a lot of time drawing things out, it became obvious it would be best done and also $ ahead if I used 3/4 inch pipe as the medium of choice.

We have an island that is 4 feet x 3 feet and the roof rafters run 24" on center so I decided to use a 48"x24" design to help fit the roof format and to match up with the kitchen island. This way I could mount the support flanges firmly into the studs and not have to worry about extra support means.

I was going to hand forge the holders to attch the pots and pans to the rails, but it turns out there are shower curtains that do the job nicely and are less in cost than just the materials to do it by hand.

Well I hope the wife likes it, total cost was well under $150 and I think it looks quite nice. I could have saved about 25% by going with just black pipe but the galvanized just looks so much better....Ed