Monday, March 22, 2010
Google Thinks My Wife is Crazy
So, after we realized we were pregnant I thought it'd be fun to do a little reading online about what to expect. I was amused to find what out what Google thought I'd be searching for:
It would appear that statistically my wife does not fall into the Google expected norm of 'crazy'. Actually things have been pretty smooth so far in the pregnancy and hopefully it stays that way for her. We're almost at the 10 week mark and from what we've read a lot of the morning sickness occurs in the first trimester if at all. Apparently only about 30% of women actually throw-up from morning sickness during pregnancy but obviously that's not what we hear about on TV and in the media.
At least one fourth of all pregnancies do not involve morning sickness. Approximately 50 to 75 % of pregnant women experience a period in early pregnancy with nausea, and about 30% also experience vomiting. - WikiAnswers
We've got our next Doctor's appointment a little before 12 weeks and hope to find out everything is going well and to continue to learn more about this life-changing journey that we're on!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
I'm Pregnant
Okay, well that's not exactly the truth. Seeing as I'm a male and don't have the appropriate parts. But my wife is pregnant! So, we like to say we're pregnant, which means I would be pregnant too...anyways, enough of that ramble.We're just getting started on our 10th week and everything looks good so far! We're very excited about having our first child. There's a lot to be scared about (will we be good parents, how disgusting will changing diapers be, etc.) but a lot to be excited about too.
There are a ton of outstanding questions we have, but so far the outpour of support from friends and family has been wonderful. What advice do you have for a first time parent? What would you like to see me write about with regards to this topic?
Thanks everyone for the warm wishes we've received so far!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Kansas City and Google - Think Big to Get a Gig
By now many of you have probably heard about Google's plan to launch high speed Internet access in communities based on applications from communities. For more information check out Google's page: http://bit.ly/bi5NRSKansas City, MO and several big and small cities around the United States have entered into this "contest" to try and secure this for their community. This has countless positive implications to any city who is able to secure this opportunity. View more information about Kansas City's appeal here: http://bit.ly/aE5bMN
Immediately people can summon up numerous reasons why their city is the right city. The problem with this is that there are going to be other cities applying who are able to make those same claims. While we like to think of our own city as special, there are many cities with a couple of large employers, lots of small business, hospitals, universities, etc.
So what truly could make Kansas City, MO rise up above other applicants? Well, what is Google and this project all about? It's about connectivity, sharing ideas, working together, and taking things to the next level. How can Kansas City do that? Well, connect with other KC Metro cities, share our resources and ideas, collaborate on the application process, take it to the next level and apply as a region.
The Kansas City I live in is so much more than KC MO (I actually now live in Lake Lotawana). It's Gladstone, Parkville, Liberty, Overland Park, Shawnee, KC KS, and so on. What makes Kansas City great isn't a single city it's the diversity and interactivity of so many great cities across two states. If any of these cities were to win this bid we would all benefit from it, so why compete? Why not join together, I mean how amazing would it be for Google to not just put a dot on Google Maps for where their broadband networks are available, but to encircle the entire Midwest region that is the KC Metropolitan Area (http://bit.ly/b4iAd9).
Let's think big to get a gig.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Home Brewing Beer: After [Part 3]
Well, we're all done and it tastes good!After 1 week
of aging my brew I transferred it into a 5 gallon glass carboy for a secondary fermentation. For this batch it was an unnecessary step but on any brews which take longer it's necessary to separate the spent yeast. When doing this, but careful not to agitate the liquid or to pick up any of the byproduct on the bottom of your primary fermenter. While this wasn't necessary for my brew it does help improve the clarity of the finished product. Remember to cap with a plastic airlock which has been half filled with vodka to help sanitize.After another week in the secondary fermenter we were ready for bottling! Again, make sure to sanitize anything that will touch the beer, including your bottles. I had an assortment of various bottles, 12 oz, 22 oz, 26 oz, and 3 growlers (mine are from the Parkville Power Plant - now closed). The larger the bottles the less work for you. This means I was using normal bottle caps and a capper for most of the bottles. For the growlers I still had the reusable caps but one was missing the plastic seal on the inside. Without this plastic seal your beer will be flat (as mine was in that one growler)!
Make sure to take a gravity reading at this stage as you can use it with your original gravity to determine the alcohol volume of your brew. I think in my initial reading there was too much oxygen in the water and that skewed the result. This beer probably ended up around 4%.
Now it's time to bottle. Before doing so we added our priming sugar. About 3/4 cup of sugar was added to 1 cup of boiling water. This was added to our bottling bucket and then we siphoned the beer out of the carboy and into the bottling bucket. Once the bottling bucket was full we used an auto siphon pump and a spring loaded bottle filler which made this task relatively easy.Once done with bottling, like a good home brewer we cleaned out any of the used equipment and stashed it away for next time. Speaking of, I need to get around to brewing the Oatmeal Stout kit I ordered!
After bottling, the beer will need about 2 weeks to bottle condition. Bottle conditioning is where the carbonation comes from. When we sampled the beer prior to bottling it was obvious that it was flat (though still tasty). By adding the priming sugar the yeast will now have something to eat but since we've tightly sealed the bottles the carbon dioxide is unable to escape. This is what carbonates the beer!
The last step of this lengthy but enjoyable process came about 1 month after brew day. That was popping open a bottle, hearing the sound of the carbonate, pouring the beer into a glass, and then proceeding to consume the delicious nectar.I'm looking forward to my next batch! If you want to try my first batch of the Irish Red Ale, invite yourself over before it's all gone. Cheers.
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UPDATE: Posted a video of me capping a beer bottle and the finished product carbonating away. Enjoy
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