Why Do I Do It?

I'm sure you have noticed if you've been visiting here for a while -- If a job is crappy, I leave.

If death can claim any of us at any moment, why stay in a miserable situation which just ups the chance that when it claims me I won't be having a good time just then?

Sometimes I stay in a miserable job for intangibles like "Team Spirit" and "Loyalty" and "Continuing to Live Indoors Through Having Money to Pay the Mortgage".

Last night I figured out why (having worked 2 days of a 3-Day weekend) I'm still here early in the morning, checking my email and trying to make the installation manual match the parts in the bag, so to speak.

Beer.

I don't drink. Actually, I don't drink often. More accurately, I don't drink often so when I do I don't drink well.

I never remember anything after the third beer and if I manage to wake up and not be surprised by my location I find it a relief -- Until I move my head at all.

Steve, the IT guy at my current job, brews beer. I don't know much about the actual process involved in brewing. I know that there is a shortage of hops due to some environmental issues somewhere and Steve is stockpiling the stuff to maintain his ability to make more beer. I know there is quite a bit of math involved in the process. He has to calculate the strain of yeast and the exact sugar content of the solution. The beer he gave me has a couple of additional steps.

First, the initial boil contains coffee. Steve said this part isn't for flavor -- it just adds caffeine.

More coffee, better coffee, is added near the end for more caffeine and flavor.

Also, he re-hydrates a vanilla bean in bourbon and adds that in.

Totaled out, the beer finishes at 9% alcohol. And when I opened the bottle I could smell the coffee and the vanilla.

Shana and I shared a bottle last night. The bourbon is only noticeable on the exhale, which in my case was marked with a sound not unlike "Wu-fa-fa-fa-huh", though it was a pleasant feeling "Wu-fa-fa-fa-huh". Since I usually get sleepy when I drink beer and caffeine has no stimulant effect on me other than just keeping my organs working, I was surprised to glance at the clock later and see that it was 1:30am.

For the first time ever, I was actually saddened to hear the high-pitched clink of an empty bottle hitting the table. Sure, I've been annoyed by the sound before, displeased at the thought of having to fetch another, angry enough to smash the bottle and brandish the jagged neck at the people making fun of my inability to play pool, but never genuinely sad. 

This morning he said he is brewing another batch soon, so I should get back to work now.

Before I do, I've posted a link to Steve's blog in the Links . . . um . . . Link . . . on the right side of the page.

Also, Shana's and my friend Thag has started a new project where he is coding his own blog and just getting to the part where he can unleash his emotions through it onto the interwebz. I think it will be fun to watch and I intend to waste as much time as possible doing so.

-G