well, this past weekend i finally bought my airline ticket for my vacation. me and ronda are going to vietnam, cambodia, and thailand for two months. it's going to be quite the adventure. i've picked up insurance, gotten visas, and gotten all my vaccinations. i'm ready to travel. (oh yeah. i did pick up some books and maps and i have spent a little time reading them... but not too much. i do after all have 17 hours or reading time on my way over there. :)
past that, this weekend i was doing mostly tweaking my home server configuration. i set up everything to be able to be able to consolidate ronda's domain (nodarkthings.com) onto my server. this included apache virtual servers, sendmail virtual hosts, secure pop3 access, dns server configuration, blog software installation and config, etc. i still have to configure sendmail to allow her to use the machine as an outgoing mail server and then to change the root dns pointers for her domain. the joys of server consolidation.
Documenting (occasionally) the ramblings and ravings of Edward Pilatowicz since May 2004
May 23, 2005
May 18, 2005
three cheers for bitter beer!
it's 5:05 am, i'm drunk as a skunk, i just finished sending out work emails.
i love it when i've been working way too long... and drinking way too much... and then i send out emails at work telling my coworkers as much. (it's ok to send emails to your coworkers telling them you stayed up extra late drinking and typing so they could review your work while you sleep off a hangover... right? :) or course i've been listening to placebo at excessive volumes while typing and tipping back back pints... that might have something to do with it.
also... the pints have been very acidic. this latest batch of "pinky IPA" is not quite ready to take over the world. it seems very acidic and bitter (but not hop bitter.) i'm guessing too much gypsum and not enough flavor hops. better luck next time.
way to keep up this blog, eh? :)
i love it when i've been working way too long... and drinking way too much... and then i send out emails at work telling my coworkers as much. (it's ok to send emails to your coworkers telling them you stayed up extra late drinking and typing so they could review your work while you sleep off a hangover... right? :) or course i've been listening to placebo at excessive volumes while typing and tipping back back pints... that might have something to do with it.
also... the pints have been very acidic. this latest batch of "pinky IPA" is not quite ready to take over the world. it seems very acidic and bitter (but not hop bitter.) i'm guessing too much gypsum and not enough flavor hops. better luck next time.
way to keep up this blog, eh? :)
May 14, 2005
anything worth doing is worth overdoing
no, i'm not just talking about blog entries. i'm referring to my slightly obsessive compulsive beer brewing hobby. today i managed to keg my latest batch of beer, Ralo Chocolate Stout. so far it seems to be coming along nicely with a fairly smooth taste. of course i'm planning on aging this one at least two months (probably about three due to my planned vacation) so i'll have to wait a bit longer to truly enjoy it.
i also finally got around to making all my my beer brewing text files available online. i probably should be using a spread sheet for some of this stuff but text files and vi are just so easy... well, feel free to peruse them at your leisure. i've put a link to them on my main page and you can also find them here.
i also finally got around to making all my my beer brewing text files available online. i probably should be using a spread sheet for some of this stuff but text files and vi are just so easy... well, feel free to peruse them at your leisure. i've put a link to them on my main page and you can also find them here.
burning clocks
i've been searching for more ways to kill time and since i'm out of new creative ideas i'm making a second go at this blog thing.
i haven't updated this blog in almost a year. but yesterday i got an email out of the blue from someone in ireland i haven't talked to in ages. this got me thinking about ireland again. i love that place. it also got me wondering how pete is doing. i was going to email him but then i discovered he has a blog. and damn, he actually updates it... regularly... unlike your's truly who has TWO blogs that never get updated. :( that sorta inspired me to try again with mine. so i'll see how long it is before i forget about this blog again.
i haven't updated this blog in almost a year. but yesterday i got an email out of the blue from someone in ireland i haven't talked to in ages. this got me thinking about ireland again. i love that place. it also got me wondering how pete is doing. i was going to email him but then i discovered he has a blog. and damn, he actually updates it... regularly... unlike your's truly who has TWO blogs that never get updated. :( that sorta inspired me to try again with mine. so i'll see how long it is before i forget about this blog again.
May 2, 2005
musical desert daze
i went down to LA this past weekend to see coachella and visit my folks.
flew down on friday night and out early monday morning. had two nice morning breakfasts with my folks and then headed out into the desert past palm springs. got a really late start sun to avoid the heat and get some extra sleep. (since i would be driving back sun night and only getting 3 hours of sleep before catching a plane.)
i went with juju (since ronda was on the east coast watching horses.) luckily ronda had hooked us up with vip passes with was pretty nice. the let us into the vip area where they had comfy couches to relax on after standing and baking all day outside. they also had a hard liqueur bar, which while pricey, was well appreciated.
i spent most my time at coachella running between tents seeing some bands for only long enough to determine that they sucked. here's what i saw:
Sat: Raveonettes, Peretz, Snow Patrol, Keane, Jean Grae, Wilco, Cafe Tacuba, The Secret Machines, Bauhaus, Mercury Rev
Sun: The Bravery, Roots Manuva, Z-Trip, The Arcade Fire, Aesop Rock, Matmos, British Sea Power, Nine Inch Nails, The Blood Brothers, Wolf Eyes, The Faint, Black Star
flew down on friday night and out early monday morning. had two nice morning breakfasts with my folks and then headed out into the desert past palm springs. got a really late start sun to avoid the heat and get some extra sleep. (since i would be driving back sun night and only getting 3 hours of sleep before catching a plane.)
i went with juju (since ronda was on the east coast watching horses.) luckily ronda had hooked us up with vip passes with was pretty nice. the let us into the vip area where they had comfy couches to relax on after standing and baking all day outside. they also had a hard liqueur bar, which while pricey, was well appreciated.
i spent most my time at coachella running between tents seeing some bands for only long enough to determine that they sucked. here's what i saw:
Sat: Raveonettes, Peretz, Snow Patrol, Keane, Jean Grae, Wilco, Cafe Tacuba, The Secret Machines, Bauhaus, Mercury Rev
Sun: The Bravery, Roots Manuva, Z-Trip, The Arcade Fire, Aesop Rock, Matmos, British Sea Power, Nine Inch Nails, The Blood Brothers, Wolf Eyes, The Faint, Black Star
July 9, 2004
the complete china experience
how could anyone claim to have had the complete china experience if they didn't eat something bad and get really sick. we'll i've finally completed my china experience... and the past few days haven't been pretty.
so after two and a half months in china, i've lost weight, i've been eating great, and relatively speaking i had no problems with my stomach... that is until wed morning.
tue night i had been at work late, until i ran out to meet kevin for drinks. since i was in a hurry i ate at McDs. then i proceeded to drink half a bottle of whiskey that night. after that we ate some food from a street vendor on the way home. i had some deep fried bread, what could possibly be wrong with that?
well, i new my stomach wouldn't like the McDs and drink, but what happened next was definitely not caused by that. i've never experienced anything like this in my life. perhaps it was the street vendor food? may be the ice i had with the whiskey was bad? (everyone tells you not to trust the ice, but i had been having ice in my drinks since i got here without major problems, so i didn't even think twice about it.)
basically, i've been pissing out my ass at least once an hour for the past two days. additionally i've had horrible gas.
wed when i woke up, i spent some time in the bathroom and then decided i should probably eat and go to work. that was a mistake. i was miserable at work. additionally i started to get really bad gas and i was belching left and right. and when ever i did i could taste the breakfast i just had. and the taste was getting really bad.
wed night i took a couple imoduim and passed out. the imodium got me through the night, but i woke up in the morning in a hurry to get to the bathroom. needless to say i didn't bother going to work thur. thur i didn't really eat much. i bought some bananas and yogurt, but any time i put something into my stomach, there was hell to pay.
and my belching was getting worse. i could still taste the meal from the day before. and it was starting to taste really rotten.
i didn't want to take any more imodium because i wanted to get whatever it was out of my system. before coming to china i got some ciprofloxacin in case i got really sick (my previous definition of really sick was bloody diarrhea, but i was getting ready to revise my definition) and if i wasn't better in the morning i was planning on taking it.
so thur night was hell and i kept waking up every hour. also my stomach gas was reaching phenomenal proportions. finally around 3am i lost my lunch, so to speak. quite violently as well.
the good news is that after that things really started improving. my leaky ass stopped leaking and my stomach stopped hurting. by friday afternoon i was feeling brave enough to eat a club sandwich from my local bar. and it wasn't painful.
since then the situation has improved. i think that the upcoming week i'll be able to go out to the schesuan hot pot dinner that i had to postpone.
well, at least i know that next time i'm in this situation i'm simply going to force myself to puke, rather than waiting two days for my body to get around to doing it.
so after two and a half months in china, i've lost weight, i've been eating great, and relatively speaking i had no problems with my stomach... that is until wed morning.
tue night i had been at work late, until i ran out to meet kevin for drinks. since i was in a hurry i ate at McDs. then i proceeded to drink half a bottle of whiskey that night. after that we ate some food from a street vendor on the way home. i had some deep fried bread, what could possibly be wrong with that?
well, i new my stomach wouldn't like the McDs and drink, but what happened next was definitely not caused by that. i've never experienced anything like this in my life. perhaps it was the street vendor food? may be the ice i had with the whiskey was bad? (everyone tells you not to trust the ice, but i had been having ice in my drinks since i got here without major problems, so i didn't even think twice about it.)
basically, i've been pissing out my ass at least once an hour for the past two days. additionally i've had horrible gas.
wed when i woke up, i spent some time in the bathroom and then decided i should probably eat and go to work. that was a mistake. i was miserable at work. additionally i started to get really bad gas and i was belching left and right. and when ever i did i could taste the breakfast i just had. and the taste was getting really bad.
wed night i took a couple imoduim and passed out. the imodium got me through the night, but i woke up in the morning in a hurry to get to the bathroom. needless to say i didn't bother going to work thur. thur i didn't really eat much. i bought some bananas and yogurt, but any time i put something into my stomach, there was hell to pay.
and my belching was getting worse. i could still taste the meal from the day before. and it was starting to taste really rotten.
i didn't want to take any more imodium because i wanted to get whatever it was out of my system. before coming to china i got some ciprofloxacin in case i got really sick (my previous definition of really sick was bloody diarrhea, but i was getting ready to revise my definition) and if i wasn't better in the morning i was planning on taking it.
so thur night was hell and i kept waking up every hour. also my stomach gas was reaching phenomenal proportions. finally around 3am i lost my lunch, so to speak. quite violently as well.
the good news is that after that things really started improving. my leaky ass stopped leaking and my stomach stopped hurting. by friday afternoon i was feeling brave enough to eat a club sandwich from my local bar. and it wasn't painful.
since then the situation has improved. i think that the upcoming week i'll be able to go out to the schesuan hot pot dinner that i had to postpone.
well, at least i know that next time i'm in this situation i'm simply going to force myself to puke, rather than waiting two days for my body to get around to doing it.
July 6, 2004
adieu, adieu, pt 2
so today was kevin's last night in beijing. kevin's a guy i met at my local bar, platform. i've seen him a couple times around town and at the bar. tonight was hit last night in town and he invited me to join him and his friends for drinks.
they were going out to sichahai/houhai so there was really no way i could say no. also, i spent the last weekend working, and i've actually been working entirely too much recently, so the break was really needed.
also, kevin is heading back to the states and is going to be starting school in SF at the academy of arts, so i gave him my email address and told him to drop me a line when he gets into town.
well, we went out with a large group of people and i started into a good night of drinking. i ordered a bottle of whiskey, and everyone else mixed it with some green tea, but i decided to drink it strait. that always does the trick.
i told kevin about good bars and restaurants is SF. i also talked to a couple of his friends who's names i don't remember now although i've talked to them before (one from new york and another from new zealand.) also, raymond decided to sing a couple chinese songs for kevin with the accompaniment of a guitarist who was wandering the street looking for just the opportunity that raymond provided.
we ended the evening at two little carts with deep friers and assorted foods on sticks. after that we wandered the small hutong alleys in search of another supposed bar that we never found. eventually we got to an actually road with cars and called cabs and headed home.
i had a good time hanging out and i really needed the decompression break.
they were going out to sichahai/houhai so there was really no way i could say no. also, i spent the last weekend working, and i've actually been working entirely too much recently, so the break was really needed.
also, kevin is heading back to the states and is going to be starting school in SF at the academy of arts, so i gave him my email address and told him to drop me a line when he gets into town.
well, we went out with a large group of people and i started into a good night of drinking. i ordered a bottle of whiskey, and everyone else mixed it with some green tea, but i decided to drink it strait. that always does the trick.
i told kevin about good bars and restaurants is SF. i also talked to a couple of his friends who's names i don't remember now although i've talked to them before (one from new york and another from new zealand.) also, raymond decided to sing a couple chinese songs for kevin with the accompaniment of a guitarist who was wandering the street looking for just the opportunity that raymond provided.
we ended the evening at two little carts with deep friers and assorted foods on sticks. after that we wandered the small hutong alleys in search of another supposed bar that we never found. eventually we got to an actually road with cars and called cabs and headed home.
i had a good time hanging out and i really needed the decompression break.
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