SWTFYW Hints and Hauls!!!

So I have a story for @jshusc's LIF, but it's nowhere NEAR what others have been writing about, so I won't win. Anyway, when I was a noob to the craft beer scene, had never traded before and only used BA for reviews , my dream beers list was rather quaint. Dark Lord was on it, Black Tuesday was something I thought I'd never get to try and Rare was my white whale. I loved regular Bourbon County and could only imagine how Rare was. So one night I'm perusing Facebook and I see that a local bar is having a sort of fundraiser for a food truck that cooked with beer. They were going to be serving some of their food and were raffling off a couple of brews. One of those beers was RARE!!! I had to go. It was a Tuesday night and I knew I would be exhausted the next day, but I had to go. So I went.

I got there early and was able to talk to the owners of the food truck. Had a very good conversation with them and was having a good time. Later on that night, a good band was playing and I ran into some people from high school. The food that I had that night was fantastic. Then came time for the raffle. The Rare was won by some chick who had no idea what it was. "I've never seen a beer in a box before" was her first statement. I then- in a very pissed off tone- told her about the beer. I thought about offering her some money for it, but was too pissed off and I left. I was so pissed that I had not gotten this beer and would probably never have another chance to try it that I left without saying good bye to my friends from high school, without wishing the food truck purveyor luck and without even offering some cash for the beer. Lo and behold, I came to find out later that the beer buyer at my local bottle shop bought it off of her for $60. That didn't make it any better. So I lamented never having Rare.

Cut to now- I have had Rare 3 or 4 times, always from generous people at bottle shares (and I'm pretty sure one of them was the exact bottle I was so pissed off about at a share with the beer buyer), and it was pretty damn good, but nowhere near good enough to affect my mood that much. What perspective did I gain? Don't worry about trying every beer that comes out, you'll never get to. But maybe, just maybe, you will run across it one day. And don't let this hobby ruin anything else for you. I had fun that night- on a night I didn't expect to- and I didn't even realize it because I didn't get a beer I wanted.

 

I like this one, hits home a bit for me since Rare is one of the beers out there that i would absolutely LOVE to try but assume I'll never get the chance; that, Bramble, and VSB are pretty much the list at this point because they're all one-off's who aren't getting any younger and the supply is dwindling. Anything else out there that will be made again, no matter how rare, feels like I've got a shot at it, so the "I'll never try this" isn't as concrete.


I can definitely empathize with that feeling toward the girl as well. I was at a BCBCS bottle release where there was a case of BCBCS and a case of BCBBW, with options to buy being done by raffle. While the place is known for exceptional beer events, most days it's a blue collar 'shot and a beer' bar. This event was on a Tuesday, so it was as filled with locals having BMC as it was beer nerds.

Obviously the owner wasn't going to discriminate between the two groups, and even though I GOT a BCBCS bottle, it irked me a bit that a guy drinking a miller lite walked away with one of the others, simply because I know he has no idea what he has nor will he appreciate it.

After a few minutes of thinking about it, I was glad he got the bottle, and sincerely hope he enjoys it. Even though in his 60s and probably on a tight budget, he's not likely to become a craft convert, I hope that something I enjoy so much can bring him some happiness as well.

 

It is LIF time! As some have noted, I have been the extremely lucky winner of a number of LIFs over the past few months, so I consider myself to be overdue for my own; I hope that its scope makes up for some tardiness.

First, the announcement that makes this LIF possible (and the reason I waited until now to put it out there): My wife is pregnant with what will be our 3rd child!

The ultrasound appointment that will tell us the sex of the fetus is coming up on November 17th, and for the moment we plan to find out on the spot.


So, how does this translate to a LIF, you ask? In three ways, actually:

First, my next two posts will indicate Male or Female; Like the post that corresponds to your guess as to which gender the fetus is, cutoff is 8AM EST on 11/17, and I will randomly select a winner from those that Liked the correct post. If my wife decides to wait until the birth to find out, or if the ultrasound is inconclusive or anything else that is not definitive, I’ll randomly select a winner from those that Liked either one of the posts.

Second, submit guesses as to the due date (no time); closest without going over wins, because if my wife found out I rewarded someone that suggested she should be pregnant longer than she has to be, she’d kill me. Same cutoff as above.

Third, submit guesses as to the actual delivery date and time; again closest without going over wins. Again, same cutoff. Clearly this one will be a long time until payoff, so I’ll keep a spreadsheet of guesses.

For those of you that participate in both The Locals and SWTFYW threads, feel free to enter guesses on both threads; with that said, this LIF is open only those who have participated in a current or previous BIF in this thread.

Cheers gentlemen, and let the games begin!

edit: Just put your due date guesses in the thread, I don't have a ton of space in my BMs because I'm too lazy to clean out old ones.

 

Please like this post if you think we will be told the fetus is male

 

Please like this post if you think we will be told the fetus is female

 

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), a lot of my perspective was rounded out during my years in the service. So, to the dismay of some, most of my stories come from that time. Those 4 years were life changing for me and really changed how I viewed the world. This next story is what has reshaped my whole view on perspective. This is not an entry into @jshusc's LIF since it doesn't touch on beer at all. But it's my story nonetheless.

There was a really good Marine and friend I served with in Iraq named Justin Hunt. He was a funny guy who always looked at the brighter side of life. He'd always make a joke of something to get others to laugh. He was a bit on the heavier side for a Marine so when he laughed, his whole body shook.

As was typical with most young Marines at the time (he was about 20 years old), he got married quickly to his girlfriend so he could get the extra cash when he was overseas. And, as was typical, he ended up going through a rough divorce while we were out there.

So, one day, after a particularly nasty argument over the phone with his now ex-wife she ends the phone call with "I hate you and hope you die." He laughed it off as her being a bitch and came over and told a few of us about how frustrating the whole damn thing was. I felt bad for him but he didn't seem to care much at all. Like I said, he was a pretty happy guy in general.

I went about my day and eventually went out on patrol for eight hours. His platoon relived us around 2am that morning. At about 4am, his vehicle (which he was the driver of) was destroyed by an IED and he, along with 4 other good friends, died in a horrific explosion that morning. 2 other guys were severely wounded. My platoon had to go back out and secure the area. As I stood by his vehicle that morning with the stench of burned flesh and cooked ammunition permeating the air, the only thing I could think of was what his ex's last words were. At that moment, I made a promise to myself that I would never let my last words to anyone be negative in any sort of way.

So, to this day, whether it be a disagreement with my wife or being pissed off at some dipshit move at work, I try to gain a little perspective. i take a deep breath, remember that morning, and try to find a better way to express my anger. Some friends of mine make fun of me for it, but whenever I talk to my wife on the phone, I always start the phone call nicely and end it with an 'I love you'. When I leave her and the kids in the morning on the way to work, I make sure to give them all a kiss and tell them I love them. Because, if for some reason I or one of them should ever pass, at least I know that my last words were positive and in good spirit and the last thing they remember about me.

So, that's my bit of perspective.

 

For actual date, don't forget a time; if you just post a date I'll assume that means 12:01 AM.

 

Congrats, Kevin! You guys are about to be outnumbered by your own children!

I'm guessing due date is May 3. But third birth? Delivery April 27.

 

Call me crazy, but I like when we get real on here.

I'd say that my perspective on craft came long before I drank craft. Lost a loved one (a cousin, but really pretty much a brother) real early and decided that stuff was never going to take precedence over family and friends and general happiness.

That's shaped a ton about my life. One example: It wasn't long after this that my grandmother sent me a pretty big check, just for the heck of it. While I usually would have banked it, I bought my bass guitar and an amp instead. Everything's been different since then, music coloring everything.

There's more to the story, but I'm not sure if I can post it here.

 

If I like both male and female posts, am I banking on a *******? Jk, congrats on #3 buddy, I bet you guys are excited!

Due Date: August 31, 2015
Actual Delivery Date: August 14, 3:03 PM, 2015

 

Update to my Saturday......... yesterday was a little fuzzy.

 

i agree with this story on many levels - but for a minute i thought you were @zekeman17 with a new picture.

 

thats pretty deep man!

 

Jesus...

 

How do I explain to everyone at work why I can't stop crying...

 

All is can say about beer! I love it, i trade for it, i drink it and i gained weight from it. Its a love hate relationship. There have been times i wanted to give in and sell my entire cellar and go back to drinking like the old days of grabbing a growler of fresh beer and enjoying what i had access to. I will say i have reached beer zen though - have come to realization I can not enjoy every new beer that happens to be the "trendy" beer to try. Some people out there still think its possible to tick everything and until you can come to the realization that your dreams and aspirations to do so are never going to happen - you will reach your beer happy place as well. Thats my little 2 cents on the subject......i may have reverted off topic - but my thoughts are based on what beer has done to my psyche.

 

I'm on the same thought as this and what @Houser said, its about the company you share your beer with that makes it enjoyable.

 

OMG!!!! There are no words or explanation for what my eyes have just witnessed.

 

Definitely would've been nice, sorry I came a day later! I'm flying out at 5:30pm tomorrow (Tuesday) so unless you want to do something tonight, such as at Blues Bar (I think that's where I'm meeting @TastyDelicousness after 6pm tonight) then it'll have to be my next Chicago trip!

Will do! I'll send you a message.

Giordano's is better than Ginos by far. I was told to try Lou Malnati's, and from memory, the last time I had it, it was about the same as Giordano's.

 

Yes I should be there tonight @ Blues Bar with @TastyDelicousness and possibly @blue-dream if I recall, said he was only 5 mins away. Lou Malnati's has fallen off tremendously over the years IMO. Think they've lost site of the product and quality in which they excelled at for years that got them to be the talk of the town for deep dish pie. Slight edge to Giordano's over Gino's East (that butter crust is delicious though) still hands down my friend, despite what that @Roger85 says!