I don't hate everything and everybody

Painy rib and shoulder parts means I'm stepping back from arduous things for a bit.  I've carried a decent amount of weight on my shoulder over the past few weeks at work, and things should be slowing down at the start of the new year.  I want to back off on pressing physical things until I feel 100% (for a 46yr old).  No more adult calisthenics for awhile... despite the fact that I finally got around to creating a decent place to do sit ups without kneeing myself in the face.

I'd been planning on doing something like this for months now, but the install process involved a car jack, a corded drill, a leftover towel rack, salvaged hardware, old ESI grips.  When the whole thing only had a 50% chance of success according to my best estimates, it was super difficult to get started.

I did get out for a shortish, not too technically challenging mountain ride with Bill Nye on Saturday... because... 70°+.

 So hot, right then.

 Evidence of some serious rainfall recently.  Nifty.

Unrelated.

 Hot enough outside to do that on the way up Spencer Branch.

 And to do that later.

 And this.

I finally got a chance to stop at the Sierra Nevada Brewery on the way home.  As we were walking in, I told Bill Nye that I feel like I had a real hand in financing this place.

"You're going to hate it," he replied.

He was basically right. I love our small Charlotte breweries. There's so many of them that they have a quaint neighborhood feel to them.  Some more than others, but the grittier the better for me.

That's not my picture.   I didn't even think to take one. I'm pretty sure the Sierra Nevada Compound can be seen from space though.

The "brewery" felt like it was part of a Disney World attraction.  A tourist trap through and through, complete with people lined up ten deep at the bar waiting for a beer, souvenirs, kitsch menu items (Mason jar salad, tiny hamburgers with artisanal bacon)... I get why some people would be into that, but it's not my thing.  I don't get the appeal.

But I do like their beer.  A go-to in the Dillen household.  I guess I'm still sorta buying locally and thinking globally.  Sorta.  No matter what, it's more than likely a decision of economics when I'm selecting my beverages.  I don't know why local brewers don't offer twelve packs, because... money... and dolphins.

Regardless of my horrible, jaded opinion, it's amazing that this is the house that beer built.