Budweiser - No more

Not that it really mattered to me or affected me at all, but in case most of you have not heard, the world famous Anheuser-Busch has been sold to Belgian brewing giant InBev. I have friends that work at A-B, so I have been following the possible merger for a while. I really had hoped that A-B would not be bought out, but I figured it would happen all along. As folks have said since money was invented, it talks! The rich just get richer. I don't drink A-B beer that much, but I just hate to see more of Americana go away. While most of you may think I am crazy, I blame much of this on the current Busch administration. The dollar has become sooooo weak the past eight years, why shouldn't the European beer maker take advantage and gobble up their biggest competitor? The United States government has borrowed so much money to fight this useless war, we are owned by many foreign countries. I just hope most of the people keep their jobs. The Post reports that 850 white collar, salaried people are the ones to go first. Most blue collar guys will still have work. Talk to me in three years to see how thing go.

The shirt I bought last week no longer has use.

Budweiser has not been saved!

Amazon Kindle- Have you heard of it?

I just came across this device while buying a book on Amazon.com.

It is a device that allows you to download books from Amazon and then read them. You can read it and download it anywhere. Their are no monthly fees or cell costs.

The video is a little boring, but it explains the device.
I gotta get one of these. Too bad it costs $350!

Wyman

Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKUKQ7QqOHw&feature=related

Staind, 3 Doors Down and Hinder

Kirsten, myself and friends, Chris and Tara went Wednesday night to watch the three above mentioned bands out at Riverport in Mayland Heights, Mo. We had seen Staind once before at the Pageant and had front row seats. We all had also caught Aaron Lewis on his solo accoustic tour last fall as well and had second row seats. We are all fans and thought the outdoor show might be good as well. Well, it wasn't. We had lawn seats and then Aaron claimed to be sick. They played about 9 songs and then off they went. He sounded pretty good, but still didn't play all their best tunes. He did a great solo cover of the 1973 Bob Seger song "Turn the Page". Other than that, nothing special.

3 Doors Down played for about an hour and a half and sounded good. I am not a huge fan of theirs and we left before the encore. The place was about half full and had lots of families. We didn't have any problems getting out of the place and got home around 1130. Not one of my favorite concerts and would not reccomend seeing the show if they come to your town.

I called my weekly basketball games last night at Ladue High School. That place is nicer than the junior college I went to. If you think all kids get the same education in America, go check this school out over off Warson and Clayton Rd. Unbeleivable! The games were easy as all the teams are horrible. I was home by 730 with cash in hand. It paid for the night before at the show .

I have been putting in some good miles on the bike. I have been averaging about 30 miles a day. I am planning on doing the Mo State Time Trial next Sunday. I don't have a TT bike and none of the sleek now aero bars or helmet that would make things easier. I will get down in the drops and do it the old fashion way. The course is supposed to be 40k long and mostly flat. I did my 30 miles yesterday with hills and stopping averaging 21.2mph. I really think 24mph is a possibility if the wind is not too bad. The only TT I have ever done was in a biathlon and I averaged 23mph over 15mi.

If you haven't caught any of the Tour de France, start watching. It is on Versus everyday about 5 times a day. Sprinters Cavendish and Hushovd are looking strong in the sprints. Kirchen, Valverde, Evans and surprising Vande Velde of the USA are looking strong in the overall. What a great three weeks!

More 4th of July pics

Ste. Gen to me. The first thing you see when you come into town are the ominous smokestacks. The worst job I ever had was at this miserable place.
Farm out on Lime Kiln Rd. near Zell, Mo
Trestle in off Lime Kiln Rd.
Time to start bailing some hay.

4th of July ride

The water is up over Main St. in Ste. Gen. This is the levy gate. You can see the water is about 4ft up on the wall.

Farm out on Industrial Dr. in SG.
Creek Rd. in near SG.

I always liked this house on 4th St. in SG. It is the Hubbard House built in early 1800's. I like the design on the shutters.

4th of July ride in Ste. Genevieve County

Zell Rd in Zell, Mo
Hwy A, Zell, Mo
Bolduc House, Ste. Genevieve, Mo

Before we headed north to Chris Pleimann's party, I wanted to go on my 30 mi training ride from Zell thru Ste. Gen and back. I realized that I am always riding as hard as I can, looking at the computer trying to push myself to the limit. I forgot what I liked about cycling in the first place. If you are going to race, you do have to push yourself everyday while training, but I need to remember what cycling is about. It is about seeing the countryside or the city in a slower manner. Really looking and seeing and smelling what is around you. These are things you cannont do while driving in a car at 60 miles an hour. I am always thinking while on the bike. One thing I think about is what a good photo that would be. So on the 4th of July I took my camera and my time while riding. What are the things that make me proud to be an American. What is America about to me? I have traveled all over Europe and the US. I have been to 22 foreign countries and 42 states and nothing can compare to home. We have some of the best scenery right here in Missouri. These are some of the photos I took on my two hour ride in Ste. Gen.

Fourth of July

Kirsten was actually off work on the 3rd and 4th of July for the first time since we have been married. She took the girls to see a movie and I road my bike in the morning. We then headed down to Ste. Gen to go to my co worker Chris Bumgardaner's house for his annual 4th party. They have a huge spread of food and tons of fireworks. His whole neighborhood comes as well as friends. The girls had a good time playing with the 500 other kids running around.

On the 4th we went to my college friend Chris Pleimann's house. He has a pool and tons of food as well. The girls had more good fun playing with the other kids at the party.

We watched fireworks in his front yard. The whole neighborhood was shooting firecrackers off. It was ridiculous! How much money did these folks spend?

Landscaping

I decided to rip out the old bushes in the front of my house and completely re-do everything. I have never liked the bushes that came with the house and now ten years later I have done something about it. I had Mom's truck because I was getting the bumper fixed on my car. I ripped out the bushes and had them in the dumpster in about thirty minutes time. After that I went and bought a load of top soil and about 45 stones to line the front. That evening we went to Lowe's and bought around 50 new plants, flowers and bushes. The next day I spent putting them in the ground and then covering them with mulch. I figure I have about 10 hours invested in the new and improved front yard. Here are the before and after pictures. I am no professional, so no criticism please!

Indian Zukes riding The taXi

This was taken at my old college friend Dave Simon's Pig Roast back in May. The other loser is Chris Pleimann. He was some wannabe player I used to let hang out with me back in the day.

Some other Viking guy named Neal sent this photo to me. He was the chap that provided the stellar Flying Dog Beer! Thanks Neal.

Cheers

Mom's B-day and Germany loses in Euro final

We again had a little party over at Todd's to watch the Euro final. The game ended in a 1-0 win for Espana. The Spanish were the better side today and deserved to win. Needless to say we again had plenty of sausages and cold hefe.

It was also the birthday of my Mom. She turned 61 yrs young. We met at Todd's at noon and then after the game around 5 we headed down to The Stable on the corner of Cherokee and Lemp. It is right across the corner from O'Malleys. We had some Hoegarden and some really good pizza. If you get a chance, check this place out. Paul Pointer, one of the owners has done a great job renovating the stables from the Lemp Brewery. He is also the owner of the Lemp Mansion up the street.

http://www.amalgamatedbrewing.com/stable/index.html

Here are some photos of the day.

Cycling has been going well. Since getting back from vacation eleven days ago, I have put in around 250 miles. I feel like I am getting into good form. I took off Monday to redo the front of my house. I ripped five bushes, scattered one truckload of top soil and placed about 40 stones around the front yard. I was too tired to ride. You guys that do manual labor and then go and ride your bike are for real! I had planned to race tonite at the Tues Worlds, but Kirsten picked up a housecall today while at work. No racing or training as I have to watch the girls. If I had know she was going to get a housecall, I would have ridden this morning instead of going to get more stones!

We are headed to Lowe's this evening to get all the plants and bushes to put in the front. I will spend all day tomorrow putting those in and perhaps going for a ride. Todd and I will go to the Card's game in the evening.

Kirsten is off the 3rd and 4th of July, so we plan on actually going to some party's for the first time ever!

More on that this weekend.

Anyone interested in playing a cool Tour de France Fantasy Game, go to: http://ifarm.nl/tdf/

Cheers

JAWOHL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GERMANY DEFEATS TURKEY 3-2 IN EURO 08 SEMI!!!

We had a little party over at Todd's house today to watch Germany defeat Turkey. It was a good game marred by picture problems caused by a storm in Austria. Germany scored twice in the last ten minutes, once in the 90th minute, to win in a close one. They now play the winner of the Spain/Russia game this coming Sunday.

I went to G & W Meats on South Kingshighway and some spectacular brats, knockwurst, weisswurst,wieners and spaeztle. Todd did the cooking and provided some Warsteiner and New Belgium Sunshine Wheat. Sorry Neal. I sent my brother out to get the In-Heat Wheat, but couldn't find it anywhere in the Fenton, Mo area. Looks like Whole Foods might be one of the only places I can get it.

We will be doing it again on Sunday. More sausages!

Here are some photos.

Wyman

Vacation Brews

While on vacation, I always like to drink the local micro-brews. This summer was no different.

I didn't get my first local brew until I reached Maine on our third day. The first beer I tried was the Sebago Hefe-Wiezen. It is brewed in southern Maine and has a really nice German wheat flavor. It is much like the Flying Dog In-Heat-Wheat brewed in Denver,CO.

The next brew sampled at supper one night was the Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale. I am usually not one for the fruity beers, but this one was really good. It did not have a strong blueberry taste and was quite smooth.

After really liking the Blueberry Ale, I decided while in Vermont to give one of their local fruity beers a shot as well. The guy at the local market suggested the Long Trail Blackbeary Wheat a try. I bought a couple and it was really good as well.

Those were the only ones that I tried while out East. If you head out that way, give em a try.

Cheers

EURO 08 - GO GERMANY!!

As some you may or may not know, the European Football(Soccer) Championships are currently taking place in Austria and Switzerland. The tournament has now been narrowed down to four teams with my favorite, Germany, right in the thick of things. With a big win over Portugal this past Thursday, they are now poised to make it into the final with a win this coming Wednesday over Turkey.

We are having a party over at Todd's house Wednesday afternoon if anyone wants to come. The game starts at 1:45 Central on ESPN.

Tons of brats and ice cold heffeweizen.

Auf Wiedersehen

Vermont

What else says Vermont?
We went through Vermont on our way home. This is the longest usable covered bridge in the state.
This is the vintage 1950s cottage we stayed in at the KOA in Brattlesboro, VT.

Schoodic Penninsula, ME

These are taken on the Schoodic Penninsula just about 30 miles north of Bar Harbor. It is part of the park that is located on the mainland. We saw some seals and incredible veiws. This is the day the weather got cooler only getting into the upper 50s. All the other days got into the mid 70s with lots of sun.





Both girls earned their Junior Ranger badges. Here the Ranger is asking questions about what they did to earn them.