Category Archives: Beerchaser Miscellany

Marching in Madness….

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(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser.  If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.  External photo attribution is at the end of the post. #1)

Beerchasing Miscellany

Those who follow this blog know that periodically I author a post that has nothing to do with bars, breweries or beer – just stuff I see and file away in my cranium short term or longer term in my voluminous files. 

I talked about these files in my two posts entitled “De Files De Files”  My wife of forty-three years is on a campaign to get me to recycle these. 

So here goes…

In the month of March, millions of people crouch for hours around their televisions at home or better yet, at bars and breweries, watching NCAA College Basketball’s March Madness. And this year with the first-round upsets, the term “March Madness“ seems apropos.

When Farleigh Dickenson, (sounds like the protagonist in a William Faulkner novel) beat top-seeded Purdue and after three other major upsets, the NCAA stated that there were no perfect brackets remaining of the 20 million in online games – even President Joe Biden’s – who picked Arizona to win it all.   (WeareIowa.com.)  (#2)

And besides the bedlam that occurred in the games, there were other crazy happenings off the court.  For example, the New York Post and scads of print and broadcast media outlets reported on Hall of Famer Bill Walton’s gaffe during the Arizona vs USC game when he used a derogatory term describing people with dwarfism.

“Little People of America (LPA) called Walton’s use of the term ‘m—-t’ on the mic ‘deplorable and inexcusable’ in a statement to TMZ on Friday.  ‘Those who use the term midget or any terminology that further stigmatizes people born with dwarfism are asked to educate themselves to eradicate this word,’ LPA officials said….The organization also demanded an apology from the former All-Star center.”  (NBA Bleacher Report)

It was insensitive of Walton, but I love the guy.  We had ample experience with the big redhead, when he played for the Portland Trailblazers from 1974-9.  While his brief tenure brought Portland’s only NBA Championship and he was named the 1977 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, it was often filled with disappointment and controversy.

“During his rookie season he missed 47 of the 82 games because of foot ailments. In his second season, he broke his ankle and missed 31 games. Even in the championship season, he hurt his ankle and missed 17 games. (#2 – #3)

And it did not end well:

“During the off-season, Walton demanded to be traded, citing unethical and incompetent treatment of his and other players’ injuries by the Blazers’ front office. He did not get his wish and sat out the entire 1979 season in protest.” (Wikipedia)

Part of the problem was communication – he had a speech impediment which compounded his physical issues.  And many of his grievances with NBA trainers and doctors have since been validated and experienced by pro athletes in other sports. 

Compounding the problem, he unfortunately alienated many because of what were his personal lifestyle choices and political opinions – which he like any citizen, he is entitled to. For example, he lived within a few blocks of my brother and his wife in West Linn where I now reside. 

It was a big, impressive A-Frame house on the Willamette River located on Nixon Avenue.  In his first year for the Blazers in 1974, given the former President’s recent demise after Watergate, Walton was asked why he chose that street.  He replied something to the effect:

“Well, they didn’t try to impeach the street!”  

I give credit to anyone who works through a problem while also maturing and growing as a person.  From being a semi-recluse because of his stuttering problem, he has become an Emmy-winning broadcaster.  While some can’t tolerate his style, he comes through as jovial, optimistic and knowledgeable about not only sports, but most topics and issues. 

I don’t know if he issued an apology for his recent broadcast error, but he has enough emotional intelligence to know when he’s made mistakes as seen in this 2009 Seattle Times Story https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/nba/nba-tearful-bill-walton-apologizes-to-portland-fans/.

He had returned to Portland to make a speech for the Special Olympics:

“I’m here to try and make amends for the mistakes and errors of the past,’ Walton said. ‘I regret that I wasn’t a better person. A better player. I regret that I got hurt. I regret the circumstances in which I left the Portland Trail Blazers family. I just wish I could do a lot of things over, but I can’t.

So I’m here to apologize, to try and make amends, and to try and start over and make it better…The love they gave me was something I could not return,’ Walton said. ‘And that’s something that will forever be a stain, a stigma, on my soul. I can’t wash it off.’

And he has a great sense of humor.  In a subsequent March Madness game last weekend, he said to his partner, Dave Pasch:

“That’s why I love history, Dave.  It’s been around so long.”

Lunacy or Just Changing Times?

But the madness isn’t just with athletics.  It’s evident in cultural matters, print and broadcast media, academia, medicine, religion, law, et.al.

I was flabbergasted to see a movie review in Portland’s mainstream daily newspaper, The Oregonian entitled:

“Winnie the Pooh Stars in an R-rated Slasher Movie”

The review was about the new British independent film entitled “Winnie the Pooh – Blood and Honey.”   Now if this film has any redeeming social value, how far behind is “Daniel Tiger – Creative Carnivore” or “Little Kitty Decimates Her Litter…..” (#4 – #5)

I felt better after reading the review when I went to the “Non Sequitur” comic strip and an old guy was saying:

“I miss the good old days when I had some semblance of what the hell was going on!” 

Back to Athletics….

I want to address trends in high school sports in a future post, but this one snippet will give you an idea of why I yearn for the good old days.  This March 23 Oregon Live excerpt relates the priorities of the University of Oregon.

“The Oregon Ducks aren’t waiting until Trent Seaborn reaches high school before offering a scholarship….Seaborn, is a 6-foot, 178 pound quarterback for Thompson High School in Alabama and led the school to the Class 7A state title.  Seaborn threw for 1,117 yards, with 15 touchdown passes and three INTs. (#6 – #8)

Now I realize that the Ducks are anxious to pay back the thrashing they got in the 2022 Civil War  come-from-behind victory (38 – 34) by my Oregon State Beavers, but this is somewhat ridiculous.  What if Trent flunks ninth grade? 

And it’s just going to promote more jokes such as I set forth in my blog post last year:

Albert Einstein arrives at a party in Eugene and introduces himself to to the first person he sees and asks, ‘What is your IQ,” to which the man answers, “241.” “Wonderful,” says Albert, ” We will discuss the Grand Unification Theory and the mysteries of the universe.”

Next, he introduces himself to a woman and inquires, “What is your IQ, to which the woman replies, ” 207.” “That’s great,” said the physicist, “We can discuss politics and the scientific implications of world affairs. We’ll have much to discuss.”

He approaches a third person and asks, “What is your IQ,” to which the guy holding a beer, answers, “51.” Einstein ponders this for a micro-second and says, ‘Go Ducks!” 

(#9)

400px-the_oregon_duck_in_2011

Law, Politics and Religion

Perhaps this clip from July 22, 2022, The Week magazine combines a couple of topics which demonstrate the outlandish predicaments we increasingly face:

“A pregnant Texas woman is fighting a $215 ticket by claiming the end of Roe gives her the right to use the HOV lane.  Brandy Bottone says that when officers pulled her over for driving ‘alone’ in the high occupancy vehicle lane, she said that her fetus now counts as a person in Texas, but they ticketed her anyway.  She said, ‘Texas can’t have it both ways.'” 

Science, Technology, Engineering and Fashion

Amazing developments in science and the tech world are also topics I want to address in a future Beerchaser Miscellany post, including the debate about Artificial Intelligence, which scares the heck of of me.

But I take heart in the creativity of university students to mitigate my concern – there’s good with the bad.  Also from The Week magazine (June 3, 2022):

“…a group of students at Johns Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering announced the invention of edible adhesive tape to hold messy tacos, burritos and wraps together.”   (#10 – #11)

And speaking of engineering, the weather in Oregon this winter has made me greatly appreciate one everyday device that most of us take for granted – the remote automatic garage door.  Cheers to C.G. Johnson for his 1926 invention.

And Finally

This last anecdote is fictitious, but one I’ve kept in my files for many years with the hope of having a context in which it could be used:

“Dr. Calvin Rickson, a scientist from Texas A & M University, invented a bra that keeps women’s breasts from jiggling, bouncing up and down and prevents the nipples from showing during cold weather.

At a news conference, after announcing the invention, a large group of men took Dr. Rickson outside and kicked the crap out of him…..”  (#12)

Note:  I checked to see if others might have seen info on Dr. Rickson and a Google search reveals 664,000 possible hits with his college noted as Texas A & M, Ohio State and Oxford University!

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drum_major_(PSF).png)  This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Pearson Scott Foresman. This applies worldwide.

#2.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Bill Walton – Trail Blazers (2).jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1928 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice.  NBA Press Photo 1975

#3.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Bill Walton 2022.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author: Erik Drost 18 February 2022.

#4.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Winnie-the-Pooh 156.png – Wikimedia Commons)   This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.  Author: Ernest Howard Shepard (illustrator)   1926.

#5. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Fred Rogers and Daniel S. Tiger Sightseeing in Soviet Union.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1978 and March 1, 1989 without a copyright notice, and its copyright was not subsequently registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within 5 years.  Unknown author May 7, 1988.

#6.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Oregon ducks football unif19.png – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Fernando Martello 21 May 2020.

#7.  Wikimedia Commons (File:377-thumbs-down-1.svg – Wikimedia Commons Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.  Author: Vincent Le Moign  – 28 April 2018.

#8.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2017-09-09_Oregon_Ducks_vs._Nebraska_Cornhuskers_03.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Kingofthedead – 9 September 2017.

#9.  Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Duck#/media/File:The_Oregon_Duck_.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.  Author: Ray Terrill – 19 November 2011.

#10.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Sticky tape.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.  Author:
André Karwath aka Aka  19 February 2005.

#11.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Burrito, Russia 2.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: К.Артём.1  2014.

#12. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Bra.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)                   This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Author:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:ModeMuseum_Antwerpen  2014.

 

De Files – De Files — Part II

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(This is a long narrative. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos at the end of the post and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

In Part I of this Thebeerchaser post, I mentioned how my wife of almost 43 years has understandably insisted that I significantly reduce the myriad files in our garage, my office and scattered throughout filing cabinets we own.  (That means recycle most of them especially if they have not been viewed in the last ten to fifteen years.) 

In the last post I gave examples of material from my employment at Clackamas County and one undergrad college paper with a cryptic comment from a professor – one I didn’t use for a reference in my graduate school admission process…

I worked with lawyers in a management capacity for over thirty-five years at the Oregon State Bar and the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt firm based in Portland’s PacWest Center.  So in my first 2023 post, I’ll begin by giving you some glimpses of the enjoyment I got from the humor surrounding this work. 

Was it a  stressful environment?

Yes! 

But one where the tension was eased by jocularity and people not taking themselves too seriously.

244281611_513523260102754_6302127919311030012_n

# External photo attribution at the end of the post. (#1 – #2)

Schwabe had a wonderful culture, shared by attorneys and staff alike and was a major factor why we regularly landed in the top ranks of Oregon’s Best Employers as rated by the employees themselves. There was an organizational sense of humor.

Lawyers are a competitive group and ensconced within the five floors of the thirty-three story PacWest Center in Portland, there was often a friendly rivalry on who could come up with the wittiest electronic missive or response to an e-mail.  The same was true in all the offices whether Seattle, Vancouver or Bend.

I have to admit as the COO, I tended to reinforce this trait by recognition of several “Emails of the Year” at our firm’s annual retreat – I’d present bottles of wine to the winners. 

The first one I saved from 1996.  (Now you know why Janet is on my case!)  It was even authored by a tax lawyer – a group often stereotyped as having senses of humor tantamount to the humor buried in the pages of the Internal Revenue Code on depreciation…… (#3)

A comedian’s source book?

I will generally omit the names of the senders in this post (although I don’t think they would mind and their colleagues would recognize the senders). 

The one below was authored by a brilliant tax litigator who would periodically send an e-mail to the entire Firm entitled, “Taxes are Your Friend.”  These would include an excerpt from the Code accompanied by a picture of a rabbit with a pancake or waffle on its head.

We also had a “junk-mail” address where people could send questions, advertise items for sale or raise other issues not related to client business.  This one started with the following inquiry: 

Question:  Is anyone familiar with how real estate is transferred in Brazil?  (#5 – #6)

Response:  The entire town stands along the property lines of the property to be conveyed.  A representative of the town recorder called the “Schlimph” garrotes a chicken and the children of the village spread the feathers at the corner of the property.

Then the appointed elders (“drelba”) while chanting ancient real estate incantations, pick up dirt clods and rocks and hurl them in the air.  Finally, a small child is selected from the crowd and forced to chug large quantities of Eucalyptus Tea and Tabasco while the rest of the villages shout “Go!” “Go!” “Go”.

If the selected child becomes ill, the transaction is considered “closed” and the buyer and seller exchange twigs from the plants growing on the property and go home. If the child is unaffected by the ordeal, the buyer and the seller are sacrificed to the real estate gods in the “Ritual of the Ostrich” and property eschews to the Schlimph.  (I hope this is helpful….)

Impermeable?

The one below was the winner at the 2010 Firm Retreat – written by one of my favorite associates in the Environmental and Natural Resources Group.  Notwithstanding his feigned disregard for Mother Earth, he’s now a partner.   

The Truth – Sometimes Stranger Than Fiction

Of course, e-mails were also sent to lawyers seeking expert witnesses, referrals, case cites, etc.  This one emanated from another Environmental Lawyer in 2005.

Bowler suit 1

Employment and Labor Law generated some of the most interesting and often bizarre situations.   While the following matter was not one at Schwabe, I added this 1967 case https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2d/257/468.html) to my files years afterwards as a keeper when I started collecting these treasures.

I was only a freshman in college when it went to trial, but I’ve kept it all these years.  Maybe because it portended some of the recent lawsuits involving education and religion – perhaps it’s surprising it’s not on a current docket.  (#7)

The Daily Grind…

Maybe there are days when it’s not the stress of legal work, but just daily life that makes one yearn for a highball at the end of the day.   This premise was demonstrated in this 2001 e-mail from one of our Seattle lawyers who inquired of his colleagues at 4:06 in the afternoon:

One difference between Schwabe and many other big firms was the lack of a status difference between attorneys and management.   They viewed non-attorney managers as professionals – in fact all staff were treated as professionals which helped the cohesiveness and teamwork at the firm.

And Management was often tasked with having to say “no.”   We made ongoing decisions on space planning and who received which office, negotiated on annual billable hour goals and, of course, determined compensation.  The list goes on…..

Just as the lawyer above, had a toddy with colleagues at the end of the day, one didn’t necessarily need to leave the firm as the daily grind ended.  This was the case when I appreciated the chance to have a single-malt beverage with the partner whose office was next to mine after she sent this e-mail.  We enjoyed at least one shot of Balvenie Scotch.

Patty Dost (3)

 I mentioned space planning as one of Management’s ongoing challenges.  The same was true anytime there was a major remodel or a build-out when the firm expanded to an additional floor. 

Gaining anything close to a favorable reaction on carpet, paint color or even design of nameplates was problematic. (I could devote a book chapter on the Firm’s Art Committee alone……)

I’m going to depart from my stated guideline and name the lawyer who authored the next e-mail because he was well known in both legal and local broadcast circles and also served on the firm’s Board for a number of years and was supportive of Management decisions.

Jack Faust – one of my former Beerchasers-of-the-Quarters – moderated an award-winning Portland civic affairs television program (“Town Hall”) for many years and was also one of the most respected practitioners of appellate law in Oregon. 

He also loved engaging in the humorous revelry and we still recount these stories on some of the numerous Beerchasing Events we’ve had at various Portland bars since retirement. (The picture on the right below was not on one of those events, but from Jack’s law school years.) 

He offered these words of comfort to the Portland office in the midst of a major build-out on two floors in 2003:

Faust - Town Hall 5

Head Shot?

It’s not only the substantive legal issues that complicate lives in a large regional law firm.  As the prohibition against lawyer advertising prohibited by most states’ ethics rule was struck down in a 1977 US Supreme Court decision (Bates v. State Bar of Arizona), the practice of law forever changed. 

Interestingly, three justices (Warren Burger, Lewis Powell Jr. and William Rehnquist) predicted dire consequences.  As Powell stated “…..will effect profound changes in the practice of law, viewed for centuries as a learned profession.”(#8)

…Will effect profound changes in the practice of law……

When I worked at the Oregon State Bar in the late ’70’s, the Board of Governors spent a good part of every meeting discussing how to discipline lawyers who viloated the Ethical Rules by advertising. 

That changed and by the mid ’80’s, most large law firms had Marketing Directors (Schwabe used the euphemism “Director of Client Relations.”)    If a lawyer wanted to become a partner, he or she had to be effective at bringing in new clients.  Professional photographs for resumes and to spiffy up responses to Requests for Proposals became the norm. 

The aforementioned tax lawyer (see above) often battled with the Internal Revenue Service and offered this tongue-in-cheek response to the following 2007 e-mail from Client Relations.  The advice from the Marketing Assistant is also sanctimonious and I’m sure drew some deserved sarcastic responses:

Marketing Assistant: All Attorneys, Paralegals and Managers – our firm photographer will be in the Portland office.  Please dress however, you feel comfortable being represented as a professional – some prefer jacket and tie, others in shirt sleeves, still others in sweaters. – whatever represents who you are. 

These are color individual Headshots (emphasis added) so take advantage and put a little color in the clothes you wear (a bright tie, a colored blazer or shirt….)  

Tax Lawyer: Please do not use the term “Headshot” with those of us who deal with the IRS on a regular basis.  It makes us nervous.

The Oregon State Bar

This is a digression from Schwabe matters because the letter below was received by the Oregon State Bar when I worked there as Business Manager.  But it’s part of my collection. (#9)

Before getting into the essence of Ethics Opinion (No. 475) issued in 1982, I have to state that I loved working with lawyers from 1974 until my retirement in 2011.   

The overwhelming majority of those I met and with whom I worked were not only skilled and dedicated professionals, but people with whom I would not hesitate to have a beer and enjoyed their company.

Now I realize there are lawyer stereotypes – just like those that characterize sales people, undertakers, actuaries and consultants.   And while I disagree with the portrayal of J.W. Reid  from Costa Mesa, CA who wrote this letter, I had to laugh at his assertion.

It was written after the Bar issued an opinion (It was modified in 2005 with Opinion 2005-140) that stated except under very limited circumstances, a lawyer may not have a consensual sexual relationship with a client. 

The opinion made major headlines and Mr. Reid evidently focused on the limited circumstances allowing sex when he wrote the following:

Now the unnamed gentleman below from Independence, Oregon in his 1981 letter indicates anger and revenge for the Oregon State Bar based on a prior act, but the lack of specificity in his notice of claim indicates that he might need the assistance of a lawyer:

oregon State bar lawsuit 1

Expense Reimbursement and Perks

While working as a lawyer in private practice involves stress and very long hours, it had definite advantages – among them generous compensation and year-end bonuses and good benefits and perks – including travel to conferences and seminars paid by the firm.  (#10 – #11)

There were several trends that diminished law firms’ willingness to pay travel and lodging expense at these events.  The economics of law grew much tighter with the over-supply of lawyers and increased competition from advertising in the late 1980’s.   Clients became more sophisticated and concerned with the escalation of fees and costs. 

More importantly, the IRS also modified it rules on the deductibility of meals and entertainment – also spousal travel.  Agents also targeted professional service firms because there were often excesses under the guise of marketing.  (Maybe taxes aren’t always your friend!”)

Prior to that time, the firm would sometimes pay for senior partners to take their spouses to major events such as the American Bar Association National Convention or other professional association meetings.  This included spousal air travel, meals and lodging.   

The enhanced IRS enforcement and requirements now meant that among other requirements:

“…… where a taxpayer’s spouse accompanies the taxpayer on a business trip, the travel expenses will not be deductible unless the spouse’s presence on the trip has a bona fide business purpose.” (emphasis added) (#12)

Interpretation of “Bona fide business purpose.”

Of course, garnering agreement on the definition of “bona fide business purpose” generated  debate – maybe of a lesser scale, but almost as vociferous – as that resulting from Justice Potter Stewart describing his threshold test for obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio in 1964. 

And since I was involved in the final approval of these expenses, I enjoyed many of the esoteric justifications submitted.  Perhaps my favorite was the one below which also shows another trait exhibited by many lawyers.  While they may be stereotyped as having inflated egos, I always appreciated the self-deprecating humor shown by many as evidenced below:

While we appreciated his witticism, he either paid for his wife’s expenses out of his own pocket, or she stayed in Seattle while he enjoyed Florida’s sunny climate!

And Finally….

You’ve seen a very small sample of the items I’ve saved from my career in legal management and I’ll leave you with this classic.   The development of a robust Intellectual Property Practice at Schwabe (Patent, Trademark, Copyright, IP Litigation, etc.) began in 2002 under the late Al AuYueng – a gifted lawyer and manager.  It had some interesting implications.

While Schwabe lawyers making the cut to get hired as new associates were very smart and well-educated, the new IP attorneys possessed both of these qualifications, but their educations surpassed that of their colleagues. 

Besides undergrad and law school degrees and passage of the Bar, most of them also had masters’ degrees or doctorates in fields such as Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Computer Science.  They also had to pass the Patent Bar Exam.

Their high-tech clients had technical and esoteric issues requiring expert legal advice.  One of my favorites was this one from Al – his inquiry was serious – but his e-mail drew two great responses from lawyers who couldn’t resist the opportunity:

Al Au Yeung:  Does anyone have a recommendation for a carbon dating service?

Lawyer No. I:  Match.com?

Lawyer No. 2:  That’s the response I sent to Al, but I also warned him that they will often bait and switch. They show photos of really attractive minerals and all you end up with are common minerals such as silicon and iron.  You never strike gold!

A Final Comment on Enlightened Management

I worked for two co-managing Partners for most of the years I was the COO.  Mark Long and Dave Bartz were not only distinguished lawyers in their specialties, but had remarkable management instincts – and they complemented each other.

The length of their tenure belies the respect of their lawyer colleagues and that of all firm personnel.  They are both now honored with Emeritus status. (Long on the left and Bartz on the right).

0315_lil_long_and_bartz1

They were also very approachable and collegial which is why one firm paralegal did not feel threatened sending this e-mail to one of them under his own e-mail address: (you’ll have to guess which one received as I don’t want to get fired retroactively!  (In fact, I think the only way I got this e-mail was the recipient laughed about it and forwarded it to me.)

long scan test (2)

Cheers and Happy New Year!

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=513523270102753&set=pb.100043352539827.-2207520000.&type=3)

#2.  (https://www.facebook.com/schwabelegal/photos/pb.

100043352539827.-2207520000./1439037686148006/?type=3)

#3.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Internal_Revenue_Code.jpg)  This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

#5.  Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brazil_on_the_globe_

(Brazilian_Antarctica_claims_hatched)_(Chile_centered).svg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  TUBS    21 June 2011.

#6.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heres_a_bunny_with_waffle.png) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Source: File:Oolong the Rabbit’s last performance (2003).jpg: Hironori Akutagawa Derivative work: Yuval Y § Chat §

#7.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HCS_bus49.JPG) This work has been released into the public domain by its author, William Grimes at English Wikipedia. This applies worldwide.  19 February 2007.

#8.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Supreme_Court_Justice_Lewis_Powell_-_1976_official_portrait.jpg)  This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.

#9.Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sex_education.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Shairyar.khan.7  7 December 2015.

#10.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Bar_Association_3c_1953_issue_U.S._stamp.jpg) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.

#11. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Airbus_A380_blue_sky.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author: Flickr user Axwel  12 May 2007.

#12.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blue-Eagle%2BIRS.png). This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.

#13.  Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon (https://djcoregon.com/news/2012/03/16/leadership-in-law-mark-long-and-david-bartz/)  Author: Rick Arnett in 1535 – March 16, 2012.

 

De Files – De Files!!

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Many of us Boomers remember hearing the diminutive “Tattoo” played by actor, Herve Villechaize, on the popular television show Fantasy Island (1977-1984) ringing a bell and yelling “De Plane – De Plane” to Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalba’n) as the next group appeared on the horizon.

The series was a Saturday night staple after The Love Boat.  The plane always brought “guests” who had either paid or won a chance to live out their fantasies.  (# External photo attribution at the end of the post.)  #1

Since college graduation (and perhaps a little before that event in 1971) I’ve saved a lot of material – currently stored in numerous file cabinets in our garage, my office, etc.  These range from academic papers from undergrad (see end of post) to graduate school, personal mementos – also tax and financial records.

The eclectic collection also includes letters-to-the-editor I’ve written, civic work documents and work stuff from my almost thirty-five year career working with lawyers at Clackamas County, the Oregon State Bar and finally for twenty-five years at the NW Regional Law Firm Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt from which I retired as the Chief Operating Officer in 2011. 

But there’s also newspaper clippings and magazine articles on travel and major events.  (I have two large boxes of papers and magazines with the front pages or covers ranging from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Moon landing, the turn of the Millennium, etc.).  I always thought my grandkids might want to use them in their civic classes…….

My wife of almost 43 years has acquiesced to this idiosyncratic habit because although ubiquitous, they are at least organized and mostly out-of-sight.  However, since we will probably be downsizing and in the event of the sudden demise of Thebeerchaser, she has insisted I significantly reduce (that means recycle most of them especially if they have not been viewed in the last ten to fifteen years).

Fortunately, this has been a mission on which we work, in part, together – negotiating and debating the wisdom of a continuing home in my archives for much of the content we review. 

She did agree that the news clipping below from the long-gone Oregon City Enterprise Courier in 1980 had merit.  (It was not in our wedding album and I uncovered it after a lot of years have gone by).

From the depths of the garage archives…..

However, not willing to encourage me, she asked the following for which I had no satisfactory response and as a result, culled one full file drawer of paper:

“Don, why do you need an outdated newspaper article or map of Sister Bay Wisconsin from 2003 and other places throughout the country when we would get updated information from the internet when we plan a trip?”

Before giving you some examples so you can get a feel for what I value and asking your opinion on their continuing survival, I offer this excerpt from a wonderful tribute my two daughters, Lisa and Laura – now both nurses – presented at my 70th birthday party.  It shows that my collection, albeit a family joke, of sorts, also seems to get some tacit approval. 

I might add, that one full file drawer is filled with their drawings and academic work from kindergarten through college – I have culled this category twice before deciding to keep the rest and letting them ultimately decide what they want to retain – examples are below:

“The File Guy “

“Dondi loves his files.  Just so many files…The garage  is full of them.  There’s files at the beach house.  There’s a file in Seattle.  You can always count on him to be reading the newspaper and clipping out articles for us that he thinks we might find important, interesting or relevant.

The lesson here was for us to stay informed and to be engaged in our community, however small or large that meant.  If you don’t understand something, ask questions.  If you don’t like something, change it….or at least write a Letter-to-the-Editor..”

In the remainder of this post and the next, I’ll give somewhat of a chronology by category to give just a sample of what has survived the most recent purge.

Clackamas County

I worked as the Assistant Supervisor of Elections and then as an Administrative Analyst for the County Commissioners from 1974 through 1979.  The last two years, I was one of two staffers for the Commissioners and our boss was the Chief of Staff – a two-martini lunch guy who spent most of his time “lobbying” in Salem.  We were the first admin staff hires by the Commission and they named us “The Whiz Kids.”

While the County was pretty dysfunctional, it had great people (especially the lawyers who had sharp intellects and senses of humor) and it was there that I met Bob Elfers, who came in as a consultant and became my future boss for the next eighteen years at both the Oregon State Bar and Schwabe Williamson – a wonderful mentor. 

The late Commissioner Robert Schumacher was a superb and sharp elected official and became a good friend who served as an usher in our wedding.

Artwork? – Bob Schumacher graduated from law school and had a better grasp of the Oregon land-use system implemented in 1973 with passage of Senate Bill 100 than almost any elected official in Oregon.  Besides that, Schu had a great sense of humor that helped to mitigate the stress of local government work.

When the County decided to have a contest to develop a logo with a $25 savings bond for the winner, Schu submitted the following which I found in my files.

Upper Volta and Oregon? – I discovered another document I hadn’t looked at since 1977, but it evoked the memory of Schu walking into my office and saying, “OK Whiz Kid, you drew the short straw.”   The Commissioners had received correspondence from the International Visitor Program associated with the US State Department in Washington D.C.

An official named Idrissa Ouedraogo, who was Counselor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ and Director of Protocol for the African Republic of Upper Volta, was touring various governments in the US and he  – fluent in French but spoke little English – and his interpreter would be spending most of the day observing aspects of Clackamas County government.

To make a long story short, I took him to visit the County Extension Service, the Data Center, a court hearing, a Commissioner’s meeting and to see the “famous” Oregon City Municipal Elevator.   

Mr. Ouedraogo was a distinguished and polite young gentleman – about my age – and the only stressful thing during our interaction was trying to figure out whether I should look at him or his interpreter when I was talking. They left in the early afternoon for their next destination.

I had completely forgotten about it until I unearthed the missive from the State Department in one of the garage files this month. So before I recycled, I decided to see if through the miracle of the internet, I could find out anything about my former visitor from Ouagadougou – then capital of Upper Volta (which I learned is now Burkina_Faso). (#2)

Well, unfortunately, Idrissa, died in 2018 at the age of 64, but not before he gained fame as a screenwriter, director, and producer.

“He is best known for his feature film Tilaï, which won the Grand Prix at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and Samba Traoré (1993), which was nominated for the Silver Bear award at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.” (Wikipedia)

Urinals, Stools – Average Load and Overlap Time – Perhaps it’s my idiosyncratic sense of humor, but I kept this 1977 letter to then Sheriff John Renfro from the State Workman’s Compensation Board because it seemed bizarrely ludicrous given the language. (My opinion hasn’t changed after 46 years).

It certainly indicates changes in gender roles since that time, for example, the agency is now known as the State Workers’ Compensation Board  That said, the ranks of full-time female law enforcement officers nationally is still a low 13.3%.

Ralph Rodia, Assistant Manager of the Occupational Health Section, in this one page correspondence, informed the elected Sheriff in response to his letter about the adequacy of the County’s toilet facilities:

The second paragraph is most notably geeky from a solid waste standpoint and enough to make one flush with chagrin.  I loved the letter’s ending sentence where Mr. Rodia admonishes:

“You are advised, however, that you have a marginal situation and if the number of additional men or their overlap time increases, at least one additional facility would be required.”

Linked-in reports only that Ralph Rodia is retired and living in Salem.  Unfortunately, the 2021 message below on the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Facebook page indicates that John is no longer with us:

“We’re saddened to announce the Dec. 6 passing of John Renfro, the 27th Sheriff of Clackamas County. He was 85. John Renfro served a four-year term as Clackamas County Sheriff (1977-81). It was one highlight in a lifetime of service.

Renfro served in the U.S. Army for three years, and later joined the Oregon State Police, where he was a trooper from 1960-62. He then joined the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office in 1963, serving as a deputy and detective until 1968. He worked as a Juvenile Court counselor and training officer from 1968-76.”   (#3)

A career in public service.

I’ll finish my Clackamas County collection and also this post, by including two pictures – one I found in a clipping from early 1979 – again from the Oregon City Enterprise Courier – and one Janet took of me at home during a COVID shutdown period in 2021.  

Admittedly, this is primarily for egotistical purposes to provide evidence that Thebeerchaser at one time could grow a decent beard and mustache even though it also shows that my taste in neckties has not improved.

In closing, I hope you’ll indulge me as I unveil some additional relics from my files in the next post.  I know at least one person who enjoys this escapade!

Note  

I indicated above that one component of my files is papers from undergrad and grad school.  I’ve now been persuaded that those have no value to anyone including me; however, I insisted on saving page 12 from this 1968 course at Oregon State on Latin American Political Systems.

I thought I had waxed eloquently about future policy initiatives to mitigate the spread of Communism.  I was therefore taken aback with the professor’s comment highlighted in yellow which states:

“This paper is really a mixed bag, fluctuating widely between superficial and pedestrian description and sophisticated analysis.”

I didn’t go to his office afterwards and ask him to break that down into percentages, but he give me a B on the paper so perhaps the high-level intellectual narrative was able to transcend the shallow and cursory BS I wrote while drinking Budweiser.

Big Ed 2 (2)

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ricardo_Montalban_Herve_Villechaize_Fantasy_

Island_1977.JPG)  This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1927 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice.  The photo has no copyright markings on it.  Author:  ABC Television 27 December 1977.

#2.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idrissa_Ouedraogo_,_

Cines_del_Sur_2007_(cropped).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Cines del Sur Granada Film Festival from Spain – 2007.

#3.  https://www.facebook.com/clackcosheriff/posts/were-saddened-to-announce-the-dec-6-passing-of-john-renfro-the-27th-sheriff-of-c/208482081472689/

November Nuances – Be Careful of Your Terms

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(If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened. # External photo attribution at the end of the post. #1 – #2)

On Saturday, November 25th the Oregon State Beavers will host the nationally-ranked University of Oregon Ducks at Reser Field in Corvallis for this legendary gridiron contest – known until 2020 as “The Civil War.” 

(See Thebeerchaser post entitled “History, Semantics, Sensitivity and Common Sense”  regarding my emphatic sentiments about this change.)

As stated at the beginning of a wonderful book by the six-time winner of the Oregon Sportswriter of the Year Award, Kerry Eggers entitled, The Civil War Rivalry – Oregon vs Oregon State:

“Thirty-five years after Oregon reached statehood and fewer than 30 years after the end of the Great War between the Union and Confederate States, the University of Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) met on the gridiron on a sawdust field in front of 500 curious observers….The Farmers beat the Lemon-Yellows 16 to 0…that cold, wet November day in 1894.”

Politically Incorrect Ribaldry

While acknowledging – although not agreeing – with the view of those who advocated the name change, I’m also not in favor of the milque toast and staid options offered in lieu since 2020 – primarily The Platypus Bowl and The Oregon Classic – the moniker for the last three games.

I think sportswriter and media expert, John Canzano, has the best idea:

” ‘The game formerly known as the Civil War.’ That’s what I’m calling it until they re-name the thing. Our long-standing state rivalry. Two winning teams and a lot at stake.”

Canzano in his most recent column hits the nail on the head in his second column this week on this controversy.

“Meanwhile, it’s been almost 30 months since that joint announcement. UO and OSU have had plenty of time to figure out this rivalry naming business. They’ve left us a mess. It’s time to stop puttering around and name the Beavers-Ducks rivalry.
On that note, I’ll bet most of you still call it “The Civil War.” (#3 – #5)

 

I should disclaim that I graduated from OSU in April, 1971 and my wife of 42 years, Janet, is a 1976 Oregon graduate.  Our older daughter, Lisa, and her husband, Jamie, are both University of Washington Huskies – he a third generation “Dawg.” 

Janet reminds me that Lisa turned down a full academic ride to the U of O and we paid out-of-state tuition because I told her she could go to UW if she was admitted to the Honors College.

I respond that because of my foresight (rather than the rationale being my distaste for the Quackers), we have a wonderful son-in-law (and his family) and two granddaughters and a new grand-puppy who we treasure 

Two Husky alums and family

College Years

I was fortunate to live with twelve of the members of the football team during the Giant Killer era in the SAE House at OSU.  They included my 1970 classmates, defensive back starters, Larry Rich and Don Whitney. 

Craig “The Dude” Hanneman – class of ’71, was profiled as a Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter in 2012.  Other SAE’s footballers during those years were Jim Scheele, Chris Wahle, Clyde Smith, Don Welch, Jim Blackford, Jess Lewis, Roger Cantlon, and Gary and Duane Barton.  

(From left clockwise – OSU SAE’s 1967, Jess Lewis, Capt. Jud Blakely, Dirt and The Dude, Duane Barton)

And the Giant Killer years for us on campus were wonderful – not only from a football perspective, but as a time in our lives that would never be replicated – essentially insulated, carefree and, for the most part, absent adult responsibilities.

And the impact Dee Andros “The Great Pumpkin” had on his players was a foundation for that team and one which shaped their character for the rest of their lives as well as establishing lasting bonds.  https://thebeerchaser.com/2018/05/20/the-1967-osu-giant-killers-beerchasers-of-the-quarter-part-i/

Years Later – Coach Andros with Jossis, Freeburn, Dippel and Hanneman

Post Graduation

After college and the Navy, my employer was Clackamas County for seven years.  I worked closely with County Counsel who were my legal advisors when I worked in the Elections Department and then for the County Commissioners.  I was about the only OSU grad, since most of the lawyers went to the University of Oregon for undergrad or law school or both.

Each year I had a bet on the Oregon vs OSU game with the late Mike Montgomery, who was the Chief Deputy DA.   The loser had to wear a tie to work and buy the winner lunch the Monday after the game and be the brunt of sarcastic comments from co-workers.   I still have Mike’s tie – probably because I was the one who usually had to wear it……

For the last twenty-five years of my career, I worked in an outstanding large Northwest Regional law firm (Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt) and two of our five offices were in Portland and Seattle. 

Since both UW and U of O have law schools, the Washington Husky vs Duck rivalry was almost as heated and perhaps more so than OSU vs Oregon.   

The Schwabe firm had a great culture and an organizational sense of humor was part of it. The week before the Civil War game, electronic missives about important cases and issues at the firm would be actively supplemented by multiple All-Firm e-mails with jokes about the Beavs and the Ducks.

2018-06-06 15.33.32

While the Ivy League law grads who didn’t send similar barbs about the Princeton vs. Harvard game weren’t always amused, most of the firm enjoyed this tradition. The majority of the barbs  could be sent by a fan of either school, but since OSU was an aggie school, many were based on images of country or “hill folk”.

While a lot of them would now be considered politically incorrect, they were done without malice and in the spirit of good fun.  I’ll finish with a sampling.

Q – What did the Beaver say while swimming when he crashed into a concrete wall?     

A – Dam!  (#6)

Q – What’s the best thing to come out of Eugene?

A – Interstate 5. (#7)

A Beaver alum came home and found his house on fire. He rushed next door, telephoned the fire department and shouted, “Hurry over here. My house is on fire!”

“OK,” replied the firefighter. “How do we get there?” “Shucks,” says the OSU alum, “Don’t you still have those big red trucks?”  (#8)

Albert Einstein arrives at a party in Eugene and introduces himself to to the first person he sees and asks, “What is your IQ,” to which the man answers, “241.” “Wonderful,” says Albert, ” We will discuss the Grand Unification Theory and the mysteries of the universe.”

Next, he introduces himself to a woman and inquires, “What is your IQ, to which the woman replies, ” 207.” “That’s great,” said the physicist, “We can discuss politics and the scientific implications of world affairs. We’ll have much to discuss.”

He approaches a third person and asks, “What is your IQ,” to which the guy holding a beer, answers, “51.” Einstein ponders this for a micro-second and says, “Go Ducks!”   (#9)

Q – What do they call 100 John Deere tractors circling a McDonalds in Corvallis.

A – Oregon State Prom Night.  (#10)

An Oregon State Trooper pulls over a Prius in Eugene driven by an Oregon alum and asks, “Got any ID?”

The Duck replies, “About what?”  (#11)

An Oregon grad, a Cal grad, and an Oregon State grad are waiting to be executed by firing squad. The Oregon grad is first, and as he is waiting to be executed, he
yells, “Earthquake!”

The firing squad panics and runs away, allowing the Oregon grad to jump over the wall and escape.

The Cal grad is next, and as he is waiting to be executed, he yells, “Flood!”

The firing squad again panics and runs away, so the Cal grad also jumps over the wall and escapes.

The Oregon State grad is last.  As he is waiting to be executed, he remembers what the other two had done, so he yells, “Fire!”  (#12)

Fire! — Oh Wait?

Two Oregon football players in their dorm rooms were going crazy with excitement as they just completed a jigsaw puzzle in just under one year.

When asked why they were so ecstatic they showed the jigsaw puzzle box where it said 3-6 years and they exclaimed, “We completed it in one-third that time.” (#13)

 And finally, to end on a “neutral field,” of sorts:

A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him during the week of the Apple Cup and asks, “Wanna hear a Husky joke?” The guy replies, “Before you tell that joke, besides being 6’2″ and weighing 240, I’m a UW graduate.”

“The guy next to me is 6’5′ 225 and played linebacker under legendary Husky Coach Jim Owens”

“The woman next to him is a UW Grad, a karate black belt and currently coaches at the University.”

Now, do you still want to tell that Husky joke?”

The first guy says, “No, not if I’m going to have to explain it three times….”

In Conclusion

Enjoy “The Civil War Game” or whatever college contest you either attend or watch – and do it with friends regardless of their alma mater. (Some of you might even want to take in the World Cup)…but Go Beavs!

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BennyBeaverPhoto.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author:  Flickr user “VRC Jeremy” – 2 March 2008.

*2.  Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Duck#/media/File:The_Oregon_Duck_.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.  Author: Ray Terrill – 19 November 2011.

#3.  Oregon Historical Society. 

#4. Public Domain -Wikimedia Commons ((https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Platypus-sketch.jpg This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.  Author: John Gould – 1864.

#5.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pacific_black_duck_P1090215.jpg. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author:  John Robert McPherson 1 January, 2015.

#6.  (Picture of Dam) Wikimedia Common (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RappbodeLufts.JPG) The copyright holder of this work allows anyone to use it for any purpose including unrestricted redistribution, commercial use, and modification.  Author:  Hahnenkleer  30 October 2013.

#7.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:I-5.svg)   his file is in the public domain because it comes from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sign number M1-1. Made to the specifications of the 2004 edition of Standard Highway Signs  16 MY 2007.

#8.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LFB_Pump_Ladder.jpg)  This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Jackus2008 at English Wikipedia. This applies worldwide. 22 November 2007.

#9.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Einstein_Head.jpg)  This image is available from the United States Library of Congress‘s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3b46036. 1947.

#10.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Deere_8200.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.  Author:  Reise Reise 30 July 2009.

#11.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Carolina_State_Trooper_on_I-85.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.  Author:  Ildar Sagdejev (Specious)  13 March 2008.

#12. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Up_In_Flames_(18897711).jpeg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Arun Agrawal  9 September 2012.

#13.   Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jigsaw_puzzle_in_progress.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Balise42  10 February 2022.

November News – Back to Beerchasing!

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My idiosyncratic pursuit of new bars and breweries – initiated as a retirement hobby in August 2011 – was waylaid by the pandemic in 2020-1 and major back surgery in June, 2022.

It’s resumed, albeit at a slower pace than the rapid stride that saw me at the end of 2019, having visited and reviewed a total of 366 watering holes of all kinds.  119 were in the Portland metro area and the other 247 scattered throughout Oregon, many of the fifty states and even a few in Europe. 

In 2020, I only added nine – as establishments temporarily closed or went out of business permanently.   While I’ve lost the formal count, going back in my files, I arrived at a new total.

It appears that during temporary breaks in the lockdown in 2021 and after starting the routine again in 2022, I added 25 more – meaning my Beerchasing exploits have taken me to approximately 400 wonderful (at least most of them) watering holes in a little over eleven years.  

Aside from seven listed below in 2021-2 – all in Oregon – I have not written complete reviews on the other eighteen.  That’s because with the exception of road trip visits, I always try to hit a tavern or brewery at least twice before I write up my reactions.

You can read the reviews of the following by clicking on the links below:

(The photos above are in the order shown below)

Falls View Tavern    – Oregon City – August 21

Steeplejack Brewing – Portland – September 21

Breakside Brewery Taproom – Lake Oswego – April 22

Howells’ Bar and Lounge – Oregon City – April 22

McMenamins Old Church and Pub – Wilsonville – October 22

The Helvetia Tavern – Hillsboro – September 22 

Corner 14 – Oregon City – June 21

Since a number of the others in Portland merit at least a mention, in one of my next posts, I’ll give a thumbnail sketch of some of these establishments.

Communication From Former Colleagues

That said, I have to relate an e-mail from one of my good friends from working days – Howard Mudrick – now the Executive Director at Winstead – a large national law firm based in Dallas, Texas  He worked with Schwabe (my firm) as a legal consultant for almost twenty years on a variety of projects from mergers to strategic planning.   

(Mudrick and Peterson below – photos from their respective firms)

Howard and I co-presented at a number of national and regional Association of Legal Administrators’ conferences and, of course, shared many beers and martinis over the year.  He is well aware of my Beerchasing hobby.

Pete Peterson is another consultant and CPA at Maxfield Peterson with whom we worked on a number of great law projects and also made presentations practices with his wife, Catherine, in Ridgeway, Colorado.  He is also well aware of my Beerchasing exploits and raised a mug on numerous occasions.

Howard sent the following e-mail and link on October 28th with a copy to Pete:

“Don – hope this finds you and Janet doing well and staying healthy.  I hope she doesn’t kill me, but this article SCREAMS YOU.  Quite an interesting idea.  Take Pete with you.  I still have to work for a living.”

(Pete replied by e-mail that he had already applied!)

The following article from the October edition of Food and Wine is entitled:

“This Company Will Send You on a Two-Year RV Trip to Visit Breweries:”

(External photo attribution at the end of the narrative #1)

“Harvest Hosts is looking for someone to create the ultimate brewery and distillery road trip across America.  For beer and spirits lovers, the idea of spending two years traveling around the country in an RV hitting up hundreds of breweries and distilleries might sound like a dream come true.

Well, the RV campsite company Harvest Hosts is looking for someone to do exactly that — and will cover a lot of the expenses to make it happen.”

Without being presumptuous, I would suggest that Thebeerchaser would be one of the most qualified people in the US to take on this onerous project.  Howard’s assertion re. qualifications is correct since the requirements – besides being over 21 and having a driver’s license, are:

“Evidence of your love of breweries and distilleries with ‘images and videos highly recommended.'”

The evidence makes a convincing case for Thebeerchaser!

When I enthusiastically showed the article to wife, Janet, she pointed out the wording about them paying “some of the expenses” and the paragraph:

“As for actual pay, the company says they are only offering a daily stipend of $50, meaning that despite all the free drinks and rent-free RV, the effective salary isn’t much more than $18,000 per year.”

(Janet said she didn’t want to kill Howard as suggested in his e-mail above, but I should just send all his missives to my spam folder.)

She also reminded me that I also got very enthused (albeit naively so) in May this year when I saw the following story in Taste of Home:

“The folks at Oscar Mayer are looking for a new Wienermobile driver, or “Hotdogger,” to escort six giant wieners across the nation. It’s a pretty high honor considering the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile has been going cross-country since 1936.

According to Oscar Mayer, there are more people who have gone to space than people who have held the title of Hotdogger.”  (#2)

800px-Oscar_meyer_weinermobile

“The position isn’t just driving, though. The newest Hotdoggers to carry on the legacy will be spokespeople for Oscar Mayer for one year. This means public appearances, some time on the small screen and radio and newspaper interviews . 

As a Wienermobile driver, you’ll also receive a competitive salary on top of the sightseeing bonus.”

So even though I reluctantly gave up the idea, my creative juices started to flow thinking about a term I haven’t used (fortunately) since retiring in 2011 – “Synergy.” 

I would persuade these two firms that they could combine the two positions based on the dynamic and almost divinely inspired relationship between beer and hot dogs as evidenced by just the examples below:

Dog Beer

We all viewed with morbid fascination the video at Yankee Stadium, as explained in the following excerpt from an 8/22 post on NBC Sports.com 

“In a video captured by @NewYorkNico on social media, a Yankees fan at the game was seen turning a hot dog into a straw for their beer.

Yes, you read that correctly. The fan poked holes in both ends of the hot dog before placing it in the beer and taking a sip through the makeshift straw.”

(Unfortunately, all of the images of the guy at the Yankee game are copyrighted, so I’m just alluding to the stunt in the photos below. #3 – #4)

 

 

 

And how many of you – and, of course, broadcast media personalities – tried to replicate this feat of hand/glass coordination yourselves?

Beer Dog

The sacred bond between Brat and beer can be further explored by demonstrating the topic “Hot Dogs Cooked in Beer,” as artfully explained in this mouthwatering article in Bikehike.org:

“Hot dogs simmered in beer are deliciously tender and have a mild flavor that works perfectly with our beer-infused sauerkraut topping. Slow-simmering hot dogs in beer gives them a mellow flavor and tender texture that’s a great alternative to grilling or frying.”

This raises important questions such as how long do you cook the dogs, how much beer do you use and most importantly, what beer is best – a topic which draws diverse views from the experts:

“Miller High Life. Rich Depascale, beverage manager at The Wilson in New York City. Budweiser. Laura Mitchell, bar lead at BEER PARK in Las Vegas. Others: Reissdorf Kolsch. Old Style. Avery White Rascal. Dogfish Head SeaQuench. Coors Light. Dos Equis Lager.”

I would add PBR and Sticky Hands IPA (#5).

And in Conclusion….

Should I have been selected for the job, I would have proposed my first trip – driving the vehicle to Toppling Goliath Brewery in Decorah, Iowa.  That’s where Clark and Barbara Lewey – former home brewers – founded this enterprise in 2009.

And one of their collaborations with Hop Butcher for the World of Darien, Illinois, was Hot Dog Time Machine Beer. ( A double IPA brewed with Vic Secret, Sabro, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops, this beer clocks in at 7.8% ABV.)

 

A hot dog fueled time travel adventure.

As Toppling Goliath states in the review by Untapped.com)

“What is a Hot Dog Time Machine? We’re so glad you asked! To begin, we have to explore why it even matters. Our amigos at Hop Butcher for the World shared the same interest as us in exploring the alternate reality of the ‘fluffy’ IPA.

We threw multiple types of wheat into our fluff capacitor, heavily hopped it everywhere except the 88-minute boil, and fermented with yeast primed for trans-temporal travel.

Last year was certainly the wurst of times, but now it’s time to ketchup with us on our journey and relish in this hot dog fueled time travel adventure.

(I called Toppling Goliath to see if they still brewed HDTM Beer.  They don’t and the person couldn’t explain why, but it must have been a good “trip.”

Not totally willing to give up, I said to my wonderful wife of 42 years, “Janet I would relish this job and, to be frank, after a year, they would appreciate what I Brat to the table.”

Before she walked away, she asked me how badly I wanted to get to 43 years…..

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving  (#7)

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Four Winds Chateau Sport RV.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Noah Wulf 20 January 2018.

#2.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons: (File:Oscar mayer weinermobile.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.  Author: user:Bachrach44 – 8 January 2006.

#3.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hot_dog_with_mustard.png)  This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

#4.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki

/File:A_paper_straw_for_bubble_tea_and_the_popular_straw.jpg)  This work has been released into the public domain by its author, WrS.tm.pl. This applies worldwide.  17 February 2022.

#5.  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Happy_Saturday_(238576229).jpeg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Author: Terry Lucas
9 December 2017.

#6.  Facebook Page – Terra Ferment Image of Hot Dog Time Machine Beer

#7.  Image courtesy of Pam Williams.

November Notes

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(#1 – #2)

Happy  Thanksgiving!

There have been many stories about problems with law enforcement personnel.  It’s important to remember that the overwhelming majority of these public servants are dedicated and conscientious individuals who deserve our support.  Two examples are related below:

City of West Linn

We live in this suburb of Portland.  While it might not seem to be a big deal, I initially contacted the City in 2015 with a letter expressing concern over lack of adequate signage/lights at a crosswalk across a busy arterial two blocks from our house. 

My letter stated, in part:

“There is a crosswalk which is heavily used by a diverse group ranging from school kids to runners to residents like us who use the crosswalk on exercise walks or just to walk to the nearby commercial district….The warning light for the crosswalk is totally inadequate and does not serve the purpose of warning drivers that the crosswalk is occupied…”

As you could glean from the December 2021 post about my Dad’s long battle with the City of Madera, Ohio regarding the sewage system, when I was in grade school, he taught me that one needs to be persistent to resolve a problem. ( (External photo attribution at end of the post #3)

Two appearances at the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee and essentially annual letters  helped result in a speed limit change but no change in the light or signage.

Unlike in Ohio, the City of West Linn was very responsive in communicating and admitted that both the placement of the crosswalk and the light were problems, but budget constraints precluded resolution.  

That is until 2022, when the City informed us that new lighting had been ordered and would be installed in August.  Police Chief, Peter Mahuna and Captain Oddis Rollins also were very communicative about enforcement of speed limits and the plans for a new motorcycle traffic officer.  Supply chain issues delayed the installation until October, but the effort was finally rewarded.

Having worked in local government for seven years, I understand the constraints, but also know when a government unit is just blowing off a citizen initiative.  This was not the case with any of the multiple City personnel with whom I dealt. Take a look at the change! (In the video, the pedestrian had already finished crossing.)

The Chief – Overcoming Bad News with Good News

West Linn had very serious problems with its Police Department prior to Chief Mahuna assuming the position. It resulted in the termination of a sergeant against whom criminal charges were subsequently filed, the former Police Chief was fired and a substantial law suit settlement was paid by the City.

Chief Mahuna realizes a major part of his job is regaining the Department’s credibility with the community and communicating with its citizens.  This effort was quite apparent in my dealings with him as evidenced in these e-mails.  (The first one is an excerpt).

May 26  –  “Mr. Williams,  Thanks for your letter and I completely understand your frustrations.  I wanted to address the speeding and crosswalk concerns you mention in your letter.  The PD conducted crosswalk missions last year and we were able to educate several drivers about the safety concerns in crosswalks. 

Unfortunately, with our severe personnel shortages we don’t currently have enough people to conduct them until our staffing gets back up. 

………Due to the geography of West Linn and access routes, Salamo Road gets more police cars up and down it throughout the day than most streets in our City.  That being said, we will ask our troops to keep an extra eye out on Salamo. Respectfully, Peter”

Sept. 2  –  “This is great to hear.  Thanks for the follow up.  Just a reminder that we will be hiring our motorcycle officer on September 12th.  Once he gets settled in his focus will be traffic related issues around the city to include monitoring crosswalks. Thanks for the email. Peter”

He is a very busy man and I’m a retired guy, so I was impressed with his communication and responsiveness and told him that I hoped to meet him at some point.  Within an hour I got the following response:

Sept. 2  –  “Would love to meet.  Sign up for “Coffee with the Chief” on our website.  We can meet at PD or Salamo Starbucks. Peter”

Well, I signed up and at 8:00 on October 13th, I spent almost forty minutes with Chief Mahuna in his office – we had a great chat, which I both enjoyed and appreciated. (#4)

Chief Mahuna is a native of Maui and a former college athlete (basketball) at Pacific University where graduated with a BS in Social Work.  He has extensive law enforcement credentials and is sincere in his efforts.  For example, he’s asked citizens to participate in interview panels for new officers. 

Soon after I met with him, I saw that two reps from his Department were meeting with a Citizens’ Group and his personnel are getting involved in the community. 

I wish him success in these efforts.

And Speaking of Good Law Enforcement Administrators

In my January 2020 post on our road trip through the Southwest including several days in Pueblo, Colorado (home of some of the best dive bars I visited since the start of Beerchasing), I mentioned having a beer with Kirk Taylor and his family.

At the time, Kirk was the Sheriff of Pueblo County with responsibility for law enforcement and corrections – first elected in 2007 and re-elected three times. (#5- #6)

Kirk is a USMC Veteran and started as a patrolman in the narcotics division for the City of Almarosa, CO.  After earning his associate’s degree and while ranching full-time, he completed his BA.

While working as an investigator for the District Attorney’s Office, he attended and graduated from law school at the University of Colorado.  He has been a leader in law enforcement serving on numerous state task forces in addition to teaching at the State Police Academy.

Kirk is a man of faith, family, an avid outdoorsman.  He coaches youth athletics and is active in civic and non-profit organizations such as 4-H.   He’s also a national authority on the impact of legalizing marijuana including an appearance on a CBS 60 Minutes special.

I’m happy to report that on October 20th, Kirk was sworn in as 31st United States Marshal for the District of Colorado after being nominated by Pres. Biden and confirmed by the US. Senate. He and  his wife are moving to downtown Denver in November. (#7- #8)

Congratulations to US Marshal Taylor!

The Cycle of Life – Puppy Version

As I related in a  June 10, 2022 blog post, Janet and I during the forty-three years we’ve been married, have never had a pet.  That said, our two daughters and their spouses each had wonderful dogs and they became our “Grand-puppies.”   

We always looked forward to our visits with Sullivan – an amazing thirteen-year old Havanese and Wesley – a beautiful six-year old Golden Retriever.

First there was “Sully Bear.”  He lived in Lake Forest Park, WA and always waited with anticipation at the window for his “parents” to come home and was the ultimate lap dog – he loved to cuddle with his two young “sisters.”

“Wesley Walter” loved to run and swim especially at the river near his home in Portland and the beach – a big dog, but he always gentle with the babies at his house.

Our granddaughters and their parents loved these pups and family get-togethers were always enhanced by their presence.  They got along with each other very well.

We were grief-stricken on March 10, 2021, when Wesley, after a few cardiac episodes, died of a heart-attack.  Exactly one year later, his “brother” Sullivan succumbed to multiple health issues based on his advanced years.  

The memorial stones below will always provide memories of these wonderful members of our family.

The good news is that this coming weekend we’ll meet the new addition to the Magnusson family.  Archie was welcomed to their family on October18th as you can see from the photos below.  The new puppy is a Golden Cavapoo 

His appearance brings back memories of Sullivan, who we still hold in our hearts. There will be an extended family welcome with the four granddaughters et. al. in Portland.

Okay, but What About Beerchasing!

The pandemic in 2020-1 and then major back surgery in June this year severely curtailed my Beerchasing exploits other than scattered reviews and one recent road trip, but I’m back on the trail again.  Stay tuned for the next post and I’ll give an update and some future plans.

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving to Those Who Celebrate It! (#9)

beer picture cRedCruiser- Trader Joes

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Wikimedia Commons – (Male_wild_turkey_(Meleagris_gallopavo)_strutting.jpg (3861×3861) (wikimedia.org)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Frank Schulenburg  24 March 2019.

#2.  Courtesy of Pam Williams

#3.   Wikimedia Commons (sewer) – (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wylot_kolektor%C3%B3w_ burzowych_przy_mo%C5%9Bcie_poniatowskiego.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author:  Panek 31 July, 2021.

#4.  Linked-in (images of police chief peter mahuna – Bing images)

# 5 -#6.  Pueblo County Colorado (https://county.pueblo.org/sheriff/kirk-taylor)

#7 – #8.  Photos courtesy of John and Barb Senger.

#9.  Author:   Redcruiser – Trader Joe’s – Monrovia, California.

 

Road Trip Hot Spots…..Part I

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(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser.  If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

I smiled as we rolled south on Interstate-5 through Grants Pass, Oregon, heading for our first night’s stay in Redding, California – only 285 more miles for what would be a total of 472 or about nine hours from our home in a Portland burb.  (#1- #2 – external photo attributions at end of the  post.)

My heightened spirits harkened back to the great memories from our last road trip – a long one – clear back in in the summer of 2019.  

And was that a road trip!  Fifteen-Days – a 3,700-mile journey through six western states going as far east as the Dakotas. Those who follow Thebeerchaser blog know that besides touring a number of fantastic National Parks and Monuments as well as the impressive Custer State Park, we visited scads of wonderful bars and breweries. 

2019-07-06 18.12.02

While on my own – the first six days driving solo – I visited twenty-three bars and seven breweries including my favorite bar since I started Beerchasing – The Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak, Montana.  (Don’t worry, at most of the bars I visited those six days, I had a 7-Up while talking to the owner or bartender).

Janet flew into Billings where I picked her up for the rest of the trip.  We subsequently stopped at ten bars and nine breweries for a total of forty-nine memorable establishments where we met wonderful people, had outstanding beer and good food. 

It reaffirmed our appreciation for the National Park Service.  The scenery was varied and stunning.  The complete list can be found at the end of the post below:

https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/07/05/big-sky-beerchasing-the-preface/

Then a Three-year Pause….

We had no idea that a global pandemic would stifle not only road trips for the next few years, but essentially curtail all travel other than occasional trips to the beach and to Seattle.   

One doesn’t fully appreciate these journeys until their absence.  To use a Beerchasing analogy:  Schlitz Beer was always my favorite beer, but I didn’t fully appreciate it until they stopped producing it in 1981 when I learned the meaning of “When you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of Beer!” (#3)

And while major back surgery this June made us reject extending our trip for several nights in San Francisco, this 2022 journey was still about 1,200 miles.  We reveled in the scenery of Northern California and the Oregon Coast and while also visiting and revisiting some excellent watering holes.

Redding

Since we felt finally felt comfortable dining inside without a mask, we chose Final Draft Brewing for dinner and beer after a walk across Redding’s impressive Sundial Bridge.   

I had some trepidation the name of the brewery evoked based on repressed memories of graduate school which bubbled to the surface.  Both my sister and her husband were high school English teachers at one point in their careers and were kind enough to edit all of my graduate school papers.

When I often submitted what I thought was my “final draft,” it would be returned with a sea of red ink and no smiley faces drawn at the top. It clearly redefined the meaning of “final.”  Dave Booher, seen in the photo below taken recently in Wales, looks like a kind and gentle soul sipping his IPA. 

However, the image on the left shows the volume of red pens he used just to “correct” one paper.  He was merciless (but I guess, in retrospect, he did teach me how to write and perhaps his actions were based on the quality of my narrative……He is also a quality human being. #4)

Dave is a patriot and served in the US Navy Submarine Service –  five deterrent patrols on two Fleet Ballistic Missile nuclear subs and one tour on a diesel boat, USS Dogfish,  launched in the late ’40’s and used as test platform for secret sonar experiments.

He also advised me – a guy who served on Destroyers – that: 

“There are only two types of naval vessels: submarines and targets.”

He still has a sign in their bedroom he altered from the 1950’s.  His version:

 “Better Red than Dead!”  (#5 – #6)

He’s so into scarlet that even though he’s an ardent U of Oregon Duck fan, he wears a University of Alabama Crimson Tide jersey to the games at Autzen Stadium…….you get the idea! (#5 -#6)

Note:  Dave informed me after reading this post that ironically, the photo of him was taken at a pub called “The Scholar’s Bar” in Aberystwyth, Wales.   He also added, “Please note that in these perilous times my current favorite colors are sky blue and sunflower yellow.”

 But I Digress…..

Final Draft Brewing was a great choice and even on a Monday night, this establishment, opened in 2017 by owner, Adam Ward, was hopping with 34 rotating taps including hard cider and seltzer and with an expansive food menu.  There was also a nice outdoor patio and as accurately portrayed on their website:

“Big Screen Tv’s, Exposed HVAC & An Open Area Brewhouse Located Directly Behind The Bar Are All The Unique Elements That Make Final Draft Brewing The “Go-To” Hangout In Downtown Redding!”

Our server, Isaiah, was a nice and helpful chap who had worked there for three years and explained the beers and gave us some samples before we decided to get (4) four ounce samplers – each for $2.  All were the Brewery’s own beers (Passive Aggressive IPA, True Blood Orange Kolsch, Attention Deficit IPA and Miso Blonde – the Kolsch was my favorite although all were good.

We shared the Filet Mignon Steak Salad ($17.99) and three Cod Tacos for only $12.99 and both were excellent as was the service.

Another Great National Park!

Lassen Volcanic National Park was only an hour from Redding, so we were able to spend a full day in this geologically splendid example of the sixty-three areas of discovery and beauty maintained by the National Park Service.

Photo Oct 03 2022, 2 52 43 PM (2)

Notwithstanding my consumption of the Attention Deficit IPA the night before, I learned from a film in the Visitor Center that  Lassen Peak is the largest plug dome volcano in the world.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is also one of the few areas in the world where all four types of volcano can be found – plug dome, shield, cinder cone, and stratovolcano.

Another striking feature of the Lassen National Park and on our subsequent trip from I-5 to Highway 101 on the Coast through the beautiful Trinity Alps Wilderness (the second largest in California) was the devastation caused by wildfires. 

Much of the Park was closed last year because of fire and the lodge where we stayed was evacuated although fortunately not destroyed.

Photo Oct 03 2022, 2 49 56 PM

At times, one could drive down the main road through the Park and on Highway 299 to Eureka on the Coast and on one side would be lush green forests while the view on the other side was blackened stumps, spindly remains of once lofty firs and no undergrowth.

Fortunately, the beauty of Lassen Peak itself and the marvelous story of the modern-day eruption in 1915 and the movement of massive rocks to end points miles away transcended what one hopes is the temporary devastation by the fires. (The Hot Rock in the picture below weighs 30 tons!)

“At rest for over 100 years in this location, the larger boulder here was once in the vent of Lassen Peak. A violent lahar, or mudflow, carried this 30-ton rock speeding down the slopes of Lassen Peak in a slurry of mud, earth, and rock. 

Visitors to the altered landscape reported that Hot Rock was hot to the touch even months after the eruption. The rock’s internal temperature is estimated to have been 1000°F when it came tumbling down Lassen Peak.”  (National Park Service)

And lest one become too complacent about the past and present volcanic history of the Cascade Range, take a look at these photos in what is appropriately called the “Sulphur Works.”  These can be viewed (and smelled……) right by the highway.  Others require some walking.

“The remarkable hydrothermal features in Lassen Volcanic National Park include roaring fumaroles (steam and volcanic-gas vents), thumping mud pots, boiling pools, and steaming ground.

Water from rain and snow that falls on the highlands of the park feed the hydrothermal system. Once deep underground, the water is heated by a body of hot or molten rock beneath Lassen Peak. Rising hot water boils to form boiling pools and mud pots.”   (National Park Service)

Highlands Ranch Resort

We had reservations that were canceled last year when the Lodge had to be evacuated because of the destructive Dixie Fire, and on this trip couldn’t get into one of the seven multi-room cabins of this magnificent lodging option on 175 acres only fifteen minutes from the Park. 

Fortunately, a nineteen unit motel (The Village at Highlands Ranch) – right across the highway – also operated by the Lodge owners, proved to be very comfortable. 

and

All the amenities of the Lodge were available including the expansive patio with unforgettable views of the meadow and mountain forest,  a rustic dining room and spectacular walnut bar and fire pits to enjoy our after-dinner drinks. 

It was one of the most relaxing and pleasant afternoon and evenings we spent since 2019.  The staff for the Lodge and the dining room and bar were outstanding and friendly.   

Onward to Additional “Hot” Spots….

So ended our first two days on the road trip and we then headed west to Red Bluff through the Trinity Alps to our next nightly destination – the Historic Arcata Hotel in Arcata, CA on 101 – a nice jaunt of 190 miles.   We left volcanic and geothermal country, but now searched for Beerchasing Hot Spots!

Cheers!

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons: By Chad K – Sundial Bridge, from the south, CC BY 2.0, (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108094668)   Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

#2.  Wikimedia Commons:  File:Flag of Redding, California (pre-2018).png – Wikimedia Commons).

#3. Wikimedia Commons: (File:Old Schlitz Beer advertisement in Milwaukee Wisconsin.JPG – Wikimedia Commons)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Victorgrigas   4 January 2014.

#4.  Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Several_empty_red_pens.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: DigitDiva   16 May 2014.

#5. Amazon.com  (https://www.amazon.com/Better-Dead-Than-Communism-Slogan/dp/B07PYXSHXH).

#6.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alabama_Crimson_Tide_logo.svg)  This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain.  Source: University of Alabama – (https://rolltide.com/documents/2018/6/28//Alabama201819LogosCopy.pdf?id=12116)

Summer Cheer(s)

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(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser.  If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

As fall approaches, take a look at two topics which I think you will enjoy:

First – An update on a former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter

and

Secondly – Both a celebration of the fourth birthday of the Benedictine Brewery and St. Michael Taproom at the Mount Angel Abbey and a recollection of the “foundation” of that inspired enterprise back in 2017

*****

Godfather…..!

When one sees or hears the term above, the image usually crossing the mind is either a pizza or for Baby Boomers, Marlin Brando in his unforgettable role of Don Vito Corleone in the three-time Academy Award winning film The Godfather (1972) uttering his memorable threat:

“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse!”

(# External Photo Attribution at the end of the Post – #1 and #2 above)

For those in the Northwest who have an interest in sports and have followed their teams and related issues in the print and broadcast media, the name Dwight Jaynes comes to mind.  Dwight for many years has been known professionally as “The Godfather.”  And for good reason. 

In 2010 he was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and has been named Oregon Sportswriter of the Year five separate times. In 2013, he was named Sportscaster of the Year  – the first person in Oregon to win both awards.

Linked in

The Godfather  #3

He’s also co-authored two books, The Long Hot Winter: A Year in the Life of the Portland Trail Blazers (1992)  with former Blazer coach Rick Adelman and Against the World: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Portland Trail Blazers’ Chase for the NBA Championship (1992) with fellow journalist Kerry Eggers. (#4 – #5)

He had been working for Comcast SportsNet Northwest and not regularly on the air since 2011, when the trio of Dwight, Chad Doing and former Trail Blazer, Antonio Harvey hosted a talk show on radio station 99.5 The Game.

Dwight and I have periodic lunches and at one in July, he seemed energized and told me that “Something is in the Works”.  He then added that if he revealed anything, he’d have to shoot me. The Godfather had that Brando look of malice in his eyes when he mumbled this utterance, so I did not press him further. 

 (As an aside, we ate at the McMenamins’ Wilsonville Old Church – a nice establishment that I will cover in a future post.)  

The next day, it was announced that Dwight and Chad would be back together (“Chad & Dwight Ride Again In Rip City” from 3 – 6 PM each weekday on Rip City Radio 620. #6

Now, admittedly I’m biased, because I named Dwight as one of my Beerchasers-of-the-Quarter in 2016 and I love his historical grasp of NW Sports. 

Chad Doing also has a great radio background including a stint as a sports radio host in San Francisco as well as an interesting history including working as an Alaska Airlines flight attendant for three years.   He’s worked his way up in the radio profession and seems to be a genuine nice-guy with a broad knowledge of sports – especially the Trail Blazers.

“Doing, who lived 27 years in the Pacific Northwest before moving south, came up through the radio ranks in the Portland market, starting by doing high school football for Vancouver’s KVAN. From there, he got an internship with KFXX, at the time the market’s lone all-sports station, and moved up to board operator, then to reading sports updates.

In 2008, when a second all-sports station, KXTG, opened, he moved over, first as a behind-the-scene guy, then just four weeks in, taking over on-air on the morning show, along with Gavin Dawson and, later, Dwight Jaynes.”  (Oregon Live 3/24/15)

You should check them out at https://ripcityradio.iheart.com/featured/travis-demers/  These guys complement each other really well and they cover a broad range of topics. 

On the first few shows Dwight talked about meeting both Bill Russell and Vince Scully, they reminisced about Portland wrestling and had good discussion about recent Blazer issues such as the potential sale and the unwise decision to have Blazer TV broadcasters call the games remotely rather than traveling with the team.

Note:  About one week afterwards, the Blazers reversed this decision:

“Team president Dewayne Hankins joined Portland’s Rip City Radio 620 to discuss the decision with hosts Chad Doing and Dwight Jaynes on Monday. And during the interview, Hankins quickly acknowledged the Trail Blazers heard the backlash and responded accordingly.”   (Awful Announcing.com)

The Godfather is also known for the integrity of his written and spoken opinions through the years and taking deserved shots at Management when it’s deserved, be it that of the Blazers, written or broadcast media execs, referees, etc.

Chad and Dwight are more focused on sports then the rambling and almost irrelevant babble on their Portland competitor in the same timeslot.  

Happy Birthday to the Benedictine Brewery – Thanks be to Father God!

I’m proud to be part of the history of this wonderful Brewery on the grounds of the Mount Angel Abbey and one of only three Benedictine breweries owned and operated by monks in the US.  The Brewery and Taproom under the guidance of Head Brewer, Fr. Martin Grassel has thrived even during the pandemic and Fr. Martin and his trainees brew a robust group of beers. (#8 -14)

I still remember the wonderful community gathering (about 125 monks, priests, seminarians, Abbey staff and volunteers from the Mount Angel community) at the structure raising on a cloudy and cold November 11 2017, when we started the morning with a cement slab.  

By the end of the day, there was a structural frame with six bents ( two-dimensional transverse rigid frames and the building blocks that define the overall shape and character of a structure) using 14,000 board feet of Douglas Fir timber harvested from the Abbey tree farm. 

That day was also the occasion of the first prayer in the Benedictine Brewery and Taproom – held at noon before we ate and in lieu of the standard noon-day prayer in the wonderful Abbey chapel.  Fr. Vincent Trujillo, O.S.B., the Prior of the Abbey,  led the service which was “uplifting” – very consistent with the theme that day!  (#15 -19)

The monks sang and were joined by the other participants. Before getting back to work, we feasted on a spread of delicious barbecued chicken, baked beans, potato salad and green salad – all of which boosted the energy and spirits of the workers. (If the videos, don’t have arrows to start them, click your mouse in the center of the photos)

As stated in my Beerchaser post entitled: “The Benedictine Brewery – Beam Me Up”:

“There were 305 pieces of wood that were joined for the structure.  Besides the 14,000 for the structural components, another 11,000 board feet of lumber was used for the siding  and the tongue and grove boards for the top of the structure.  It will also be used for the actual bar in the Taproom.  It took seven truckloads of logs for the Brewery and Taproom and additional load that went in exchange to the plywood mill.  

Besides the source of the wood, there was another unusual aspect of the construction process:

The timber was harvested, cut, dried, milled using mortise and tenon joinery, which is secured with wooden pegs — an age-old traditional craft — and prepared for a seamless, no-hammer, no-saw construction.”  http://www.capitalpress.com/Orchards/20171113/unique-brewery-raising-at-abbey

The volunteers that day know that their labor would be “captured” in the structure for its duration based on the fact that all were encouraged to sign the pegs that secured the bents before they were put in place.  Thebeerchaser eagerly participated.

It was a truly remarkable day of spirited and spiritual effort by the entire Community and portended the success of what has become a NW regional destination spot with a devoted constituency for Fr. Martin’s beers.

As you will see from the video below in which the largest timber section – 80 feet in length, requiring forty workers was raised, Jonathan Orpin, the President of New Energy – the contractor for the structure raising – was the equivalent of land-based coxswain for his “crew” team.  His enthusiasm and energy was inspiring to all present.

Fall is one of the best times to visit the St. Michael Taproom surrounded by the Abbey’s hop fields. 

Try what has become one of the most popular brews – Hairshirt IPA ( 7.1 ABV | IBUs 56).  As one reviewer in the site “On Tap” stated, “I feel so penitent while drinking this.”

Although the Brewery’s website countered this on Father’s Day stating:

“This Father’s Day, why buy dad another tie when you could buy him a hairshirt? Taking its name from a garment worn as an act of penance, Hairshirt IPA is now available for the first time for sale in bottles, and drinking it is hardly a penitential experience.”

So let me indulge you.   Cheers and here’s to guilt-free drinking!  #20 -21)

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons:   (http://File:Godfathers Pizza – Hillsboro, Oregon.JPG -) Wikimedia Commons icensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. Author: M.O. Stevens 8 September 2012

#2.  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlon_Brando#/media/File:Marlon_Brando_publicity_for_One-Eyed_Jacks.png)  By None visible/Paramount Pictures – Publicity photo for the film One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Public Domain.

#3.  Linked-in (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwight-jaynes-68956b6a/overlay/photo/)

#4.  (https://www.amazon.com/Against-World-Behind-Scenes-Championship/dp/0915611678/ref=sr_1_1?crid=GJB72IUBR6L&keywords=against+the+world+dwight+jaynes&qid)

#5.  (https://www.amazon.com/Long-Hot-Winter-Portland-Blazers/dp/0671748521/ref=sr_1_1?crid)

#6.  Dwight Jaynes Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10160255999956894&set=basw.Abpv_1MIIzZM8NJkopm-)

#7.  Linked-in (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-doing-35477868/)

#8 – 14.  Benedictine Brewery Website and Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/BenedictineBrewery)

#15 – 17.  Benedictine Brewery Website (https://www.benedictinebrewery.com/) Courtesy Brother Lorenzo.

#18. New Energy Works Website (https://newenergyworks.com/)

#19 Benedictine Brewery Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/BenedictineBrewery/photos/a.168624736681758/)

#20 Wikipedia Commons (http://(Ivan the Terrible’s cilice 02 by shakko – Cilice – Wikipedia)  By shakko – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16218870.  Llicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Summer Sagas

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12

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser.  If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

I’m “back” in the saddle again and out one month + from back fusion surgery – now able to drive, walk around the neighborhood and Beerchase again – no golf for several months and until physical therapy is done.

The new COVID strain is again dampening my efforts to visit new establishments with friends; however, my next post will be about a wonderful dive bar in my Oregon “hometown” – Oregon City (the oldest incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains).

In March, I visited Howell’s Lounge twice in the same week – the first time with two semi-retired lawyers and fellow Oregon City High School grads –  Pat Green (’65) and Beerchasing regular and former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, Jim Westwood (’62).  I graduated in 1966. 

I returned the next evening – a Saturday night for dinner with my wife, Janet, and Pat and his wife, Leona.  Both outings were very enjoyable and the memories took us back many years.

The bar’s history – opened in 1929 by the Howell Family, who operated until the twin brothers, Frank and Charlie retired in 1978 – deserves a post of it’s own, so stay tuned.  

Green and Westwood return to their “roots!”

A “spire” for Greatness, but Don’t Fall “Prey” to Initial Success

In August, 2021, when COVID appeared to be on one of its downswings, I had lunch at the new Steeplejack Brewery in NW Portland.  I had talked previously to Brody Day, the co-owner, who with his former college buddy, Dustin Harder, opened the new brewpub in early 2021 in what was previously an historic church in NE Portland.

The church was originally dedicated In 1909 by then President of the United States, William Howard Taft, as the First Universalist Church of Good Tidings which then became Metropolitan Community Church until it moved in 2019.

In a September blog post, I showed some photos illustrating how these two entrepreneurs had done a wonderful job – at great expense – to preserve this building which otherwise, would have become another urban condominium.

And for a number of reasons – maybe Oregon’s only all-female brewing staff (led by Brewmaster Anna Buxton), their commitment to historic preservation, the location and the fact that they brew good beer – the brewery was greeted with enthusiasm.   As stated in the July 21, 2021 edition of New School Beer and Cider:

“In this rare instance, the real-life experience of entering the church of beer actually exceeds expectations and presents a truly, stunningly beautiful place that will make you believe in a higher power.”

Day and Harder are entrepreneurs and do not rest on their laurels or pews. In the spring of 2022, a second location opened in Beaverton – an expansive establishment like the original.   It seats about 200 people and is the former home of another pub – they remodeled and again made significant capital improvements. 

Like the original pub, the menu is somewhat limited – pizza and salads and some sides rice balls, polenta and side dishes.  (External photo credits at end of this post *1)

According to New School Beer and Cider (2/17/22) the second location was not a spur of the moment decision:

“(It – the Beaverton location was) in the works since before the brewery even opened their doors as part of a grander plan to serve not only the inner city but the broader Oregon market.

‘We wanted to find the right location where we could be part of the neighborhood and serve our neighbors beer and pizza in an place that is consistent with our flagship location in Northeast Portland,’ says managing partner Brody Day, who co-founded SteepleJack with longtime friend Dustin Harder. ‘We took a significant amount of time and toured a lot of properties to find the perfect location” says Day.'”

Now perhaps, the two young businessmen found a Bible from the church in their original location and read Genesis Chapter 9 – “Be fruitful and multiply…” because their momentum has continued as forcefully as the beer flowing from a keg at a fraternity pre-function.  As reported in Willamette Week:

“Just over a month after Steeplejack Brewing launched its second location—and a little under a year after opening its first—the company is expanding again. A third outpost will begin operations on Friday, July 1. 2022.”

The Hillsboro establishment – a 17,000 square foot facility in a former warehouse – “…the home of a taproom, beer garden and kitchen as well as a small production brewery and canning line purchased from the now defunct Wiens Brewing of Temecula, California.”.(New School Beer and Cider 7/12/21.)

Steeplejack was subsequently named “Best New Brewery” at the 2022 Oregon Beer Awards.  (*3-4)

Steeplejack is a great story and the co-owners deserve credit for their immediate success.  That said, in the eleven years since I started this hobby – and most notably in the last three, I’ve seen numerous breweries – starting off with unbelievable acclaim and positive financial results exceeding any expectation.  

These once-bustling establishments are now gone or struggling to stay afloat – and many had effective management and loyal customers, but withered under increasing competition, staffing issues and costs.  Admittedly, I know nothing about how Steeplejack is capitalized and the strength of their income statement since opening, but I hope in five years, we can continue to toast their success in all of their locations. 

My Way or the Highway??

We’ve all read about small planes which have made emergency landings on highways in the past.   For example, the photo below is one from 2012, after a small airplane made an emergency landing on Oregon  Highway11 approximately 17 miles east of Pendleton.

The highway was closed for a short period to move the aircraft off the main highway and then was closed again for a short time to allow the plane to take off. (*4)

But the one last week in Missouri is worth noting for two reasons:

  1. The plane was piloted by a student pilot without another pilot in the plane and ran out of gas.
  2. The student pilot was arrested for DUI (Driving Under the Influence)

According to NBC News:

“A student pilot who landed a small plane on a Missouri highway early Friday was arrested on charges including driving while intoxicated, authorities said. (emphasis added)

The pilot of the single-engine Piper Cherokee landed the plane about 2:45 a.m. on Interstate 70 near Grain Valley, a city about 22 miles east of Kansas City, Mo. The Missouri Highway Patrol tweeted that the plane ran out of fuel, hastening the freeway arrival, and hit a guardrail.

……35-year-old John T. Seesing, was hospitalized with a minor injury before being booked into jail, according to highway patrol….Seesing also faces allegations of careless and imprudent driving involving a crash, felony drug and gun possession, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to an arrest report.”

It will be interesting to see how his lawyer fights the charges e.g. does DUI apply to an airplane on a highway, does the Highway Patrol have jurisdiction, etc.

It reminds me of a fascinating case in Lincoln City, Oregon on the Coast Highway 101, on October 16, 2012. One James Greene, exited a bar in his motorized wheelchair and proceeded across the crosswalk whereupon he hit a moving pickup truck. (*5)

He was subsequently convicted of DUI by a jury, fined $1,500, had his driver’s license suspended – ultimately for three years – and lost his insurance.  But when he appealed, a 2016 panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals unanimously reversed his conviction with the logic “…..that a person merely crossing the street should be considered a pedestrian, and therefore not a ‘person who drives a vehicle.'” (emphasis added)

The Court carved out this exception and didn’t buy the State’s assumption that a vehicle is “any device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway and includes vehicles that are propelled or powered by any means.” (*6)

Had Greene been in the bicycle lane or on the roadway, his appeal would probably been unsuccessful.

So will a Missouri jury buy the the assertion that an airplane (and one out of gas no less) “operating” on a public highway is a “vehicle” and will the pilot’s arrest for DUI stick.  The lawyers will love this one!

Darwin’s Theory Evolves…

Those who follow this blog know that one of my favorite dive bars is Darwin’s Theory in Anchorage, Alaska.   And my affection for the bar is not just because Darwin, the owner, is an Oregon State University alum.   

There’s no draft beer or hard liquor, but free popcorn, a great juke box, the “Heavy Petting Zoo” in the backroom!.. and the staff and patrons are wonderful (including the late and great bartender, Mary Jean, shown in the picture above.)

This Yelp review will help affirm my sentiments:

“When you step inside, you’ll realize that this is no hipster dive bar.  No sir!  This has been a dive bar since inception and doesn’t appear to have changed.  Beer in the bottle, great service, and interesting patrons round out the perfect dive-bar experience.”   Yelp – 11/13 by Eric from Nevada City, CA

And I’ll  always remember my conversation with a friendly guy I sat next to at the bar.  (This was in 2014 and we had eaten dinner at a brewery earlier, but at 9:30 it was still total daylight – I couldn’t sleep –  so I left Janet in our hotel room and  walked the two blocks to Darwin’s). 

Bill was in his fifties and an oil field worker, in addition to having fished in the Bering Sea and running marijuana from Mexico to the East coast in the ’70’s. “I had an old Lincoln with really big fenders….”  I also asked him about bars in Anchorage and he said to be careful because in the last few years there had been a few shootings at bars close by.

Big fenders for “storage”…*7

Well, Darwin publishes a quarterly newsletter and for those who are planning to visit Anchorage, I’m pleased to report that they have not let supply-chain issues deter them in 2022:

“The popcorn machine after nine years of constant production of our famous (free) popcorn, died.  You wouldn’t think finding a new machine would be so difficult.  But it was! 

The Ice Machine was a different matter.  After 17 years it too gave out.  That replacement was ‘easy squeezy.  There was one in town just waiting. The same-day replacement put Darwin’s back in business with anyone noticing.”   (*8)

Hot Popcorn

Cheers!

External Photo Attribution

*1  Steeplejack Beer Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/SteeplejackBeer/photos/408349128023453)

*2 Steeplejack Beer Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/SteeplejackBeer/photos/a.106656934859342/)

*3  Steeplejack Beer Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/SteeplejackBeer/photos/430725372452495)

4  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plane_takes_off_from_Oregon_11_.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author:   Oregon Department of Transportation – 8 November 2012.

*5  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electric-powered_wheelchair_Belize1.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Memas 15 June 2010.

*6  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Eo-scale_of_justice.gif)  The copyright holder of this work, releases this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide.  2004

*7 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1979_Lincoln_Continental_Town_Car_)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author:  Greg Gjerdengen  28 May 2016.

*8   Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hot_Popcorn.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author:  Ssgapu22 

Jocular July

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*1

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser.  If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

Farewell Mayor Bud

*2

You might wonder how the passing of an icon is consistent with the title of this blog post, but remembering Bud Clark brings smiles – if not laughs – to the people who knew this jovial bar owner. 

In 1984, he made national headlines running against the City of Portland political establishment and capturing an upset win in the Mayor’s Race. He passed away in February. (External photo attribution at the end of this post.)

Zap the Clap???

His “Expose Yourself to Art” poster which now hangs in the Smithsonian was originally going to be part of a campaign against venereal disease called “Zap the Clap.”  Whether it was seeing him ride to work at City Hall on his bicycle, his legendary exclamation “Whoop Whoop! “or just running into him at the Goose Hollow Inn that he opened in 1967 his charisma prevailed.  And Bud was a very effective elected official during his two terms.

One of the best memories of my now eleven years of Beerchasing was visiting the Goose Hollow in 2012 with friend Jim Westwood (former Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter) and the late Oregonian history columnist, John Terry. 

I had called the Goose and asked if Bud still came to the bar and he agreed to meet us.  He gave me an interview and spent 90 minutes with us, bought our beer and gave us each an historical tract about the Goose Hollow Neighborhood.  The bar is now  managed by his daughter Rachel.   

Bud’s charisma, efforts to help the downtrodden and civic and entrepreneurial spirit will long be remembered.

Back to the “Fusion”

One of my pet peeve is blogs or columns where the author goes into excruciating detail about his or her personal health and well-being. Well, without trying to be hypocritical and realizing I may lose some followers, I offer the following chronicle – rationalizing that the narrative has some beer-related content and also explains why the last Beerchaser post was almost one month ago.

The story began last November where I ended up in the Emergency Room of our local hospital with severe back pain – enough so that I received some narcotics to mitigate the pain while they did an MRI.

My only prior back problems were a short-term “pulled vertebrae” issue during high school basketball and with Navy ROTC drills in college.  The ER doc referred me to a spine surgeon.

*3

After getting two opinions, both docs opined that they would avoid just a discectomy or decompression, but undergo a fusion – the more radical procedure where your body becomes host to screws and other fasteners that one normally procures at Ace Hardware.

That way, I wouldn’t be coming back again in three or four years for another trip to the OR. Some advised me to avoid a fusion, but I wanted to play golf, hike and hold my grandchildren again, so I had the operation on June 13th in a four-hour procedure. (By the way, the pictures below are not of me…..)

*4
*5

Well, three weeks out, I’m a relatively pain-free and a happy camper – now off narcotics so I can drink beer again….. So how does this story relate to beer:

My surgeon is a brilliant and personable young guy with impeccable credentials and outstanding communication skills. After a couple appointments and the decision, Janet and I met with him for the pre-op consultation two week prior to surgery, and part of our conversation went like this:

Doc:   Don, how’s your pain level?

Beerchaser:   Pretty good except when I sit for a period.  For example, I had to drive to Mount Angel (almost an hour drive) last week and I had to stop three times to get out and walk because of the pain.

Doc:   Why did you have to go to Mount Angel?

Beerchaser: I had a meeting of the Abbey Foundation Board.

Doc:  Have you been to the brewery down there?   My wife and I both love their beer.

Beerchaser:   I could go on for an hour why I love the Benedictine Brewery and how I became involved.

*6 One of only four owned and operated by monks in the US

Fast forward to the day after the surgery when he was doing his hospital rounds and after talking with me for ten minutes, he concluded:

“Don, the fact that you had such rapid mitigation of pain is very positive.  In six weeks we’ll be virtually high-fiving and toasting with Monk beer…”

This part of the story ends with my first post-op appointment – two weeks after the surgery and with his Physician’s Assistant. Knowing the surgeon likes Benedictine Beer, I put two bottles in a small bag with tissue paper and included a page long treatise about the Brewery story including two links to posts on Thebeerchaser where I told the story.

*7

I gave the bag to the receptionist and about fifteen minutes into the appointment with the PA, there was a knock on the exam room door and he walked in with a big smile on his face:

Doc:   As soon as I saw the contents in the bag, I knew where this came from. Thanks.

Beerchaser:  As soon as I found out that you liked Benedictine Beer, I knew I picked the right surgeon! 

(And for those who doubt the benefits of visiting the Benedictine Brewery and Taproom, check out this 2022 article “A Drink From This Benedictine Brewery Will Have You Thanking God for Beer!”) in the international publication Religion Unplugged.)

A few additional thoughts

If you find out that your surgeon favors Coors Light, you might want to get another opinion.

The Physical Therapist who initially met with me in the hospital said that they have two maxims:

  1. “Motion is the lotion…….”  (i.e. “Get your butt out of bed or your chair every twenty minutes.”)
  2. “Remember this rule for the next six weeks: ‘No BLT.”

At first I was shocked because I thought the “B” was for “Beer,” but was relieved to find out that the acronym stood for “Bending, Lifting and Twisting” – something I could live with although challenging to practice. 

I rationalized that shaving required me to bend so I used this opportunity to grow a beard for the first time since we dated in 1979.   Given the results after 2.5 weeks and at Janet’s urging, I figured out how to shave without bending on July 4th.

One final reflection. I have never been worried about my balance, but falling after back surgery can be disastrous, so we were fortunate to get a walker on loan from our church.

I told Janet that it’s a reflection on how things have changed in our lives when getting a walker is viewed as a really positive development….

*8 Not the Texas Ranger..

I’m pleased to report that I have now graduated to a cane to walk up and down stairs.  And I’ll use the cane for the next few weeks outside, because where we live most of the sidewalks have ups and downs.

I’ve tried to view this positively imagining the neighbors envision the F. Scott Fitzgarald figure, – a much older, Jay Gatsby, and his iconic walking stick ambling through our neighborhood.  (9-11)

Being confined to my house for the last 2.5 weeks has enhanced my reading and also internet diving.   And along the theme of “Jocular July” I offer these two which made me laugh.

Rain Forest in North America?

Eddie Burback is an actor and producer.  He and his buddy took a three-week 2022 road trip to eat at every remaining Rain Forest Cafe in the US and Canada – eighteen in all.   

At first I thought, “This guy is nuts,” but then realized that it would be hypocritical for me – a guy who has made a hobby of visiting bars and breweries throughout the US for the last eleven years to question this goal.  

*12 Eddie Burback
*13

I had eaten at two RFCs – one in Phoenix and one in downtown Chicago (permanently closed as of April this year) on business trips trying to skimp on my expense reimbursement. 

After checking out the start of his 2022 You Tube, I have to admit that I listened to the entire  thirty-six minute bit and it was entertaining.

Zoom Your Room….

We have watched an incredible number of ZOOM interviews on Cable News – primarily on political topics and Janet and I often commented about how stylish the living quarters of the interviewees usually are. 

Having participated in a number of ZOOM sessions ourselves, we also have wondered how our background looks.

*14 These people need help…..

I then discovered a book published last month: How to Zoom Your Room: Room Rater’s Ultimate Style Guide.    

“Packed with beautiful how-to illustrations that demonstrate visually stunning set-ups and tips from celebrity zoom rooms, Room Rater packs an amusing punch while offering advice on how to up your game and not be embarrassed by your surroundings.”

In Conclusion

So at least temporarily, block out the dispiriting and find some crazy or innovative items that will make you laugh or even lead you on an adventure.

This claim is perfectly stated in this excerpt from what became my favorite song during the pandemic by John Michael Montgomery – Life’s a Dance” – great melody and lyrics.

When I was fourteen I was fallin’ fast
For a blue eyed girl in my homeroom class
Tryin’ to find the courage to ask her out
Was like tryin’ to get oil from a waterspout
 
What she would have said I can’t say
I never did ask and she moved away
But I learned somethin’ from my blue eyed girl
Sink or swim you gotta give it a whirl
 
Life’s a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don’t worry about what you don’t know
Life’s a dance you learn as you go
 
Cheers!

External Photo Attribution

*1  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sharing_a_laugh_(15484499520).jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  Author:  Oregon Department of Transportation – 16 October 2014.

*2  Wikimedia Commons  Bud Clark (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bud_Clark_1988.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Steve Morgan  18 March 1988.

*3  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons   (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ER_logo.svg)   This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain.

*4  Public Domain – Wikimeidan Commons  (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1851539)  Mjorter at Dutch Wikipedia – Transferred from nl.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain. 

*5  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roe_LWS_Spondylodese_L5-S1_seitlich.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:PumpingRudi  16 November 2009.

*6 -7  Benedictine Brewery Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/BenedictineBrewery)

*8  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walker._frame.jpg)  This work has been released into the public domain by its author, High Plains Drifter. This applies worldwide.  27 January 2006.

*9 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Une_canne_de_marchand_.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Fonquebure   21 March 2009.

*10  Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F._Scott_Fitzgerald_(1929_photo_.jpg)  This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1927 and 1963, and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. 

*11 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby#/media/File:Saturday_Evening cover.jpg)  In the public domain in the United States because it  was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1927.  Author:  Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle.

*12 Eddie Burback (https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Eddy_Burback)

*13  Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rainforest-cafe-auburn-hills-michigan.jpg)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  Author: Joetregembo  11 March 2016. 

*14  Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zoom_participants_Bubrikh_2020.png) Released worldwide into the public domain by its author http://AKA MBG.