bierkergaard

One of my go-to foods from childhood is peanut butter. I am saddened that many children these days have a deadly allergic reaction to this humble and oily legume. I cannot imagine childhood without peanut butter. If George Washington Carver were alive today, he would no doubt be sued to bankruptcy like an opiod manufacturer. The Humble Peanut: Death In A Shell. Yesterday, I opened a new jar of my Costco Brand Creamy Peanut Butter. Two ingredients: Peanuts and Sea Salt. That is it. I wish I could get a Crunchy version of it but it is not available at the local store. People usually are strongly in the Creamy or Crunchy camp. I am pro-Crunchy and only eat the Creamy because it is difficult to find the non-hydrogenated option, as I think  most consumers prefer the Creamy version.  About twenty years ago, I started buying non-hydrogenated peanut butter when I read that hydrogenated fat is bad for the body. It makes sense. The same quality that makes it shelf-stable makes it hard f...

Back trying again on the Chromebook. I have decided to just type and clean up the spelling errors from typing and the double-spacing at the end. Nothing ever works as planned. I was hoping that my fingers would adjust and become attuned to the overly sensitive keyboard. Nope. I am drinking an ice cold Perpetual IPA as pain killer as I type. What a pain in the ass.  As it is, I think I will be able to understand what I had attempted to type. A macro-clean-up sounds like the way to go. We shall see. Thank the Lord for IPAs. This Christmas Vacation, I like most everybody (besides the anti-masker crowd) am not driving or jetting away to a cool location, No,  I am  uncharacteristically home for the holidays which is probably only the second time in a decade.  Truth be told, I am really a homebody. I just  realize that there are some cool things out beyond  the horizon so I pretty much  force myself away, like an old school parent tells his kid  to go o...

I learned this week that my mentor and good friend Walter Williams passed away a few days ago. He was a world-renowned economist, advisor to presidents, and a weekly columnist and an author of many books. He combined Philly street smarts with academia. An oil and water combination if there ever was one. He made it work.  He also subbed for Rush Limbaugh in what he titled "The Atilla the Hun Chair." Walt had a wicked and mischievous sense of humor. He loved being antagonistic, individualistic, and counter to Liberal groupthink. He was Libertarian and not Conservative. There is quite a difference. A true Libertarian essentially believes that do what you will within the constraints of protecting property and persons, just don't make another person pay for it. As a political philosophy, it is the only way I see out of gridlock.      We were friends basically because I grew up on the same street where he lived with his wife and daughter. We spent many a summer morning on...

I have the big three social media platforms on my iPhone, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I am actually in-person friends with 99% of my Facebook friends and knew almost all of them before adding them as friends on Facebook. Twitter is my next most used app, then Instagram. Like almost everyone, these apps have become a part of my life. Too big a part. Hence,  the Social Media Triangle. Feeling trapped in the Triangle and going from angle to angle repetitively. A nausea is usually the result.     For those of you too young to remember, back in the 1970's, there was a lot of press about the Bermuda Triangle. In these accounts were not just reports of legitimate nautical and meteorological dangers to shipping in this part of the Atlantic Ocean but suggestions that more diabolical forces were at work, not just treacherous water, winds, and weather. As if the Bermuda Triangle was a watery portal to Hades itself. Some region where evil forces lured victims into a triang...

So. Week III with the Chromebook. Spelling better with the typing delay. Spacing still an issue. I think I type like a caveman with burly fingers.  Got up at 2:30 am this morning to get three different trainings completed for school. About 9  hours straight, There was an impending Dec. 1 deadline. Chromebook invaluable for the work.  It shines with web access, video conferencing,  and sound.  Done. When I feel a deadline around the corner, I don't delay. Any lack of getting the task finished previously was because I had more pressing issues. Facts are is that we have had a lot on our plates. When I woke up, I knew today was the day to knock it out and I came out swinging. I am headed out of  town for Thanksgiving Weekend and hardly needed this over my head like some sword, I have an enormous capacity to absorb work, to put my head down and get it done. I have pushed my entire adult life. So, exertion does not feel unusual. I can't say that I love pain but I...

Feels like midnight but only 6:43. This Fall Back really messes with the mind for a couple of weeks.   Sundays, as my loyal readers know, is relaxation day. Saturdays are typically To-Do. But, not this Saturday. Besides taking down the hop garden, a yearly exercise, I really just chilled. I did forward my financials to my money guy in preparation for the retirement plan and looked at some late model Honda SUVs which will be my post-employment camping vehicle.   Otherwise, I just rested. No need to work. Accept the day as a gift. It is often very difficult for me to be still.     I met a good friend for breakfast which then turned more into a brunch. We were eating outside at a local greasy spoon diner to avoid the COVID-19. As the morning continued, it was in the 70's and sunny. Really unusual for November here in Central Pa.   Soren Kierkegaard made the comment that humanity is in such a frenzy to experience pleasure that we rush right by it...

My commute back from work. One that I have done thousands of times in the last 29  years. The Fall drive is my favorite under the canopy of changing and colorful leaves. After I retire in 1--3 years and travel, I will miss this road. But, I will always come back to Pennsylvania for October. July is for the birds and I will fly North. Slowly executing the retirement plan.     I really don't have a credible reason to not blog today, extra hour and all from Fall Back. I always have ideas and also have a new Chromebook which is proving quite the asset for video conferencing that I had  envisioned for it. Resistance is futile. Google wins. I have  had four very meaningful video chats or events since purchasing the Chromebook.  Plus, the Chromebook is free of dissertation and doctoral pain and it also is not designed to be used for work unless there is some type of unavoidable scenario where I cannot get my school laptop home for some reason. I can use my ho...

My Dell laptop is from 2007. It weighs as much as a suitcase jammed with full wine bottles from a Napa Valley vacation. And about the same size. And even though I replaced the battery not too long ago (maybe 7 years), it is just an old system.  Due to the ubiquitous of the smartphone, I rarely use it anymore besides printing or scanning documents. And, sometimes that is necessary. Since the laptop and peripherals are all ancient, with the HP Laser Printer probably being 1995, the Dell laptop 2007, and scanner 2010 (the baby), if I had replaced the laptop, then I would have had to also buy a new printer and scanner. And the question was why? The last time I had to find drivers for the printer it took hours online.     The laptop also has baggage because it was the computer that I mostly wrote my dissertation on back in 2007/2008. At the time, my old desktop was dying, had very old and incompatible software where Temple University was at tech-wise. So, I had to upgrade...

Yes, I am back. For how long, who knows. Asymmetrical Blogging. Frankly, I am not particularly vested in blogging consistently weekly any more. Weakly, maybe. I have a lot to say and write but I am not sure most people care much either way. It is just the way it is. I live my life. So, check in when you wish. Or not. Your call and decision. Maybe there will be something new. Maybe not. Is it not suspenseful? I decided to write before I lost the will this morning...  Last summer, my window's air conditioner stopped working. Pushing buttons was meaningless. I thought the AC was destined for the junk yard. In one last desperate attempt at resuscitation, I took the unit to the bathtub and turned it so any water within would drain out. My hypothesis was that water was causing the AC not to function. There was an incessant beeping, while it was plugged in (would have been paranormal if not plugged in like a poltergeist. Call the priest) telling me something was wrong.    Water ...

Hey, just a quick note that I am going to take a break from blogging. It could last until next week or until Labor Day (or somewhere in-between). I never want writing to be a burden for me as I do it for enjoyment. So, I am taking a break. Just wanted to let you consistent readers know. No need to worry. I will be back at some point. Until then, remember it is OK to lay things down. 

Ever since the COVID-19 shutdown, I have done almost all of my grocery shopping down the road at AJ's Surplus Grocery. I am calling it asymmetrical shopping. Whereas COSTCO is the very definition of predictable, AJ's changes like a chameleon week-to-week. It is the Wild West. The stock is not very consistent outside of the eggs. In attempting to stay away from large crowds, AJ's has worked out great. This last week I bought ten pounds of ground sausage for $15.99. The two tubes are light sabers. One could go to a street fight with these frozen pork bats in hand. Whole Wheat bread loaves were 94 cents a piece so I loaded up on those and put in the spare freezer. Starbucks Coffee Reserves bags, normally in the $20 range were $2.99. I had to pass as I have enough roasted and green coffee until 2021. I never run out of coffee. Never. That is a non-negotiable. I can't imagine people running out of coffee. When AJ's first opened, I found precisely three products ...

A friend and I have discussed how our worlds have become smaller since the COVID-19 shutdown. Our gaze is more microscopic personally versus telescopic. So, I am going to write about my neighborhood again this week. Social Media of course has opened up the skies bringing the world to our smart phone, for good and for ill. A Pandora's iPhone for sure. I am not sure we are equipped neurologically for all of the images and inflammatory rhetoric that gets downloaded into our minds. I suppose it can be a good thing that those things that are disturbing, we have to deal with and not ignore, but I think we are also being concussed, I, for one, am attempting to disengage from the dissension unless I think I can add something productive. I am using my snooze, block, and hide features a lot these days on both extremes Right and Left. I also know that it is hard to be constructive considering the current state of affairs in our Trumpian Dystopia.  I am not sure the Center will hold. I ...

For the last ten weeks or so, I have been gazing upon a discarded living room set across the street in a front yard of a townhouse. With a combination of irritation and humor, I practiced forbearance. It did become somewhat amusing to see how long it could go before something gave. I named it Abraham's Acres, a place of rest for weary travelers between Lancaster and York. I posted weekly updates on Facebook which at least some of my friends found funny. I thought about knocking on the door to ask them if I could assist them with its disposal. I didn't want to act like a jerk but I am a firm believer that neighborhoods degrade because no one seems to care about trash, loud music, barking dogs, ignorant parking, etc. All these minor signs of incivility grow like weeds. And once there is enough weeds, it chokes the health of the neighborhood. The bad element moves in, crime goes up. Yada, yada, yada. Maybe I am selfish, but I just don't like my car windows broken for spar...

A few days after the COVID-19 shutdown, I bought this book. I figured it would provide hope in facing a crisis. After reading about 90% of it, I stalled. Then, with tomorrow being Memorial Day, I thought it would be good to finish it up and then blog about it. The kayaking trip can wait a week. Or, it may be gone forever as a blog topic. Who knows. The day that we got word, Friday, March 13, that the schools were closing the following Monday, a casualty of that close-down was the SAT on March 14.  Technically, before the close-down order was going into effect. We were one of the last high schools in the area to cancel the SAT. I knew that it would affect over 150 students who needed to take the test as a part of their college planning process. I will save for another day whether these tests (SAT and ACT) should have the weight they do. But, the reality is that they are important. And pulling a test should be done with great circumspection and caution. The shut-down has obvio...

Well. I said that I'd finish my thoughts about the bench, so here goes. In order to make sense of this, if you didn't read last week, go back and do that first. Here are some points: - Good equipment matters. You have to find the right tools to do the job. My old bench press did one lifting movement, the bench press. Every other lifting move was constrained by the arms of the bench. The incline bench does 95% of the lifts I need to do and provides good back support. - Good technique matters. In the age of the internet, as long as you go to a reputable website, you can glean a ton of information about good technique. Most of it at no cost. Gone are the days where we have to pay to be informed. There is also a lot of garbage. Know enough to know the difference. Get a decent book to start. Chance are, the book has had at least some vetting.    - Good equipment and good technique, however, do not add a lot to motivation. Some, but if you lack motivation, the best of bot...

The above incline weight bench was bequeathed to me from a neighbor that I will call "Rambo" when I lived the town east of where I am now. He was a body-builder and when he pushed the lawnmower looked like a colossus striding the earth.  He shared an abiding and mutual hatred of groundhogs and operationalized the hatred from theoretical to practical through his acute skills in hoisting his 22 rifle out the back bathroom window of his domicile and pegging said diabolical creatures in their foreheads as they peered out of their holes. The poor vermin never saw it coming which preserved a serene look on their face when in state. The day just seemed so promising to ravage my and others' gardens. My history with lifting weights goes back about 40 years. My dad purchased a set of concrete weights covered by plastic and a wobbly weight bench in my early teen years. We didn't have a basement so it had to either go up to the attic, which became infernal or cold dependin...

My Honda All Ready To Roll Yesterday, a buddy and I headed up to the county park across the river that has mountain biking. The trails are from easy to quite hard and the name of the park contains more than a hint as to why: Rocky Ridge. The first time I have been out since late October, with my ribs still not fully healed then from a bike wipe-out at said park when an insect the size of a drone landed on my arm and in my attempt to shoo it, I lost control.     Pennsylvania is not exactly mountainous in any Alps-like manner. And while the elevations are low, the trails are hard. And stocked with stones and rocks. Which makes for interesting and dangerous mountain-biking. I prefer a fairly clear trail with elevation rises and drops, twists and turns, and not a ton of rocks. If you hike the Appalachian Trail north past Delaware Water Gap, boots go there to die. I have heard it said that it is the hardest part of the trail. I have done that part. It destroyed a pair...

Thursday night we re-convened Craft Church. But Cyber. Before COVID-19 we would meet monthly in person at my immaculately sumptuous palatial townhouse, read and discuss a verse in the Book of James, and drink craft beer. I know it is not revolutionary but it has been great to pair theological discussion, practical application, conversation, and craft beer. I am always excited to see what people bring to share beer-wise and also their take on the verse at hand. Ah, the good old days. Let me tell you grandkids, it was the best!  I had been doing enough video conferencing through the various platforms to realize ahead of time that there may be "technical" problems. I wasn't sure what the issues were but the evidence was pointing that it was on my end. I had been resorting to using my iPhone for both work and out of work online discussions and conversations, but didn't quite realize that this was truncating what I could see and what others could see in reference to m...

Last week, Easter Sunday, I wasn't feeling it. I didn't want to write. I just wanted to rest. In my theological viewpoint, resurrection means rest. The end of attempting to earn favor with God. That is a treadmill that will run the soul down. Just rest, just receive. My dad thought my lack of blogging meant that I was cracking up.   In general, I don't get too worked up about writing this blog. I don't spend hours pondering words and sentences, or constructing over-arching outlines on paper in terms of logical digressions. God loves a cheerful giver and if I can't have fun with this and maybe make a few points worth considering, then I wouldn't do it. I have enough stress elsewhere just to add another burden. So, I sit at the keyboard and write. I surprise myself a lot on the direction the blog takes. It is like the wind. Or breaking wind. You be the judge. I did have WiFi  issues while writing this so I had to take a break, eat lunch, and return. I am n...

Taking this week off. Have plenty churning in my mind to write about.

My Beer Fridge...It Has Many More Stickers On It Now. Circa Jan. 2019.  Last Saturday, I was craving normalcy. I am just not sure what it is anymore. I mean is this the new normal, the pandemic era? I called my local beer distributor to make sure they were still open and the grandfatherly owner answered and said that they were. He has a raspy distinctive voice and it was reassuring and reminded me that things are not quite as Apocalyptic as they seem. He's a good dude and I always like chatting with him a bit as I shop. So, I drove down through the cold rain and bought more brewski. It seems like it has been cloudy and rainy a lot and this might just be my imagination from not being out and about. Every day seems at least overcast. Usually when I visit, I browse and browse. I like shopping for three things: Beer, Beans (Coffee) and Books. I can be in there for an hour at a time weighing brands, taste, and cost. This time I was quick. I had my eye on stuff for a while and ...

Last week I wrote about my mouthpiece. Essentially, the gist was that I grind my teeth at night according to what my dental hygienist said evidenced by wear and tear on my teeth. I noted it wasn't the first time I had been told that. So, I have taken to wearing mouthpiece when sleeping to keep the teeth-on-teeth, like bone-on-bone, friction to a minimum. I restate this because last week I didn't post the link of the blog piece to Facebook and Twitter which is where most of my readers come from. As I wrote last week, that buffer of plastic seems to have reduced my headaches that I was waking up with and not knowing why. I have had headaches for so long that it is just my normal. My hypothesis is that grinding of the teeth was displacing the tension into my jaw muscles, and this somehow was manifesting itself in headaches. The mouthpiece really seems to be helping. I am kicking myself that I didn't institute this intervention sooner. A lot of years of suffering for what....

Soooooo, how has your week been? Ha-Ha. Been a little cray-cray? Me, too! Must be a coincidence! Still trying to recover from whatever I came down with. No fever, so it doesn't sound like Corona. But, c'mon, it has been two weeks already. Every morning I blow bloody snot and boogers into the toilet paper. The cough has mostly subsided. I am thinking that I may have concocted a compromise of sorts with the Corona Virus...the Fever Free option.  A couple of weeks ago, P.C. (Pre-Corona) I was at my dentist's office for my 6 month tooth-tune up. For a 56 year old, I have great teeth. One cavity. Over a lifetime. Au natural. I have decent dental cleaning habits. But, the dental hygienist that day made a couple of pointed observations. I liked her. She leaned on me, a star pupil overall.  She noted that there is wear and tear on my teeth associated with night-time grinding. I have heard that before. Second, she said that my gums would benefit from a Water-Pik ...