What Say You?

I like root beer…a lot! So imagine my excitement when me and the Mrs. settled in to watch a show on the Food Network a couple months ago and they made their way to a specialty root beer brewery in Wisconsin. Good root beer! And not just root beer, but they use the recipe in their BBQ sauce and they make vanilla and orange cream drinks, etc. Well, after checking around, I couldn’t find it anywhere out west. So I went to their website to buy it http://www.sprecherbrewery.com/. A 12 pack is only $10.20…sweet! Ok…add to cart…proceed to checkout….uh-oh...$19.30 shipping and handling…so $29.50 for a 12 pack…not too bad really, but what if I don’t like it? At $2.50 a bottle, maybe not worth it…end of story…or is it?

So my wife takes me to this new candy shop, Powell’s Sweet Shoppe. This place is awesome…all kinds of “old school” candy and they have a t.v. that plays Willy Wonka all day long. You can look around there forever and you don’t need to be a kid or take a kid to appreciate it. First thing I see though when I walk in is a refrigerator on the side wall with all kinds of colored and specialty drinks…so I said to myself, “Self…see if they have any specialty root beer.” You guessed it! My eyes focused in on that yellow-beeked bird on the bottle like the mother ship was calling me home! I swear the rest of the room went dark and the bottled glowed, while in the background you could hear the beginning of 2001 A Space Odyssey….dah…dah…dah…….dah-nah!

I grabbed 2 and went to the clerk, “How much, sir?” He said, “2 bucks a bottle.” I couldn’t get out my debit card fast enough. Then I said, “Wait, I gotta try it and make sure I want to buy more than 1.” Now I wasn’t thirsty and there was no way I was going to drink 16 ounces, but it was the moment of truth. One sip…and I bought 2.

After nursing that one down over the rest of the night and the next day, I thought to myself, do I really like it because it is better or because I want it to be? It’s hard to make this long story short…so let me sum up…I had to do a taste test.

So, Sunday night I went to the store to round up the usual suspects. Here were the participants, introduced by price/prestige:

• Big K (59cent 2/liter), less than $0.01/ounce
• Barqs, $0.02/ounce
• A&W and Mug, $0.023/ounce
• Thomas Kemper $0.063/ounce
• Henry Weinhard’s $0.064/ounce
• Sprecher $0.125/ounce

I tip my cap to the Mrs. for humoring me and setting up the taste test. Actually, I did stumble a bit out of the gate. As I started to take all the root beer out of the refrigerator and line up the glasses, my son asked me what I was doing. I immediately responded with a smile, “Mommy and Daddy are going to play a drinking game!” Now some things you don’t clearly think through when you say them…and my son loves games so I was only trying to make it fun for him too. Let’s just say as soon as the words had left my lips, I heard my wife from the other room, “Don’t tell him that! It’s a taste test!” I think we cleared that obstacle, but if you hear him say we played a “drinking game” when you are at church this Sunday…please give us the benefit of the doubt.

With that behind us, I gave each of the competitors an equal chance. I rinsed and chilled 7 small “drinking mugs” (I wised up and didn’t call them shot glasses) and placed them in the freezer for a couple minutes so each beverage would be welcomed into a frosty glass for maximum results. Here’s how it went down.

I sipped the first glass…pretty good I thought. The 2nd was very good as well (I was pretty sure it was the Henry’s). Although, after 2 that I liked I was thinking, “I’m a retard.” I was afraid I was going to like all of them and began to worry a bit. I have always thought Henry’s made a great root beer and the Sprecher I had a few days earlier was my new “pretty little pet.” Now I was going to prove myself a dingbat.

Then a sip of #3…my faith restored again…this one was terrible! #4…ok, but not near as good as 1 & 2. #5 about the same as #4. It was then I drank #6…as I sit here tonight writing this I still maintain that glass did not contain root beer! Terrible, does not do the name of the beverage justice. Finally #7…oh yeah…that’s a good root beer!

I then went back through the lineup one more time to confirm what I liked. Truthfully, I wanted to know what I did like the best and let the chips fall where they may. Yep, I still rank them #7 and #2 best followed by #1, then by #4 and #5, and #3 and #6 should be removed from all retail shelves immediately!

So what #’s were which ones? Here are my results from favorite to “not fit for human consumption”:

1. Sprecher (oh, I still love my pretty little pet)
2. Henry Weinhard’s
3. A&W
4. Mug
5. Big K
6. Thomas Kemper
7. Barqs

Naturally, I then set up the test for my wife and here are her results:

1. Henry Weinhard’s
2. Mug
3. Big K
4. A&W
5. Sprecher
6. Thomas Kemper
7. Barqs

I clearly love the Sprecher root beer. Obviously, my wife isn’t sophisticated enough to appreciate the full taste. That being said, Henry’s was a clear favorite and although the night before when we went out to pizza I had a Henry’s and my wife had a Barqs because she “likes it”…it is clearly an inferior root beer. For the record, our son liked A&W and Mug the best when he played the drinking game.

In my opinion, if you are down and out and need a shot of root beer, stop by Fred Meyer and get yourself a 59cent 2 liter bottle of Big K. For “every day” consumption A&W makes a good choice along with Mug. If you’re going to throw a Super Bowl party and want to get me something nice to drink, spring for a 6-pack of Henry’s. And if you forgot to buy me something for my birthday…stop by Powell’s and load me up with a Sprecher’s.

I’ve still got a lot of root beer in the fridge so feel free to stop by and join us for a drinking game some time!

It's simply known as "The Invitational"

So this is for all my golfing buddies out there. I have had 2 golfing trips that have to be near the top of any “live like you were dying” list. If you haven’t noticed…I reference the name of my blog where I can.

So now to my story. Bandon Dunes opened in 1999 on the Oregon Coast and has become rated as one of the top 2 golf resorts in the United States, along with Pebble Beach. Well, I started taking a group of guys there back in 2000 and have gone back at least once every year since (two years I made 2 trips). That first trip was 4 of us in 2000. Since then I have held the “Bandon Invitational” every year from 2001 to 2006 with between 8 and 12 guys. The 2007 Invitational is set for April 20 to 22.

There are now 3 courses at Bandon Dunes and in Golf Magazine’s 2006 Top 100 courses you can play, they consider Pacific Dunes #1, Bandon Dunes #5 and Bandon Trails #10. In a 2006 issue of Golf Odyssey they quoted, “Bandon Trails cements Bandon Dunes’ position as the single best place to play golf in the world.”

That gives you a little perspective of where I’m coming from. I’m not the only one that thinks this place is pretty special. Since I have been in their reservation system since near their opening, I have received special invitations to play Pacific and Trails on opening day. Needless to say, I accepted. So 12 of us went down there in 2001 to play Pacific Dunes and I took another group of 12 in 2005 for the opening of Bandon Trails.

It was a pretty awesome experience. You get your group picture professionally taken on the tee box with the owner and course designer along with a commemorative opening day coin. We all signed an opening day banner at Pacific, but I have yet to see where this has been stored.

Now the quality of the course can only make a golf experience good to a point. If you have nobody there to enjoy it with…it isn’t nearly as special. So imagine going on one of these trips with guys like this. First off though, the journey begins with us out-of-towners flying into Portland. We used to play a “practice” round in the Portland area on Friday and then drive down to Bandon and play Saturday and Sunday. Since they added Bandon Trails, we now play all 3 rounds down there.

So now back to what makes this trip so unique. First of all, you definitely need a core group of guys that go every single time. There are 2 guys that go all the way back to 2000 and have gone every year. In order to protect the names of the innocent, let’s call these guys "Mike and Brian." These are two cool cats. Take a guy like the one I call “Mike.” This guy is admittedly one of the poorer golfers in the group…hey, let’s face it, he’s the worst…and it’s not a really close second. So get this, he plays once a year and shows up every year to the Invitational… “cold turkey”…with only the dried sweat on his grips from the prior year’s tournament. He’s likely to tee it up on Day 1 at Bandon and go 7, 3, 11 on the first 3 holes (par 4,3,5)…all the while smiling and laughing down the fairway. Now mind you, the first year we went it was $30 a round…he now shows up and pays $150 to $200 a loop for the “love of the game.” We play 3 courses over the weekend and, believe it or not, you actually want him as you partner at Bandon…the other 2 courses…not so much. Let’s call the other guy who’s there year in and year out, “Brian.” This dude is as tall as a Redwood, and nearly as smart. Through all my efforts to handicap the tournament appropriately, this guy has still managed to win about 3 times. Of course it helps that he comes from a climate where he can play year-round and he owns the best foot-wedge in the game…bar-none. What stands out about this Phil Simms look-a-like…other than his size 14 feet…is he adds a much needed level of comic relief and an ample supply of movie quotes to which I am always a fan. In reality, I plan the trip to see these 2 guys more than the golf itself…which is why I always look forward to the 4 hour drive from Portland to the resort…we get to relive the previous trips all over again.

Then there are those guys that are there nearly every trip. Let’s call these guys Jon, Ron, and the other Mike. I like these guys because they aren’t as good a golfer as me…it’s the perfect recipe for a tournament in my opinion. Jon and Ron are brothers and tough to tell apart since they were born within hours of each other. These 3 are all “sneaky fast” though. By that I mean, they may shoot 108, but then again they may shoot 92…so I’m never sure if I want them as my partner. I don’t fear any of them in the putting contest, however…which is nice. Jon always has a new putting routine, which I enjoy. Ron always has a new car…I mean oversized, all-terrain, self-defense, high priced, platoon mover for guys to ride in. Mike is one of the few guys I don’t have to strain my neck to look up at and always has enough cash in his pocket to cover his bets when the first Mike is dealing Acey Ducey.

Now, what about the guys with the nicknames? You always need 1 or 2 of them. Let’s call the first guy Harry or “H” for short. I don’t know how 1 guy can have such a big impact, but this is the 1 guy that can. He starts psyching you out on the drive down as he takes phantom practice swings in the gas station parking lots. Be aware if you hear, “Be careful guys!” on the course…you could be directly in the path of a low screaming slice. He’s the East-coast influence in the bunch. By that I mean, he’s round, Jewish, and thinks he’s all that…on the basketball court, that may be true…on the golf course…mmmm…you can get in his kitchen. Oh, and he’s a lefty. He was the original homey hat trend setter. The new reigning homey hat king, however, is "Foosh." I love having this guy around…I’m so much taller than he will ever be. Foosh sported the homey hat in his inaugural Invitational last year and followed it with flip flops during the Survivor Putting Challenge…that may be a fashion statement, but on a sleet filled, 50mph wind aided, 45 degree evening…I’d go with the shoes. After 6 years of 4 guys to a room with 2 king beds, we found our first solo act. Not only did he cover his portion of the group room, but he then plunked another 2-bills a night for a separate room so he could fly solo under the sheets. I guess when you’re that small you’re easily spooked.

For the Trails opening, I was able to attract some fresh blood from my new hometown of Boise. Let’s call those guys, Jake, Todd, Dave, Rob, and Josh. In that group we had our first real golfer in Jake as the only participant to carry a single digit handicap. What does that mean? He has NO chance of winning the tourney with this group of sandbagging hackers. I admit, it was strange to play a round with a guy that wasn’t in the deerbrush or unintentionally launching a drive into the ocean every other hole. He didn’t see near as much of the course as the rest of us…and his $ per shot was way more costly than the rest of the group. Dave and Rob are the 2 permagrin guys. They walked those 3 courses…along with Witch Hollow at Pumpkin Ridge, smiling like a new daddy all day long. Todd circles that single digit handicap area so he is really overmatched as well. He prefers to measure himself against other golfers by his height…who can blame him. Josh found out that you can’t muscle your way around these courses. The wind does what she wants with the ball and you just gotta hope it finds grass every know and then.

The rest of the crew you may see every few years. Let’s call them Phil, Don, Scott, Tim, The ROCK, Aaron, John, and Jim. We hope to see them again, but they utter excuses like, “I can’t afford it”… “I’m out of vacation time”… “My wife is wearing my pants this year”… or “It’s a long way from Canada.”

So with that we have another trip upcoming, the field is still being set. Let me know if you want in! This year we have a new slogan almost like those guys on the PGA Tour…

“These guys aren’t good.”

What would you do with it?

So let me hear from you out there. What would YOU do with it?

Imagine you go to the doctor and he says, “I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news.”

You say, “Tell me the bad news, Doc.”

He says, “You’ve only got one year to live.”

You say, “Then what’s the good news?”

He says, “You’ve still got one year to live.”

Are you with me? Now don’t get all depressed with me here. Remember my first post? We’re all going to die…it’s just the when that we don’t know. So now assume you find out the when. What are you going to do?

The song says, “I went sky diving…I went Rocky Mountain climbing…I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.”

Tell me what would be on your list. “I’ve only got one year, I gotta do _____.” Or tell me something that you’ve already done that is a list maker.

Here’s some things that a few of my friends have done recently:

• He played golf at Augusta National
• He watched his beloved Anaheim Angels play live in Yankee Stadium
• He drove from Idaho to Arizona to watch Boise St. win the Fiesta Bowl in person
• She ran the Portland Marathon before she turned 40
• She became a mommy
• He bought a new Mustang…the red one with white racing stripes

Here’s a couple things that I checked off my list recently:

• I took a group of 12 guys to play golf Opening Day at Bandon Trails
• I took my family to Alaska
• I bought a trailer and took my family camping
• We took our son to his first visit to Disneyland
  

I’ll share some more with you later…for now, let’s hear your list.

So this is bloggin'?

Ok, so I'm the last one on the block to have a blog...not really news when you consider I don't own an i-pod, or a flat screen HD tv, and I still have one of those monitors that is about 3 feet deep on my desk. Of course, that monitor is my wife's...I bought a 19" flat panel last month.

Anyway, I guess I didn't get the point of having a blog. Why would I want people to know anything about me...especially if I don't know who's reading this. To a certain extent, I still feel that way. You probably won't learn too many personal things about me here...but maybe you will.

I guess the reason I started a blog is this...to encourage you to think a little more, love a little more and maybe even live a little more. Now for the flipside...we're all going to die. Yep, I said it. I don't see anyway of getting around it. So, since we can all at least agree on that...it makes since to me to live like it. And, that's what I want to do. So I made that the name of my blog...after the title of a great song..."Live like you were dying."

For me, it boils down to Hebrews 9:27-28, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people..." Are you prepared?

"And he said someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dyin'. Like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity to think about what'd you do with it...what did you do with it...what did I do with it...what would I do with it?" Tim McGraw

Living for now is only part of it...I encourage you to take the time to consider the eternal perspective. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16...it's a famous verse in the Bible for a reason.

Thanks for looking around my blog!