Week 6 - Each week brings a little progress

It's Friday afternoon and I'm sitting here all by myself. Well, my cat is around here somewhere but he has little to offer the world. It's funny how I still can't wait for Friday even though I'm out of work. Guess there is just something special about Friday. To me, Friday is craft beer day. I usually don't drink during the week so I desperately look forward to Friday. The funny thing is, now that I have time off, my first beer comes earlier and earlier. Guess it's one of the benefits to having excess spare time. It's now 2:41 p.m. and this is my companion. 

 

The job search is slow but I'm not going into great detail this week. I'll note a few areas of progress. I'm now "the man" on the labeler at the brewery. Obviously, going forward, Thomas Hooker won't be able to operate without my newly developed skills. Ok, so I fucked it up a time or two but nothing major. We have been pumping out the pallets like nobody's business. The work has been fun and I look forward to each day. I was talking to the Master Brewer on Wednesday and he invited me to come in on a brew day to help brew. I'll be lining that up soon. In the meantime, I'll be working on these - 1.5 cases of Blonde and 1.5 cases of IPA. The Blonde might be donated to someone who needs to be weaned off macro's. 

I put these labels on - no big deal!  

On another note, Facebook is a funny place. My cousin, who I have not spoken to in years sent me a message last night. He has a "beer geek" friend who writes a beer column for the Waterbury Republican. My cousin is going to put us in touch. I don't know what will come of this but it's a lead and I'll take it. Maybe he'll be intrigued by my crazy ass decision and write about me and my pursuit of a dream. I'll let you know if anything comes from the conversation. 

Now, let me get to the pictures I've promised. I took pictures of the brewery on my cell phone this week and sent them to my Verizon account. I have been trying to save them/send them so I can post them on my blog but I can't. My only options are to view them through my account or order prints. Tell me, who the hell orders prints anymore? I can't believe that I can't even send myself MY pictures from MY account. Anyway, I documented my journey to the brewery the other day. This might not sound like much but it is. Actually, I call it dedication. When I quit my job I sacrificed my car among other things. I ride my bicycle everywhere! To some this might sound like hell but I enjoy it. Other than beer, running and biking are major hobbies i.e. no drinking during the week. Here are a few pics of my ride to work. In the meantime, I'll see if I can get brewery pics off Verizon's site.  

My bike and messenger bag with the essentials

Boots, Buck knife, hat, extra shirt and a sandwich. Ready to go! 

View of downtown Hartford from Prospect Avenue. 

The rich neighborhood. Overkill? 

Ok, so I'm the ass hole riding his bike down a busy 2 lane road. Look, it's for a good cause! 

I've arrived in Bloomfield, 10 miles and 35 minutes later. 

Front entrance of the brewery. 

Back home after a 9 hour bottling run. Left the boots at work to get the goods home!  

It's now 4:00. Blogger sucks for moving images around. We are off to Beer Advocate's American Craft Beer Festival this weekend. We'll be the group of 14 with huge smiles on our faces hanging out by the Hair of the Dog Brewing Company table. Don't worry, we won't block you. Hope to see you there.