Ice, Ice Baby

The forecast for today was not looking good -- wintry mix through the night and the switchover to rain wasn't expected until after 9AM. If things progressed as expected, a delay was pretty much guaranteed.

It was posted long before the 5AM cutoff MCPS has for such announcements.

MCPS schools and administrative offices will open two hours late today (Feb. 7) due to emergency weather conditions. We will reevaluate at 7 a.m. More information at https://t.co/3UJVLWkg2H

— MCPS (@MCPS) February 7, 2018

I reset my alarm, and tried to go back to sleep, hoping that just maybe, we'd get lucky and have a closure. I woke up several times just before seven, constantly checking both Twitter and the MCPS website. There was nothing.

Just after seven, I was committed to dragging myself out of bed and seeing just what Mother Nature had thrown at us, when I glanced at Facebook. Helene had posted a lamentation about the lack of MCPS update, but replied to her own post saying it was now a closure. In disbelief, I went to the MCPS page, and saw the announcement.... which surely came across as post-dated to say it had been posted at 7AM exactly. I know I'd been looking at the website at 7AM and 7:05AM, and there was no such announcement visible.

Update: MCPS schools are now closed today (Feb. 7) due to emergency weather conditions. Administrative offices remain on a two-hour delay. Details at https://t.co/3UJVLWkg2H

— MCPS (@MCPS) February 7, 2018

It kind of bothered me that MCPS waited until seven to say anything, but I'm sure they made the right call. At 8AM, a truck evidently slid off the road in Rockville and into a storefront.

Pickup truck slides across parking lot and into Rockville bakery.

More in link: https://t.co/oahDkevF6z pic.twitter.com/nTtoxFLhE0

— The MoCo Show (@TheMoCoShow) February 7, 2018

And later in the day, Pat texted me to say that a Southwest jet had slid off the runway at BWI!

At least it wasn't too serious, photo by Patrick Griffith

While I had some work related things I could have done, especially getting some sub plans in order for next week, I opted to just not do much of anything. I played a game on my phone. Then I went to DuClaw at Arundel Mills for lunch (after driving up MD170 to see the Southwest plane). Actually, going to DuClaw was kind of embarrassing; between the weather and the day of the week, evidently, I was the first customer of the day, at noon!

DuClaw has several new offerings out, so I had to try them before deciding on a regular pour

I really like their reborn turkey melt with avocado. It's quite tasty. 

When I got home, surprisingly, Pat was already home. He started his new job at Menzies Aviation this week, but it's primarily been training stuff. He's been giving me quite a ton of stories about the millennials that are also going through the training, who can't quite figure out that videos are for learning and there just might be a quiz afterwards, and some who don't understand "working hours" mean you shouldn't plan to help a friend move or go play basketball when you are expected to be at work. 

Anyway, I finished up today by bottling the honey beer that I started three weeks ago. It should be just shy of 8% ABV, and tastes pretty sweet right now. I'm excited to taste the final product. 

It's a dark lager, but tastes very light

Two more days this week, then an extended weekend because I'd originally planned to be in Orlando with Pat at the Matco Tools Expo. I already had a sub and it's my birthday on Monday, so I decided I'd still take off. I just don't know what I'm going to do yet. :)

Going Pro

Today was a professional day at work, which means that 90% of the staff say they are teleworking.

It's just a day off, really.

I had to go in though. I'm one of the gradebook advisors, and the only one who actually got training, so I need to be on site for at least part of the day to answer questions and deal with any issues that came up. Still, I left just after 1:30, and on the way home, I realize, "Hey! I should move that honey beer to the secondary!"

So, that's what I did.


The beer tastes interesting right now. It starts off as just a flat beer taste, but then there's this sweetness to it afterwards. I'm guessing the sweetness is due to the honey addition, but it doesn't have the marshmallowy taste of the meadowfoam. That's okay though. I think it's going to taste really good, and with an approximate ABV of 7.9%, it'll have some punch to it. However, right now, it doesn't taste very "heavy," and that makes it even more interesting.

The color is different than what I've brewed previously, too. Both the beer and the head have a slight reddish or pinkish shade to them that reminds me a bit of Troegs Crimson Pistil.

I'll bottle it in about a week, and then it's the long wait for the bottle conditioning for the carbonated taste. Maybe I should look into a kegging system! ;)

Snow Day Brewing

We had an unexpected snow day today! I mean, it wasn't totally unexpected. After all, snow was forecast, though the timeframe for the precipitation kept changing. When I left work yesterday, it was forecast to start just after the evening rush hour, and stop in the early morning, before 7AM.

By the time I fell asleep last night, that had changed to "starting after midnight" and "ending mid-morning." Okay, so you're telling me there's a chance of a delay?

I actually woke up before my alarm, and I was annoyed initially as I tried to go back to sleep. Then I thought, maybe I should check the delays? Lo and behold, there was an MCPS delay!

MCPS Schools Opening Two Hours Late January 17, 2018; Administrative Offices Opening On Time

— MoCoSnow (@MCPSsnow) January 17, 2018

So, I reset my alarm (to Pat's annoyance), and once it went off again, went through my normal snooze, snooze, snooze (again, to Pat's annoyance) before finally getting up and starting to get ready to go in.

After brushing my teeth, something made me check the interwebs again....

Urgent Update: Due to unsafe road conditions affecting school transportation, Montgomery County Public Schools is now closing schools today, January 17, 2018. Administrative offices are open on time. Day care programs in school buildings may remain open as scheduled.

— MCPS (@MCPS) January 17, 2018

Whoa. That was completely unexpected (and Pat was completely unamused).

So, after moving the WRX out of the way so that Pat could do his route, I puttered about for most of the morning before deciding to do something useful. I took down the holiday decorations (finally!), then pulled out some ingredients I'd bought from Maryland Homebrew a few weeks ago and embarked on brewing a honey beer I'd concocted.

The wort tastes very sweet. I'm hoping that the honey retains some of its special flavor through the fermentation, but it'll be okay if it doesn't. For those that don't know, "meadowfoam" honey tastes of marshmallows. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks!

As for tomorrow.... some people are already talking a delay, but I'm definitely not holding my breath. Obviously, though, stranger things have happened.

BTW, if you don't mind subscribing to my YouTube channel while you're watching, I'd appreciate it.