about ourselves

[antiphile]

Chicken or the egg?

I reckon the rooster came first.

I'm pretty sure that conundrum has be definitively answered now, Ben. With the egg lying back blissfully on the pillow, and the chicken lighting up a cigarette remarking "I guess that dilemma has been solved".

[Magnaman]

All very revealing P2 and explains a lot, now what was that MASH theme about ???

 

 

Cheers.

[antiphile]

Hey mate

 

They tell me its painless. I never got that far; but I'm not prepared to say how close.

 

Cheers Mitsubishi-man

Philby

[peekaboo_jones]

Guzz Mate

You're gunna need to brew more beer' date=' Trust me I know.

 

Cheers

[i']Scottie[/i]

 

My 2 new FV's are being delivered ASAP

 

 

 

Just doing a GOOGLE search now for REALLY BIG AIRLOCKS....

 

 

These look very familiar, milk/wine tankers built by Byford Equipment in Moama?

[Brownsworthy]

G'day guys

 

Been meaning to get to this for a while so I'm a 33 yr old had some odd jobs throughout school worked at Muso's Corner, a Vet's Assistant, Pizza Delivery, Woolworths Night Fill after school I became a Morgue Technician/Non Medical Enucleator I then moved into Nursing.

 

I began in Aged Care whilst studying after graduating at 23 yrs old I became a Drug and Alcohol Clinician and worked in the Needle and Syringe Program, Dosing Nurse, Methadone Maintenance Case Manager and in the secure Detox Facility. I always thought that I would stay in that job till retirement though after suffering from severe depression and feeling completely used up I quit.

 

I then commenced renovating the family home as a form of therapy didn't work was going mad and needed something else and didn't want to go back to Nursing I got a job at Bunnings which was great fun even better with the 20% discount card to help with renovating. I was then approached by an old mate to come and manage a new power equipment shop for the company he was working for it ended up with more stress and 20 months worth of unpaid super so I left.

 

I am now the Maintenance Man at my misses school which is fantastic mowing lawns is almost like meditation for me. It's only 4 days a fortnight which suits me at this point in time.

 

I play the guitar and bass, love fishing I'm a member of the Newcastle Sporting Car Club and am currently building my fx zs corolla into a hill climb/targa race car I enjoy playing about with old and new motor bikes bikes and cars love Mountain biking and have a stable of 6 with tons of spares like they say the amount of bikes you need is how many you've got plus one.

 

Well I guess thats enough for now.

 

Cheers

[Chuznut]

I haven't noticed this thread until now, so figured I should give it a go.

 

I'm 31, married with a two year old daughter, and a second daughter on the way in May (I'm not looking forward to living in my house during the teenage years!)

 

I grew up in North Coast NSW (near Grafton). Once I finished high school in 2001, I moved to Brisbane for about 6 months before deciding to move to Kalgoorlie WA. I worked in the mines, doing mostly labouring jobs (exploration drilling, underground drilling and trades assistant) for the first 3 or 4 years, before realising how much cruisier it would be to work in the offices instead, so I became a purchasing officer at the Super Pit in Kal for several years.

 

By 2011, I decided it was time for a change of job, and wanted to get something outside of the mining industry, otherwise I'd risk being stuck in that line of work for the rest of my life. I decided to move to Bunbury WA to study residential drafting (something I was always interested in doing). By the end of that year,I was offered a job as a trainee drafter up in Mandurah (I'm sure it won't surprise anyone to know that there is a huge difference in the pay scale between working in the mines, and working as a trainee drafter!).

 

Fast forward to 3 days ago, and I was offered a new drafting job back down in Bunbury. So the wife, child, soon-to-be child and I are all moving back down there to be closer to my wife's parents (read - free babysitters).

 

I'm a big Parramatta Eels fan in the NRL, and since moving over here, I've grown to appreciate the AFL (couldn't stand it growing up in NSW), and am now a Freo Dockers member.

 

I play basketball and rugby union, although I'm starting to get a lot more niggling injuries nowadays that won't go away, so may have to give those up before the body packs it in altogether.

 

I love music (all kinds, though mostly the kind that plays on JJJ) and going to concerts and music festivals. I love to play guitar and sing, though I'm definitely not at a level where I will be joining a band any time soon.

 

I got into homebrewing about 12 months ago, pretty much just based on a dare from my brother, and am loving it so far. I have a lot more appreciation for beer nowadays compared to before I was brewing.

 

My beer style of choice is an American pale ale, although I'm starting to lean more and more towards IPA's nowadays. I've finally got to the stage where I'm very happy with my pale ales that I make, and have just about got my house brew down pat, so I'm looking forward to expanding my repertoire with other beer types soon.

[Gibbo]

I hadn't posted in this thread yet either, so I figured I'd throw down a quick blurb.

 

I'm

, live north of Brisbane, work in electrical engineering as a electrical/lighting designer while studying my way towards my degree. Married, have a 3 year old daughter and another little one on the way.

 

Have dabbled in retail & hospitality (the latter of which is a lofty way to describe working at a pizza shop), typically just hard/long enough to take on management/supervisory roles (there's also a good chance I'm just a sucker for punishment). Been in engineering for the last 12 years, and usually end up doing a fair bit of IT support/admin on the side. Also worked for the family business (electrical/residential design & drafting) since I was old enough to show an interest in it.

 

Went to Uni straight after high school for a Bachelor of Deferral, studied languages & media, which naturally I deferred and never completed. Restarted the studies years later, but in engineering and management-type subjects instead.

 

Have too many interests & hobbies for the time I actually have to enjoy them; listing all of them here would probably take too long, but it's safe to assume that I've dabbled in a bit of everything. I'm still learning to prioritise the full list (and maybe give up a few), but the "greatest hits" are probably (in no particular order) electronics/coding, woodworking, brewing, playing guitar, genealogy & photography.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Since there are a number of new faces on here since two years ago when I originally posted, I figured I might as well provide a bit of an update.

 

I'm 28, still working as a bus driver (previously courier driver and golf course greenkeeper). Finally got onto my preferred broken shifts last month, which means long work days, but weekends off, which means plenty of time for brewing activities. And the break in the middle allows either a nap or time to get other things done, like that pesky bottling and/or washing bottles!

 

I love my cricket and footy, also playing guitar and seeing live music. I used to play in a band but being stuck on night shift pretty much screwed that up. The band was inactive for a good portion of that time but became active again late last year, unfortunately not late enough for me to be able to practice, so my spot was taken by someone else. I spoke to them about possibly rejoining but knowing their commitments I decided to bow out, as it is the best option for all concerned at this point. Not closing the door on possibly re joining in the future if circumstances are favorable for it though and we are all still good mates.

 

Anyway, since I'm not doing that anymore, I've decided to get back into cricket. One of my old junior teammates invited me for a net session a couple of weeks back and I thought why not? Apart from being bloody sore after not playing for 12 years, I really enjoyed it, so been going whenever I can to get more practice in. It was surprising how quickly my batting technique came back to me. I had batting coaching from Sam Trimble (former QLD opener for many years) back when I was a teenager which really helped my game, and I guess it stuck. Apparently he still does it, and he's about 80 these days.

We are thinking of getting a team together for an amateur T20 competition called Last Man Stands, and judging by the Youtube videos of international matches from this comp, I think we might just do alright. They are worse than most of the junior teams I played in. We figure it's a good way to ease back into playing games again, and if that goes alright, I would like to go back to my old club and play minor grade cricket next season.

Been over to Greg Chappell Cricket Centre to pick up some shoes and a new bat as well. Nothing wrong with the old one but I'd like to retire it in one piece, and it is about 15 years old now.

 

I gave said teammate a couple of brews to sample yesterday as well. A pale ale and a red ale. He really enjoyed them which was cool

 

So yeah, that's basically what I'm up to.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[antiphile]

Geez you've brought back some great memories, KelBlot.

 

From about the age of 12, Dad paid for me (and my elder brother) to be a member of the Gabba Cricket Ground Trust. We didn't officially have all the benefits of being members of the Qld Cricketers Club, but there were ways around that since "our" seating was next to it and it was a very porous gateway.

 

In those days (about 1971 onwards) it was almost traditional to run onto the field (usually from the dog track around the ground) and congratulate home batsmen on reaching a ton. I vividly remember doing just that when Sam Trimble (another one of those obsessive gum chewing batsmen) made a century in a Shield match. I even recall peeling the silver wrapper from 2 sticks of Wrigleys Doublemint for him ('cos he still had his batting gloves on) and giving it to him.

 

Ahhhh. Thanks for the memories, Kelsey.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Yes it's a shame in the modern world that we can't do that anymore. I've seen old footage of it happening and it would be nice but I guess with all the threats and shite around these days it's understandable. I've only ever been to one game where they let us run onto the field at the end of it, or in the innings break, can't remember now. There were like 10,000 people all over the Gabba playing mini games of cricket.

 

Sam was a great guy and a terrific coach too. I never saw him play, but he knew his stuff. I went from hating short pitched bowling to wanting every ball short pitched as I loved playing pull and hook shots. The rest of my technique was fixed up as well, and I enjoyed batting more after that, having the confidence in what I was doing.

 

My earliest memory of the Gabba was probably being coached on it when I was about 7 every Saturday morning. The dog track wasn't there then, but it was still the old Gabba with the old scoreboard and none of the new stands. I went to the '95 Shield final, and I think Mum may have pulled me out of school for the day to go to it, as I'm pretty sure it wasn't on a weekend that we went. We were down beneath the old scoreboard where the hill was, and watched Allan Border's last innings when he was out for 98.

 

Definitely some good memories there!

 

 

[Hasselblad]

Well seeing I'm new here (although I was on the old forum about ten years ago), will give you some background. I was born in 1964, so like a few others here, turned 50 last year. My background is in science - I did a Ph.D. in physical chemistry, completed in 1992, then spent a year as a post-doc at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. I had started home brewing a couple of years earlier, and continued that in the States. Returned to Australia at the end of 1993. Worked in the refractories industry for about fifteen years, ten years of which were spent working from home for an Austrian company, but travelling a lot to clients in Kalgoorlie, Mt Isa, Olympic Dam, etc. Also went to Vienna nine times to visit head office. I worked for an engineering company in Clayton for about a year but got fed up with the commuting time, so currently looking for something closer to home. As you may guess from my name here, my main hobby is photography. I have a home darkroom, and mix my own developers. My main camera is a Hasselblad 500 C/M. Most of my photography is of our two sons aged 8 and 9. I recently recommenced brewing, and have been pretty much sticking to the Coopers brews. I've done four in the last two months, and my favourite is the Sparkling, done according to Coopers' recommendations. I'm enjoying being back on the Coopers forum, and the amount of knowledge here is huge these days, what with all grains, cold crashing, etc.

[Scottie]

**Bump**

 

Hey

I'm Scottie and I have acute brewing disorder. I haven't put down a brew since March 31 and I'm afraid I could run out of beer. So desperate am I that I am considering a Kits and Tricks brew with one of my favourite Coopers Cans, Thomas Coopers IPA. Stay tuned on the Brew Day thread to see what I can come up with.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

[LeonardC2]

Here's a pic of me from a while back when home brew talk did an interview with me for their Brew & A: series;

At least a year & a half ago, I got into partial mash biab & have been able to brew a lot of beers I couldn't with just extract. Every once in a while, though, I'll still brew an extract batch just to fill the pipeline. In my 59 years in this world, I've gotten past brewing what's popular & researching old &/or extinct brews that seem interesting. Being retired also means plenty of time & less $$. But I somehow manage to make it work. Not the trade I had in mind. Been going to the doctors to get my L2 & hip joints working again. But osteoarthritis is making that fun. This aging thing is definitely starting to suck. And with my desktop messed up, it'll be awhile till I can get back to Beersmith 2 & my books I sell on amazon/kindle. So I'm also jonesin' a little. At least I have y'all & my beers...

[Scottie]

**Bump**

 

Am I the only Brew Dude who bumps this thread?

 

Cheers

[Away]

Nice *bump* Scottie. You should play Aussie Rules. Anyway, because of your bump I have spotted this thread for the 1st time, so here goes:

 

I'm the wrong side of 60, and my knees are 70 (gonna have to get the damn things replaced someday.) I started with the PMG (yep, they were called that back then) as a technician and did technicianing for 30 something years (not all of it with PMG/Telstra.) I had a strong interest in IT and did a lot of training in that field, to the point where I had overlapping careers. Eventually something had to go, so I chose to do IT and had my own consultancy for many years.

 

During my technicianing phase I spent a lot of time in the outback and found myself installing and maintaining communications systems on gas pipelines. I met a bloke during those times and we became great mates. This was to come in handy because, many years after I started my IT business, he gave me a call and offered me work doing corrosion prevention on gas pipelines. The offer was so lucrative that I sold my business and went off to be a Rustologist for the rest of my real career.

 

10 years ago I bumped into a long lost work colleague from the Telstra days. He rattled off a list of funerals he had been to in the past 6 months - funerals of guys my age, whom I used to work with. It kinda shook me to the core, so I went back to SWMBO and told her. Her response? "Well, we've been talking about hitting the road, so let's do it!"

 

And so we did. I've been working and travelling around Oz ever since. We try to work for about 6 months of the year and have the same amount of time off. That was working well, until this year - we have found a little bit of paradise and have overstayed a bit - but we should be on the road again later this year.

 

I'm a fishing tragic. If I can't go fishing at a place, we don't work there. When I'm not fishing I'm brewing. I also have a professional video camera, several consumer video cameras, underwater video cameras and all of the paraphernalia that goes with them. My home state is WA, but I haven't lived there much since we started travelling

 

Now you know why my forum name is "away". I'm never home.

 

Cheers

[Jay]

Hmmm. Rather my job than yours Ray.

[JohnBoy]

I think a XRumer bot has taking a liking to the forum...

[Beeblebrox]

I'm sure I posted here way back, but can't remember how long ago, so I'll start again.

 

Born in '72, grew up on the leafy lower north shore of Sydney.

 

After deciding I'd had enough of school in year 11 (my parents refused my request to leave school after year 10), I had a pretty patchy career path.

 

My first job was when I was still a school kid, delivering newspapers - an old school paper boy.

I then briefly worked at a fruit & veg store, then worked at Woolworths packing bags & stocking shelves, when seeing a guy on the register was rare as hens teeth.

 

I foolishly tried to keep my part time job at the same time as I left school, commenced (but didn't finish) an office traineeship; initially at a pretty sub par computer magazine (which I'm pretty sure no longer exisits) transitioned to work at a real estate office, then left that & briefly took a job at a hardware store, which no longer exists.

If my family had had any insight into neuro-diversity & mental illness, they would have seen the signs then, but they were oblivious, & all that change led to a breakdown of sorts.

 

I picked myself up, dusted myself off, & did volunteer work at a St Vincent de Paul store for a while, helping with sorting donations, stocking shelves, & moving furniture around etc.

 

This was back in the days before Centrelink, when there was a CES that actually helped people find work & training, rather than punishing them for not finding it on their own; & believe it or not, used to hook people up with free courses via TAFE!

I got hooked up to do a TAFE course - Marina Boatyard/General Hand, which really was just a look in to the maritime industry.

 

Whilst doing the course I met up with a Scotsman who owned a fuel barge, & he offered me a part time job as a deckhand.

The job was dirty, messy, & likely hazardous to my health, but I stuck in as long as I could, which was about the time the first gulf war happened, fuel prices soared, most people stopped boating for a while, & my job was given to a friend of my boss who was down on his luck.

 

Somehow I managed to get a job with Sydney Ferries as a deckhand, & was employed there for a tad under 2 years, as a temporary casual, but working full time hours.

I was a "deckie" on the lady class ferries, jet cats, manly ferries, & first fleet class ferries, as well as wharf hand & gate hand in Sydney, Manly, & a few other small wharves.

Around the 2 year mark there was a cull of most of the casuals, & that was more or less the end of my maritime career, other than another brief stint on the fuel barge.

 

Another stint at Vinnies, (another breakdown during my tenure with the ferries), & some tough times, & again, the CES gave me another chance to kick start a career.

This time a 10 week security course (it was that or bus driving, but I wasn't keen on that).

I was the top student, & got a plumb job working as a static guard at Hewlett Packard.

Whilst working there I met my now ex wife.

She as working as a temp receptionist, as well as nursing, & ended up moving to Melbourne for a career in medical sales.

I foolishly packed in my job & followed her.

What ensued was 2 years of hardship in Melbourne, as I struggled to be taken seriously as I tried to assert to potential employers that although I was from Sydney, the plan was to stay in Melbourne.

 

We got married in '99 & by the middle of the year the then mrs was pregnant with our daughter.

Despite all the hardship of moving interstate, getting reasonably steady jobs, & even considering home ownership, she decided she had to pack in her job & move back home to Sydney.

 

That was the beginning of the end, & within a year of my daughters birth, our marriage was on its last legs.

A further breakdown was the last straw, & I was kicked to the kerb, having to grovel with my tail between my legs back to my parents so I wouldn't be left on the street.

 

After a few false starts, including about 3 months of study in landscape gardening, some short courses, some gardening work, & some brief temp roles in the NSW public service, I found myself working at David Jones in the Music & Home Entertainment dept.

 

I met my current wife whilst I was working there, (though we met via online dating on RSVP, rather than in the flesh at my work).

She encouraged me to join her in a career in the Federal Public Service, which I did & stayed there for 6 years, during which time we got married, & together faced first the loss of her nan, then the subsequent illness of her father to cancer, which took him a few years ago.

 

By then I was completely burnt out, having struggled with my career, my new role as my wife's carer (she gets around in a wheelchair due to CP), the loss of my father in law, estrangement from my family, & the struggle to try to remain an active but absent parent to my daughter.

 

A couple of years ago, about the same time that Harry my greyhound joined the family, I was told my daughter had cancer - Osteosarcoma- & that her outlook was grim to say the least.

First she lost her right leg, as they tried to remove all the cancer, then fairly quickly the cancer metastasized, spreading to most of her body.

We lost my daughter in October of last year, & I hadn't seen her since before I was told of her illness, partially due to animosity with my family & my ex, partially due to my ongoing health issues, partially due to hers.

 

I started home brewing about 3 years ago, partially to reduce the cost of my beer, partially so I'd have a hobby to concentrate on.

I also play guitar, though how well I play depends on who you ask.

I've been playing on & off since I was 16, but haven't ever been in a band, though I've jammed with some bands, played along with friends, & done a very brief onstage performance at a jam night at a local pub quite some years ago.

I currently play guitar with a neighbour once a week; he's been a musician longer than I've been alive, played in bands & performed professionally as a bit of a sideline to his previous career in the post office.

 

My beloved greyhound is now my trainee service dog, I've been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, High Functioning Autism (formerly known as Asperger's), & a few other assorted related issues.

I have no intention of returning to the workforce, as although my wife works full time, & I'm mostly home alone, being a carer for someone with disability really is a full time job, & it takes more out of you than you realize.

That said, I wouldn't have it any other way.

If I can support my wife physically & emotionally whilst she maintains employment & a roof over our heads, I can't see that what I do is any less valid than what she does.

[Mark D Pirate]

Hello all ,

I will keep it short

 

Mark , i'm a 35 yr old carpenter , work now as a timber machinist for a timber/hardware merchant and mostly do their DIY pergola /modular deck fabrication ....pretty easy stuff really(kinda love my job ), i still get the exercise i need to stay fit ,get to meet "interesting " people and if im lucky make them something they can be proud to own .

 

Have wandered around home and abroad working and learning as much as i could ,i fish/play 8 ball mostly poorly but with gusto ,restored a few cars now considered classics (68-74 falcons mostly) and i must admit i'm a fan of Port Adelaide but won't be granted membership as i still have all my teeth .

 

brewing wise im still very much learning and the curve is still getting steeper , can produce a pretty enjoyable kits and bits beer but still many improvements to be made .

 

:-) marko

[Anzacpaul]

I'm Paul, 31 year old from Adelaide.

 

I work in admin and sales, and this is the first job where I haven't been an unskilled manual labourer. I am very thankful to my current employer for the opportunity they gave me in that respect.

 

I love the finer things in life, good wine/beer/food/music etc. I have recently fallen out with a heap of my old buddies due to different lifestyles (they haven't grown up since they were 14), and am trying to make new friends who have similar interests to myself.

 

Just want to say thanks to everyone on this forum for their patience and great advice, in less than 2 months I have learnt an amazing amount, and am slowly trying to persuade the old blokes at work to upgrade from the kit and kilo bottle after 7 day routine they've been following for 20 years.

[JohnBoy]

Howdy all...

I never really introduced myself, so...

Im John, 40 and currently living in Adelaide around the brighton area.

Ive lived over at elliston on the eyre peninsula for quite a while where i met my wife but returned to adelaide about 10 years ago. we have 1 child that is 3yrs old.

i work as a computer programmer mainly writing databases for a local business... but thats boring.

we have still kept our house over at elliston which has a homebrew room and we keep around a 10 carton brew rotation so there is always beer when we go over there.

I have a rumpus room here in adelaide that is set up for my brewing and i have shelving provisions that allow me to keep around 28 seperate brews in storage when bottled.

I wrote myself a database that keeps all my relevant brew information and as i write this i have sofar completed 249 brews (from when i started back in 2001 from a coopers homebrew kit as a christmas pressie) i still have 2 brews which isnt included in that total which is the new sparkling ale and bootmaker PA which is in the brew fridge to be bottled in the next couple of days.

Ive always extract brewed and dont mind keeping on bottling, i dont see myself venturing into kegging or all grain anytime in the future.

My favourite hop is cascade, so surprise suprise our stapple brew is the pale ale with a big flavour addition of cascade... mind you i do love the dark ale (original series) with about 200g of bairds choc malt steeped and around 60g of cascade for 20mins.

 

anyway, ive lurked around here learning alot about brewing from this forum.

No matter how many brews ive done i always feel like im always learning something new.

The people here all seem friendly and respectful, so hopefully i might be able to contribute from time to time. Thanks...

:)

[Otto Von Blotto]

I posted on here 3 years ago it appears.. and maybe since but I'll be buggered if I can be bothered looking for it.

 

I'm now 29 and probably had that many girlfriends... (just kidding ), still driving buses (will be 4 years in August), still brewing of course and loving it. Have learned a lot over the last 3 years and plenty left still of course. My procedures are pretty well down pat now though which is good. My job doesn't exactly correlate with drinking a lot but I still can't seem to build a stockpile. It's slowly getting there though.

 

Currently single (never married), no kids (that I know of) and I quit smoking in the first half of December (my pic was from July), although I am still occasionally naughty on a night out . As bad as it is for me, I really miss it with a drink, but it's slowly getting easier. I used to play guitar in a couple of bands, and that culture of course involves a fair bit of partying etc. so those nights can be hard, especially since I have a lot of friends in the scene. I got back into cricket last year, and looking to play again this winter, and then hopefully join up with my old club again next summer. That was the plan this summer but it never eventuated due to a series of events. Got the old pushy out recently as well for a bit of exercise on the weekends when I'm not busy with other things. I'm not sure I've even been on one since I got my licence at 17. And then discovered all the good things in life like smoking, drinking and sex... which I still enjoy sans the smoking. I'm sure I'll settle down one day...

 

In the meantime I'll just carry on as I am, doing whatever the hell I feel is a good idea at the time, even though I may end up reviewing that idea the next day...

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Ratatatata]

Wow, thanks for the *bump* Scottie, I hadn't noticed this one before!

 

Great to learn a little more about you guys! Beeblebox, what a story. I might have gotten something in my eye there.

 

So, I'll keep it a bit shorter as english isn't my main language. Daniel, living in Sweden, half a globe away from most of you! -8 degrees and snowstorm as we speak.

 

Wandered in here on a wim when my wife got me a starter kit for my birthday two months ago. Been visiting at least two times a day ever since! That birthday was my 35th and the starter kit was my 13th birthday gift from my wife, so we met rather young.

 

I work as a .. well, I've no idea what it is called in english. Let's just say I'm a bureaucrat. Good pay, will probably never ever have to worry about unemployment and yeah, it's a good job. Not very sexy though, that's for sure.

 

No kids so plenty of time for brewing and other stuff. I'm a real nerd when it comes to music, though I'm horribel at playing myself I have a more-then-decent record collection. Grew up as a metal head, listening to heavy metal and death metal. Moved on to other stuff and cut my hair, so now I look like your average friendly neighborhood skinhead (the nice kind, not the nazi kind, mind you). Listen to a lot of indie, reagge, alt country, punk, symphonic rock etc.

 

When I'm not brewing or reading posts here I also play a lot of Warhammer (nerdy as they come, hehe) and spend a few hours a week in the gym. Play football, watch even more of it and try to get the occasional rugby game as well.

 

I started typing something about being active in politics and reading philosophy but I gotta stop myself here, I do seem like a real pretentious bastard. Over and out.

[Petermur]

Hi All,

I'm Peter from the beautiful Redcliffe peninsular just north of Brisbane. I'm 70yo, a retired Stationmaster after 43 years in the railway and still get around with no health issues. I play tennis three nights a week and this keeps me active as well as three nights of no alcohol. I also play Bridge in the local competition and do cryptic crosswords for relaxation.

I love this forum and check it out every day even though I'm still a kit and kilo man. My favourite at the moment is the Coopers Fruit Salad Ale which, as you know is very straightforward to make. Four nights a week I settle down and enjoy two PET bottles from my supply. In a glass just taken from the freezer the beer looks and tastes just great with plenty of carbonation and foamy head.

I've picked up so much brewing information from the regular contributers to this forum which has made the learning curve so much easier.

You Aussie guys will be aware of the poet Henry Lawson who was a notorious drinker and liked to get on the piss as much as possible. One time he had to travel to the country and his well-meaning friends stayed with him all day to keep him sober before his train departed. The walked him to the station, making sure they passed no pubs on the way, and breathed a sigh of relief as the train slowly puffed out of the station. They were on the platform waving him goodbye when he leaned out the window and waved a bottle of whisky and a bottle of beer that he'd been hiding in his bag all day.

Bless you, Henry - one of his sayings was "Beer makes me feel like I want to feel when I'm not drinking beer" - which about sums it all up.

Cheers, Petermur.

 

[Ratatatata]

"Oh, my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways

And deep ways and steep ways and high ways and low!"