Good beer, bad drink

Before I get to bitching about my tenant's putting up a small inflatable pool, I must mention a good beer I found yesterday. I went out to eat dinner with some friends to celebrate a birthday. No, not mine. It was a former co-worker. Because it was her b-day, she got to choose where we would eat. Her choice was the Knick, a restaurant inside the Knickerbocker hotel/condos just east of downtown Milwaukee by the lake.

I had checked out the menu online and was too excited about her choice. The menu was mainly seafood items; a category I am not too excited about. However, there were some chicken items that did look good as well so I knew I could find something to eat. My concern was if the place had some kind of dress code. If it did, I am sure someone would have mentioned it. Being warm and humid, I had little intention of wearing anything but shorts.

So I felt a little uncomfortable walking into the place and having 2 greeters and 3 of the wait staff eyeing me up as I entered. I said hello and quickly moved to the bar, a sanctuary for a boozer no matter where you are. There I tried to order Makers and ginger but no ginger ale in the house. The bartender then suggested the Goose Island Summertime. Sure, why not? It was a sunny looking beer. My first thought was “hmm, another white bier” But after drinking it, I thought “no, not sweet enough, kinda hoppy, but not quite an IPA”. It was basically in between. But more importantly, it was great! I highly recommend the Goose Island Summertime. Come to think of it, I do not know if I have ever had a bad Goose Island beer.

I down a couple of them at the bar, waiting for everyone else to show up. Parking outside sucks so that may be the problem. 10 minutes after our reservation, I notice two friends walk up. They mention that they have a table and they got there just minutes ago. Thank for telling me. I go to the back and say the hellos. The waitress comes by to take drinks. I still have half a beer and say I am fine. 5 minutes later, she is plopping a Mojito in front of me. I look up and ask what is that. Apparently she thinks I ordered one of these things too. For those who don’t know, a Mojito is rum, limejuice and mint leaves. In this case, it looked like seaweed on top. The waitress apologized for her error and said I could have it. It was ok at best. Not impressive to my tastes. Basically it forced me to want another beer to get the taste out of my mouth.

Again, I do recommend you get your hands on the Goose Island Summertime. Quite tasty. And stay away from the mojitos.

As I mentioned before, last week I come home and am plunking away on the pc when I hear this commotion in the back yard and my water running. I look out the window to see this kid filling an inflatable pool with water. After thinking “What the f#$% is he doing?” I calmed down. I didn’t really mind, but would have appreciated the thought of him clearing the idea with me first. To me there were a couple issues. First, he is putting this thing in the middle of the lawn. Just what I want, yellow grass. Second, I have to cut the lawn (which I haven’t done yet) and will not work to cut around this thing. Third, he is costing me money to fill this thing. How often does he expect to do this? Fourth, when they are done with it, how do they expect to empty the pool? If this thing pops, it better not flood my garage.

So I go outside to talk to him. I tell him I don’t really mind, but he should have spoken with me first. I also tell him I don’t want him continually re-filling this thing. Finally, I tell him he will have to move the pool off of the grass. He does so by putting it behind the garage on the concrete. Of course, we he was done, he didn’t wrap the hose back up and put in on the hanger. Bastard. And I have yet to see anyone in that pool.

Who knows, with Summerfest practically here, I may not make it back into the house after a night of drinking. Good to see I now have an outside toilet waiting for me.

It is also good to see Iggy back with an uber post. Some bloggers have gone through some rough days lately. My prayers have been with them. Good to see they are getting along again. Raise a pint everyone!