99 Balloons

Here's a very touching video. It's already been spread around a bit but I felt compelled to share it with you in case you haven't seen it. Get a fistful of tissues ready. 

Life's Serious Moments

Every now and then something happens that stops me in my tracks. A friend tells me about a family member or co-worker experiencing something awful...death, cancer, a serious accident. I try to offer words of comfort or encouragement but often feel lost about what to say. It typically makes me contemplate my life and the many blessings I have. More often than not I internalize things and get quieter than usual, much to my wife's dismay. After some time my life continues on as normal and I don't think about their situations as often. And I feel guilty for being so selfish.

A couple weeks ago the bad news hit a little closer to home. My father-in-law, Bob, was given a preliminary diagnoses of the early onset of Alzheimer's. We had noticed that his memory had been slipping over the past few years and there were other signs that things weren't quite right but it happened so gradually and it's easy to make excuses. We started to suspect something a bit more serious may be going on when his younger brother was diagnosed with the disease about a year ago. Lisa was with her dad at the doctor's office while he was taking the test. She could see in his eyes that he knew he wasn't doing as well as he had when he had taken the test previously. She's putting up a strong front right now but I know she's scared about what the future holds. I know Bob is scared, too. Being a retired firefighter he isn't going to let his fear show. For now I'm trying to be supportive and available to listen when someone needs to talk. That's hard for me because generally I try to offer solutions on what I think it will take to fix something. This isn't really all that fixable.

We're committed to doing whatever we need to do to help but we don't know what that really means right now. My father-in-law is 72. His mother just passed away this past year at age 94. This has the potential to stretch out over a very long period of time. I've seen what Alzheimer's has done to other people but never this close to me. It can be a cruel illness that robs you of your dignity, that much I do know. 

Bob has an appointment in February to see a neurologist. We'll find out more about the potential course of treatment at that time. I'm sure they'll prescribe some drugs to help him in the short term. In the meantime we'll do some research and try to figure out what we're going to be able to do to try and help. I'm pretty certain this will be something we'll be working with for awhile.

True Confessions of a Coffee Drinker

I'm a coffee snob and I'm proud of it. I own two separate coffee makers. One of them cost nearly $900 and it makes awesome espresso drinks. When I got over the initial sticker shock and did the math I discovered it easily paid for itself in less than a year. I've owned it for over six so I'm way ahead on the coffee shop curve. The other is only for brewed coffee...the everyday work horse. I only buy whole bean coffee and use a burr grinder to make it just right for the perfect brew. Snobbery through and through!

As I've travelled around the world I've gotten to taste a lot of great coffee. It is the primary export in a lot of the countries the organization I work for has offices in. The result is I've had the opportunity to drink some of the world's best coffee on its home turf. I have a deal with a couple of co-workers and we bring coffee back to each other from our various trips. If you've never heard coffee mentioned in conjunction with Ethiopia, Colombia, Indonesia, Guatemala, Kenya, El Salvador, or Tanzania then you must be a Folger's drinker. I once told my pastor that, for coffee connoisseurs, drinking Folger's is like dropping the f-bomb during a Sunday morning sermon. He's a cool guy so I didn't get excommunicated or anything.

Ethiopian coffee is outstanding. After all, Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee...at least that's what my Ethiopian friends claim. Colombia grows some incredible beans, too. That Juan Valdez guy is a national icon! They've built a whole new brand around ol' Juan that actually has some decent coffee associated with it...not like the junk that we in the US remember from those commercials in the 70's. Indonesia has their delicious Sumatra, Tanzania has wonderful Peaberry, Guatemala is rightfully proud of their Antigua, and the Santa Leticia beans from El Salvador are very flavorful. But, in my opinion, the best coffee I've tasted comes from Kenya! There are two coffee's that I absolutely love coming out of my favorite African destination...Kenya AA roasted by the Nairobi Java House and, wait for it...wait for it...

Dorman's AA Blue Mountain!

"Hold on a minute...KENYAN Blue Mountain? Blue Mountain is that expensive coffee from Jamaica. You've got it wrong!"

Nope...I've got it exactly right! A number of years ago someone figured out that an area of Kenya has a very similar climate, elevation and soil to Jamaica. They imported a coffee plant and found their suspicions were correct. The Kenyan Blue Mountain coffee is every bit as delicious as the Jamaican version (the Jamaicans are not real happy about this and have been trying to stop the Kenyan's from calling it Blue Mountain for years). But here's the best part. You might be aware that the Jamican Blue Mountain costs anywhere from $25 a pound and up if you can find it? I can get the Kenyan Blue Mountain for a little less than $10 a pound. Score!

The unfortunate part of this story is I can't get year 'round access to the Kenyan coffee that I love so much. I don't get to Kenya as often as I'd like and they don't have an online store that I can order from - although the shipping would probably negate the great prices anyway. The good news is I've found an awesome place in Colorado Springs that roasts some pretty darn good bean. My friend Eric Umenhofer is an awesome local roaster and owns a shop called the Colorado Coffee Merchants. He has two labels he markets under, Umpire Estate and Idle Truck. I really like the Umpire Estate Kauai blend and I love his espresso beans, too. Quite honestly, I haven't had anything from his shop that I didn't really like. It's 237% better than the bitter, burned, over-caffeinated crap that Starbuck's tries to pass off as coffee. If you really enjoy good coffee you owe it to yourself to give Colorado Coffee Merchants a try...did I mention they're having a Holiday Open House on December 22 between 5:30 and 8:00? If you don't live around Colorado Springs you can order online and they'll ship it to you, too. 

Ok..enough with the commercial but it was an honest testimonial. Coffee is a gift from God. That's probably most evident in that it's the drug of choice for most Christians – but that's a whole different topic for another day. For now, I'm going to go pour another cup and relax.

Red Red Wine

I like red wine. Wait. That's a lie. I love red wine! For some reason I've never acquired much of a taste for white wine. I may even have a bit of an allergy to it as I tend to get a bit congested after drinking some. But pour me a glass or two of a rich, robust red and I'm your friend for life – or at least the evening. Of course my primary reasons for drinking a glass or two of red wine are the documented health benefits that come along with it. Yeah..that's it, the health benefits!

There's a whole mystique surrounding wine tasting and choosing a good wine that used to intrigue me. The reviewers talking about hints of chocolate or berries or other flavors always sound great. Personally I've never really been able to pick out those distinctions when I've actually tried the wine. I guess all the cheap beer I drank in college must have tainted my taste buds. My technique is far more simple than what the experts put themselves through. I find someone who has similar taste or make friends with the manager of the local liquor mart and ask for recommendations. So far I haven't been disappointed.

I've had the opportunity to drink some highly rated reds over the years. Silver Oak comes to mind as a nice, smooth, fine tasting wine. At $125 + for a bottle it's not something I have on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, I've only had it once when a great friend of mine shared a bottle he had been given as a parting gift when he left an internet design company he helmed for a period of time. Someone really appreciated what he had done and let him know with a great gift!

Here's a sample of some of what's in my "cellar" at the moment.





What I've come to discover is that it's not that difficult to find a really good bottle of red for less than $20 or $30. I'm talking something that really doesn't leave me longing for the Silver Oak but actually gives it some stiff competition!

These wines are very nice, full bodied reds that can either stand alone or go well with a meal. I've never really adhered to the white meat/white wine, red meat/red wine rules. I've found that you can pair red's with just about anything successfully. Some old school wine connoisseurs are probably picking themselves up off the floor about now.

Relaxing with good friends and a good bottle of red typically makes for a great evening. We should get together and try it sometime!