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April 26

Reading lists?

I'm eagerly awaiting an old copy of my next read: "Eureka: from Cleveland by ship to California, 1849-1850" By Robert Samuel Fletcher I've noticied that aside from Harry Potter and my Mom's books, I"m on a bit of a history kick.

My last books: "Nothing like it in the world: the men who built the transcontinental railroad" By Stephen E. Ambrose-disappointed in the quality of the writing and the apparent lack of first hand accounts by any of the actual laborours (lots of accounts by the administrators), but who could not appreciate the story?
"Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln" By John Stauffer-excellent, really shows how Lincoln, like any real person, changes his opinion over time as life experiences shaped his understanding.Learned a lot about Douglass, too...like make sure you use 2 s's!
"The devil in the white city: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America" By Erik Larson- a little sensational, but I've run across a lot of late 20th century mass murder stories...this one was well researched and I learned a lot about the St Louis world's fair, in the midst of a financial crisis...and the invention of the Ferris Wheel.
"The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt" By T. J. Stiles-can't say enough about this, I loved it...the time period, the cutting edge financial techniques, etc.
"John Sutter: a life on the North American frontier" By Albert L. Hurtado-another great biography. I almost felt sorry for the guy, and I've never even liked him.
"Gone to Texas: a history of the Lone Star State" By Randolph B. Campbell-wow, every Californian should read this before reading CA history.

Got any good ones to suggest that fit into my theme? I think a good bio on Fremont is about due...

6:24 PM GMT | Read comments(2)

January 15

TTB lab certification/chemist certification update

I spoke with Jeff Ammann at the TTB today to ask what's the status of the long awaited lab/chemist certification revisions. I had called Greg Hodson earlier to see if WI Tech group had any news, and he had not heard a thing since WI went back east to propose a few things.

Here is what Jeff said the major changes being worked on by TTB, and plan to be in place by June of this year...
1. TTB will send out wine samples to be tested (no more purchases and submit)
2. TTB expanded allowable education requirements to include physical and biological degrees, as long as 30 chemistry credits were included.
3. TTB eliminates ash, alkalinity of ash, and perhaps a few others
4. TTB REQUIRES METHANOL and SORBIC ACID.
5. TTB will recognize and not require certification for ISO labs if these analytes are part of their scope.

So, we got about half of what we were looking for...elimination of ash, recognition of ISO as at least equivalent to the TTB...but it appears that TTB is not going with the cafeteria plan, that they will require methanol and sorbate (although he did waffle a bit about individual cases, so perhaps a case-by-case exception could be allowed), and are administering their own proficiency scheme.

I asked Jeff how I could influence the final decisions, and he said he "didn't know". I've left a message for Dr Mabud, and will be following up with him.

2:47 PM GMT | Read comments(2)

October 25

Made my first Online sale-the shopping cart is working!

I spent all weekend on this project. Shipping rates, shopping carts, issues with selling wine online…and, well, the “add to cart” buttons almost killed me. And all those little features, like what page do you return to after a purchase, or a cancellation, or…what if the product is sold out?…my eyes are blurred and I’m not seeing straight (well, I did watch some of the Yankees/Angels game and saw that well enough).

But Lo! and Behold! Just made my first online sale! It worked! So, it was my parents, but that counts…doesn’t it?

Beta testers are still welcome, and bug-reporters, too. I’ve already been informed about a typo. Check it out at Buy Wines

11:02 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

October 23

Back again, Harvest was Great

So I’ve been busy, sorry about the lack of posting. We’ve been learning about things like Facebook, and about ppaperwork for “exporting” wine from California to other foreign states, like New York, Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina, Washington and a few more. And then trying to bottle the Pinot noir, the sparkling wine-champagnes, and the vinegars before harvest. So, in the next day or two we should have our Facebook page up and running, have the next Pinot noir released, and our next newsletter out!

9:25 PM GMT | Read comments(0)

May 04

Treadmill Desk

I spend too much time on the computer. Writing, researching, analyzing data, and even surfing...and as one gets older it gets more difficult to counteract all those hours of sitting. I was definitely losing the battle. So, thanks to a suggestion from Mia quite some time ago, I finally put all the pieces together and made the leap. Or is it step? I've had it just about a week and have already "walked" over 45 miles. And wrote two articles, a report, researched a quote, prepared two presentations, edited 98 proposals, and discovered more bizarre family history.

TreadDesk brand Treadmill: ~$760 + shipping

Wire bookcase with wheels: ~$130

2 x melamine lumber with 1" holes drilled to place on shelves:~$22

Walking while I work: Priceless

The ever-opinionated Alejandro says that this is ridiculous even by pH standards. I have to tell you, I love it already. We'll see if it does any good. What do you think?

5:30 PM GMT | Read comments(2)

Patricia Howe Wines

Truly HandMade Wines