Duffman is planning a little vacation

I should have been Duffman for Halloween. If you don't know who I'm referencing, he is the mythical superhero from the Simpsons who basically represents the kind of gods that people in this industry appear to be. We give out free bier with reckless abandon, we are muscular, good looking and thrust rather than point to give directions.

To be completely honest there has been a huge number of times this past year when I have felt mythical and have found myself thrusting in various directions. My job is an easy conversation starter, granted a person doesn't first comment on my cape. I have lost weight and gained muscle due to the physical nature of my job, and have also gained a bit of wisdom about bier and the industry. It has been surprisingly great at times. Not always.

The downside to working in a production-oriented position is that you often find your life under the control of a non-sentient process that requires sacrifice and requires it often. Many of my close friends know that I have had to work either on Saturday or on Sunday every week for the past year with a few exceptions. I am also either showing up to work at 5 am or am getting off work at 5 am, take your pick they both are uncomfortable for me. There have been tantrums on my end, like when I was originally scheduled to work Saturdays this fall, meaning that I was scheduled to miss every single Husky football game. Tantrum. There was the time when we were short staffed by a coworker taking time off for his honeymoon which coincided with my own brother's wedding. Tantrum.

Despite my drama, things have worked out every time, and life has gone on. However, I have had to do some deep thinking over the past weeks and months, and have decided that the year here at the brewery has been a year well spent, but that it is time to move on. Here's what that looks like (as far as I can tell).

I'm planning on spending the next two months traveling. I will spend Thanksgiving at my family's home in Spokane, I will return to Seattle to run a half marathon on Nov. 25th, then will fly to Hawaii to watch the Huskies' final game of the season. Following that trip I will roadtrip through Montana to Colorado and will return to Seattle by Dec. 15th for the annual tacky sweater Christmas party at my house. After that I plan to spend time before Christmas in Spokane with my family. On Dec. 27th I will fly to Honduras for roughly two weeks to visit my aunt who has been doing medical mission work there for almost three years. I should be back in Seattle somewhere around January 10th. After that I am contemplating a trip to New York and possibly one to Anchorage as well.

Now, I'm not the kind of blogger who will inform you of the intimate details of my life/plans on a regular basis. In this case, I will lean closer toward that style in an attempt to tell you about biers that I get to try throughout my travels, as well as bars and breweries that I visit, especially when I'm in Honduras as it will be my first trip to Central America since 2001.

In the meantime I'll do my best to keep this space updated with my thoughts/observations/gibberishes as often as is reasonable. Thanks to those of you who are willing to read this nonsense. May the beginning of this holiday season fill you with some joy and some winter seasonals. Prost!