The Beerocrat - One Year On

About a year ago, I decided to create a blog that detailed my love of beer. I posted my first entry on June 19th, 2007 at about 7 in the morning. That period of time was a very happy time in my life; I had a great time, I was carefree, and I had ample free time to celebrate my love of beer on this blog. Gradually, things changed; I got married, so I now had a family to support; my job became more and more stressful, eventually spilling into the afterhours; and my stress levels began to rise because of both of those things. Stress and overwork do not bode particularly well for a carefree beer blog that was meant to be a hobby. But fortunately for you Beerocrat fans, I'll be making more and more frequent entries.

I was laid off from my IT job yesterday.

It was a total shock when it happened, but my former company needed to downsize, and unfortunately I was among the few who were let go. I am still saddened by it (considering it happened only yesterday, and considering that I loved that job and my co-workers), but I hold no ill will towards my ex-company, and especially towards my former co-workers and managers, some of whom are aware of, and have supported, this blog and its exploits. Still, I drowned my sorrows with - you guessed it - a few beers. There's no better feeling than drinking beer at the Silver Peak at 11 in the morning on a Wednesday.

For you, dear reader, this means more entries and a renewed commitment to excellence, and no better time to renew my commitment than to do it on the first anniversary of this here beer blog.

Since its too late to do an entry tonight (I swear I'm turning into a crotchety old man at 24), I'll post one tomorrow. Now that I can call breweries during normal work hours to get more information, I can get the information and review to you quicker than I have in quite some time.

In the meantime, I got this in my inbox a couple days ago. Redhook, one of Seattle's largest breweries, has started a new viral marketing campaign called the What Would Redhook Do? Coaster Contest. You create a slogan with what you think Redhook would do, like "Redhook would lower gas prices" or "Redhook would date the hot girl's ugly friend", add a background photo, then upload it. Other people who visit the site can vote on your entry, and if enough deem yours worthy, it will end up on coasters nationwide, a pretty sweet deal. You can find the caption contest here.

Take care, and I'll post a new review tomorrow.

Prost!