Introducing PrairieShepherd

Hello ATS -

I've been lurking for quite some time. I've found fascination in several subjects, although I'm an expert in exactly zero of them. I've been resisting creating an ID here for a while, but...whatever, I'm tired of resisting the urge. I'm a little nervous about the posting guidelines so if I screw something up please forgive me.

There's not much extraordinary about me: husband, father of 3, Christian, Caucasian, mid-west middle-class middle-age software engineer, musician by education and hobby, hobby writer, hobby cook, hobby brewer.

I generally find the Aliens and UFOs forum the most fascinating (although I must admit I have spent quite a bit of time reading at least some of the political threads lately). I truly hope there is some breakthrough with regard to discovering extraterrestrial life - it always seems to be a let-down, however. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful.

I also find some topics the Religion & Theology forum interesting, however, I am not a theologian - quite the contrary, in college I was a very late night decision away from being an atheist. Strange paths we follow for me to go from booze, women, and disbelief to a situation where I teach the Bible to others.

I have a great love of epic fantasy fiction, and to a lesser extent science fiction. The Wheel of Time is one of my favorites (insert respectful nod to ATS member BlueAjah here) along with many I have lost track of over the years. My passion is to ultimately write my own fantasy stories, but having a day job and children sort of puts damper on those aspirations. Nevertheless, I have some 50-60,000 words written, a rough storyline, and several characters fleshed out with their backgrounds. Unfortunately, I tend to second-guess myself with "that's too trope-y/lame", or "so-and-so already used that idea", and the ever-dreaded "but what are you really trying to say?"

Finally, I do not anticipate posting a great deal. I am well aware of the potentially deleterious effects of having an ID on an online forum - they can quite literally suck away hours of your day, which most days I cannot afford.

So there you have it - all that said, I'm happy to be here, ATS!

a reply to: PrairieShepherd

Welcome to ATS

a reply to: stonerwilliam

Thanks, stonerwilliam! Your avatar gives me a chuckle.

Kia ora, nau mai haere mai. Welcome to ats.
Enjoy your day.

hello, good evening and welcome

a reply to: Cloudbuster

Kia ora, Cloudbuster! Mauri ora!

(Hope I did that right - had to look it up...)

Welcome!

I myself am an aspiring software engineer. Night classes though as during the day its work and learning code in my off time. Wish it was possible to hold a part time job and have a life, but that is not possible so a full time job it is.

UFO forum is full of some serious skeptics. Skeptic they should be, so tread lightly if you create a thread and wear a thick skin. Bring some interesting subject matter and some proof or at least a good argument and an interesting conversation is sure to ensue.

Welcome to ATS!

a reply to: PrairieShepherd

Welome PrairieShepherd!

Another lurker bites the dust (*silence*)

Welcome PrairieShepherd to the ATS family!


Home brewer, musician, and software engineer, huh. We've got something in common in all three of those areas (home brewer, guitarist, IT, over here).

Enjoy wandering around this vast place! It is more fun to be on this side of things. Besides, lurking is bad for your back!

Thanks folks!
StolidPanda
My degree is in Music Education. I'm a self-taught programmer because I couldn't get a job as a teacher (think Mr. Holland's Opus.) Don't get caught up in the individual languages - you can learn any language. Understand the concepts of good design and programming concepts (look up SOLID principles, for example). You can do the full-time job/learn to code thing - I did.

Regarding the UFO forum, yes, there are skeptics (some rabidly so) and there are believers (some also rabidly so). Believe me, I will tread lightly.

reldra
Thank you! I've seen quite a few of your posts over the last months. I suspect you & I differ quite a bit politically, but your posts always challenge me to question my thinking and my assumptions and I respect what you say, so thank you!

TEOTWAWKIAIFF
I read how you created your username in the one thread where folks explained that. I won't claim it's easy to type, though!
Yes, I'm in IT, musician, and a home brewer. I've got over 3 decades on the trumpet and absolutely love playing - particularly jazz. I have a fondness for the rhythm instruments as well, but I am only a very, very beginning student on guitar - like, I can play three chords and I have trouble switching between them! LOL I'll keep trying though.

Homebrewing is entertaining and I enjoy the fruits of the labor. I'm new at that too - 3 batches bottled, 1 still in primary, 1 yet to brew. After the next kit, I'm going to try moving to primarily gruit ales with traditional botanicals if I can track them down. Several grow in my state - I think one or two are actually in my yard - so I'm quite hopeful.

Thanks for the welcome, everyone!

originally posted by: PrairieShepherd
a reply to: stonerwilliam

Thanks, stonerwilliam! Your avatar gives me a chuckle.

It suits me to a tee the avatar , I loved making my own homebrew many moons ago with all the fruit trees we had plus i got friendly with a girl in a fruit shop and used to get all the old fruit for free and boy when i get into something i do not do half measures , i had 5+ gallons of wine on the go all the time and got really good at it with all the different yeasts on the market plus making beer was a thing that was going on in my house even as a young lad .

Not long ago i looked into making it again and was shocked at the price of wine kits $ 30 +in the uk , you are actually cheaper buying it


I dont see aliens i see stars

a reply to: stonerwilliam

Nice - Wine, cider, and mead are some other beverages I've considered trying to make. You're right though, it's not much of a savings if any to home brew. When you factor in the brewing equipment, it might save you a little bit, but not much. At least, not here in the U.S. I will say that the more you brew, the better your savings.

I also brew ginger beer using a ginger starter bug - that's quite inexpensive but you do run the risk of bottle bombs. The final bottle of my last batch of ginger beer shot over four feet into the air and hit the ceiling in my kitchen when I opened it. My kids laughed their little behinds off at me, standing there with ginger beer dripping off my nose...

a reply to: PrairieShepherd

TEOT is enough!

I went from kit to partial-mash in like 2 sessions! I have the equipment to do full batch all grain but the effort is too much. So I am still doing partial-mash full batch boils. Oh, and keggin! If there are any local breweries in your area go meet the head brewer. Tell him you brew beer and usually they will give you a mason jar of yeast directly from their primary! Make sure it is a beer you like (I mostly do ales). It is a fun hobby!

I am still stuck in alternative-punk land. But I do study and play classical which is where it all started for me.

Nice intro!

Hi and welcome to ATS.

You'll find me in most of the subject's in your OP.

a reply to: PrairieShepherd

I love Ginger beer but never thought of making it a friend of mine used to make wicked strong ale he would double the sugar content of the batch and the time it would be left and boy did it get you drunk quick

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
My plan with all-grain is to try the brew-in-a-bag method when I start the gruit brewing. I intend to build a frame with a pulley on it where I can pull the bag up and suspend it over the wort to drain - I could even do a modified sparge with water warmed up to the sparge temp. It's all theoretical at the moment though.

Interesting note about the local brewery - there are a couple around here.

Alt-punk? Interesting. Many, many decades ago my friends kept trying to punk me out - Joy Division, Dead Kennedys, Sid Vicious, etc. I never got into trying to perform it though - not much punk repertoire for trumpet!


Question - your location says "61 Degrees N" - Anchorage?

a reply to: DarkvsLight29

Thanks DarkvsLight29!! Looking forward to it!


a reply to: stonerwilliam

I think that's the theory behind Belgian ales, which was my latest batch in primary right now. More sugar! More malt! More sugar!! It had an OG of 1.076 - I'm looking forward to that one!

a reply to: PrairieShepherd

Good name. Welcome aboard

a reply to: PrairieShepherd

Yup! Good old Anchortown.

Punk. But learned 80's pop for a cover band. Also, lots of metal (Priest, BOC) and Rush. That was while playing in jazz band! I play lots of good music badly (hehe)!

a reply to: KTemplar

Thanks KTemplar!