Monday mish-mash

 So after wasting a lot of time trying to see if a MWN post was in the offing, I considered that today (Monday) was funny enough on its own.

Let me give you the lead in: Today was the vacation day set apart for getting me a new phone.  My previous had suddenly s t ar t ed   g  oi   ng  v  er   y    s   l   o   w.  To the point that I could try to answer a call and by the time it decided to let me, any normal person would have given up.  Now I had to wait for businesses to open, which means I had tons of time to give Little Miss Impatient a morning walk.

"Mmmm...frosty!"

Blinding, even...

Then it was time to hunt.  So I start at, logically, since I'm on AT&T, the local AT&T Store.

"Anything you want, we would have to order.  We don't know when we can get anything in!"  Partially, this was true; I suspect a large part, though, was that they didn't feel like dealing with someone who wanted just a cheapie, talk-n-text phone.  They suggested I could find their off-brand (AlTel) at "Kroger or Wal-Mart".  Strike one.

Thought to myself, "Best Buy's just down the street."  So I try them.

"Have you been helped?"

Explain what I'm looking for.  Suddenly his eyes register me as something dirty.

"What's your carrier?"

"AT&T."

Now I smell bad, too.  "We have nothing like that."  Strike two.

So I go to Wal-Mart.  They have EXACTLY what I want, but...

"I can sell it to you, but I can't help you with it.  That takes our IT dept., and they... well they have a deadline they have to be in by.  It's a half hour till that deadline, so I don't think they're coming in today.  But, they might show up.  Or, they might come in at 2 (it's now 11:30).  Or they might not come in at all.  It's crazy.  You might want to try after Christmas."

So I bought the darn thing, brought it home, plugged it in while I tried to pry out my old sim card. Figured out later it wasn't going to charge with the battery STILL IN THE PACKAGING.  At any rate, all is now well and working.  So screw you, Wal-Mart IT dept.

(BTW I know the story sounded unbelievable, but as we came to the register, I heard the dude's partner explaining the same thing to another guy.  When that customer left and I commented about it, my guy's partner told me his customer wanted him to GO OUT TO HIS CAR and set up his bluetooth.  I made a joke about it not being Best Buy, but then thought to myself that the Geek Squad might have thought he was stinky, too.)

(BTW #2- As I was trying to check out, the guy's register was a good 15 seconds behind the display at my end.

Display: "Remove card"

Me: removes card

Guy: You took it out too soon! It didn't register yet!

Me: It said, remove card.  Now it's asking about a warranty.

Guy: That's funny, it didn...

Me;  Now it says I'm all done.

Guy: That's funny.  Well, you're all set.

Me: Thanks.

Guy: Wait, your receipt! (5 seconds later, it decides to print.)

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At this point I called Laurie (miraculously with the old phone) and told her that after all this, I was going to the liquor store and round up a variety pack.  Here's what I got (considering their selection was about as raped as everyone else's, I did pretty good:)

First up here is Ommegang Brewery out of NY state and something I've had before and didn't review- their Three Philosophers Quadrupel. This gets a BA rating of 93 Outstanding, an average score (on the 5 point scale) of 4.18, and lights up at an ABV of 9.7.

Second is this year's Founders Nemesis.  This is considered a Barleywine (think "you have to work hard to make it boozier"), too new to have a rating or score, and ABV of 11.2.

Third is Lexington's Kentucky Winter Golden Stout.  Considered an American Stout, It rated 83-good, scored 3.56, and ABVed at 8.

Then comes another Ommegang, called Collaboration 2016. This was a combo of a dopplebock done by an outfit called Urban Chestnut, considered thus, with some whistles and bangs added.  Rated 88 very good, scoring 3.95, ABV 7.5- the lightweight of the group.

Next is a New Belgium Oakspire, an American strong ale, rated 86 very good, scoring at 3.81, ABV at 9.

Finally, since I didn't have a whole lot left as to choices that I thought I would like, I took an old favorite- Founders KBS.  Rated 100 world class, scored (by them) 4.65 or (by me) 4.57, with an ABV of 12.3.

My plan is one a night from the weaker (since it IS Monday) to stronger (which means Collaboration is up).  I'll let you- and BA- know what I think as I go.