Gear Update & Old Scratch Amber Lager

A brief rundown of some of the fortunes of select items I brought on this adventure.

• REI microfiber towel MIA

Left in shower during a particularly harried morning; discovered missing upon my return.  It was a really nice towel, though perhaps bigger than I needed.  Not to fret; I have regular old army brown towels instead

• Maglite LED flashlight  MIA

I still have some hope for finding this one, since I don't remember ever using outside my barracks area and I don't think any of my roommate's visitors would walk off with it.  It has since been replaced with a much cheaper on from Amazon.

• PrincetonTec headlamp Recuperated

The red LED setting died first and then it did not turn on at all.  Fortunately this was just a dead-battery problem, but I'm surprised at how quickly they died compared to my previous PrincetonTec headlamp.  perhaps there is a reason so many 3-AAA style headlamps are popular.

• CKRT M-16ti knife MIA

This is probably the most saddening loss because I really liked it and chances are very slim that I'll recover it here.  The blade was beginning to get discolored and I had tighten the scales once, but it was otherwise a perfect knife to carry every day.  Since its disappearance, I have acquired two other folding knives.  One is a cheap little Chinese stainless pocket knife; too dull for any delicate work and too flimsy for tough work.  The other is the a nice Benchmade Griptilian with a chipped tip.  It's a very solid knife, but too thick and heavy to carry around clipped to my pocket as I'd been accustomed.

• Dell Inspiron E1505

She's old and prone to fits.  Bizarre behavior with the display and internet access have been patched/fixed as warranted with hard boots and free antivirus from Google.  My custom paint job has a habit of making the once-handy media control buttons stick, causing unexpected music to play or speakers to mute themselves.  The battery seems to have finally died after a long trend of diminishing battery life.  It's downright inconvenient restart whenever the plug to pops out

Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager

Amber lagers are pretty much my standard of what beer should be.  I think this may come from my beer education process in which Yuengling’s amber lager was golden contrasted with the harsh malt liquor and natural light options.  This in particular reminded me a lot of Saranac’s Adirondack Lager.  It was good, but not overwhelming or something to put on a pedestal in a fancy chalice.  The right balance of beer flavors and lightness to make it a beverage to go with any meal, game, or long afternoon.