Watered-Down Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch water for 1993 flood 11-08-2015I’m a disgrace to my German heritage. I have to confess I went years not liking the taste of beer. Then, one hot summer, Brother-in-Law John Perry came down to Florida to help us re-roof the house.

Well, to be more accurate, he did most of the work when he wasn’t answering dumb questions from The Boys and me. (Sample: “These nails have the heads on the wrong end.” “Just put them back in your pouch and use them on the other side of the roof.”)

At the end of the day, I took a shine to the Bud Light I was quaffing with John. Nowadays, I usually have a bottle with dinner at least three nights a week.

My friends make fun of me for drinking Bud Light, but I counter by saying, “I’m not really crazy about beer, and Bud Light is the closest thing you can get to Not Beer that still has a little of the taste of beer.

In 1993, the folks at Anheuser-Busch came up with something that might be a little light even for my taste. They switched over one of their lines in Ft. Collins, Colorado, to produce cans of drinking water for folks fighting the Flood of 1993.

Use by 10/15/1993

Anheuser-Busch water for 1993 flood 11-08-2015Wife Lila and Foodie Road Warriorette Jan are always giving me grief about how long I keep food past the theoretical expiration date. I wonder if they’d object if I cracked the can and took a swig of 1993 water? The can’s full and shows no signs of leakage.

Canned water outlasted Dutchtown

Dutchtown buyout demolition 10-18-2015Ronald Kucera Jr. of Kucera Demolition reduces a Dutchtown house to landfill material. Eleven of 15 houses eligible for a buyout have been marked for demolition after residents got tired of more and more frequent “100-year” floods.

Not-so-fond memories

93 Dutchtown Flood Mark Steinhoff inside Mech ShedBrother Mark and I have some not-so-fond memories of the Flood of 1993, when we were surveying the height of the water inside one of the buildings Dad used for his construction company. We were barely able to get the canoe under the top of the door.

U Honk We Drink

U Honk We Drink 04-17-2014Mother and I were cruising on Caruthers past the old Central High School when I saw three guys in with a sign in front of them. “They are at little old to be selling Kool-Aid like the Lamkin kids did,” I thought.

I was almost past them when I read the sign, “U HONK WE DRINK.”

I gave them a “Toot! Toot!,” drove on a couple of blocks, then decided this was too good to pass up. I made a right turn onto Thilenius Street, a right onto North Sunset Blvd., a right onto Themis and a right onto Caruthers Ave. to put me within half a block of the guys. Just as I pulled up, a couple of cars gave a honk.

Dustin Miller, Daniel Price and Justin White turned out to be a trio of nice guys. Best part was that they had easy spelling names. “M-i-l-l-e-r?,” I asked. “Nothing all weird like Mueller?” “Nope, just Miller,” he answered.

“OK, so, what’s going on?

U Honk We Drink 04-17-2014Daniel Price said the fridge had a few beers in it and “I’ve been waiting for a sunny day like this for two weeks.”

Justin said he had just come home from work and saw his two roommates sitting in the back yard of 1752 Themis and decided to join them.

Common Spelling Miller didn’t say anything because he was going into the house for another beer run. When he came back, he started dealing out brews: “There’s one for me; there’s one for you, and one for you.”

“Where’s mine?”

He started to hand me a can, but I waved him off.

It sounded like about every third car honked. I suggested they’d do better if they put up signs a little in advance of where they were sitting. I could seeing them considering the idea for about as long as it was worth, then they sat back and waited for whatever toots came their way.

I DID notice that the would take an anticipatory toot swig from time to time if traffic was light.