99 Bottles of Root Beer

Reviews for 34 new root beers. Some great, some awful. Does Delaware's Dominion stay at the top?

Bank of America was able to send me the information on my closed account for my travel-abroad credit card. I started tallying up where my costs were, placing charges into columns of "transportation", "food", "museums", "currency exchange fees", "hostels", etc., but then I realized it was pointless because I covered Phil many times and he covered me many times. Any sub-totals wouldn't be very accurate. We tracked who owed each other what back then, but unfortunately the detailed records have been lost to the ages. Since I can only give a grand total (knowing the sum of what I spent and how much Phil paid me back at the end), I'll make this a root beer post instead. First though, here's that grand total. I spent a whopping...

$5329

That includes my flight from America, back to America, and everything in between. From Stockholm to Kyoto. I didn't feel like I spent this much, and I was a little surprised to see the total. But all things considered, for nine weeks in Europe having the best time of my life, I'll take it. I don't regret a dime. Still wish I spent more time in Santorini though! Dang I miss that place.

Compare this number to the $5147 I gave in my previous post for my four months travelling America. I don't know what to make of these numbers. Did I do well overall, spending a total

$10,476?

My knee jerk reaction is this number is high. I was trying to be very conservative with my spending, as a challenge to myself. But to have spent that over half a year, incorporating tens of thousands of miles of travel and sight-seeing and enjoying life? Maybe it's not so bad. I could live on a $30k salary! Yeah, yeah, I know I slept in my car for many nights. But hey when I finish paying off my school loans, it gets easier.

It will only take me about half a year to get through these root beers.

OK, so, root beer. For Christmas my wonderful brother got me a billion more root beers to try, and I picked up a few others since then. It was a very thoughtful gift. My whole family joined in on the fun for some of these root beers, back around Christmas time. We agreed on many, and yelled about others. I shipped what we couldn't finish (the vast majority of them) to Louisville with me, and I just got done tasting them last month. One of my friends out here, David, is also a root beer connoisseur, so we shared many.

There were so many root beers to try. Honestly most of them are very similar so as to be a safe and agreeable flavour. Root beers follow a right-skewed distribution. My bottom-heavy ratings reveal as much.

AJ Stephan's (Orange, MA): tasted like nothing, 1 star

Baumeister (Green Bay, WI): very full and hearty, but not a spectacular flavor - it was so hearty that I seriously feel you could get stuffed on this drink, 5 stars

Berghoff (Chicago, IL): a little light on the flavor, but the flavor it has is very good, 7 stars

Blumers (Monroe, WI): not much flavor except for lemon, kinda like a lemon Pepsi, 3 stars

Brownie Caramel Cream (Mukilteo, WA): true to its name, extremely caramel-flavoured - you'll like it if you like caramel but to me it is hardly root beer, 2 stars

Buckin (Jackson Hole, WY): pure sasparilla, minty and repulsive, 1 star

Capone (Chicago, IL): sharpest ever! bonus stars for that, flavor is decent, 8 stars

Capt'n Eli's (Portland, ME): very average, "almost sharp and almost vanilla", 4 stars

Caruso's Legacy Robusto (Redwood, CA): tastes appley, like apples! interesting and decent, just not the path I want root beer to follow, 6 stars

Dang! That's Good (Milwaukee, WI): doesn't taste like much, just carbonated simple syrup, almost coke-flavoured, 1 star

Dog n Suds (Chicago, IL): hokey, it's just Mug, 4 stars

Earp's Sarsaparilla (Mukilteo, WA): did you know sarsaparilla is the correct spelling of sasparilla? quite the root beer reviewer I am, can't even spell the root correctly - this root beer taught me that, but that's all this sugar-water is good for, 2 stars

Fitz (St. Louis, MO): pretty bland but my dad loved it, made for a good float, 3 stars

Foxon Park (East Haven, CT): best tasting low-cal root beer, 9 stars, can only imagine if it were full-cal

Frostie (Detroit, MI): = Barq's minus bite plus flavor, 7 stars

Gray's (Janesville, WI): grape-vanilla flavor, pretty interesting, 6 stars

Hank's (Philadelphia, PA): decent but nothing noteworthy, 6 stars

Hansen's (Tustin, CA): comes in a can, tickles the throat, not much taste, 4 stars

Henry Weinhard's (Colfax, CA): a honey-laden juicy drink with full-bodied taste, 9 stars

IBC (Plano, TX): not much there, clearly tries to be agreeable to the masses, no wonder it is widely marketed, 3 stars

Kutztown (Kutztown, PA): very plain, inoffensive, like a Mug but a little lighter, 4 stars

Margo's Dark (Los Angeles, CA): strong smell, smells "dark" like a Guinness beer, but doesn't taste that way, just a bit stronger version of a Barq's, 7 stars

Olde Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA): utterly unremarkable, 4 stars

Old Red Eye (Mukilteo, WA): earthy, heavy on the sarsaparilla, spicy, probably my favorite that went for a strong sarsaparilla taste, 5 stars

Ozark Mountain (Brandon, MO): light, very refreshing with a candy taste, like one of those classic root beer barrel candies, 9 stars

Rocket Fizz (Camarillo, CA): surprisingly really good from Rocket Fizz, fruity, sweetened, slight licorice, sharp - checks a lot of boxes, 8 stars

Sioux City (Whitestone, NY): woodsy, heavy sarsaparilla, pretty unique, 4 stars

Squamscot (Newfields, NH): very swishable, light but creamy flavor, 7 stars

Sunshine (San Luis Obispo, CA): very plain, 3 stars

Swamp Pop (Lafayette, LA): doesn't taste much like a root beer but a Dr. Pepper, calls itself a "filé root beer", 0 stars

Tower (Boston, MA): sharp and aromatic, fresh taste, 7 stars

Waialua (Waialua, HI): floral, sharp, but not so flavorful, 5 stars

WBC (Chicago, IL): slight mint flavor but otherwise bland, 3 stars

Zuberfizz (Durango, CO): goofy tasting as would be expected from something named Zuberfizz, but not a good goofy, candy-ish, 3 stars

As you can see, a few of these did earn 9 stars but nothing could top the reigning champ Dominion. I found Dominion for sale at the Rocket Fizz in Nashville so I had the chance to try it again and refresh my memory. It's good to know that my favorite root beer can be purchased only 2.5 hours from home. Gonna have to stock up on Dominion and the 9's next time I roll through Nashville, if they are in stock.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (2) Dr. Brown's, Swamp Pop
⭐☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (6) Drunken Uncle, Yacht Club, Rookies, AJ Stephan's, Buckin, Dang! That's Good
⭐⭐☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (4) A&W, Aviator, Brownie Caramel Cream, Earp's Sarsaparilla
⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (9) Gale's, Abita, Pump House, Blumers, Fitz, IBC, Sunshine, WBC, Zuberfizz
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆☆☆☆ (11) Mug, Thunder Beast, Appalachian, 365 Whole Foods, Hillbilly Bob's, Capt'n Eli's, Dog n Suds, Hansen's, Kutztown, Olde Philadelphia, Sioux City
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆☆☆ (6) Boylan Bottling Co., Frostop, Stubborn, Baumeister, Old Red Eye, Waialua
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆☆ (5) Barq's, Sycamore, Caruso's Legacy Robusto, Gray's, Hank's
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆ (8) Stewart's, Olde Brooklyn, Terminal Brewhouse, Berghoff, Frostie, Margo's Dark, Squamscot, Tower
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (5) Uncle Scott's, Virgil's, Tower, Capone, Rocket Fizz
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4) Bundaberg, Foxon Park, Henry Weinhard's, Ozark Mountain
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (1) Dominion
Bold brands above are my "big three" which were my starting point for evaluations of other brands on the trip.
If the root beer got a 7+ rating, consider it earnestly recommended.

Still looking to try the following, either due to ubiquity or being closed when I passed by on my tour of America:
Maine Root (Portland, ME)
Holy City Brewing (Charleston, SC)
Service Brewing Company (Savannah, GA)
Red Hare Brewing (Atlanta, GA)
Jones Soda
Trader Joe's Vintage

I was in Atlanta last weekend for Reagan's bachelor party and my birthday, but we did not have a moment free to stop at Red Hare Brewing. Maybe next time.

Indy's Liquid Hustle dances with Ray.

Happy Anniversary!

Memories of Lucerne

Hiiiiii! It's been a while since my last post and even longer since I was travelling. In fact, it's been one year! This time last year, I was halfway through my time in Europe/Japan. I like having my life rolling again in an awesome job with awesome friends in my favorite part of America, but there's a lot that I miss. Speaking French. Having no idea how to communicate with the Japanese. Exciting foods. The unfamiliar architecture. All the bikes and generally much healthier lifestyle. I've gotten into the habit of biking almost everywhere around Louisville, except to work which is a little far.

In this post I want to recap where I went and where my money went. Hopefully my account of spendings helps future adventurers plan financially. Anybody looking to follow in my footsteps (my future self included) needs to keep in mind I was fairly extreme. No hotels in America (just my car, camping, and friends) and minimal public transportation, choosing instead to walk.

I kinda screwed up by closing my travel credit card account and not grabbing the documentation of spending history first. So I don't right now have access to how I spent money in Europe. I'm working on getting that information from my bank by special request. For now then I'll restrict talking about the money I spent to the time between leaving Indy and getting on the flight to Sweden. Hopefully I can get the records of how I spent money abroad, because that's the juicy stuff.

Prologue Portion

I started my trip with a car packed to the brim of all my belongings, leaving my apartment in Indianapolis and getting to...

• Cleveland, OH
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Collingswood, NJ
• Washington, DC

This is 15 hours of driving over 916 miles.

Southern U.S.A. Portion

In the south loop, I went from Washington D.C. to...

• Richmond, VA
• Virginia Beach, VA
• False Cape State Park, VA
• Raleigh, NC
• Winston-Salem, NC
• Charlotte, NC
• Columbia, SC
• Charleston, SC
• Savannah, GA
• Athens, GA
• Atlanta, GA
• Montgomery, AL
• Mobile, AL
• New Orleans, LA
• Baton Rouge, LA
• Jackson, MS
• Birmingham, AL
• Chattanooga, TN
• Knoxville, TN
• Johnson City, TN
• Roanoke, VA
• Luray, VA
• Annapolis, MD
• Dover, DE

And back to NJ. This ate up 50 hours of driving and 3155 miles.

Northern U.S.A. Portion

After relaxing in NJ for a week, I drove up to New York City and then to...

• Norwalk, CT
• Colchester, CT
• Hartford, CT
• Providence, RI
• Boston, MA
• Concord, NH
• Royalton, VT
• Montpelier, VT
• Burlington, VT
• Lincoln, NH
• Augusta, ME
• Acadia, ME
• Moncton, NB
• Fredericton, NB
• Québec City, QC
• Montréal, QC
• Ottawa, ON
• Toronto, ON
• Niagara, ON
• Albany, NY
• New York City, again

And back to NJ, for another week of rest before blasting off to Europe. The third leg took 42 hours of driving over 3488 miles.

All in all, I drove for 107 hours and 7559 miles in America. For comparison, it's about 40 hours and 3000 miles to drive coast-to-coast.

My expenses were as follows:
$640 withdrawn for miscellaneous cash expenses
$754 on camping gear
$1486 on eating out
$76 on Wawa
$306 on groceries
$722 on servicing my Kia
$580 on gas (~13 miles per dollar of gas)
$86 on museums
$77 on transportation, mostly bus between NJ and NYC immediately before and after my international flights
$169 on health insurance
$150 on parking tickets - thanks DC and Québec!
$101 on parking, nearly half of which is in NYC and Boston
$0 on lodging, except for the parking garages accounted for above
TOTAL: $5147

Second Europe portion

First Europe portion

Japan portion

From New Jersey, I bused to NYC to meet up with Phil and then...

• flew to Stockholm, Sweden
• trained to Copenhagen, Denmark
• flew to Brussels, Belgium
• trained to Ghent, Belgium
• trained to Antwerp, Belgium
• trained to Amsterdam, Netherlands
• trained to Berlin, Germany
• bused to Warsaw, Poland
• flew to Athens, Greece
• cruised to Santorini, Greece
• cruised to Crete, Greece
• flew to Rome, Italy
• trained to Pompei, Italy
• trained to Naples, Italy
• trained to Florence, Italy
• trained to Pisa, Italy
• trained to Venice, Italy
• flew to Paris, France (bye Phil, hello Mike and Mark)
• trained to Basel, Switzerland
• trained to Lucerne, Switzerland
• bused to Munich, Germany (bye Mike and Mark)
• trained to Bern, Switzerland
• trained to Zürich, Switzerland
• flew to Tokyo, Japan (via Dubai)
• trained to Kyoto, Japan

Following the Shinkansen bullet train back to Tokyo, I flew back to the east coast of America. After a family reunion, I started my job hunt which would reunite me with my DXRacer back in Louisville after about four months of searching.

This trip took me through 21 states (bringing my total up to 36 - I don't really care to visit any of the remaining states except Alaska and Hawaii) plus D.C., 5 of Canada's 8 biggest cities, 10 European countries, and Japan. I saw a lot of capitol buildings, drank a lot of root beer, climbed a lot of mountains, and slept in a lot of parking lots. There are however a few places I came near but couldn't quite fit them into my itinerary. On a future trip, I would like to get to:

• Norwegian fjords
• Prague
• Budapest
• Vienna
• Sparta
• Mt. Olympus
• Verona
• Geneva
• Zermatt
• Spain
• Moscow
• Mongolia

My longest distance walked in America was 15 miles in a day. My longest distance in a day abroad was over a marathon's worth. Whew.

UPS distribution center

What's new with me? Well, I still think I have the perfect job, but I am afraid all of the travel to Kansas City will wear me down. I'm in KC for about 2/3 of my days, and I want to live in Louisville, not KC. I'm missing some once-in-a-lifetime events! (Sorry Eric! Sorry Kasey 😟) And it is very difficult to schedule for others. My Indianapolis roommate, Jonathan, has his wedding out in Los Angeles in a few weeks. Certainly won't miss that - I'm a groomsman!

The lucky ladies

Lots and lots of ultimate. Summer leagues in both KC and Louisville, though I can't attend the Louisville matches often. I made the Louisville mixed travelling ultimate team, despite how few practices I can attend. I have tournaments for them approximately monthly. A lot of my free time is spent conditioning for that sport. I love my team. I am fencing sparingly, but there is a big tournament in early August for which I want to prepare. And there is a new season of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix! I'm only a couple episodes into it at the moment. I'll blog about that show when I can.

KOOOOOOORBEN! DALLAS!

I suspect this will be my final post regarding my 2017 travel (unless I have an addendum with the money spent in Europe/Japan), but I've got a few more posts on other topics already in the works. With all the downtime I have in my hotel room in Kansas City for my job, I can make time for typing up my thoughts. I want to review the new cities I have visited or plan to visit, including Kansas City, St. Louis, Topeka, Jefferson City, Frankfort, and Springfield. Also a couple cities I have been to before, Nashville and Indianapolis, but neglected to go through their capitol buildings. I want to discuss politics again too, especially in light of the supportive feedback I got on my last political post. Ooooh and how about religion, that'll be fun. Living in the Bible Belt is taking its toll on my sanity... something I didn't appreciate enough about New England. And lastly I need to share my review of the dozens and dozens of root beers I have had, for most of which I owe thanks to my brother.

Majestic pup.

A Look Back

Cat R.I.P. Miss ya, Kiki.

It's been one year to the month since I set out on my unbelievable extended vacation. I want to take a quick look back on my trip as a whole and provide advice to anybody else that wants to do this (which might include my future self 5-10 years down the road).

It probably goes without saying that this was the best time of my life. When I think of the best moments in my life, I think of the family cruise I took through the Bahamas. I think of the joint birthday party with my brother at the community pool when we were around the age of maybe 10, and it rained so we had the whole pool to ourselves and our friends. Or when I went to The International 2013 with Mike. Or the Little League World Series Regionals, the first trip to Casco, my Tufts Senior Week and graduation, and the trip to Disney World as a high school senior. Ahhh, memories.

Mike and I were live spectators at the best video game grand finals to ever take place.

Travelling the world bestows so much knowledge on you, especially when you make it a point to visit as many museums as I did. If I didn't think I was smarter than you before, I definitely do now. There was unlimited history to learn, and I tried to take in as much as humanly possible. In addition to the textbook smarts I took home, this trip really drilled into me the value of a dollar. Let alone understanding the varying markets from country to country, I have a new appreciation for what I can buy with X dollars. This is a life skill that I'm sure I neglected in comparison to my peers up to now. Yes, I always could stick to a budget, but I think understanding spending money goes much deeper than that. I don't have much at all remaining to say about this trip (I mean it's been a year, sheesh, I should have wrapped it up by now, but why not milk this blog for more time?), but in one of my remaining planned posts I want to summarize how my money was spent.

Here are the few very small regrets I had for this trip:

• Should have brought a hat
• Should have brought more sunscreen
• Needed one more bar of soap
• Needed one more pair of shorts (at least 2 total)
• Should have not forgotten my wire combo lock that I bought specifically for this trip, although it didn't matter much - the hostels were trustworthy
• Spent too much time in Florence
• Spent not enough time in Santorini
• Should have booked a hostel in Stockholm ahead of time
• Should have started processing my Russian visa sooner

Here are the things you may not think of when doing such a trip (some are applicable to only America or to only abroad):

• Blanket and pillow for sleeping in the car
• Books and music
• Quarter rolls for parking and possibly laundry
• Batteries for razor, head lamp, and anything else
• Spare cell phone battery or portable charger
• Sun reflector for the car windshield - to keep cool and for privacy
• Food and drink cooler
• Utensils
• Paper towels, tissue paper, and toilet paper
• Moist towelettes
• Trash bags
• Ziploc bags
• Gallons of water, perhaps gallons of Gatorade also
• Travel credit card
• Travel health insurance
• International phone plan
• Multivitamins
• Spare glasses and contacts
• Hand sanitizer
• Face mask and ear plugs
• Gym membership to a national chain for those key showers
• Mouthwash
• Mints or gum
• Car air freshener
• Standalone GPS
• Passport

And perhaps the most important thing, for camping and while in Europe, is to bring a standalone compass. My compass was so clutch so many times on this trip. It was almost as important as all the ice cream and Tuc crackers we ate.

Best reliable snack in Europe

If you liked following my music recommendations during this trip, I'll give you my secret link: IdeaSlug's Last.fm. You can see what I am currently listening to and what I have listened to in the past. You can see that I did in fact listen to Pop Goes the World by Men Without Hats 29 times in 3 days. None of you thought I was exaggerating, right? You can see that my MVP album over the duration of the trip was Bleachers' newest release, Gone Now. Not much surprise there. Jack's debut album, Strange Desire, was second-most heard and Grouplove's Big Mess comes third. I listened to Bleachers songs 452 times! As for favorite songs of the vacation, if I exclude Bleachers, the leaders are Providence by The Temper Trap, Baby Don't You Lie to Me! by The Fratellis, and Light Me Up by Bronze Radio Return.

Award for Best Album, 2017

At present I'm preparing for the Rhythm N' Blooms festival in Knoxville next week, so I'm listening to music by artists that will appear there. In particular, I'm looking forward to seeing The Mowgli's. In fact, I'm going almost exclusively to see them. That and the Club Fencing Championships are again being hosted in Knoxville, coincidentally the same weekend as the festival. Excited to coach Tufts again.

Polar Bear Plunge in the mountain river

I was near the Smokies last weekend. Andy had us to his family's spider- and wasp-infested cabin, and one day in Asheville, NC. It was a great time, filled with board games, tapas, and hiking. Oh yes, and tow trucks. Thank you, Andy!!!

The baseball season has begun. Do the Indians have another World Series run in store for us?

Where on Earth did you aim your car?

The Other Charleston

Zach and Hilary, couple of honor this weekend

You've come a long way, Zach.

Charlottesville, Charlotte, Charleston, Charleston. Hard to keep them straight. During my travels through the south last year, I forewent Charleston, WV, in order to avoid something like six extra hours of driving that would only gain me a look at what I assumed would be an unremarkable city with nothing around it. Well, on my twelve hour drive from Atlantic City to Louisville with my cat, I found out I made a good decision. It took until Charleston to really see any building along the highway through West Virginia. The Appalachians are nice - if Kiki weren't with me, I definitely would have done some overnight camping. But besides that, it's barren.

WV State Capitol

Charleston felt very poor. As a reference, I was able to buy two good hot dogs loaded with meat sauce and onions for less than $2 a piece. It does have though one of the nicest capitols I've seen. It was chunky and fantastically lit along the Kanawha River. There's very little else to talk about in regards to Charleston. I'm glad I saw it though. Now I never have to go back to West Virginia.

WV Veterans Memorial

West Virginia copy of the Liberty Bell

One week down at my new job. Yes, it's only been a week but I'm loving it so far. Made a couple friends and went out with them during the week. Mostly took care of HR stuff, read specs, and reviewed code. I think this code will come naturally to me. Looking forward, I already have some travel planned.

Been slowly moving furniture into my apartment. I used CAD to model my apartment, and it perfectly fits everything I want to own. Except that there is no stud in the wall where I want to hang my bike, so I'm not sure what I'm gonna do anymore. Still have to buy a bureau, end table, and sofa, but I'm waiting for my desk to arrive so I can reevaluate. Shipping on my desk was delayed nearly a week for whatever reason, not too happy about that. I wonder if I will outgrow this apartment by the time my 12-month lease is up.

Laundry room and bathroom are out the door to the left, not modeled.

The fun has already started in Louisville. I played D&D for the first time and ate lots of lox. Zach randomly spotted me in the Highlands on Thursday, whose Saturday wedding I was already eagerly awaiting. He invited me to join him, Hilary, and their families for wedding-related fun that night and the next. I was honored. I befriended Zach and Hilary over the eight months I previously lived in Louisville, when we were drafted onto the same summer league ultimate team. After I moved away to Indy, they kept inviting me back for various events. And if you recall, it was Zach's sister and mom, Sam and Bonnie, who hosted me during my trip through Raleigh and Charlotte last year. Somewhere along the line, I earned a wedding invite. And what a wedding it was! You could tell that every bit of it was meticulously organized. Hilary has a very large family, so they have a lot of practice planning weddings. I couldn't stop dancing, even though Sam kept spiking balloons in my face.

Superbowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck delivers White Castle cheeseburgers after pelting Nick with a snowball.

Moderation in All Things

...Including moderation.

This post is a long, long time coming and I can't put it off anymore. With the State of the Union airing last night, it's as good of a time as ever. I'm sure you're all expecting big things from me. I first mentioned making a political post back in... I dunno... April? Then I got busy with all my travelling. Then I needed a break from writing. Next I was consumed by job applications. Then I fell behind on the news cycle. So with our understanding that it's impossible to stay informed on absolutely everything, I bring you my break down of some of the hot topics over the last year since Trump's election. And I'll do it in the same style as when I penned articles for several of Tufts' political magazines: philosophically, sans pragmatism. I won't say everything I want to say in this one post, because that would be much too long. I could write a book on this presidency. But if this post is well-received and generates some discussion, I'd love to do more - I could address a topic more in-depth rather than painting in broad strokes like I'm about to do.

One of my reasons I left Raytheon to travel back in March was because I feared what the government and military might become under Trump. So far, the military's objectives and MO haven't changed significantly, but has the government's? Definitely. Friends working within various government agencies see it. Outwardly, you can see it yourself in the qualifications of political appointees, but perhaps more starkly in the number of vacant political positions. Standard for Republicans, the right wants to downsize the government. This is however a much more extreme tactic than previously employed by Republicans. This is Trump-brand Republican^TM, and not a priori a bad thing. I'll return to this topic, but I want to address Trump's election first.

So many people want to put Trump's success/Clinton's failure on one source. People of course like to blame easy targets. Was it sexism against Clinton? In part. Literal fake Facebook news targeted against politicians? Yup. The FBI's and congress's handling of emails? Sure. An atrocious DNC campaign? That too. Racism against Obama and his party. Flippant accusations of racism against conservatives. Bigotry against Mexicans. Religious intolerance against Islam. Liberals' dishonest handling of the problem of Islam. An uneducated bloc of voters. A lack of deference to scientists. Suckers looking for manufactured outrage. Identity politics. Third party voters. Indifferent voters seeking perfection. The 50% of eligible voters who, for one reason or another, do not vote. Spiteful Bernie bros. Counter-culture against an ever more visible, more demanding group of social justice warriors (The real and original SJWs, not the "SJW" that has become nearly synonymous with progressive). Gunslingers. Religious nuts. An outdated electoral college. ALL OF THE ABOVE. I was able to ramble these all off the cuff; I'd bet there are many more of which you can remind me. I've read from people who attribute Trump's election to each of these, and I can see truth in all of them. These all could get their own article.

Which factor had the biggest impact? There's some merit in posing that question, so as to figure out what needs to be addressed most urgently. But really it's dangerous to even ask - coming to an answer means psychologically pigeonholing yourself into ignoring the other factors. As much as liberals might want to claim otherwise, there are many breeds of Trump voter. They are not a monolithic ideologue. To claim uniformity in your political adversaries sets yourself up to make no progress in getting through to them.

When Trump first appeared on the scene and announced his run for presidency, I was on board. I grew up with parents that revered pre-politics Trump. "Go to Wharton, like Trump." His most prominent feature shown in the news was how he was breaking through political correctness. And we need some of that in society. But over time it became apparent that this guy was politically inept. He's talented in some departments, absolutely - he has an uncanny ability to pulse swaths of America and tell targeted stories. But I would sure love it if Trump had some minimum of political experience. If he understood the energy industry. If he understood crime. If he understood Israel's history. It could all be a face he puts up for his voters, as is frequently claimed, but what is the difference at this point?

Policy-wise, I can see merit in some of what Trump offers, and then a lot of policies I don't want to touch with a ten foot pole. One of Trump's biggest goals is to shrink the national government and return power to state and municipal governments. Trump's "America first" attitude manifests in dismantling Obama's globalism and "dictatorial" style. Obama introduced so many mandates that are beneficial, but he semi-overstepped his constitutional powers, according to strict textualists, in order to institute well-intentioned policies. For example, one "evil" deregulation Trump enacted was overwriting an Obama-era order to prevent hunting of hibernating bears. Does this mean Trump wants hunters to kill hibernating bears? No, it means Trump wants local governments to institute their own policy that prevents the hunt of hibernating bears, should the local government deem it necessary. Local governments are in better touch with the people under their jurisdiction than the high-level national government. People are living in more like-minded clusters than ever before, with liberals in cities and conservatives in the countryside. When conservatives refer to the "elitism" of liberals, they are usually referring to the liberal insistence that they know best for the entire country.

Let me be clear, I do not think Trump's approach is best here: globalization is happening, and we need to embrace it. We are more efficient as a national government and, I hope one day, as a world government (strengthen the United Nations). There are some things that make no sense to control on a local level, like guns. The topic of globalization deserves its own article, and it is dishonest to pretend that you or I have the answer. I just want to shed light on the heart of the conservative. So many liberals have no idea whatsoever where a Republican is coming from, and thence come the accusations of racism. Surely they hate black people if the national government is removing protections for black people!

"The greatest evil in our country today is not racism, but ignorance. I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to be taught to study rather than to believe, to inquire rather than to affirm."

Policies are NOT the main issue with Trump - his character is. He has set back political discourse to a level from which we may never recover. The parties are so revved up that compromise is a thing of the past (last night's SOTU gave me a little bit of hope, actually). Racists are emboldened. Who knows what sexual assault means these days, in light of his locker room talk. America is now post-fact. When I was touring the First White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery, a woman was shut down on some matter of fact by the orator and she goes, "Well we all have opinions." YOU MORON, THERE IS NO ROOM FOR OPINION HERE, LISTEN TO THE EXPERT. At a protest in New York, back when the revocation of Obamacare was on the table, one Trump supporter got cited an analysis from the CDC that 24 million Americans would lose healthcare and he replied with "That's just your opinion."

It is this lack of intellectualism that gets us in trouble. Stop believing that your "opinion" (read, misinformation) carries as much weight as the expert's assertions. We can debate the implications of losing healthcare, how much a life is worth, etc., but do not shove aside experts. We are at a point where we need to fight that climate change exists, when we should be arguing how much humans need to spend to counteract it. Experts can certainly be wrong. The best we can say about any theory, in any field, is that it is not wrong yet. But it has always been experts that show them to be wrong, not Joe Blow. We need to show much greater deference to the people who have devoted their lives to a topic.

What is the purpose of government? Setting aside fringe anarchists, even the most ravenous libertarian believes in government on some scale. What do we all, collectively, want out of such an organization? I posit that the government should protect its citizenry, on balance with creating a fair and free environment. (I've never screened this idea in front of anyone, so I'm looking forward to the holes you can poke.) I'm no poli-sci scholar, but I think this is very Lockean, and by no coincidence well-aligned with the familiar phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". I think America's Founding Fathers had some good heads on their shoulders. It is this question and answer that we must always keep in mind when forming any policy.

This is the land that fought for liberty. 

Now when we fight,

We fight for bread.

Here is the thing about equality:

Everyone's equal when they're dead. 

When any president as wild and unfamiliar as Trump takes office, the country could go through a rocky time. America seems so stable, especially to a 28-year-old, because not too much happens in three decades (for only half of which am I politically-aware). Having learned so much of American history throughout my travels, it really hits you that America is a young country, and we aren't necessarily stabilized. The framework for our country was laid out by smart men 250 years ago, but they weren't superheroes with godly foresight. They used the successes and faults of the English monarchy "to form a more perfect union." But it isn't necessarily absolutely perfect, nor absolutely stable, so as citizens we are obligated to shout when we don't like the country's direction.

Last point I want to make for now, because it has driven me up a wall since middle school. And everything else can be left to future posts.

Are you a Republican or a Democrat? No, you are neither, and stop associating with either party. You are not running for office. You aren't backed by the party's funds. Your state might require party registration in order to vote in the primary, but even in that case, there is no reason of which I'm aware to extend your affiliation beyond the primary vote. You are an individual with many beliefs, principles, and intentions. Quit limiting yourself. Quit caring about your "team." Start evaluating policies critically.

First Day of the Rest of My Life

PLC Control Software

I got a job!!!

On February 12, I will be restarting my career as a Electrical Controls Engineer at Material Handling Systems in Louisville, Kentucky. And I couldn't be happier.

The job and company may not sound as interesting as my previous work of designing tablets for Blackhawk pilots, but it is honestly a dream job, as far as realistic jobs go (we'll see if I still think that after working there a bit). MHS designs the control systems of companies like UPS and Amazon so that parcels can move and sort automatically throughout the warehouses via conveyor belts and other machines. This problem is, on its face, simple but I see a million ways to fine tune the processes to make them more efficient and robust. It's a perfect combination of my talents, interests, education, and work experience in programming, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.

Warehouse conveyors

The company has been growing explosively over the past few years and expects to keep it up. They are already one of the biggest companies (maybe THE biggest? I forget what they told me) that do what they do. They have projects all over America and a few in Europe (including Brussels - maybe they'll send me back there one day!).

I'll be in Louisville next week, living at the same address (new apartment number though) I used to when I was in Louisville before. I think that's hilarious. The building has been renovated and is now infinitely nicer than it had been. The apartment seems a bit smaller and costs $100 more, but the neighborhood is still ideal. And do you remember how I threw out everything that couldn't fit into my sedan? I don't own much, so I don't need a lot of space. I will now have Kiki with me though - she might crowd the apartment. But if I grow out of the studio, then I can move next year. Easy.

Visit me for the Derby Festival!

It took me a couple months longer than I would have liked to find a job, but since it is just so perfect of a situation, I'm not really complaining. My target was Thanksgiving. I attribute the delay to four things.

1. The stigma of finding a job without presently holding a job. My mom warned me here, and it was worse than I expected. That's explicit feedback I got from some recruiters. I don't recommend leaving a job before you have another, if you can help it, but I did have the time of my life last year travelling the world, so it was worth it.
2. Shifting engineering fields. Systems engineering isn't the most directly applicable to programming. So I needed to learn how to pitch myself to prove I have a capable programming mind. I went through soooooo many interviews trying to figure it out.
3. Uncovering my market value. I worked with a ton of recruiters over the months, in many metro areas, throwing out differing target salaries based off of my Raytheon salary with an understanding that I'm viewed as a risk by changing fields.
4. Persistence in occupation and location. I put much more effort into pursuing good jobs in good cities. I stopped chasing ones that I didn't think I would enjoy, as picky as I can be. I just spent half a year finding myself and didn't want to settle for anything below the bar I set! Though I certainly got worried after so many months on the job hunt, wondering if I'd ever meet my own standard.

I did most of my job hunting through Glassdoor, but this job came through an application on Indeed. All told, I applied for this job on January 3 and exactly three weeks later I got an offer, after one phone and two Facetime interviews with the recruiters, then one phone and one 5-hour in-person interview with MHS. Big thanks to Sam and Whitney at ProLink Resources for seeing something in me and fighting on my behalf.

Louisville is my favorite city in America. Remember the S-tier rating I gave it, along with Charlotte? So excited to move back. Southern hospitality is waiting to greet me.

Apartment sneak-peak

By the way...

Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy 2018, and Happy 60th to my dad!

Look forward to a few more posts in the next couple weeks summarizing my travel. Should be easy now that I don't have to worry about applying to jobs.

Love you, Dad!