Playing it safe...

I hope this will me my last post about my Kegerator. Since I got it, it's been all consuming and really should be called a "Crack-erator".

There is really two issues. The first is I want to set it up so my beer pours perfectly. The second is it's too easy to want to have a beer, which turns into more than one, which turns into drinking beer too often.

I bought the Kegerator a month ago. Since then, I think I've overcome every problem you can experience with a Kegerator. The biggest problem, which I eventually solved, was the temperature wasn't a cold as I wanted it.

When I got the Kegerator and set it up, it was working to manufacturers specs and the beer was about 38 F. If it were not for Jamie having a Kegerator, I would have thought my beer was fine. He felt my beer wasn't cold enough. The beer from his Kegerator poured close to 32 F and truth be told, the colder the beer the better.

Of course, once you get a Kegerator you start to look at beer a whole lot different. I found myself turning into a beer connoisseur. Every restaurant or bar I went to, or when I drank from Jamie's Kegerator, I found myself examining "the bubbles", "the head" and the "chill factor".

It became apparent to me that I needed to figure out how to make my Kegerator colder and adjust the pour pressure. I started to focus on it with "Iron-will". I made it my mission to start by fixing my "chill" problem. I needed to find a way to get it down to 34 F / 1 C.

It took me three weeks to figure out how to do it, but I did it. The first thing I did was call the manufacturer. Unfortunately, their customer service phone line was "temporarily out of service". Then I started calling local appliance repair shops.

I called about 3 or 4 of them over a couple weeks and got the same answer. I'd explain the unit is working to manufacturers specifications, but I want it colder. I'd then ask, "do you know a way to over-ride the thermostat and make it get colder?"

You would have thought I was breaking the law. Each one of them replied in a similar and stern fashion and said they don't know how to do that and even if they did, they wouldn't, it's wrong to even consider it. With one guy, he was so "self-righteous" I tried to explain to him that "I own" the Kegerator, "can't I do with it what I want?". I was clear he didn't think so and wanted NO part of it.

Eventually I found one guy who was "somewhat helpful". Like all the others, he explained even if he knew how to lower the temperature, he wouldn't, he was acting like he could lose his licence. He then proceeded to give me a name of a guy who lived "on top of Hamilton Mountain". He said, "call this guy, he'll do anything for money".

I felt like I was buying drugs. Actually, I think buying crack or heroin would have been easier. Being undeterred, I felt I was making progress by getting the phone number of a "black market appliance repairman".

I called the guy and got a "cryptic" voice mail message. I wasn't clear on even what the business was, it had acronyms, but no reference to appliances. It was short and sweet, "You've called RBF, we are unavailable, please leave your number". Which I did.

I never did get a call back. A total of three weeks passed and I got a "bright idea", "why don't I call the place I bought it from and ask them?". They answered right away, understood my problem, and within minutes emailed me the instructions from the manufacturer on how to lower the Kegerators temperature. DOH!!!

When it comes to fixing mechanical stuff, I wasn't born with that DNA string. I closely read the instructions and instead of turning the adjustment screw to make it colder, I turned it the opposite way and it started to become warmer.

After a couple of days of monitoring it and it getting warmer, and me turning the screw more and it getting even more warmer, I was discouraged and in despair. My initial exuberance was no longer. Now I thought I had wrecked it some how. I tried calling the manufacturer again and still got "this phone line is temporally out of service".

As I sat at my kitchen table pondering what to do, I decided to re-read the email instructions and viola, I realized I turned the screw the wrong way. It was now "game on". What happened next was "shocking". Literally. I forgot to unplug the unit, like the instructions said I should, and as I was adjusting the thermostat I got a little electric zap. DOH!!!

Now, I'd like to say it was smooth sailing from this point, but it wasn't. I got the temperature down and went to pour myself a nice cold beer. I pulled the handle and "nothing", "notta", "no beer". Not even air blowing through.

I increased the C02 pressure, "nothing". I then "cranked up" the C02 pressure and more "nothing". I was back to "despair" from "exuberance". I emailed tech support at 1-800-Jamie and he figured the lines were frozen. Sure enough that was the case.

Once I thawed the lines, it started pouring again and I experienced a new problem. All I got was foam and the pouring dispenser was now leaking. I poured and poured and it was foam and foam and drippage and drippage and I was discouraged and discouraged.

I didn't understand the foam problem, although I thought the drippage may have been caused by me "cranking the pressure" and damaging a seal.

This all happened on a Saturday night. I was sitting at my bar trying to drink from my glass full of foamy beer while I was thinking "what could be the cause of the problem?" Then I heard a loud "hissing sound" coming from the Kegerator. It sounded like someone was letting air out of a car tire.

I ran to the unit and realized the C02 cartridge was now leaking. I turned it off and realized the connection came loose. Had I not been in the basement at the time, it would have emptied the entire tank and it would have caused another problem, "no air pressure".

The tech support and service from 1-800-Jamie is incredible. The following Sunday morning, after multiple emails describing the problems, without even asking, they sent over a technician. It was Jamie himself. He looked at the unit and determined "the keg was empty". DOH!!!

Sure enough, once I replaced the Keg with a full one and exchanged the pouring dispenser, the Kegerator is FINALLY working perfectly. Tonight it was pouring "perfectly chilled beer". Jamie came by with his right handed woman Barb tonight and drank from the "Fountain of Payne" and both agreed, my kegerator is now "pouring perfectly chilled beer".

It only took close to a month to solve all my Kegerator problems. In the process, I think I've learned everything you need to know about a Kegerator and draft beer. I don't even want to go into explaining the hours I spent surfing the net learning about draft beer. It was like I was researching a personal medical condition. I now feel like a "Keger-expert".

I'm glad the problem is solved, it's one less thing to worry about. During the past week, I can feel myself getting re-focused about both training and life. I'm starting to realize that these past four years I've experienced a major personal transformation and achieved every triathlon goal I set out to do.

If my past four years was a script, people would think it's unrealistic. If it was pitched as a movie it would be described as follows:

"In less than 4 years, an out of shape fat guy finishes his first sprint triathlon near dead last, he loses 50 lbs, finishes his first Ironman in 17 years, setting a PB in the process, then a year later he qualifies for the Half Ironman World Championships in Clearwater and a year after that qualifies for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii and the New York City Marathon".

It would be a feel good plot and if it wasn't a true story no one would believe it. Now I'm ready for new Act 2 goals. I don't know what they are yet. I have given myself until January to figure it out. I do know it will revolve around my career. My intuition is telling me it will be about fitting my Ironman training in around my work. For the past four years, it's been the opposite.

I am excited about opening the next chapter in my life. The confidence I've gained over the past four years of knowing "the unrealistic is possible" is motivating. I truly feel "I can accomplish anything I set my mind too". In the past it was just a saying. Now I consider I proved it can be a reality.

Like I said, I don't know what my next life goal will be, although, I have decided it has to be attained within four years. I figure if I can go from Fat to Kona qualifier in 4 years, I should be able to do anything in four years.

Today I didn't train. I was on the fence. I'd like to say my knee prevented me from training, which it did, but truth be told, I didn't feel like it. I was still feeling the exhaustion from the heavy weekend of training and partying.

Instead of training, I invited Jamie and Barb over and we hung out having beers and cigars. After they left, I ordered KFC. It's been a while since I had it and I "pigged out". As strange as this sounds, if I need motivation to train, "I eat crap food".

I have such a fear of getting "fat", that if I eat poorly or have a night of debautery, a switch goes off in my head and the next day I'm highly motivated to train. Tomorrow will be no different I'm sure.

Tonight Alyssa showed me and Alice a picture of myself and my Aunt Sandi. I was 12 years old. Alyssa thought Reid looks just like me, although he's currently a year and a half older than me when that picture was taken. I don't see it, but she insists it looks just like Reid.

No Training - Slacker

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