| Well there you go, after 12 years of service at Nortel, I've been cut! And as you may know, because of their Chapter 11 status, there is no severence package. Oh well. While life will be a bit tough financially, we were expecting this and preparing for the worst. In fact, since I've seen the economic downturn coming like a trainwreck in slow motion for a good 3 or 4 years now, I have been stockpiling food. No worries, there is enough on hand to feed the family for months to come.
My only disappointment with being cut and not having a paycheque in the forseeable future, is the fact that spring is just around the corner, and in April my wife and I usually start hosting our "Brew 'n' Q" backyard parties, where I run the grill and smoker all day, while brewing beer and serving the fruits of previous labours. This year things will change a bit on the food front. Actually, even for most of last year the food had turned into a pot luck. And this year my friends will be picking up the slack even more.
But the problem is with the beer, since I'm the only one who brews. And won't have the money to provide my friends with awesome beer at my parties!
So I've been racking my brain, trying to think of a way around this. Charging people admission or asking for donations at the tap is just wrong in so many ways, not to mention illegal! I fairly quickly came upon the idea that I should just ask my friends to chip in and buy grain for me. Easy solution! But I still didn't feel right taking people's money - I would feel too much like a charity case. I needed a way for them to donate anonymously. At first I thought maybe I'd ask one friend to be the collector of donations from others, so that I would be removed from it. But that still wasn't anonymous.
Then I got a great idea! I'd just approach the folks at Skinaney Brewing to see if they would be game for accepting donations on my behalf towards credit on my account. Then it struck me that I might as well send out a call on my website to solicit donations from readers as well. Hey, times are going to be tough. I've always said that I don't want your money - but hey, I wouldn't mind right now if you bought me a beer, and here is a great way to do it! After more than 12 years of running this website and providing so much information on how to brew beer, I believe I have earned a round or two!
So, if you'd like to make a donation to the Bodensatz Beer Fund that will allow me to hold awesome parties for my friends this summer while I'm looking for a job, just send it along to Skinaney. Even a buck or two would be a huge help! We are going to keep a public account of all donatations, and whenever the first one rolls in we'll post a follow up message with a link to it. When you send your donation, please specify whether or not you want your name published. I'm sure some people will not. And also specificy whether or not you want the amount published - we can do that as well.
Believe me, this is not some crazy get-rich-quick scheme! I don't want your money - I just want your beer! And if the Fund gets enough to last me for the summer, I'll post another note asking to stop the donations. And any surplus will be donated to charity.
And as an extra bonus, if you make a donation and happen to be in the Ottawa area this summer, shoot me an email and as long as I'm reasonably convinced you are not some sort of pyschopath or something, I'll send you an invite to one of our parties! And hopefully you'll bring some of your own beer for us to sample too. Heck, if we weren't planning a party at the same time you are in town, we might even decide to throw one in your honour!
There you go. If you'd like to Buy a Beer for Bodensatz, send your donation to :
Skinaney Brewing
109 Galway Street,
Dunrobin,On
Canada
K0A 1T0
Be sure to specificy whether or not you want your name published, and whether or not you want the amount published.
Cheers! And thanks in advance!
|
