Fermenting Solutions 2023.03: Slanted and Enchanted

Published: Fri, 03/24/23

No, I'm not referring to the best Pavement album... As usual, this month's subject is related to a project that I've been focusing on since the last issue. A few weeks ago, I was looking for a culture slant holder for small centrifuge tubes online... I found one, but it was ridiculously expensive. I bought it anyway and it arrived broken. Unfortunately, like many items sold by 3rd party sellers on online marketplaces, it was ultimately a piece of falsely advertised garbage. This is one of many reasons for why I purchase nothing from Amaz*n. I ended up 3D printing something that works perfectly! If you are in the market for creating/storing a few 16mm centrifuge tubes and interested in the model, let me know.

The model consists of 7 pieces that are friction fit together. I've printed several of these now for various purposes. They're great for storage, but also effective for actually creating the slants after pouring your agar.

Testing the Testers (continued)

If you read last month's issue, you may remember that I mentioned how much I like InsideTracker as a testing service. My in depth review has now been posted. Check it out! If you've used any of these services, let me know. I've tried a bunch, but haven't used them all yet and I'm very interested in finding the best.

I received some groans when mentioning 'backpacking' in the closing of the last issue. I held off on responding directly and in a reactionary way explaining why I'm a fan. Instead, I decided to think deeply about it and explain myself in the following blog post. I hope you enjoy it, and if you want to join me and experience it first hand... consider this an open invitation 😄

The Joys of Backpacking - Transmutable Explorations

When I stopped working a corporate job, one of the first things I started regularly doing in my 'new…

Favorite Recent Purchase

A bit over a month ago, I took an impromptu trip to a warm weather climate. I had to travel light and since it was cold here in PA at the time, I was looking for ways to lighten up. Skimping on warm clothes and additional shoes was an obvious way to do so. I purchased a pair of EarthRunners last year mostly to use as 'camp shoes' while backpacking. They are perfect for this because they are much more sturdy than flipflops and weigh about the same. I decided to only wear these during this trip. I put 10s of miles on these during the trip and felt reasonably comfortable the entire time. Even if you don't buy into all of the touted benefits of 'grounding', these shoes are great, can take a beating and are a better 'shoe' than your typical sandal.

J checked in on Untappd!

I'm breaking the stout trend from this year! Cañuelas, from Mystic Ways Brewing Company in Perkasie, is an Argentinian IPA. As good as this beer was, it was really the manner of drinking this which earned it my favorite check-in of the month. This was the public unveiling of Mystic Ways' "new way to drink beer"... Hop matés! Inspired by the South American tradition of drinking yerba maté, a hop maté involves filling a glass up with fresh hops. Your table then gets a tower of beer that you can tap into your glass of fresh hops. You then use a metal straw called a bombilla to sip your beverage. This prevents the hop matter from getting into your mouth. This was a great way to spend time with friends!

See Checkin

Here's to hoping the weather improves soon... I need to get outside to hike and garden! I'm putting the finishing touches on another wellness platform review. I have a few other projects in flight, so not sure which will be worth discussing here. In the meantime, if you're interested in grabbing a hop maté and discussing what project would interest you the most, let me know!

Questions?? Want a deeper dive on something discussed here? Drop me a line to continue the conversation:

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