Fenarkle

Fenarkle. When you don't really have a plan and you don't know what to do, you fenarkle around (a.k.a. monkeying around).

Doing something and nothing all at the same time. Sounds like my life right now. Since my contract ended with WGGA, I have been searching for my next career opportunity in the wine or beer industry. Finding a job nowadays is quite a challenge. Being selfish and having chosen to live in Bend instead of a big city or wine country has limited my career opportunities to some degree, but I promised myself I would find a job opportunity that allows me a good work, life balance. Bend offers unlimited outdoor adventures, great beer and has a Midwest community feel.

Making a monkey face at Monkey Face rock with my monkey face hat

Working is important to me. I have been blessed with a career that I love and have had such wonderful opportunities around the world to learn new things and meet new people. I have accomplished a lot for someone my age. But I am not finished yet! There is still so much more I want to do and explore. So I am reaching out to old friends and using social media and other resources to uncover any opportunity that may be out there for me. I find it fitting on Inauguration Day to quote President Barack Obama,  "If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." 

Making progress in life at Smith Rock State Park (January 20, 2013)

You have three choices in life: Give up, give in, or give it all you’ve got. So here is to giving it all I've got. Sometimes not having a plan is the best plan of all.

Monkey Face rock at Smith Rock State Park

Right up my alley

I am officially a member of the Central Oregon Beer Angels which is a group of women who love all things beer. This seems right up my alley. Speaking of alleys...

Did I ever mention that I grew up in a bowling alley? Well, I did. Kind of. My grandparents, Carol and Ray Lee, owned two bowling alleys in Wisconsin. Along with the bowling alley there was a bar and restaurant at each. Showboat Lanes was a place for the locals to gather, have a drink and socialize. My Grandpa and Grandma put me to work at a very young age. Grandpa taught me how to use the cash register and how to make change properly by counting it back to the customer. He made sure that I put all the bills facing the same way in the register and it something I still do to this day. I was also responsible for sanitizing the returned bowling shoes and tying them together, shining the flashlight for moonlight bowling when someone had a striped headpin and conditioning the lanes with the fancy plugged in machine. I have a lot of fond memories at the bowling alley.

I started bowling as a child too. I even had a bowling coach. She taught me how many steps to take, where to throw the ball and how to pick up spares. I made it to state a few times and won some tournaments. There is even a box full of bowling trophies somewhere in my parents basement to prove it. Bowling was something we did as a family. As I got older, I did not take bowling as serious. You can check out this video of my wicked bowling moves. Note: I was a pitcher for softball.



Sometimes I wonder why I am so lucky to have found a career that I love so much. It has not been without challenges, but then again what in life is? Sometimes we need to ask ourselves if we are working to live or living to work. While most people find themselves waking up each morning to the sound of an annoying alarm clock for a job that they hate, I have been blessed to enjoy most days doing what I do. And for that, I consider myself lucky.

My work with the Wisconsin Grape Growers Association has come to an end. So now what? Great question. There are lots of irons in the fire. Just like in the past, I know that whatever is meant to be will be. That doesn't mean I won't be stressed or excited about the possibilities. Usually I like change. But eventually, you find a place you can call home and hope that this is the last time you have to unpack your suitcase.

Becky Rochester, Brewer. At least for a day.

On Monday, November 12, 2012 I dusted off my old work boots and headed to Deschutes Brewery where I was going to be a Brewer for the day. My interdepartmental started in the Huppmann Brewhouse with Brewer Brent. Seven batches of Mirror Pond Pale Ale was on the whiteboard. “No sweat,” he said. We brewed batch after batch adding things like hops and gypsum and moss as prompted on the computer. He gave me a tour of the Huppmann Brewhouse including downstairs. We transferred some wort from one of the batches into the yeast propagation tanks to feed the yeast and keep them happy. We also changed out a water filter.

Where the magic happens

Brewer Brent showed me the ropes on the computers and as the morning progressed I was able to dump some hops in the boil kettle. Brewing in the Huppmann seemed like a piece of cake compared to some of the wineries I have worked in. I was dry and clean and happy.

Huppmann Brewhouse Computer System

Getting setup in the Huppmann Brewhouse

Later in the day I got to spend some time in the cellar with Ryan. This is where the action is! We transferred some Jubelale through the centrifuge and monitored the carbon dioxide levels with a Gehaltemeter, and we re-carbonated the Jubelale up to spec. We also signed off on some nitro stouts in two tanks by timing the pouring and settling in the glass. I volunteered to be the taste tester. We used the clean in place system and got some caustic for cleaning. By the end of the day, I was finally dirty. Now I felt like a true Brewer. There is nothing like a hard day of work.

I learned a lot during my time as a Brewer for the day experience. For one, there are many similarities between winemaking and brewing. I realized that I still enjoy manual labor. Brewing has a lot more leeway when it comes to creativity and styles. While Deschutes Brewery is the most computerized place I have worked in, it still takes a lot of hard work to make damn tasty beer.

Cheers,

Becky Rochester, Brewer. At least for a day.

2013...No looking back

Over the past year I have had a major case of writer's block. According to Urban Dictionary, writer's block is "a period of time when a writer's mind is completely blank and drained of any kind of inspirational essence. They are unable to write. They start to bang their head against the basement wall." I never went as far as banging my head on the basement wall, but maybe that is only because there aren't any basements in Oregon.

Some of the finest writing professionals like author F. Scott Fitzgerald and pop culture cartoonist Charles M. Schulz also struggled with this condition. So I will look at this lack of creativity and writing as some sort of mini-sabbatical.

I did not make any New Year's resolutions for 2013. I believe one should always be trying to better oneself at all times. This year, there is no looking back. No regrets. Just forging ahead and going for it. I will not over analyze things. I will just trust my gut and go for it. Live life to the fullest. Less technology and more doing.

No looking back.

As the wise Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”