Can we trust Facebook?
Nope. Never have; never will.
To the brewery!
;-)
A few nights ago, when I went to the store, I pulled up near a car that had something written on the window that, at first glance, appeared to spell out Satan . . . with hearts???
I subsequently realized that I had misread it, and what it actually said was "Sarah <3<3 You," with "Sarah" still looking a tad too much like "Satan," which, with my perennially warped sense of humor, struck me as hilarious.
Too bad I couldn't share it with my mom and my sister Carol, both of whom would have found it equally funny, and we could have had a real laugh about it. I miss their wigged out senses of humor.
Less funny was the New York Times article from last month detailing the egregious data sharing that Facebook has been doing with its "partners," even after stating that they had rescinded access to the data, with some partners retaining access to users' private data up through last year.
"Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent, the records show, and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages.
"The social network permitted Amazon to obtain users’ names and contact information through their friends, and it let Yahoo view streams of friends’ posts as recently as this summer, despite public statements that it had stopped that type of sharing years earlier."
This makes me very happy that I've never trusted Facebook, have never allowed their app on any of my phones (because they want too many permissions I'm not willing to give them), only access FB through a private browser which does not allow tracking, and only allow my location to be logged when I am actually using the GPS in my phone, which, since I have an excellent standalone GPS, is almost never.
I have a longstanding policy of giving websites the least possible amount of information I have to, disallowing tracking and location tagging, and deleting cookies regularly. Having been stalked more than once, I've been a privacy advocate for decades, and take securing my private data very seriously.
In better news, we have a new brewery in town, and evidently I'm behind the times, as they actually opened their doors in 2017.
But they just opened a new commercial location on Bockman Way, in downtown Sparta, Tennessee, aka Hwy 1, which is the main drag through the primary business district. Hopefully the town will rally enough that they can keep their doors open long term. God knows we haven't been able to keep a decent restaurant in town for long.
The original article I read about the brewery mentioned that they served food, but this isn't entirely accurate, as they have no kitchen, though they are already in the process of expanding.
They do have menus from a couple of close by cafes, who will deliver your food to the brewery, and I was heartened to see that while I was there, which was early last Friday night, the place was pretty busy.
I was thrilled to see that one of the cafe's (Pressed 4 Time Cafe) offered a pressed Cuban sandwich, which I've been seriously missing of late, having moved up here from the Tampa Bay area, and being seriously addicted to Cuban food in general. I asked the woman who answered if it was authentic, and she assured me that it was, so I ordered it.
Ummmm . . . no. Great sandwich, no complaint there, but definitely not an authentic Cuban sandwich. Loaded with pulled pork and ham, which right there isn't authentic, no boliche, and I'm not sure what kind of bread it was on, but it was definitely not Cuban bread. Next time I'll try the French dip.
The brews, on the other hand, were quite good. They have an IPA called Happy Trails Screw the Canoe, the name of which also suits my warped sense of humor, but although it wasn't bad, it was lighter than I prefer, so I didn't order it.
And yes, if you ask, they give small samples to try the different brews. This would be very good for someone who prefers lighter beers.
I'm more into heavier hoppy and malty microbrews, and I far preferred their Happy Trails Pickett Pale, which was quite good, crisp and flavorful, and I enjoyed it very much. That one I'll order again.
The other one I tried wasn't one of theirs, but was one of their "Guest Taps," Tired Hands Resilience. In speaking with one of the brewery partners, Trey, he told me that Tired Hands brewery, located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, had made a special brew in honor of all those burned out of their homes by the fires in California, and is donating 100% of the proceeds for that brew to the rebuilding efforts. They have challenged other breweries to do the same.
Trey said that they were just getting geared back up for brewing at the time, and with only three fermenters, were unable to take one out of commission right before opening their new location. So they are carrying Resilience, and donating the proceeds from its sale, as their part of supporting the rebuilding efforts.
I thought Resilience was the perfect name under the circumstances; Californians are used to picking themselves up and rebuilding after disasters, and for those interested in helping out, it just happens to be an outstanding brew as well. Bars all over the country are carrying the brew, and donating the proceeds, so ask around. Do a good deed and enjoy.
For the month of January, they have twenty two different brews available, including seven of their own, ten guest taps, many of which are local, and include a couple of hard ciders, and several bottled brews.
Although I didn't see anyone I knew, the crowd that night was laid back and friendly, which is pretty typical of Tennessee in general. The gentleman I was sitting next to turned out to be Mark Ray, the purveyor of Northfield Vineyards, also in Sparta, and they carry his Bad Apple Hard Cider on tap, as he carries some of their brews in his winery.
Shortly after we began talking, another gentleman announced that their first-ever karaoke night would begin soon, and when it didn't, we agreed that we were just as happy that it hadn't. Ultimately it did, and along with the usual just okay singers, one woman got up who was actually really good, so that was nice.
And, before I headed out, I promised that Marek and I will come check out Northfield Vineyards sometime soon.
The overall theme of the brewery is camping, with a variety of camping signs and paraphernalia all around, which fits in well, as our area is huge for canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and outdoor sports in general.
They also have a really nice outdoor area with picnic tables out back, that is pet friendly, when it's not so beastly cold. We'll definitely be stopping in from time to time with Lolo in tow.
So I'm very grateful to have a new brewery in town, grateful through them to learn of two small cafes nearby that I hadn't known existed, and grateful to have met a few nice people in the process of checking out the place.
The second cafe, for anyone interested, is The Coffee Collective, which has a selection of sandwiches, wraps and salads.
I did get a kick, when speaking earlier with Trey, that he and Jessica, the brewmaster, are both educators in their day jobs. He is the principal of a local middle school, while she teaches pre-kindergarten.
I hope they will be very successful for many years to come. I'll be back. ;-)
I am dedicating this post to #gratitudelog, and to further this project, half the liquid proceeds earned from this post will be transferred to the author of the top post(s) chosen using this tag.
The photo above was taken by me on the 19th of January, the day before the full moon, when it had also been pouring rain all day just before a deep freeze in the teens. I'll be grateful when this weather is behind us.
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