The group has tasted  everything from average, overpriced wines to fantastic wines  for under $15. Early on we all chipped in to buy the wines but nowadays Ken has a lot of wineries submitting their wines to be reviewed.  The good news is it’s cheaper, the bad news is some wines aren’t that great even if they have received good ratings from the wine publications.  Life is too short to drink bad wine, even if it’s free.

Last week Ken sent us an email that I had never seen before:

“98 to 100 point wine: I’m close to awarding my first 100 point wine. If you want to try a sip, swing by at 7:30 tonight.  –Ken”

Ken has probably tasted 3,000 wines or more in the last few years so seeing that message was surprising.   For the tasting panel it was the colonial times equivalent of  ringing a bell for people to come help put out a barn fire.

I couldn’t just let Ken go through life wondering if he was the only person who thought it was the perfect wine.

The wine, a Rolf Binder Shiraz, is an incredible,  exceptional wine and the best wine I had ever tried.  It deserves a 100 point rating but I rated it a 99 as hedge that there may be another wine in my lifetime that is better.

Ken reviews it here: on blog and on the site.

Although this wine is expensive, Rolf Binder has a selection of other great wines that we tried with a range of affordable price points.

Tried a great wine?  Let me know.

In order to fix the drawer I had to remove it completely and in the process just missed losing a toe as 25 pounds of razor sharp utensils came flying out. I survived with a modicum of noise and cursing. A couple new wood screws, some WD-40 later and I was ready to star on This Old House; proud of any weekend handiwork accomplished without the use of duct tape.

On my third or fourth attempt to jam the drawer back into place I decided to lighten the load temporarily and remove a few items. I can’t go into complete detail for fear of reprisal but the sheer quantity, weight, variety and sharpness of items in that drawer was astonishing. Any non-silverware utensil we owned seemed to be in that drawer. To make things worse, there was a leaking, soy sauce packet that I had somehow skewered with a yellow, corn cob holder or lobster claw pick.

I know -He didn’t fix the drawer and not clean up the soy sauce?

Cmon. Every guy knows the it’s not “what you do but how you clean it up” rule.

Yes, I cleaned up the drawer but that soy sauce caused a series of Y-chromosome decisions that I will rue and you may learn from.

To clean up the soy sauce, I emptied the drawer. When I emptied the drawer, the number of repetitive utensils was immediately evident as they found freedom on the counter. For instance, I found seven spatulas (pictured), multiple large spoons, four sets of measuring cups/spoons each missing one or two sizes, random chopsticks and few wine openers I had been looking for.

1. Guy thought #1: Fix drawer – good.
2. Guy thought #2: Clean up – better but expected.
3. Guy thought #3: ORGANIZE the whole drawer for her and throw out all the old utensils- GREAT, WOMAN HAPPY.
4. Guy thought #4: Less utensils, lower weight – won’t have to fix drawer again.

Guys usually say “Ok, sounds reasonable”, “man, you are whipped” or “you should have used graphite spray instead of WD-40″. Women have a different reaction, especially when they find out I don’t cook or spend much time in kitchen. (I do grill but that is just to play with fire.)

What would your reaction be? Happy? Not happy? Why?

Being older and wiser, I should know more. My five year old asked, “When people write hugs and kisses XOXOXO, why are the Xs kisses and the hugs Os? People kiss and their lips are in a circle, it doesn’t make sense.”

No, it doesn’t. Is the X for when lips cross? O for when arms wrap?

Anyway, that is what I told her and she seemed to like the answer.

My parents didn’t have the luxury of Search to confirm what they did or did not know. Maybe parenting was easier then- except if I was your kid!

My friends at Wiki backed me up, sort of.
Wikipedia XOXO

At the top of the sign in slanted magic marker, he wrote:“CHEAP”

My nine year old daughter saw the sign and was completely irate:

“Why would someone write Cheap about a Christmas tree? Christmas trees are not cheap. They could have used “affordable” or “inexpensive” or any other word than cheap. Christmas is a special time and Christmas trees are special. I don’t like it and I don’t like anyone who would buy a cheap Christmas tree from them.”

A marketer is born!