Beer Tasting: Paulaner Münchner Lager

So far my beer tasting 2022 project has been pretty useful. I've learned more about exactly what I like and don't like within my long-term favorite category, amber ale. I've also branched out to explore other categories I'd previously written off or just not considered. One of these is lagers, a broad category; and within that, German style lagers. I figured, "Why not try some of the German mainstays?" Thus one of my recent buys was Paulaner Münchner Lager.



But what to pair it against? I figured I'd put it right up against my favorite lager so far, the Spanish Estrella Reserva Especial 1906. ...Now, that's not exactly a head-to-head comparison, as 1906 is a Maibock, a stronger and richer subvariant of lager; but it's what I had on hand.

Perhaps because this wasn't a head-to-head matchup, Paulaner got flattened. The 1906 is just so good. Paulaner is just so... also a beer. I mean, it's a good beer. But it's sort of like a basic template for beer. There's nothing that's bad about it. I could drink one or two or more and be happy with it. But there's also nothing that stands out about it.

Off to LA. Weekend Trade Show.

SJC Airport - Thu, 28 Jul 2022. 1pm.

I'm flying to Los Angeles today to work at a trade show for the next three days. Yes, "the next three days" means Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I get to work straight through the weekend into next week. Yay.

It's a quick flight to LA, only about 50 minutes from takeoff to landing, though it's scheduled for 1 hour 20 minutes due to all the things that have to happen on the ground on either end. Plus allowance for small delays. ...But sometimes delays that are more than small arise. Speaking of which....



Southwest kindly texted me starting 3 hours before my flight today that it's delayed. At first the delay was half an hour. By the time I got to the airport it was reduced to 20 minutes. What will it be? I think the correct answer is "None of the above". I figure based on the current 20 min estimate the reality will be 30-40 minutes. Southwest always applies its delays optimistically by about 15 minutes.

A Walk in LA

Hilton LAX - Thu, 28 Jul 2022. 4pm.

When I arrived in LA this afternoon I did something really weird for LA. I walked. I walked from the airport to my hotel. No, it's not close. It was just over a mile, 1.1 miles to be exact. Okay, maybe in some parts of the world that's a reasonable city walk, but not in LA. When we lived in LA years ago my wife made the mistake of walking one block (between two stores) in Beverly Hills. The cops pulled her over.

I did get to the hotel okay; no stops by the police or otherwise. Though in this part of town they have waaay better things to do than stop people for DWE - Driving Without a European luxury car.

The walk of just over a mile with a suitcase and shoulder bag was not necessarily the wisest idea. I wouldn't recommend it for most people. It's something I chose to do, deliberately, with understanding of the distance and the terrain (sidewalks the whole way).

For me it was kind of fun to walk past so many hotels I've stayed at before. Some of them haven't changed a bit; others are still the same, tired old buildings from the 1960s but with new names. And walking past so many hotels is part of why this isn't something everyone would want to do. The Hilton is one of the farthest hotels on this strip next to the airport! If I were staying at the Hyatt (nee Radisson), or the Courtyard, or the Royal Sonesta (nee Crown Plaza), or the Marriott, or any of 4-5 other hotels in between, the walk would've been shorter.

Bottom line, when it's time to return to the airport on Sunday, I'll wait for the hotel shuttle.

In LA. Weekend Trade Show.

Hilton LAX - Thu, 28 Jul 2022. 9pm.

I'm in town, in Los Angeles, for a weekend trade show. After I walked from the airport to the hotel it was straight to work. Here's an outline of my schedule over the next few days:

• This afternoon was booth setup. Responsibility for that fell primarily on my marketing events colleagues. I helped them a bit to be a team player but mostly spent time familiarizing myself with the A/V and wifi setup for my workshop tomorrow morning (see below).


• Tonight I was invited to a reception party down in Manhattan Beach. I wasn't interested in a high energy party. Instead I walked out to a casual restaurant nearby, and now I'm relaxing in my room. I might try to do 30-45 minutes of work tonight. Also, LA ProTip: DO NOT try to go anywhere during rush hour traffic (or weekends after 10am). On a map Manhattan Beach looks like it's 7 miles away, but it could be an hour.


• Tomorrow I'm teaching a workshop. It'll be 3 hours of presenting. After that, a lunch break, then working in the booth the rest of the day.


• Saturday and Sunday I'll be in the booth. It's unclear to me how busy the conference will be over the weekend. On the one hand, a weekend conference means people can attend without having to take time off from work. On the other hand, a weekend conference means people have to take time off from leisure to do stuff related to work.


• Sunday the show ends at 2pm (Friday and Saturday run 'til 6) so I'll be able to catch a flight back home in time for dinner with Hawk.

One thing you may notice is not in my itinerary is any sightseeing. There really isn't time. And that's typical; work trips are work trips. If this trade show were scheduled during the week I would've looked to extend it with a weekend for personal travel. But it's not, so I didn't.

BTW I'm not feeling salty about working through the weekend. For one, I consider occasional sacrifices like this part of working a travel job in sales. I figure it'll balance out in the end. ...To that point, my boss offered right away to give me two comp days without me having to ask. I'm taking those next week Friday and the following Monday. But for now... work, work, work!