Complex Numbers

Ubeer

Still a couple more days out in the wild here.

My system for visiting breweries to sample their nectar of the gods is to use rideshare. Yesterday, I visited four different breweries in this general area, paying a whole hell of a lot to Uber for the privilege.

I need self-driving cars to happen, like, right now. This is because two of the trips, between breweries, were done by the same driver. A driver who, it was clear from several clues, is an adherent of a religion that forbids drinking.

Which doesn't mean they forbid it for others, I know, but I could just feel the disapproval oozing from the driver's seat, and it's not like I could talk about my experiences in a way that he could relate. At the same time, though, if you're an Uber driver; you have to know that your primary purpose in life is to get drunk people from one place to another.

With autonomous vehicles, sure, these drivers would be out of a job, and that's unfortunate, but let's stick to what's really important here: my ability to be shuttled semi-anonymously from one brewery to another. I say semi-anonymously because, obviously, I'd still be tracked. But at least I wouldn't have to deal with awkward conversation.

Fortunately, the weather is unseasonably warm here, which meant I could at least comment on that. At least for a little while, until I felt the conversation start to drift to climate change, which becomes a political issue, and you don't want to discuss politics or religion with an Uber driver, lest they give you something less than five stars.

As for the beer, it was mostly very good. There are always outliers, but they serve as a point of contrast; it helps to drink stuff I don't like now and then to help me appreciate the stuff I do like even more. I've rarely had a bad brewery experience in New Jersey.

Rideshare, sure. Not beer.