Best Of
Re: Icrontic Beer Traders
since we've (USPS) contracted with Amazon Prime, I'm hearing rumors alcohol will soon™ be on the white list for us.
fatcat
Re: All these years and I finally made my food blog
BLOG POST: If you don't love curry... try this and fall in love! https://forkandbite.wordpress.com/2016/01/13/veggie-curry-noodle-bowl/
Re: new look for a new year, advice needed
I think the jacket is a little long to be worn super casually. Can certainly be worn with denim, but not ideal for pairing with a t-shirt, whereas it would be fine with a polo or button-down. It would absolutely meet your needs for job interviews, too.
Thrax
Re: new look for a new year, advice needed
Overcoats are not meant to be worn like a suit coat. You wear it outside, to protect your clothing from the elements and keep you warm. You take it off when you get indoors. As such, you can wear it over pretty much anything. It's supposed to be a functional garment first, not a fashion piece. I frequently wear an overcoat over jeans and a sweatshirt.... or wool slacks and an oxford classic button down... or, when I have occasion to wear it.... over a suit. My current overcoat is more or less this one.
The big reasons they're not meant to be worn as a dress coat replacement
1) They're not as fitted
2) As they are an outer layer piece, they will be exposed to the elements and will show more wear.
If you're looking for something to wear to job interviews, you should invest in a properly fitted, but reasonably priced (assuming you don't have money to burn) suit. Then find a good tailor and have it tailored to fit you. Then use your overcoat to keep that suit looking good in inclement weather. Alternatively, get some wool slacks and a blazer or sportcoat (most likely navy, as it is the most versatile).
See this post on Dappered about finding a good looking, but inexpensive suit. It's a little dated, but the advice is timeless (even if some of the links might not work anymore).
Really, Dappered is my go-to place for style information. Just start looking through their Start Here collection. Their community is also very friendly and knowledgeable about men's fashion (definitely more so than Icrontic, on both fronts). You'd get better answers about men's style and fashion there than you would here.
Re: Icrontic Beer Traders
So having recently finished a beer trade via shipping to friends in Nebraska, I learned a lot about the process.
Key thing to remember, regardless of what they say, you are not legally allowed to ship booze with USPS, UPS, or FedEx. There are commercially approved shipping methods for retailers such as Tavour, but these services are either not available to the public, or are too expensive to make worthwhile.
I shipped with FedEx. The key is to weigh the package at home, pay for a shipping lable from your PC, print the label and pre-package everything before you even step foot into a shipping center. If you've done this, then you simply walk in and drop off your box, likely with no questions asked.
In some cases, you might be asked what the box contents are. There are a lot of options here, but NEVER say beer. Liquid options are easy - I use "home made marinades and olive oils". Some people say "lava lamps", others say lotions. The thing is, unless you're the best shipper on the planet, they may be able to hear liquids sloshing around in the bottles when they handle the box. In my case, I dropped off my box and never had to answer this question.
Another important note - do not list your box as "fragile". Word on the street is that FedEx is now opening and checking boxes marked fragile to make sure things are properly protected to remove themselves from liability if anything breaks. If they do so and see beer, that box won't be going anywhere.
Go with ground shipping, and don't put the full, actual value of the beer within. If that number gets too high, it can raise suspicions and cause you some trouble. I shipped around $140 worth of bottled beer for my trade, but listed the value around $40.
Few other tips when packing/shipping:
- Throw noisemakers into the box to drown out the sloshing sounds. I put a few boxes of candy (Mike & Ike works well).
- Wrap each individual bottle in a closed ziplock bag before padding it. This way, if a bottle breaks, the leak is contained. If the shipping company sees liquid coming out of the box from something within, they'll open it up and find beer, and shoot it back to you with a slap on the wrist.
- There are a ton of resources online on how to pack your beer and ship it. Check out the Beer Trading Subreddit, tons of useful links on the sidebar.
UPSLynx
Icrontic Beer Traders
We have a pretty good spread of folks across the country and several people close to some top notch Breweries. Post up what you're looking for, what you have access to.
Gots:
I'm in West Michigan, and get all the Founders, Vivant, Perrin, Oddside and GRBC beers. Try to get to the Darkhorse, Bells and Saugatucks when I can.
Next big release in the Area will be KBS in March, Hazels Nuts in April.
Wants:
Stouts, Barley wines, Belgians, BBA stuff.
If anyone is in Southwest Michigan and has access to Greenbush that would be sweet as they always do releases at lunch during the week and its really tough to get down there.
Boulevard is putting out a Coconut version of their Imperial stout in February that I'd love to get a couple bottles of.
MAGIC



