Thanks Rick,
YES, I am VERY blessed in my family!!!!
Actually I have been up and around all the time. They kept me in the hospital a few days, but even before they let me out, they had me up and exercising. Now I gotta do a minimum of 30 min cardio exercise every day! Man I hate that, but what to do? The alternative is not above ground.
As the song says, "Everyone wants to go to heaven, but NObody wants to go now!!!"
God Bless guys,
Wayne

Wayne,

I hope you're keeping your eyes open for snakes on those sandal clad power walks...

Cheers,

T Cobe

Yes T. Cobe, those are rice fields, aren't they pretty?
I WOULD be listening to tunes, but my wife walks with me now.
God Bless, Wayne

Did you see that big, beautiful gray house? The guy that lives there has 2 GEt systems, one in his living room, and one in a home theater that is AWESOME!!!!
Who said this is a third world country?
God Bless,
Wayne

OK, alright then, all the gear is here!
So the first step was to roast some local green beans.
I used the popcorn popper out in the carport, so smell and smoke was not a problem. Chaff was easily blown away and swept away.
I had read one guy said 130 grams of beans, but my popper could not take that much, maybe 80 grams. And I stirred them, until they got really going, then they whirled by themselves, but I still stirred. PROBLEM WAS: my popper must have a smoke sensor or thermostat set too low, because it was just going well and it shut down. After coupla mins being off it would start again. I kept stirring the beans while it was shut off, because it was still hot, but even then I did not get a really even roast. It shut down 3/4 times during the roasting process.
My daughter took a few pics for me, does that look like Full City roast to you guys? Not sure it quite got there. The popper is noisy so not sure about hearing the second crack (the first one was obvious).
Next step in a day or two is to grind it and try some, see what I think.
All in all, I am pretty happy with how well it went, considering. Maybe after tasting it I won't be. ha ha
I will have to experiment to see how much to roast to last me like a week. I only drink two cups a day (breakfast time only), nobody helps me at all.
You guys would be very welcome to come over and share some coffee, talk a little audio, some football.
God Bless, Wayne

Wayne,

I don't know how you did it with that popper, but it looks like you got some pretty good results. The whirly pop pans on a propane burner make it easier to hear the cracks and to stir the beans as you go. I usually do about half a pound at a time in the pan. But it looks like you got some great uniformity in your roast.

Regarding the roast level, I prefer a medium roast and typically stop about 90 seconds after first crack and try to cool the beans as quick as possible to stop the roasting process. With high quality beans, you retain more of the beans' flavor profile with the lighter roasts. Burnt beans taste like burnt beans, no need to buy high end peaberry beans if your going scorched earth... that's typically why I avoid Starbucks. They burn everything which leads me to believe they start with inferior beans. A lot of people do prefer the mellowed taste profile of a darker roast, so it is truly a matter of preference. I'd recommend playing around with the various roast levels and see which you prefer. Don't be afraid of the lighter roasts.

Cheers,

T Cobe