3 months clean

i've been off the ciggies for three months. I still miss them like a child but its slowly getting easier. I've been sick almost constantly since, which I'm hoping is just part of the body's way of cleaning house. The latest novelty has been pleurisy which was damnably painful and inconvenient.

Being sick hasn't interrupted my work too much, I've sort of pottered away through it all. My tolerance levels are fairly low though and the town seems filled with hillbillies and casual racists. Any chance I get I'm taking a break from bar duties while my tolerance and optimism are restored.

down all the days

there's a lot of sickness in my life and the lives of the people around me at the moment, so I haven't felt overly like blogging for a while. More deaths too. Its feeling like a russian winter. Unending and bleak. Anyway there's other stuff too. Better stuff.

Starting to play a few shows again. It feels good. My friend Hap has put out a new record with his band the Underminers, and its a seriously lovely record. Called Heart part of your mind it has a pink cover very like the Smith's Hatful of Hollow. The song are by turns gorgeous and uncomfortable. He has really put his relationship and himself under the microscope lyrically and if you know the couple it can make for awkward listening, but musically its very decent. There's some nice country and beat pop flourishes courtest of an old dude called Graeme Hodge and the production is very sweet and airy. They're gonna launch the record at my pub and apparently I'm gonna play the corresponding Melbourne gig. Good times a comin'!

The pub is trundling along. I'm resenting the paperwork side more and more, but have embraced the day to day minutae far more than I did last year. I'm enjoying pouring drinks more than ever. We seem to be having a better year than most of the small pubs around us so hopefully that bodes well for and good and profitable summer.

The dog is continuing to be a holy terror. He recently had an incident where he ate some magic mushrooms that had sprung up unbekownst to us at the side of the house and nearly died. Poor little fella was paralysed and convulsing and we nearly lost him. He pulled through though and since then has been a lot more unpredictable and creepy. There's a little bit Charles Manson about the little guy these days getting very aggressive if we inconvenience him in any regard.

my iron lung

breathing is awesome. Sadly its also pretty difficult at the moment. There's a big old infection perched in my lungs and walking is a chore, any exertion more than that is nigh on impossible. Which is making my working life fucken interesting. Short days are in order.

the wreck of the hesperus

this poor old blog is a rusting hulk slowly melting into the sand. Life goes on whether you write about it or not though. The pub still dominates my waking hours, though i am definitely spending less time there. I'm coping a bit better, and have a bunch of strategies in place that are keeping my head above water. The range from the puerile to the mildly illegal but seem to be largely harmless. Suffice to say as a longtime boozer, I'm getting better aquainted with the marvellous diverse uses of the hemp plant. Lize seems to enjoy my tranquil state as does the dog, on whose level i seem to be operating at least one or two nights a week.

There's been a couple of deaths in my circle of friends and aquaintances in the last couple of months, both larger than life characters, tougher, hardier men than myself. One went by his own hand, another through a bike accident. After the sadness, you feel vulnerable in a way. Mortality looms large. Anyway, vale Dan and Paddy.

Spent yesterday drinking in the sun with the staff. We closed for the Easter Monday public holiday and BBQed various meats and enjoyed jugs of watermelon daiquiri made from melons that sprung up of their own accord in the pub's back yard. A lovely day with very little unpleasantness and a lot of laughter. In the tradition of all staff parties there were a couple of incidents in the late evening, involving a divisional van and an errant young barman but no harm seemed to come of it all.

update

here i am. I'm thirty eight now, no smarter and no thinner than i was a week ago. Christmas came and went in a manic flurry. The pub was busier maybe than its ever been and managed to generate and consume vast amounts of money simultaneously. We survived and since then have had a couple of nice parties at the house (one for mates and one for staff) and a week at the beach I could ill afford but may have saved my mind if not my life. I have another shindig tomorrow - a BBQ and gig at the pub for my birthday. The band are ill prepared as usual so it promises to be an enjoyable farce.

ramble on

been married for thirteen years as of monday. We haven't done much special yet, though I did buy the girl a new car on sunday. Its a pimpin' turbo diesel Astra with all the candy so she's well pleased. I will continue to drive the leprosy car, so called because of it's mottled paint and tendency for bits to fall off. Three and a half years of Karova patrons vomiting on it have not done the duco any favours. Buying the car was deeply unpleasant. The car sales person was abrasive, weird and had funny old man hands. You would almost prefer to deal with a real estate agent or a slave trader or some such.

The busy time is almost upon us. The bookings are filling in at work and the worst of the winter doldrums seem to be receding. People seem to have a spring in their step and a buck in their pocket. The next couple of months should be fun.

days like these

things don't get any less complicated. Nervous breakdowns in the kitchen, waitstaff with pneumonia and a dickhead taking a header through the cellar door have all conspired to make my life a little more interesting than one would like. Top it off by being busier than a one legged man in an arse kicking contest and that one day I'm going have off this month is looking pretty awesome. It is fun though. A world class display of power shot consumption by the staff at their party a week ago was both funny and terrifying. Pleasingly they revealed themselves to be pleasant and hilarious when they indulge themselves and the lack of ensuing drama was a sharp contrast to the Karova days. That's not to say they weren't a bit sore for a few days afterwards but the lack of police involvement, fisticuffs and inappropriate touching was nice. Footy finals have been good too with some good craic in the bar. Word seems to be spreading on the quality of the meals and the soundness of the pints.... .... fingers crossed it stays like this.