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.

the winter of our discontent

its been a long and bitter one so far. The swine flu and its many bastard relatives seem to be ripping through town and it seems every second person you talk to has been laid low for a week or two at a time. A few people I know have ended up in hospital with severe pneumonia.Lize has copped a dose of it and I had a little blast of something a week or so ago. Unpleasant stuff, especially when time off isn't really an option in our jobs.

Whilst I'm on the cheery stuff, a fellow licensee suicided last week. Never an easy reality to digest, it provokes some extreme reactions in people. I find the anger understandable yet somehow unfair. When you are in the frame of mind when popping your cork seems a valid option, consideration for the people you leave behind can't be that easy to come by. Poor geezer ended up necking himself in the cellar, which to be honest is starting to spook me out when I head down into my own to change a keg. There is something weird and grave like about the holes under the ground in which we store our beer. Hope you've found a happier place Glenn.

nice ones

sometimes pub's have truly nice nights. Not as many as you'd like , but we do have them. The nights where the customers are fun, polite and good company. When there is neither too many nor too few punters. Where the off duty staff sit around bullshitting with off duty staff from other venues and the on duty staff can sneak a quiet beer and a fag occasionally. Nights when the pints and shots are lined up along the bar glinting gently in dim light and its warm and friendly. I love these nights.

browntown

experienced my first brownout at the pub today. The electricity seemed to go on half strength. Lights dimmed, the till and the ciggie machine kept resetting and it played havoc with the beer system. Took me a couple of panicked phonecalls, some amateur electrical detective work and the discovery of a hitherto uncharted fuse box before I was a able to sit down and ram half a dozen fags into my quivering self secure in the knowledge the beer would be cold.

Still I must have been a bit low on sugar after my trauma cos Lize reckoned I was snappy and tense when she came in to see me after work. Crashed out at 8.30.

insomnia creeps

sleep's dried up again. So its podcasts and facebook, toast and tea. The rain hitting the corrugated iron should be soothing but it has me alert and a bit bothered. Trying to balance the books, the new winter menu and a bunch of other stuff keeps running around my head. I'm at the start of a fourteen day straight run and a bit more sleep would be great...