Monday, May 5, 2008

A PRETTY GOOD WEEKEND....

This past weekend was a busy one as we entertained ourselves in a variety of ways, from observing "interesting customers", to having a great night out with the staff. By the time my weekend ended at around 3am on Monday morning (thanks to the 4-overtime- hockey game between Dallas and San Jose that lasted just over five hours), I was thoroughly exhausted.

Friday night was your typical weekend night; it was a nice upgrade from what we'd experienced the night before, which was one of the slowest Thursdays in the neighborhood in quite sometime. We were hit with an unusual number of tourists, which was cool because you never know what they are bringing to the table. There were some strange folks popping in and out, including GEEK SQUAD GUY. We watched in amusement as he made his way through the crowd, first talking to himself (as if he was trying to psyche himself up to talk to a woman), then abruptly interjecting himself into the conversations of people, in the efforts of hooking up. Most of the time meeting with disastrous, to put it mildly. Gotta give the guy an "A" for effort though.

Saturday afternoon started out slowly, with the weather being dark and gloomy. It made for a great afternoon if you were into napping, however, there's no rest for the weary as I had to run around and take care of some errands before catching the Kentucky Derby and getting ready for our "Staff Night Out".

The Derby itself was anti-climatic, as the favorite BIG BROWN won the race in convincing fashion. Some of us participated in a Derby pool (quite simple really- you draw a number out of a hat and whatever number you drew, that was your horse for the race). I drew three numbers, one of which ended up belonging to EIGHT BELLES, the filly horse who ended up collapsing and dying at the end of the race. Drawing her turned out to be a mixed blessing; On one hand, I was happy to win money on her, while on the other hand, I felt bad because she got hurt and eventually had to be put asleep. So what did I do? I bought everyone in the bar a drink in her honor. It was the least I could do.

Then it was time for "Staff Night Out". Every so often the staff gets together and make a night of it; It's a good way to blow off steam and to get out away from Murray Hill for a change. It had been quite awhile since the last one, so when BLONDE CHATTERBOX brought it up, I agreed that we were overdue for another one. So after some intense planning by FIRE MARSHALL ED and myself, we finally got everyone together for a night out in Brooklyn. And without revealing the sordid details of the evening, I can safely say that the night was a rousing success.












As you can see, we definitely had a good time. Thanks to Matt and Jim for making it all possible for the staff. Mucho Appreciated!

All of the partying we did was for naught as I had to open shop on Sunday for a long day. So while the rest of the staff got to sleep it off, I was back in the trenches for what turned out to be a relaxing, lazy Sunday afternoon. I was expecting it to be cloudy and rainy, but as luck would have it, the weather gods played nice and gave us a great day.

The afternoon was dominated by playoff hockey, featuring the NY Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. This was a must-win for the Rangers; not only did they need to win to stave off elimination from the playoffs, it was a must-win for the bar as it would be a huge blow for the bar if the Rangers got knocked out. It was bad enough that the Montreal Canadians got eliminated the night before: they attracted a huge following to the bar and their fans were actually fun to watch the games with.

Alas, things did not go our way as the Rangers did get knocked out (in overtime, no less), thus leaving us with a Pittsburgh/Philadelphia semi-final. Not the most attractive matchup available. The second playoff hockey game featured San Jose and Dallas, with San Jose facing elimination. This game started at 9pm- who knew that this game would last five hours and end at around 2:30am???? I have to give the die-hard San Jose fans credit: They stuck it out for the whole game, and even when their team finally lost in the end, they were cool about it. By that point, however, I was ready to hit the sack. 15 hours on my feet had definitely taken its toll.

Overall, I have to say it was a pretty good weekend. It really was.


TONIGHT: Dollar Draft Madness (4pm-Close): $1.00 Bud/Coors Light/Bud Light mugs, ALL NIGHT LONG!!!


Nuff Said