Weekend for the Books (i.e..a rare one!)

I keep looking at my battery though…10 minutes ago I was “told” by the machine I had 2 hours left on this. Now it’s saying 2:30…but a minute from now it will tell me only 30 minutes left. We’ll see, shall we?Me and barkeep Dan are still chatting and drinking and I think this is the best idea I’ve had in months coming here. And it was mainly just because I wanted to still have a couple of beers and we have nothing but 2 buck chuck at home and I’m in the Bible Belt and can’t buy beer on Sunday. And it was only 3pm and so…hell, why not, right?

Earlier, I met my salesman and my accounting rep from corporate at the airport because she (Sherri) and her friend had a layover on their way back from vacation in Florida. We had a ridiculous fun time….more than I had even expected. It was kinda cool: Sherri told me the time share they stayed in is the same one that I stay in with my family when we go there (Marriott Ocean Pointe on Singer Island, just off West Palm Beach, Florida). In any case, I was definitely going to meet Sherri no matter what…and I figured we would get along based on email conversations at work. But I didn’t really expect to have as much a nice time that I did. Here’s to taking chances of meeting new people.

This weekend was all about meeting and re-meeting people and hanging out with new (and recently reacquainted )friends. I think I did well in that goal. Martha, Bwana, Gentri, Check My Bag and Asshole…hadn’t either seen them in ages or just have been recently reacquainted. The airport today? Meeting cowokers [cow-orker] I’ve never met before. Coming to Maggie’s just to have a few beers and type away….the main reason was that I wanted a few beers and God Bless the South and all…but no buying beers on Sunday SUCKS. I told myself: I will leave at 7pm….unless this battery dies first. And now it’s telling me: 1:41 hours…so we’ll see.

Yesterday was a blast at the East Atlanta Beer Festival; next year I am SO going to volunteer again. I worked the “Hebrew Beer” table – “the Chosen Beer” –which had us serving 5 beers: 3 high gravity; 2 regular. Smart for them to put the high gravity in big thick bottles so the volunteers working knew the difference (we could only pour 3 oz. of the high gravity; 6 of the other), especially after we started drinking ourselves. Even tipsy, me and my table worker could tell the differnce between the thick and thin bottles.

As the day wore on, people started sending others to our table because of the “Pomegranate Ale” that was a new addition to their line (apparently? What did I know? I was just a random volunteer. So we just made up stuff about it) and the next thing I knew, there was a HUGE line to our tent. Even my friend Martha, working the Guinness table came over at one point to “steal” a beer (“steal” in quotes because she was open to have it) and said, “you have a line! What the heck are you giving away here?” It was the pomegranate ale…people lined up. We were giving the beer for free (well, we had to…it was our job description…) but I offered more for bottles of water…and quickly took it back when people really wanted it.

The funny thing is that they assumed that me and my table cow-orker were reps from the company. They asked us all kinds of questions about the company, the beer, etc…we made up shit. It was fun. Being the “Hebrew” beer….[funny, we were right next to the Abbey beer table…so we started calling ourselves the “Religious Row”] someone even asked us once if it was Kosher. Of course, I had no clue. Until, and I’m serious, two Jewish guys showed up and pointed out on the label that it really was Kosher [how does one make Kosher beer anyway??] written in Yiddish or whatever. So from that point on, we were able to say that. Not that we weren’t sayng whatever we wanted anyway.

Early in the day, people asked for recommendations, so we gave them. The men and women coming to the table were all very friendly, flirty and fun. Of course they were– we were giving them beer! I got complimented on my bright green eyes many times [they get really green when I’m drinking….I still don’t understand the biological reasoning being that, but there’s gotta be some explanation]…and as the day went on and people asked: “well, what does that one [pointing at a bottle] taste like?” I would just say: “you tell me!” and pour it. Or if they couldn’t choose, I’d say: “You have 5 seconds…5…4…3..2…” and then just pour them whatever the hell I wanted. It.Was.A.Blast. I will definitely do this again next year if I can.

I was signed up to work 12-3pm….and after that point, relief was to show up and we, as first shift, could go off and sample the other beers ourselves. Relief never showed. At 3:30pm (half hour late, mind you), I finally found our corporate rep and told him: “you have 10 minutes before I shut down your table.” Ten minutes later? I did. I think my table mate felt bad about that, but I didn’t care. Hellllloooo? Was I getting paid for this? No. Was it my turn to drink beer? Oh yes! Ten minutes after that, someone did show up and, drunk girl that she was, asked us to explain the beers, what to do, etc…but given she was almost an hour late? I didn’t give a shit.

So I walked over to where my friends Harold (BWANA, or Bitch, however you know him) and Laura (Martha) were working at their Guinness table. Surprise surprise! Their relief didn’t show up either. But their table was right near the Stella and the Sweetwater tables with a lot of fun folks hanging around. Other folks who knew relief didn’t show up came there to help as well…and it was a blast. We stayed until beer ran out and the rains came. And it was still fun.

hen, having lost Martha to a cute little 21 year old who wanted to make out with her and roll in the mud, Bitch and I walked back to Paulie’s for the aforepromised [I’m an English major–yes, it’s a word! Er, today, anyway.] food and beer and the rest of the clan managed to show up as well. All I can say about Paulie… What a great host!! Thank you thank you thank you Paulie for humouring us….next entry will be about that.[Ed’s note 3 days later: yeah, still gotta write that entry….]

In any case, BD [oh yes, we’re back in the present now] is now having to work and so he’s behind the bar though he just came and gave me a “rose” made out of napkins. Okay, he put it in my beer so I thought it was a straw at first….oops. But I think that means I should shut down now and go flirt…just so I can get off that negative four [-4] score I discussed with Sherri earlier. Smooches, folks!