the 43rd week

This is what I woke up to Sunday morning.
Literally. Not figuratively-speaking.

Monday. I woke to wind and rain, and I worked out and went to The Anchor before closing 600 with Emily. After work I drove down to Crittenden in Kentucky for a grill-out with the usual Monday Nights Crew: Blake, Amos, Ams, Andy, John, and Brandy (Isaac sometimes joins us). Blake grilled some amazing burgers topped with grilled portabello mushrooms (and crisp cooked asparagus on the side). We played with the dogs and went crickin' down at the creek behind the house, and the sunset turned blood orange and we played some F1 racing before people started trickling out. I stopped at a truck stop before getting on the highway and bought some Nyquil and chugged it, since I've been staying up later and needed to be up at 5 A.M. the next day, and within the hour my body was shutting down, and I was staggering around like a drunk. I haven't used Nyquil as a sleep aide since the Dayton Days, and the amounts I took were far more than my drug-weaned body could keep up with.

Tuesday. I woke groggy for an early morning, hungover from the Nyquil, only to realize that I didn't open till Wednesday. So I went to The Anchor for a couple hours and sought to sober up with coffee, and then Amos and I closed shop. He had to stay late to do some managerial duties, so I jetted to Northside and hung out with Gabe and Emily for a bit. The highlight of this cold and windy night: a grade-A feast of toast and bowl after bowl of Rice Krispies. The snap, crackle and pop is like crack to me.

Wednesday. Tiffany and I opened, and I went over to The Hilltop after work to try their new bee's knee's cappuccino, their effort to draw people away from the sweeter coffee drinks to the basic staples. It was delicious, and I entertained Tiffany's kids for a little bit in Student Life. Kids can be a lot of fun sometimes. I took a nap and went by Brandy's place off Vine Street before a trip to The Anchor followed by a long and winding drive up Sycamore Street to a run-down bar called Milton's. That was a fiasco, and I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Ams, who will be spending a long weekend in Portland with Rob & Mandy. I'm so jealous. 

Thursday. Amos and I went to The Anchor before closing down at 600. We were slammed right at close, and that sucked. Being store manager, Amos is expected to get his manager's duties done while closing, which means that when we close together, I'm essentially the other closer. It's getting frustrating, for both of us: for me, because I'm doing the vast majority of the work; and for him, because he hates the fact that I'm doing the vast majority of the work when his responsibilities also include closing. We're hoping something from higher up will bring an end to the chaos. In brighter news, Luke--one of the roasters across the street at Rock Bottom--is our new roaster. He's part-timing at the brewery and behind the roaster, and he's a pretty cool dude. Having an actual roaster, rather than the company's president doing all the roasting, should help lighten some of the chaos (if only a bit). It was a pretty low-key night and an early bedtime preceded by a heart-warming conversation of sorts with my favorite Wisconsinite. 

Friday. After opening with Stephanie I jetted up to Tyler's place in Centerville. We got dinner at Wendy's and spent the evening playing MW:3 and watching BBC Life while chowing down on fried ice cream. We smoked cigarettes on the porch and the warm weather gave way to slashing rains and billowing winds, and it grew cold and we talked about Dylan coming into town this next week and how awesome it's going to be for the three of us to hang out again, just like old times. He'll be down in Cincinnati next weekend, and I aim to go up to Dayton once or twice more to see him before he heads back across the ocean to Mozambique. Tyler went to bed around midnight, and I sat on the porch in the cool and listened to the rain and then stayed up till 3:00 A.M. playing video games, watching Workaholics, and hammering Tyler's pantry. 


Saturday. The warm and tingling spring-like weather we've enjoyed the last several days has been replaced with gray and cloudy skies and cold autumn-esque rains. Tyler and I got breakfast at Scrambler Marie's, and I demolished a hefty portion of potato fries, a massive garbage omelette with three meats and four vegetables and two cheeses, as well as a stack of massive whole wheat toast and a pot of coffee. We parted ways, and back at the house I fell asleep for a good couple hours and then spent the evening hanging out with the housemates. Ams is having an amazing time in Portland, and Mandy shot me pictures of them together on the beach. I'm so jealous. 


Earth Day. I woke earlier than anticipated and went to The Anchor and finally finished scripting the last three chapters of Book One. Now all I've got to do is write them. Can I finish the book in a week? An ambitious thought: it could really swing either way, and I've no real incentive to get it finished than to plunge through another portion of The Quest (I love how it's in capital letters now; an evolving semantic). I went by the Verizon Wireless store to get a new charger, and I attempted to flirt with the sales rep and I think I succeeded, because she laughed and it sounded genuine rather than frightened. I'd consider that a win in my book, even if her first impression of me was me coming through the front doors hurriedly zipping up my pants (the zipper falls down, it's not my fault). Andy, Amos and I got Dusmesh for lunch, and I spent the afternoon napping and writing, and Blake joined the three of us for a trip to The Anchor where we dined on coffee and breakfast foods (well, they did; I had their pork tenderloin sandwich). We hiked over to Brandy's for a bit and visited with her, Aaron and Erin. It's easier to differentiate the two when it's written out. We drank beers and looked through old scrapbooks and perused Brandy's library of sorts. We relaxed back at the house, and I rounded out the night hanging out with Blake in his room listening to Damien Jurado tracks courtesy of Hot Sauce Waugh.