Happy Hour

Sixty-five degrees and sunny today when I was walking down from the employee parking lot to the clubhouse today. There was a nice breeze and the black pines (I think they're black pines) were swaying like soccer moms at an OAR concert. That is my least favorite band on the face of the planet."Excuses" by the Morning Benders, on the other hand, has been my song of the week. Something about the way it starts out with the strings and strumming acoustic that really makes a day like this feel more like Spring.
One reason I like the calm before the storm before we start serving lunch at 11:30 is because some of the best conversations come during this time when we technically aren't even supposed to talk to members. That sounds cruel, but it's sort of well grounded. The problem is, if you talk to somebody before we open for business at 11:30, someone will want something. Weird, huh?
The same man comes in every morning to have his cup of decaf with the New York Times. It's worth it alone to even get to be in the same room with the guy while he reads the Times. Every page contains some article or columnist to send him into fits. It's like they aren't even trying to stay objective anymore. Yesterday I had been talking to this man about how many resumes I had sent out. "No offense, but I can't stand doing this anymore."
"Oh, no, I know you don't want to do this forever. And you won't."
They always know what to say to help build you up.
Today when I walked in he sat down just as I was bringing in the fresh pot of decaf. We small talked about the NCAA basketball games the previous night and then he says," OH! I was thinking you know what a person like you should do? I mean the perfect thing to do?"
"Shoot," I said.
"You need to start a blog."
These guys are good.

I have to tell you this story from earlier tonight. One of my favorite happy hour regulars tonight came in wearing his roll-up optometrists shades underneath his glasses. It was incredible. But that isn't the story. About halfway through his third double gin on the rocks he gave the staff his recipe for the coffee vodka that he's been working on perfecting.
1. Go to the liquor store and get a liter and a half of the cheapest vodka they sell.
2. Drop in nine (9) coffee beans. We were informed that it takes about 2 days for the beans to sink to the bottom of the bottle.
3. Wait four and a half days and the vodka should be a nice amber color.
4. After the 4.5 day waiting period the vodka will be ready to drink.

"Now, Kent, I don't really know what I'm doing," he said. "But it's pretty damn good, Kent. It's pretty damn good."