anzac day

Anzac day is like Remembrance Day, but for Australian's and New Zealander's. It's also the busiest day of the year for The Shed. Sounds like a great night for me to have my first crack at bartending.

Long before we had booked our trip, Drew and I had both hoped to one day bartend down under. For me, it actually became reality.

When I showed up at 4pm on Friday, the place was already packed. All the navy, army, ecetra ecetra in the area had come out to The Shed, all in uniform. By 7pm the army and the navy had already almost came to blows. We had a lot of security on so every close call was defused pretty quickly. I had to train Rob, who would be taking my place as SuperGlassie. He hadn't worked a shift yet, so this was his first, on the busiest day of the year. I was running around everywhere, trying to set up for the horse show, training Rob, and taking care of my regular tasks. Bus loads of people began showing up at the door.

The Shed's capacity is 890 people, 890 people wanting drinks. My turn to get behind the bar. They stuck me down at 'shindig' which is the bar next to the dance floor and band. Other than being shown how to use the till on Thursday, I hadn't been shown anything else. I think I picked it up pretty quick and began spitting out drinks as if i knew what I was doing. Served a ton of vodka redbull's, and a lot of water to thirsty dancers. I was only behind the bar for about two and a half hours, but i manged to take home $27 in tips, and I found an extra $5 on the floor while cleaning up. I probably could have got more but I wasn't behind the bar from 1-2am where most of the tips start happening.

That night, Chris and Sebastian were supposed to come down and see me working my magic but they never showed. I talked to the swede the next morning. They went to 'Black Bettys' first to have a few jugs. Chris went out for a smoke, but they said if he wanted to go back in he had to wait in the line again. The line was big so he tried to get ahold of Sebastian but couldn't, so he just went back to the hostel. We were watching tv on Saturday morning, and one of the girls here said Sebastian had gotten beaton up when he was leaving the BB's later on. We didn't see him all day, but saw him on Sunday morning. He remembers walking out of BB's then waking up on the ground with people standing all around him.


He's alright, no broken bones, but needed a few stitches. He thinks he was attacked from behind, and I'm pretty sure he didn't provoke this.

There's an older man that stays here, I'd guess that he's between 70-80. He's Australian, but rocks a 'Canada' hat. I was walking down the stairs with him the other day and I said, "That's a mighty fine hat you got there." I was about to increase my speed when he replied, "You want to know how I got it?" I said, "Sure." Well, he had been driving his boat while his hat had flown off, He was going to turn back to get it but decided against it. Not two minutes later he saw something red floating up ahead, he slowed down and got a pole. Bam. New hat.

I would like to post more on here, but from Friday morning, to Monday morning all my time and energy is tied up with work, I sleep then eat between shifts with not much time for anything else. This week especially was crazy. 50 hours at work and a very tired body.

Matt, Drew and Nic get back tomorrow. I can already taste Drew's jealousy that I'm behind the bar. Unfortunately for him, 'Mustang' only hires female bar tenders, which can't be that bad.

Mmmmmm. Let me soak in your envy.

what goes around, comes around

I've always been a big believer in karma.
Yesterday on the way home from work, I stumbled across a cell phone, lip gloss and and some sort of inhaler. Instead of just walking by it I picked them up and tried to find out how I would get ahold of the owner at 2am. 1 new message. It was from the owner saying that they lost the phone and they didn't care about the phone they just wanted the sim card back. I called the phone and got no answer. When I got back to the hostel I was about to jump on the computer when I noticed something sticking out of the chair. I lifted up the cushion and found $3. A dollar for each item i found. They called back seconds later and are coming to pick up the phone today.

I'm moving up in the work world once again. I start my bar tending training on Thursday. I just have to train a person to take over my job on Friday, then its, "Hey, what can I get for yah" for me.

Nelson is one of the glassies. He's about 6'4, and I'm guessing about 250lbs. He's from Brazil so I try to speak spanish with him. He helps me with it, and I help him with english, and the names of the songs that are playing so he can download them after work. Here's a short dialogue we had last night.

N: "Como esta?"
S: "Bueno"
N: "Cansado or aburrido"
S: "Cansado"
S: "What does cansado mean?"
N: "Tired"
S: "Oh, and aburrido?"
N: "Aburrido is boring"
S: "Oh... It's also one of my favourite foods!"

He didn't laugh.

I have 5 shifts this week which means I'll be getting about 50 hours. Going to be cansado, but I'm very exited to bar tend for the first time. It will also be good for my bank account. Not only will I be making money, but I'll have no time to spend any either.

Today I'm going to Rob's, who's a bartender at The Shed, to watch countless episodes of 'Entourage' in which he has on dvd. I haven't seen an episode in quite sometime. It's only on on Sunday's, and I work every Sunday. The plan is to buy bacon, eggs, HP sauce, and english muffins to snack on. "I am exite."

Matt and Drew went for a camping trip up the coast with Nic for the week. Me and the Swede got 2 new roommates last night. One of them snores. It's different when Drew or Chris snores because I can yell at them to make them to shut it. But I think if I yell at the little asain guy, he may be afraid to fall back asleep.

i miss al.

Cuervo Cup 2008

I'd like to start off this post by saying that yesterday was one of the funnest days I've had so far on this trip.

A few shifts ago after work, Derek, my manager at The Shed informed us that the managers would be competing in a dodge ball tournament the following week. They had never played dodge ball before and asked if I would coach the team. Obviously it was a bit of a joke to make me coach, but it was humorous.

Yesterday, the day of the big tournament I woke up at 9pm, and walked down to The Shed where Andy, another one of the managers, was waiting to pick me up. We kicked around for awhile before meeting up with the rest of the team back at The Shed.

Uniform unavailing. Wow. They looked so ridiculous it was awesome. We headed to the pub for a pre-tourney pint, then headed off to City Beach.

No one really knew what to expect. When we arrived we were informed that only 2 of our 4 man team was going to able to compete. Derek chose Karl and Andy to represent. The other teams showed up in other extravagant apparel as well. They slapped wrist bands on us which had numbers 1 through 8. These bands were good for 8 free tequila drinks. Ouch. We had a few drinks before the first match was to be held. The way they did it was to have it 4 on 4. So 2 bars were on the same team. But, to move on, you had to score more points than the other 3 teams in the ring to win. So it was all about greed, and getting the ball first. 1 point for a hit, and 1 point for a catch.

We started off with a pre-game stretch. I believe I had them doing the praying mantis when this picture was taken. (note the sunset in the backround)

Round 1. Win. Karl went mental and annihilated the opposition.

Round 2. Much of the same, but it was pretty close.

Round 3. 1 person from the shed, 1 from black bettys, and 1 from the lucky shag per side. So everyone pretty much let their own team hit them to score points. It was very close, but in the end The Shed prevailed. We are headed to the finals.

There was about an hour and a half break for more drinks and what not. All day servers were catering around various finger foods to hold the tequila from coming back out. By this point there were quite a few loopy people walking around.

Pre game pep talk ft. Tequila.

In the finals it came down to The Shed vs. Tiger Lils.

Two on Two. 5 minute round. Winner take all.

I was trying to count points out loud as the game went on, but it was pretty hard to keep up with the fury. After the final whistle, both teams raised their arms in victory and waited for the official score to be added up.

Tie. 20- 20.

Tie Breaker. First team to hit the other team 3 times.

We lost the coin toss so the other team got to start out with the ball and had a huge upper hand. They hit Karl first shot. He threw back and hit the opponent. The ball bounced back to our side and Karl threw again and hit him. Again the ball bounced back to him and he pelted one last throw and ended the game. The Shed Wins.

We jumped and screamed as if we had just won the lottery. Smiles from ear to ear.

We won 2 trophies, 2 bottles of jose cuervo, a bottle of 1800 tequila and a jose cuervo prize pack. I'm not sure what was in the prize pack because the bottle of 1800 broke inside of the bag, but they are going to replace it. We also took home 3rd place in the uniform contest which also came with a bottle of tequila.

After we settled down me and the team had a drink of tequila out of the trophy. I came very very close to ejecting my contents back into the trophy, but i held it off with a sip of a midori margarita.

Afterward we went out for victory drinks.

the 'lucky shag pub' girls had pretty nice uniforms. liam would agree.

quiet as a mouse

Last night a large group of us shed folk went out on the town.I met them at Rosie O'Gradys at about 8:30pm. From there we went to The Mustang Bar, where Drew was working. I probably heckled him a good bit to damage his feelings. It was here where I put on the green jumper for the first time. After Mustang, we then proceeded to Black Bettys for more. Lots of staff bonding. This morning, the other Canadian in my room informed me I came in very quietly, nicely made my bed, and climbed in. He then said i proceeded to turn on my camera and start looking through the pictures. Apparently I was impressed with the pictures because he said he could hear me talking. "Yea, those are some good pictures." and so on. The night is pretty vivid. I vaguely remember someone buying me a shot, which at 3am is really unnecessary.Tomorrow morning I'm getting up at 8am. NHL Playoffs will be on, and I'm taking over the television. On the net is says it's going to be Calgary and San Jose Game 1. Hopefully it's a misprint, and really is Game 2. On wednesday Game 3 of the capitals and flyers are on. I'll have to stay away from the computer so I won't know the final outcome. I'm rooting for the caps, pens, and canadians. Hopefully one of them can win it all.

I have frozen fish sticks in the freezer. I hear them calling my name. Adios.

I've got the skills that pay the bills.

cake eater

Last night at work, we had crew incentive for the glassies and bar backs. Whoever works the hardest in the eyes of the manager, wins a $100 gift certificate which can be used at a number of stores including clothing, groceries, and liquor. I knew I had it in the bag before the shift even started because I've really been busting my arse. Once we closed down, cleaned, and stocked, we all were enjoying the free drink we get after every shift, the winner was announced. I'll be going on a shopping spree this week. I hate to always be tooting my own horn, but i can't help it that I'm absolutely phenomenal at everything. Not to mention the major in the brass band.

I've grown a strong hatred for drunk people. Not so much girls, but guys. Some of them are quite helpful, and add lots of comic relief during tough moments, but most, not so much. I'm not sure if it's drunk people in general, or just drunk aussies, but i must say they are very very ignorant. I usually start shifts asking to get by nicely, but after a handfull of people see you, but continue to just stand there, i begin the snowplow. Usually the snowplow also comes along with a smartass remark to whoever is in the way. That usually gets them. Now I'm not in the wrong. My manager has told me to just bowl through people if they aren't doing what i ask. If i ever knock anyone down, I'll just resight the scene from 'The Mighty Ducks' where the badboy on the hawks takes out Banks. "What did you do?" "My job!". Then I'll give them a cold stare.
Working at a bar, i hear the same songs over and over again. I haven't started to really despise any of them, but i have taken a liking to a few, and get exited when they come on.

In advance I'd like to apologize to my friends, family, and myself.

Britney Spears - Piece of Me,
Pink - U + Ur Hand,
Good Charlotte - I Don't Wanna Fall in Love.(so sorry bro)

The other two, I don't apologize for because they actually are good.
The Potbelleez - Don't Hold Back.
The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger.

The other night i found myself mouthing along with the song "Don't Cha". The problem with that is that the song goes "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me". I stopped and looked around. There were more guys singing along then girls. Odd?EMMMMIIILLLLIIIIOOOO.

april fools

The four of us were sitting in the room and Chris asked me if i knew what day it was tomorrow. I said I didn't know. He said tomorrow is april. I quickly shushed him so Drew and Matt wouldn't hear. Then it became time to think of the perfect plan. I hadn't performed on april fools since probably middle school, so it was long overdue.

The only feasible plan we could come up with was changing Matt's alarm clock for work, but which direction would we go? Making him late for work was not an option, so there was either, change his clock so when he wakes up it says 7am instead of 5am, so he thinks he's late, or make his clock an hour earlier so he gets up an hour early. We went with the latter.

We were hanging out on the gym equipment, pretending we were working out, Matt got up and left. We let Nic, Sebe, and Drew know about the plan. They were in. Since Chris and I had already done enough, we got Drew to do the actual clock changing. In the morning, Matt's alarm went off as usual. Drew leaned over the bunk bed and woke him up. I looked out of my cocoon and saw Matt getting ready. I felt guilty, but you only get one day a year, so I had to let it go. About 45min later, Chris's phone rang. He didn't answer. My phone rang 4 times in a row. I didn't answer. Chris's phone rang again. No answer. Finally Drew's phone rang. He answered. "April Fools!" From what Drew repeated back to us, Matt was not happy. The trains didn't start running for another hour, so instead of coming back to the hostel, he waited at the station. Score one for the bad guys.

~

Last night some of the guys were watching a rugby game on the tv. I got up to go on the Internet then i thought I heard someone on the tv say 'Colorado Avalanche'. I quickly logged off and ran over to the television. Vancouver vs Colorado. I informed everyone watching that the channel was not going to be changed. I already knew what the outcome would be, but I watched most of the game anyway. Chris, who loves Peter Forsberg, informed me that he would be scoring on a breakaway later on in the game. But I already knew that as well. Drew found out at work that the 'Mustang' where he works, will be playing the playoffs there. I'm all in. Right now the two teams I'm rooting for are on the ropes. The Nucks, and Ovechkin and the Caps. Fingers crossed.

~

Later on last night, WWE came on. I used to be a huge fan so i was exited to see what was going on the world of wrestling. After 15min, i could easily get back into it. Corny, yes. But it's a show, its entertainment. The night before was 'Wrestlemania' and Ric Flair had to beat my all time favourite, Shawn Micheals, or he would have to retire. He lost, so on this episode it was his last address to the fans. After he spoke he was getting ready to leave, Triple H came down. I don't think Flair was expecting this. Triple H began introducing wrestlers who wanted to say thank you to Flair. So many old old wrestlers were there. I could see Hacksaw Jim Duggin, Sgt. Slaughter, George 'The Hammer' Valentine and more. Flair was emotionally shook, tears flowing. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this but it was fun to see, and a little sad at the same time to see a great like him retire. I'll try to tune in again next time. "Woooooo!"

We're very lucky he didn't try to hurt us.