Exhaustion

What does 80 minutes of rugby + hanging out at My Living Room + a Sunday baseball game equal? Me feeling like I was hit by a truck & in a complete state of exhaustion. Wow.

I played a full 80 minutes on Saturday. Which I usually try to avoid. Like the plague. BUT this time I played 2nd row. 2nd row!! My “dream” positon! I guess I did okay, I’m not sure. I scored a try and made it through the game, so I will count this as a success.

As we were leaving the field, I got a surprise visit from UncleCrappy & MrsCrappy, who were just returning from a trip to Athens, Ohio. I’m so very jealous… But they stopped by to drop off a gift they picked up for me. A gift that is so totally cool I can’t even explain it. You’ll see what it is in a bit, when Uncle Crappy makes a 2nd appearance in the weekend’s festivities…

I spent the rest of the evening at My Living Room with my teammates. I should have spent the evening in bed sleeping, but whatever. I ended up picking up a sewing job – making curtains for a friend. Sweet!

UncleCrappy came down to visit and hang out with FF and I… Always a fun time. But this time he managed to somehow get me to do something I’ve never done and swore I would never do. An Irish Car Bomb.

And we have a photo to commemorate the occasion… That’s me choking down said car bomb. It wasn’t awful. Just not something I’ve ever done. And I’m pretty sure I was still feeling the effects of it during the day Sunday. Do you see that shirt I’m wearing??? THAT is what the Crappys brought back from Athens for me. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am for that shirt and how awesome it is.

I managed to somehow drag my butt out of bed and get down to the baseball game on Sunday. I didn’t watch much of the game, but I did get to witness some ridiculous drama. Rough. And that’s all we’ll say about that.

Thanks to my mom and the wonderful Calipanthergrl, I’ve met and EXCEEDED my goal for the March of Dimes. I know, $50 wasn’t much to hope for, but I appreciate their generosity. If you’re feeling generous, click on the image below and donate a few more bucks to the cause! Or join me!

The Return

I know you’re all reading that thinking, “Oh, good, she got her laptop back!” Unfortunately, that is not the case. However it seems they are having a little more success than we had last weekend.

The Return I’m talking about is my return to My Living Room. I couldn’t post about it because of the laptop… And I know a lot of you were wondering how it went. Well, the first one went well enough that I went back again 2 days later.

I decided to stop in last Thursday when the teams would be there after practice. I’m not going to lie, I was nervous. But I pulled up a barstool and talked to some friends. At some point, I saw that the table behind me was literally covered in glasses, bottles & plates. In the past, this would have caused me to get up & clean up the mess. But this time? I swear I didn’t even give it a second thought. A little while later I realized that I let that little issue slide, and also that I had been at the bar for a while by then and hadn’t even noticed the “little” things I always did. A definite mark in the “Win” column.

I went back again on Saturday after the men’s game. And the same sort of thing happened – I just didn’t notice the things I did in the past. But there was one MAJOR change that I really noticed. I had FUN. Soooo much fun. All. Night. Long. I can’t even remember the last time I had fun & joked around and socialized that much at the bar. Nothing annoyed me. It was awesome!! Now, the barstools are still craptastic & falling apart – BUT that is no longer my problem… unless one of them breaks while I’m sitting on it and I get to sue the bar…

You may recall that some friends said that they were looking forward to seeing me smile more if I didn’t work at the bar… And honestly, I didn’t expect that to come true for them. But it seems that it has.

There was only one glitch in my awesome Saturday. I wandered through the bar and there was Viking – who sadly still has yet to SPEAK to me since this whole thing started. I thought he had left for the night, and I immediately turned around and high-tailed it to my seat.

I spoke to BG a little while later and was informed that Viking feels bad and she asked if I’d go to dinner with her, Giggles & Viking. I think I said no before she finished her question.

You know what? If Viking feels so bad? Maybe he should have picked up the phone and CALLED ME. Maybe he should have been a better friend & co-worker and SPOKEN to me. Maybe he should have shown me significantly more RESPECT than he has. But he didn’t do ANY of those things. He stayed silent and cowardly and I hope that he is left out there to feel bad for a lot longer. And I hope it bothers him.

Because me? As much as I would love to tell him off, I’m going to be too busy having fun and smiling and not noticing all those stupid little things.

What to do… What to do?

I’m trying to figure out how to handle my return to My Living Room. And when to do so… And I’m looking for input.

Based on the support of certain ruggers, I feel like I should be right back into the swing of things. Why? Because I no longer have to worry about the bar, their behavior in the bar, or having to work there ever again. And because some of them commented that it will be nice to see me smile now. And honestly, after reviewing what I “used” to do for the club & bar, and what I now do, there’s no reason I shouldn’t go there and have the time of my life.

The “situation” that led to my not working there & those involved in telling me do NOT make me interested in going there… They handled it badly. Perhaps against all employment laws, but still, I’m hurt by their evasion. I don’t want to give that bar any more money than minimally possible. But then I want to go and be that patron that doesn’t tip well, but doesn’t tip as bad as some people.

I’m honestly ok with not working there. Working a 9-5 and then working till 4am every other weekend was hard on me. Physically, emotionally… I wanted to find a way out of it, and being forced out, has led me in other directions, so I hope it works out & I make it happen. I’m also EXCITED that the next time the ruggers decide to venture to other bars or on a bar crawl – I can GO. I don’t have to stay behind to work. Or stay behind because it’s what I “do.” I won’t do that anymore. I may not be able to afford it many times, but I’ll make it as much as possible.

I also want to want to go there for my social media friends. Those who walked in, fell in love with it, and met me there every time I went there. Working or not. They loved that place, as I still do (for different reasons, now), and it kills me to take that away from me and them.

This all comes up because apparently everyone goes there on Thursdays. And this Thursday is the night before Good Friday, when many of us don’t have to work. I can still, to this day, remember my first night before Good Thursday, 7 years ago. It was fun. And dang if I don’t have to work on Friday and kinda want to hang out…

I’d like to prove those who were jerks to me wrong. I’d like to find a way to be bigger than them, better than them. To figure out a way that I can go there, along with all my friends, and then go where ever we want to… home, another bar, but spend just a small time there. Does that make sense?

A friend left a comment yesterday that made me really feel what I already was starting to feel. Embrace what is coming next. It may be a blessing. He said what I felt behind the bar cannot be replaced, and honestly, I’m not sure right now that I want that. I want what the new things I’m doing to replace that. Because it’s different.

And, honestly, I want to go there so I can watch the deterioration of what I worked on, and while I might be upset by it, it will NOT be my fault, and I will be laughing my ass off at what they turned away.

So what do you think? When should I go back? And when do you want to go back with me in force?

Good thing blogging is free…

You all know I work at My Living Room and have done so for the better part of nearly 8 years. I work there because I don’t live paycheck to paycheck from my “real” job – I live paycheck to tips to paycheck to make ends meet. I NEED that job.

And then today I get a phone call. From Asshat of all people. I call him back and long story short, I have ONE shift left and then I’m basically fired. Apparently my shitty Saturday shift is “great.” And there are others there who deserve my shift. Excuse me? I’ve worked there for nearly 8 years. I’ve been treated like crap, never given a raise, dealt with all of Asshat’s issues that the management doesn’t know about… and they do this to me???

Well guess what? Shit’s hitting the fans kids. Not only am I making all hell break loose in my own way (more on that in a week or two or three), but my last night will be a rugby, social media and Living Room train-wreck-crazy-ass-drunken-dowhatyouwant-circus. You want to throw me away? Go right ahead. I’ll make you regret it. Because I intend to have NOTHING to do with that place after that night.That Mug Club? Whoever takes it over? Good luck figuring that shit out. It’s a damn mess. But not my problem anymore.

I’ve said it before, I was so welcomed by the Yinz Team and everyone I’ve met online and in person through social media things. And I’ve taken them to My Living Room and made sure they felt welcome so that they would come back again and again. And many of them have. Even when I haven’t been there! Many of the Yinz Teamers have also welcomed my rugby teammates that they have met. With open arms and minds. LOVE IT!! And tonight when I sent a rant to Twitter, I immediately received a few replies and a few DM’s… I explained what happened and the response? Overwhelming that my friends would all be there for my last night. And also that some of them wouldn’t go there if I wasn’t there.

I’m incredibly sad about the thought of not working there. So much so that I’m shocked… Partially because of the money issue. I don’t know what I’ll do, but I’ve had some good ideas and opportunities sent to me. And I’ll be honest, it’s one less thing that ties me to the Burgh and used to make me not up & move to Florida… But it’s more so because this new group of people that I convinced My Living Room was OK really ended up LIKING being there…

Most of the “regulars’ at the bar disappear during rugby season. But you know what? I know a few of the Yinz Teamsers were there last weekend while 99% of the women’s team and some of the men’s team was there. Whoo boy… But they were FINE. Regulars? They leave. Yinz Teamers? They stick with it.

I really, really thank my Tweet friends and Yinz Team friends for their messages and support tonight. I didn’t need this right now… I have a huge tournament to run on Saturday. Not that Asshat cares….

You know what really sucks? Sending out this to Twitter, Plurk and my rugby Yahoo groups: Last Shift at My Living Room: Sat April 4th. BE THERE. HANG FROM THE CEILING. I WON’T CARE,  but NO fights. JUST BE THERE AND HAVE FUN.

Tears.

Don’t poke the bear…

So tonight I attempted to make it to the Yinz Team bowling event. But when I hit Washington Rd./Rt. 19 after the Liberty Tunnel, I discovered that getting going from a stop light  up a hill wasn’t really working for me… And driving all the way to almost the South Hills Village Mall was NOT happening. So I turned around and headed to where I expected to end my night, My Living Room.

And it was a fun night, but the best part is that I learned something about myself that I’ve never, ever been told before. Something I never actually expected to hear… I am apparently more scary than a Marine Drill Sargeant. How funny, sad, awesome, scary, amazing, spectacular, a disaster is that?!?!?!

I didn’t mention it before, but the reason that I, personally, went to My Living Room after our Skating Adventure was to see my friend, the Marine… He entered boot camp a while back and that was his first night home for a week before he heads back out… He’s always been kinda fun to have in My Living Room – he’s always offered to help with things, and he’s always begging me for matches or a lighter, which i refuse to give him – and he really likes hanging out there, so I wanted to be the first person to buy a beer for him there. And I did.

Tonight was his last night in town, and he was heading back to MyLiving Room. I fully intended to go there after bowling… but I ended up there earlier. The Marine showed up and after a while, he asked if I’d be mad if he took his shirt off… To his benefit, he has apparently undergone an amazing weight loss… I respect that, but we have a strict, non-publicized, no nakedness policy in My Living Room, so I told him no. Thankfully, a stern look from me and repitition of his name will make him change his mind… Funny… or so I thought.

Right as I was leaving, the Marine decided to share… a story I will now try to repeat… At one point during his basic training, the drill sergeant asked him if he was scary or something and our Marine replied that no one was scarier than this bartender back home at My Living Room — meaning me… The drill sergeant made him do 200 push ups. The Marine told me it was worth it, because I truly was scarier than the drill sergeant.

(many thx to @chachisays for the musical selection! I *heart* Clutch)

I’m not going to lie… that made me grin like crazy and I may have even jumped up and down. Ok, maybe I did a little victory dance too…

But this brings me to tricky situation… I’m not so happy that I’m scarier than a drill sergeant. Really… However, if I made boot camp a tiny bit easier for the Marine, then I’m cool with it. For now… But honestly, if you know me truly, you know I’m not that scary… I’m really just like an M & M. A hard shell with a softy center…

Living dead girl…

Perhaps that’s what I am… Who knows… I’m more brain-dead and worn out over the past few days than I was in the past 2 years of working for The Organization. Part of this is just that it’s winter and the sun doesn’t exist and when I talk to the Floridians, they complain of the cold 60 degree weather… Yeah, that’s cold. Sure.

The other part comes from some people thinking they know how I am – whether I am burnt out from the work I do or not. Maybe I am just busy and it seems I’m burnt out?? Maybe you should freaking ASK ME?!?! Personally, I think I am the best judge of that, thankyouverymuch…

As a result of these people’s assumptions, my WTF reaction, my relationship with BirthdayGirl is a big pile of you-know-what right now… I know some Org people read this, but really, I’m disappointed that people did not put off a meeting where certain people should have been involved and that they did not include me in decisions involving one of the two events I agreed to plan for them. If I can’t make a freaking meeting, and you’ve got to have it, is it so hard to call me or text me? It’s not like I don’t text people back immediately. Or in the least, send me an update a few days later? Seriously… I know I wasn’t intentionally excluded and such, but I can’t be expected to clean up the bombs that go off as a result of decisions that are not my own… Am I wrong? Eff. This has me pissed. Makes me wish I hadn’t given up my uber-stressful involvement… That’s a lie, my giving up that shit has allowed me to some kick-ass things recently like participate in the Polar Bear thing and go skating last weekend…

Thanks for listening to my bitching… I just needed to vent a bit and just let it all out before I call someone and freak out or cause some kind of scene in My Living Room when they show up next.

Anyway, I’ve also been working on my niece/nephew baby quilt… Which I can now talk about here since I showed the plans to my sister at Christmas. The big ol’ middle part is completely put together… this weekend I’ll add the front top and bottom pieces and then attempt to put the whole dang thing together. This is scary territory… but it’s a learning experience, so it will be fun!

Once this one is done, I’m moving onto my awesome idea for quilt #2… It’s really quite nifty. And I’m really excited to get working on it… But more on that later…

LOST IS BACK IN ONE WEEK PEOPLE!!! ONE FREAKING WEEK!!!!!

I seriously cannot wait… even though I’ve created a LOST monster in @Chachisays…. oops, my bad, folks…

Don’t make the nice Claire angry…

As you all I know, I spend some of my free time bartending at My Living Room. I’ve been doing it now for nearly 7 years. I do try to wait on people quickly and efficiently, which should in turn earn me decent tips. And I admit that I am not always the friendliest bartender on the planet. It kind of depends on the situation – who I’m working with, who else is in the bar and so on.

My view of the world sometimes gets me into a little trouble when I work. See, I have what is called a conscience. Growing up, I always thought that everyone else did too. Sadly, I was very, very wrong. But I don’t care how wrong I am. I still think you should behave when you are in My Living Room (or any other establishment). This means you don’t walk out my front door carrying your beer bottle. It means you do NOT start taking off your clothes in the middle of the floor while pretending it’s a karaoke bar. This means you do not mouth off or physically harm another person or employee. This means you adhere to Bar Etiquette 101. Failure to do any of these things may result in the “Angry Claire” making an appearance…

Seriously. It’s not pretty and it’s something no one needs to see anymore… There was a time when Angry Claire was a mainstay behind the bar. It was a time when certain members of  The Organization believed that since it was their “clubhouse,” they could do whatever they wanted. It took a while, but my co-workers and I finally convinced them this was not the case.

However, there’s still some carry over from that time and the Angry Claire. There are certain people who I can glare at, yell their name, or use a code word (yes, we had to go that far with one person) and they will immediately behave. Sometimes they just apologize. I think it’s hilarious. For some patrons, it’s a spectator sport to watch me do this.

And it’s definitely fun when I force a 6′ 6″ muscle-bound dude and his two buddies leave the bar at the end of the night. When I’m not even working. Is that so wrong?

Thanks to Chachi, Missy, Sorg, Anthony Closkey, DjLunchbox, V_Rock, MadMike, Ashley, Jennie & Rob for a fun time at SingSing.

And thanks to Chachi, Anthony, Jennie & Rob for heading back to My Living Room. I’m glad you all had fun!

I have 2 jobs for a reason, unfortunately.

So tonite was the rugby girls and guys separate meetings. We need to do this to vote on certain internal positions and figure out who to throw to the dogs when we nominate people for the board. Yet another year passes where I can’t get out of Secretary. Apparently I “do so much” that no one is willing to take over… however, it seems I am not going to be nominiated for club president. We should all celebrate and dance right now… Seriously. I’m cool with what I do, which is a FREAKING TON of stuff, and not for much longer, but for now…

Anyway, I was online and accomplishing stuff while we had our meeting. Very happy about that, since the event next week is requiring about 150% of my off-time. Gee, I wonder why no one wants my job…

An then I made an announcement for something I had just discovered earlier this night… our bar, My Living Room, is no longer smoke-free!!!! We have officially applied for an exemption and until they tell us no, you can smoke inside….

I have the job at My Living Room because I NEED it. Really. I don’t make $300 per shift like they do at “clubs.” It’s not that kind of place… But on a decent night you take home enough to hold you over…. If I didn’t need it, believe me, I’d be done. Would I still go there and offer to help & repair stuff, absolutely. But would I rather not be behind the bar hearing my name 40,000 times a night? YES!!! I take pride in the Living Room. Make it look nice. Hang awesome pictures. (Yes, I’m in some of them!)

But when the smoking ban went into effect I was happy. As a smoker who wants to quit, and who has no willpower, great idea! I am a total loser, like I said, I try to be a QUITTER and I FAIL. Majorly. I forced myself to go there and not be able to smoke on the “patron” side of the bar. It was ok.

Since the ban went into effect, I noticed that my regulars… the people who ALWAYS stop in… they weren’t there. EVER. Some of them don’t even smoke. Apparently they have opted for bars that you CAN smoke in. The rugby people, love it. And I’ve said, I do too!! I swear!  But my last two shifts have proved to me what my co-workers have told me. Sales are DOWN. Way, way down. And tips? Non-existent. We took a major hit when the drink tax went into effect. And the smoking ban? Well, i can’t live on my every-other-weekend tips anymore. Especially last weekend.

I used to work Sundays. Back in the day. Worst night? 5 customers, $10 in tips. Fast forward to last Saturday. $25 in tips. $25 freaking dollars. That doesn’t help me. At all. Now granted, I used the down time to gain nearly every hi score on the MegaCrack machine…. but that costs money too!!!

So am I happy about the lack of the ban? NO! Will I hope for better money when I work… heck, yeah! I just hope the faces I saw tonite giving me that evil stare won’t ignore My Living Room in the future.

Because My Living Room? It rocks.