Character Haiku.

"Serves you a good drink
listens to your troubles, then
makes a smart remark."*

Hey look everybody! It's me!

11 days from today, my brief but eventful stint as a bartender comes to an end.

It was a good run.

I learned a great deal. Some of which might actually come in handy later. Lessons about life, coworkers, trust, emnity, and information. Ways to respond to bosses that don't like you, ways to work around the most basic of instincts and training habits. Methods to manufacture a martini that will raise eyebrows and make friends.

I certainly learned to talk back first and ask questions later. When to spin an insult off the cuff and when to stop talking and say "huh?" and look completely incompetent.

In fact, that's a big lesson right there: sometimes it's a bad idea to appear overly competent. There are certainly tactical advantages to occasionally appearing less capable than you could be.

Know your friends, and know your enemies, and know how to make people move from one category to the other.

There are other lessons outside of work I've learned in the last 6 months. Some I have learned the easy way, some the hard way. But on the plus side, none of the lessons learned in that time frame have generated regrets for me to address. Well, maybe one. But being downgraded from Friend to Aquiantance because I stand up for myself is something with which I suppose I'll just have to deal. I imagine this isn't the last time it will happen in my life, and I might as well get used to it because I imagine it will continue as long as I'm willing to make decisions of which others don't approve.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

I geeked out in Wal-Mart yesterday and bought $70.95 worth of kit for my trip, from shirts to belts to backpacks to combination locks. I'm starting to aquire all the gear I need, and I'm looking forward to beginning the packing process later today. Whoohoo!

I'm also working on my old room. It's completely empty now. We emptied out the last of the wood and removed the carpet today, so it's time to start repairing, taping, and mudding.

So there is a little informational post about me. Give me a few days to be tormented about something and I'll write something that is more than just newsy drivel about my personal life.

*Stolen from the Suburban Jungle Archives.