09 April 2010

April

I guess I've been a little busy! I just realized it was October the last time I sat down and wrote anything. So much has transpired in the last six months it's hard to know where to start. I guess I'll just start and it will likely be in no particular order. :)

The bar... things were going well! Were being the operative word. Business was starting to pick up and we were starting to attract new customers. All signs pointed to a good spring and summer to come. Then Bill happened. Bill is the guy we were in the process of buying the bar from. He's kind of a stupid man. A drunk... surprise, surprise! He decided to be a jag off and closed the corporation that held the liquor licenses. What does that mean? The bar got shut down. And not just shut down, but shut down on St. Patrick's Day. One of the best days of the year to own a bar. We had tons of people coming to the bar for live music, drink specials, food, etc... and the drunk son of a bitch had us shut down. Really?! Really. He fucked himself really. He no longer has a corporation that holds liquor licenses so we no longer have anything to buy from him. Therefore, he gets no more money. And, what money we did give him... we'll likely sue for. He really is that stupid. So, we're in the process of trying to get new licenses so that we can get the place back up and running. It's been a nice little "vacation" for the last month, but at the same time... I miss my bar. I walked in a couple of weeks ago after not stepping foot inside for a couple of weeks and the first thing out of my mouth was, "I love my bar!" Fortunately, I wasn't alone or I would've thought myself crazy. So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

What else? I've been working pretty steadily until this week. It's been a really good couple of months for my company so I've been working a solid 40 since the end of November. Felt good to have a job to go to and a paycheck every week. :) Unfortunately, a lot of our jobs came to an end at the same time and now we have too many folks waiting for the next job to start. Hopefully when I call in this afternoon he'll have some place for me to go on Monday. I'm kind of hoping for one of our downtown jobs (for personal reasons that I'll get into in a minute), but at this point I'll go anywhere and be perfectly happy.

So, let's get into those personal reasons...
Back in January I was sent to a job by the airport. I was the only woman on the job. Nothing new. The guys from my company always talk to me. Why wouldn't they? I'm a cool chick! The guys from the other trades didn't and that's totally normal. It usually takes a week or two for the other trades to talk to me. Not sure why that is, but that's the way it goes. So, after being there a day I was surprised when one of the guys came up to talk to me. He said he'd worked with me on a different job. Small world. That's actually happened to me a lot in the last year. At any rate, we started chatting and picked up right where we'd left off two years earlier. We actually worked on that original job for two years together so we'd gotten to know each other quite well. After a couple of weeks he told me that there was an electrician that was really interested in me. Oh really? So, I try talking to the sparky, but he's apparently really shy and it's like pulling teeth. I find out shortly there after that I'm leaving the job. So, I gave Sparky my business card and told him he should stop by the bar. It took a couple of weeks after that, but Sparky and I started talking. He seemed interested and nice so I was smitten. I usually avoid guys on my jobs only because I assume they're all married. Makes things easier if I'm just there to work, like one of the guys. However, I figured since I wasn't at that job anymore and it was very unlikely that I'd go back I'd give him a chance. In the meantime, I bounced to a couple of different jobs and finally landed at one downtown. Same scenario, different job. Oddly enough, not everyone from the other trades were afraid to talk to me! What a pleasant surprise! A couple of the older electricians were very friendly. One of the sheet metal workers was also friendly right from the start. I avoided him like the plague! Don't get me wrong, he was extremely good looking with his long hair and dimples, but he had this bad boy, biker look happening and I just didn't have it in me to go down that road again. I figured the only reason he'd be talking to me would be to get in my drawers and I wasn't interested. I wasn't rude to him either, but I wasn't making much of an effort. He on the other hand gets an A for effort. :) So, after I'd been there about a week he says to me, "Wanna go for drinks on Friday?" I looked at him and said, "It's only Monday, Friday is a long way off." and proceeded to walk away. What?! Who said that?! Me!? I don't come up with shit that quick or actually say it! But I had! And I was proud of myself! He just chuckled as I walked away. Next day he says, "So, how about that drink on Friday?" and me being the apparent bitch that I've turned into says, "It's still a long way off." and walks away. He didn't bring it up again after that, but we kept chatting. He really was making an effort. lol So, Thursday rolls around and I find out that I'm getting pulled off the job. Darn the luck! So, the Tinman (tinner is a nickname for a sheet metal, just like sparky is what we call electricians) says to me in passing, "I'm going to give you my # before the day is over." I'm like, "okay" and leave it at that. Shortly there after, he gives me his number. I think to myself, "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?! I don't have the nerve to actually call someone!" So, I'm in the elevator with my favorite elevator operator and I'm pacing. She asks what my problem is and I briefly tell her that the Tinman gave me his number and I don't know what to do. Her response? "Girl! That boy is FINE! And he's so nice! And he has great dimples! Girl! Give him your number!" I laugh...nervously... say I will and get off the elevator. Tinman is gone. :( They've left for the day and I lost my chance. Wait? Maybe not. I grab a business card and walk back towards the elevator. Here come the tinners walking towards me! Jackpot! And the Tinman happens to be the first one, so I hand him my card on the sly, he smiles and I walk away. We chatted, mostly via text, all weekend. Sunday he asks me to meet him downtown when he gets off of work for dinner and cocktails. I figure, what the hell! So, our first date was at Timothy O'Toole's on a Monday night. :) I was petrified ALL DAY. The strange part is that as soon as I laid eyes on him my stomach stopped doing back flips and I was perfectly at ease. We sat there and chatted for hours. It was very nice. More texting and phone calls after that and date number two followed two days later. Again all nervous and freaked out before I saw him and as soon as I laid eyes on him I was totally relaxed. Most bizarre feeling ever! Well, apparently I now have a boyfriend. He's a sheet metal worker and we call him Metal Dave. Not because his name is Dave, lol, but because one of my girl friends couldn't remember his name, but remembered that he worked with metal and decided Dave was a nice name. She's nuts! And that's why I love her! He's a man so he still wants to get in my pants, but the nice surprise is that isn't all he wants. Very glad I gave him a chance. Haven't talked to Sparky since the night of my second date with the Tinman. Don't miss him either. :)

All right! Now that all of the crazy girly crap is out of the way... I'm buying a HOUSE! Holy crap I've lost my mind! I'm pre-approved and everything! I haven't slept a whole night since I got the pre-approval either! LOL I've been out to see a couple of houses, three to be exact. One is definitely in the running, but I'm going out this afternoon to see six or eight more with my new realtor, Jim. I'm looking forward to it. He turned me onto a couple of houses that I hadn't seen in my online searches before. They have a lot of potential based on their pictures and descriptions so it'll be interesting to see them all in person. I'm kind of hoping that by the time I get home today I either have a bid on a house or will by tomorrow or Monday. Will update!

I think that's about it for now. No guarantees, but will try to write more before another six months has come and gone!