Tip o that one just got me...

So, since the last post, there's been huge changes in this bear's world!

Big change #1: 1 Job. Mo Money Mo Money. Less hours. Real sleep. As one Jim Fitzner once titled a totally ripping cut: Striking While the Iron is Hot. Check.

Big Change #2: Goes along with big change #1- Real sleep. I don't care that I have to get up and work from 6am to 4pm. I get real sleep. That's a happy dude.

My new position with Royal, for the time, is Beer Purchaser at our Southwest Blvd location, about 3-5 blocks from BLVD brewery, and across the street from one of the best blocks of authentic Mexican food in the city. Once you get past the folks coming down from the Bluffs (housing project on the west side) to complain when our EBT machine is down, and from the lingering bums, this store is a goldmine of potential. I guess I'm getting sent down the mineshaft with a pickaxe to get at all the hoighty toighty folks in downtown condos, art galleries and stumbling away from taylor swift at the sprint center with GOOD beer. When I went in and took my first look at my project, it didn't look bad. Everything faced, everything full. But as I examined closer, there are ridiculous multiple facings of some pretty non multifacing worthy product. Looks like I'm going to have to slash away the QUADRUPLE FACINGS of stella, Becks, MIKE'S HARDER LEMONADE, etc etc, and replace them with single facings.

Step one: Bring in the basics. New Belgium, O'Dell, Sierra NV, and Paulaner.

Step 1.5: Get inventory under control. No more buying 5 cases of things that don't sell, only to order 3 more cases for next week. Get what you need, not what you want. This one is tough sometimes. You get excited and think that everyone will buy this obscure beer that you absolutely love, but it IS a process. 63rd didn't happen overnight. The BLVD store won't either. Stay grounded, burg.

Step 2: Make a presence in the neighborhood and at first Fridays. Get the word out that good shit is to be had at Royal. Make the neighbors love us. Get involved. Make things look GOOD. Plant some flowers or some shit. Make that corner BEAUTIFUL.

Tonight's Beer: A homebrew by yours truly. First batch, with Ian and Phil. Has sat in the bottle almost 3 months. I'll let you know!

Jobless Recovery Beer

So, as promised, The Jobless Recovery beer, Lagunita's WTF:

Sweet, Malty, Big, and Alcoholic. That pretty much sums it up. Easy to drink, even through the decently sized body. Malty. Malty. MALTY!

Yesterday and today at UPS have been sub par. Not necissaraly my performance was sub par, but just the operation as a whole has been sub par. Fairly lowish volume (today was 39.5k, yesterday was 42.5k) made things stressful as far as the number of people working. Late starts put us at a disadvantage. My god damn job was threatened yesterday, and after performing better than anyone else today, I was told that it was "nothing special, quit looking for attention". Nice. Rip on the days that don't go well due to someone else's fuck up, and say that reacting better and preventing similar 'catastrophies' and 'abortions' (both of which were used to describe my reactions to getting 30% of our volume in a 1 hour time span yesterday) was 'acting like a dog that had been beat'.

Perfect day for WTF.

Stress levels are high right now. Both work and home have great things and terrible things going on. I've been offered a higher paying position at Royal, but the simple fact that benefits aren't included is keeping me from taking it. $276 a month. For a policy that is basically there in case of something catostrophic, such as cancer, loss of limb, spinal injury, etc etc. Good deal. Why even bother with that, because IF one of those things were to happen, I'd probably peace out anyway. My son is doing new and awesome things each day, but there are other factors at home making things really dificult. Sleep is a premium thing that I can't get enough of, and unfortunately, it's being disrupted, a lot. I basicaly have a total of 8 hours that I'm not at, or commuting to and from work, and that's split about 60/40. Needless to say each instant of not being awake is crucial, and that's being compromised lately. A lot. So yea, feelin good.

But I'm keeping a fairly positive outlook. There's light at the end of the tunnel now, albeit a little pinprick in a vast sheet of black. But that's better than groping around in the dark like I have been for the past year and a half, almost 2 years now.

Friends are saying some stuff, family is saying some stuff, work is saying some stuff, but no one is DOING ANYTHING. Shit or get off the pot folks, you're wasting my time. This perpetual limbo is seriously cramping my style.

Guuuuh...

So, over the past couple of months, I've been feeling my self let my body slip. It's part not 'working' at UPS, part 'working' at royal part delicious things part no time to exercise. So I'm changing that. Signing up for Scott Fitness on the 12th, gettin fine from here on out. Eating better, too. Not a lot I can do about the beers, as it's part of the job.

My Cicerone exam is May 11. I am NOT ready for this guy, well, not as ready as I'd like to be. Need to get on that.

Aaaaand the two of those come together for this part of the post: We got this little off brand Belgian Style White from Weston, MO called Cathedral Square. First off, Weston gives me misgivings already as the home of McCormick, Weston Brewing Co, and Snow Creek. This one (sort of) redeems Weston. It's wheaty, for sure, but almost to a bready level. Not over the top on Correander or spices, but man, It's just a little off. Not bad, but definitely does not hit the spot for me. Some may love it, but it's just a little heavy handed for a Belgian White. I likes my whites light, crisp, and evenly spiced, and this is none of those things. 5/10. Pretty refreshing, though.

Next up: Lagunita's WTF. Jobless Recovery Beer. Let's see how this goes...