Bar Week

This was one of those months where Bar Week actually fell during one week. Most of the time, Bar Week straddles two weeks, since I go visit the bars on the first Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of the month. If the first of the month is anything other than a Sunday or Monday . . . well, you get the idea.

(Have I told you about my plan to mandate 13 months with 28 days each month that all start on a Sunday and end on a Saturday? Yeah . . . that's Priority Number One when I get to be Grand Overlord of the World, the Universe and Everything. But I digress . . . )

Monday at The Sump was fairly uneventful. There were only a handful of people there and not much happening. I was in and out in probably 45 minutes and didn't even need a shower when I got home -- which was a minor miracle.

Wednesday was a good night at the Stockman. I chatted with the bar tender for a bit, then talked with the owner and his wife. They wanted to discuss city politics and what was going on with the city council. After that conversation ended, I bought the owner a game of pool. For only playing once a month, I didn't do too badly. We split four games. Then I played the next guy in line and beat him. Then I played the next guy and pretty much clobbered him . . . except for the part where he had five balls on the table strategically placed in front of pockets and I missed my last shot on the 8-ball which allowed him to run the table. Yeah .... it's easy when there aren't any other balls in your way.

But I'll claim distraction here because in addition to playing the role of pool shark, I was also playing priesty boy. The guy I had just played had some questions about church and God and stuff. He seemed genuinely interested in finding a place, so I invited him to give us a try. At that point in the evening, he was pretty positive about coming; but I've learned over the years that it's a long time between Wednesday and Sunday.

Thursday was my busy day. Double duty in VC at The Pioneer and The Bale of Hay. Talked with a couple of guys who work for a local contractor about the work being done on St. Paul's, and then headed over to The Bale. It was just me and the bartender. He's new in town. Came here from Bozeman, but went to school at WSU (a fellow Coug!) and grew up on Vashon Island (where I once had a girlfriend).

After that, I went home, had dinner, and then headed out to the Mill Creek. There I ran into a group of people who invited me to join them. They consisted of a guy who used to attend Christ Church when he was a kid, but fell out of the habit, (his priest grew up to be my bishop once upon a time), his wife (who is on the town council with me), and two of their friends who came to church a few times a couple of years ago but haven't been back.

I've talked with him several times over the last year, and he seems to be trying to work on coming back. It's been a slow process for him, but he gave me a verbal agreement (and a handshake) that he'd be in church this Sunday. Apparently, though, I'm being graded, because "If the sermon isn't any good, I won't be back." Nothing like knowing someone is coming to church with the sole intention of grading your sermon. It'll be okay, though. I'm not the best priest around, but I do do liturgy and sermons really well.

All in all, it was a good week in the bars.