what's up in dunedin

been a long time bla bla bla.

don't worry, it is really for an over-abundance of things to talk about than a lack of shit going on. where to start? maybe the epic trip that Hart and Katie made to NZ? or the sweet job at the bar that i have? or maybe how the hostel i live and work at is getting so terrible that it isn't even worth free rent? or about how the NBA is kicking off and i'm again missing the fact that i could walk into FB tomorrow and have one of the tv's turned to the right channel for me? or maybe about how I'm missing a Dynamo Playoff Game For The First Time In Two Years? whoa. don't tell anyone that last one, i'll lose what Naranja cred i have left.

what else is going on? i've been to some amazing beaches here in Dunedin, and next week i'm trying to make it a little farther south to see some more of NZ.

i should talk a little about The Bowler. it is as close to FB as i'm gonna get for a long time. until i get back to the nasty nac i'd wager. the best thing about work is that at first i was always trying to get my friends to go there for two reasons, one, i have a tab there and i don't have to pay it manually. the second is that i want to improve trade at the bar and make my boss know that i'm helping out. sometime in the last few weeks all my friends at the hostel have decided to make The Bowler their "local" of their own accord. the beer is cheap, the drinks are good and so is the food. and all that happened without me trying any harder than saying "hey, let's hit The Bowler". good for me, good for them, good for everyone. last monday, at karaoke (which i DJ'd) a ton of my friends showed up to make the core of the group and it was sweet. my boss is going to give me more karaoke shifts b/c of that. besides the monday karaoke shift i also have four 9-11:30am cleaning shifts, two bistro lunch shifts, one bistro dinner shifts, and one bar shift. and those are only the scheduled ones. last week i worked those in addition to the karaoke shift, a (by myself!!) lunch bistro and mid day bar shift. last weekend was a classic piss up weekend that hardly stopped except for work. i worked 22 hours in 48 hours and only slept 4. the next night i slept 13. it was sweet. well. honestly, i'm not sure if that math is correct, but you get the drift. it was sweet. that brings me to another plus of the bar. on saturday nights, i work from 10-close; which is 3:00am. after we're done cleaning at 4ish, the bar staff and the band (yeah i party with the band) have what we call "staffies", also known as "lock-ins" until ungodly hours of sunday morning/afternoon. the best part about that used to be the free beer, but now it is the other smaller things. like two weeks ago i made about 10 orders of "chips" for the band/staff and poured them uncounted "jugs" of piss. each time i made up an order of chips i told them that it was the last one and that the frier was off. so much for that.
last weekend. or was that two weekends ago... well anyway, the other weekend i jammed out with the band until the sun came up. let's just say it wasn't pretty. but i really enjoyed pretending to know what i was doing. i think they figured out that i've never held a bass before. but maybe they'll give me a call up this weekend.
none of that would have been possible if i hadn't been down to work every shift offered to me and earn the responsibility to be the jack of all trades that i hope will continue to find me working more and more hours. on monday i worked 11 1/2 hours and was only scheduled for 2 1/2. that is $149.5 instead of $32.5. i also talked to my boss about getting a regular weekly wad of cash instead of the "hey can i get 50 bucks for groceries tomorrow?" kinda shit. they're throwing me enough money to live off of every monday, and i'm banking (read drinking) the rest of my weekly earnings. just kidding, the rest is going into a pot for me to draw out when Josephine comes to visit.

part of that money is going to moving into a flat with some dudes of the Irish and Scottish persuasions. the hard part is finding a place that will comfortably hold four dudes and doesn't want a year long lease. i mean come on. but Allah willing we should find a place for like 70ish bucks a week. that needs to happen soon b/c we are done with this hostel. i could tell horror stories of incompetence, but instead i'll just say that i nothing the owner and i'm moving out as soon as possible for mental happiness reasons.

also, to help you decipher the above, here are some words that i've added to my lexicon:
bro (brew)
flat (apartment/cheap house)
pissed (drunk)
otp/on the piss (had a night out)
pull ("talked" to a girl)
bird (cute girl)
my local (your default bar)
frosty suds (cold beer)
cheeky quiet (a beer on the way home, or a single beer, not a piss up. (see above))
chips (french fries)
jugs (pitchers of beer)




i did NOT get my eyebrows shaved off.