Beer therapy
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 4:49 am
I had the Day From Hell at work yesterday. Honestly, it was the worst day I've had in a long time, and that's including the entire month of February, when it snowed just about every four days, and I had to be out working in it.
Here's a brief recap:
I got yelled at by a customer when I told him I couldn't do what he wanted because it was against the law. He told me, "I don't care about the law! I'm paying for this!" I asked him if he was willing to pay my fine if I got in trouble. Honestly, the guy was insisting I commit a federal crime!
I was given so many fires to put out in the morning that I couldn't get to my regular services. I missed about five regular services because of the emergencies.
I had to wait over 30 minutes on an initial service for the customer to get home. There really wasn't anything else I could do but sit and wait. Then, when I was done, even though I was five minutes from home, I had to drive 45 minutes up to my office for a mandatory meeting. Well, it usually takes 45 minutes, this time there was a traffic tie-up. I held the meeting up for nearly an hour as a result. Nobody blamed me, but it made everyone's day longer.
After the meeting, I checked out my schedule for next month, corrected the usual stupid mistakes, and went home. I didn't get home until nearly 7:30, 12 hours after I left the house that morning.
I was tired. I was disgusted. I didn't want to do anything. But I wanted to get my yeast starter going, so I changed clothes, washed up, and got right to it.
And it was just what I needed. The tiredness fell away as I performed the rituals of washing and sanitizing, measuring and mixing. The aroma of the boiling DME was familiar and comforting. I poured myself a homebrew or two, and savored the soothing taste. The bitterness of the IPA counteracted the bitterness of the workday.
It only took an hour, from the time I got home to the time I was finished washing up. But it helped me feel human again, and it put my rotten day behind me. Today is a new day, and it'll probably bring some annoyances with it. But tomorrow I bottle and buy ingredients for a new batch, and Sunday I brew that new batch, and it'll set me right once again.
Thanks, beer.
Here's a brief recap:
I got yelled at by a customer when I told him I couldn't do what he wanted because it was against the law. He told me, "I don't care about the law! I'm paying for this!" I asked him if he was willing to pay my fine if I got in trouble. Honestly, the guy was insisting I commit a federal crime!
I was given so many fires to put out in the morning that I couldn't get to my regular services. I missed about five regular services because of the emergencies.
I had to wait over 30 minutes on an initial service for the customer to get home. There really wasn't anything else I could do but sit and wait. Then, when I was done, even though I was five minutes from home, I had to drive 45 minutes up to my office for a mandatory meeting. Well, it usually takes 45 minutes, this time there was a traffic tie-up. I held the meeting up for nearly an hour as a result. Nobody blamed me, but it made everyone's day longer.
After the meeting, I checked out my schedule for next month, corrected the usual stupid mistakes, and went home. I didn't get home until nearly 7:30, 12 hours after I left the house that morning.
I was tired. I was disgusted. I didn't want to do anything. But I wanted to get my yeast starter going, so I changed clothes, washed up, and got right to it.
And it was just what I needed. The tiredness fell away as I performed the rituals of washing and sanitizing, measuring and mixing. The aroma of the boiling DME was familiar and comforting. I poured myself a homebrew or two, and savored the soothing taste. The bitterness of the IPA counteracted the bitterness of the workday.
It only took an hour, from the time I got home to the time I was finished washing up. But it helped me feel human again, and it put my rotten day behind me. Today is a new day, and it'll probably bring some annoyances with it. But tomorrow I bottle and buy ingredients for a new batch, and Sunday I brew that new batch, and it'll set me right once again.
Thanks, beer.
