Apr 02 - 03:02 PM: Closed for Easter Sunday : Joe McBane

We will be closed this Sunday. While I doubt that many of the staff are church goers they do work very hard and certainly deserve the holiday. I hope everyone else enjoys their day too.

Cheers.

Mar 31 - 11:05 AM: The keg race in review : Joe McBane

Well it's all over. The bobcat did find a Lovin' home after all, and much good beer was enjoyed. The night itself was probably the craziest event we have ever had at the pub.

The crowd started to gather early and by 8 you could barely move. It was so busy in fact that when my wife arrived she couldn't even get through the door and had to sneak in by way of the kitchen. Each team was introduced like prize fighters with much cheering from their section of supporters. You could cut the anticipation in the room with a damaged bobcat claw. We then pounded down a glass of beer each and opened the taps. It was a constant flow of beer. Just 6 minutes and 46 seconds later our keg blew, I sounded the air horn and the crowd went wild. Awesome! I can't believe how quickly it went. We probably should have done a half keg in hind sight, but who knew it was going to be so popular. I mean I figured we'd get a crowd but this was just bonkers. Everyone who had bought a ticket but not got a glass then headed straight to the bar to trade it in. We opened the taps and just started putting beer into any glass we could lay our hands on. It took about half an hour to really get on top of the insatiable demand for pints, but ultimately we prevailed.

So all that remains is to enjoy the rest of the Sly Fox beers while they are around and pay Bob occasional visits at the Lovin' Cup. I wonder what the challenge will be next year in order to keep Bob at a Lovin' home?

Mar 09 - 10:25 AM: You stink mate! : Joe McBane

So I realize that this blog is called 'Rants and Raves' and that there tend to be a lot more raves than rants, but do I have a rant for you today...

I've been working in pubs for a good while now and have seen all kinds of odd situations, but a new one for me occurred Saturday night. Sometime around 7 ish a group of about 40 people showed up on a pub crawl from one of our neighboring cities. These types of events can be good or bad depending on where you are positioned on their list of stops. We were stop number 8. Not good. To their credit they seemed a bit weary but generally jovial and well behaved. The problem started when one gentleman wandered into the kitchen in hopes of finding a toilet. I sprinted across the pub, saved the cooks and redirected him towards the facilities. That's when I was hit by the initial cloud of toxic flatulence. Nasty, but let's be honest we've all been in a situation where we've been subjected to someone else's unsavory odors. Pretty gross but it soon goes away and we get over it. To be fair to this guy I thought he was trying to find the bathroom.

Well things didn't get any better. Soon the whole bar room was reeking of this guy's stink. People were holding their faces, others trying to eat, doors are being wafted and I was pissed off. Eventually I had to take action. I felt it was necessary to make an announcement over the PA as I wanted people to know that we found it completely offensive and were dealing with it. The announcement went something like this - "will the person in the bar who stinks - you know who you are - take yourself outside to fart. It is totally disgusting and anti social. You STINK. Thanks."

Well everyone in the pub was both appreciative and amused. The guy mercifully left. Problem solved. In all my years I have never had to ask someone to leave for excessive flatulence. Chalk another one up I guess.