The Wet Life


So, while things are getting back to semi-normal in the kitchen area, life oozes into the weekend. I have to work. Saturday was a good day & I dealt with all the evaluation students as they came & went. But Sunday started off with a bang - or a drip.

I open the local UBrew every Sunday morning around 7:00 so that one good customer can bottle his beer. I normally do the books on Sunday & I took on this guy as a favor. And, since I'm already there, several of the regulars know they can drop off rentals & pick up canisters too. I've even been known to sell a batch of beer or wine if someone waves a credit card. So my Sunday customer & I've become friends over the months & often, I bring coffee & we sample his latest brew. Now, I'm not really into drinking beer at 7 in the AM unless I started the evening before but, each batch deserves a little taste. I even gave him a bottle of Port at Christmas & he reports he finally opened it for a taste. Our man says he LOVES it & will probably buy a batch or two himself! SEE, there's a method to my madness . . . So, while we're yakking up a storm & bottling the latest brew, we hear a drip. And then another. Upon investigation, it seems the ceiling has sprung a leak. Now since it's a hot, sunny day already, I figure the air-conditioner froze up again & is only now thawing . . . As the day goes on, the drip becomes a deluge!! I'm by myself & don't know where all the equipment is since I'm the BOOK KEEPER. I mopped, wiped, moved equipment, set out coolers to catch drips, emptied wine carafs - I put a giant funnel into the narrow top of the caraf to catch the drips from several spots under the worst of it . . . . they filled up quickly!
The owner is in Maui for his anniversary. The Second in Command was out of town on a course. The Wine Maker - large & male - was home with a wrenched back. My big buddy Steven was working in North Van. So guess who spent the day mopping & emptying containers in the middle of an ever expanding lake??? Yup. Me. Today my hands & wrists are so sore I can't write unless I use the keyboard. But Second in Command is back to handle the cleanup . . . . . Thank Gawd.