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"Mom and Dad went to the lawyer today to make out the will, and they are leaving everything to me since you and Doug suck." -Jason

Tuesday, 7-27-21: Three days until blueberry raking. Last July update?
I feel like I have hardly updated this bootleg site this month. Guy looks at how many times guy has updated... 4 other times besides this one. Nothing at all until 7-13. What a bunch of crap! Speaking of a bunch of crap, I am drinking a Mike's Hard Mango "wounded soldier" beverage, leftover from our epic July 4th party, and this drink fucking sucks. I should dump it right down the drain, but my cheap ass is not wired to do that. I have never consumed piss before, but I imagine chilled urine tastes something like this terrible drink.

^THIS BEVERAGE = WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP!

The event room floor looks pretty good in photos, and it doesn't look bad in person unless you look really close. I screwed up some areas so I have another gallon of floor epoxy on order, arriving tomorrow, and if all goes well I can touch up some of the thing before I go blueberry raking. Maybe? Hopefully! Frigging raking is only 3 days away OMG. I am so backed up on work I should have already done it is beyond epic failer.

Hey, at least I have some good photos to share of the good-ish work I did over the weekend:

^Looks great, took forever! Bar area needs finishing. Today I was MOD (manager on duty) all day, but I did find time to take care of some smaller items in that event area. I got the mens' room shitter door installed, I got a first coat of polyurethane on that bar, and I took care of some trim including the back-bar. I got a plan for a couple liquor shelves, too. It won't be 100% done when I leave for raking, but it will be functional.

Devers home run to right field, his 27th of the year, Sox take a 3-2 lead. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Early in the game and I will be asleep before it ends, though. There was a rain delay so it started late, and I used that time to briefly give Jason and Mom/Dad a call to check in. I still feel a little badly about not going to Hawke's 2nd birthday party on Sunday, but I only feel a little bad and I feel happier that I stayed up here to spend some precious... precious time with my wife in the evening and to rest. I am just now feeling recovered from the weekend here on a Tuesday night.

I am often the MOD for Friday and Saturday nights at the bar, and I usually also have work to do in the day on those days so I need to make some serious changes ASAP. By Sunday I am exhausted, and I don't even feel right complaining to all two of you who read this bootleg site because my wife gets even more beat. She has to host kids' karaoke Sunday afternoons. I don't give a shit about watching kids sing karaoke so when I am there for that event I am doing carpentry in the back or something else.

Cliff seems excited for this raking season, and it is raining right now in Union/Hope so that is encouraging. We had a dry June, but this month has been incredibly wet so that bodes well for the crop. Pollenation was also good in the spring so I'm cautiously optimistic we can have a great season. Cliff is a great boss so he won't put us in the crap raking all day unless there is nothing but crap to rake. He started today, but he has a tiny crew so I'm guessing they didn't get much done.

I really look forward to raking because I am good at it, it is great exercise, and it *should* be good money. However, I do feel badly that I can't help run the restaurant/bar for the entire first week of August. If things go as planned we will rake and camp out starting Friday night, stay for a few days and work, come home for a night (Mon or Tues next week) then return to rake a few more days with the season ending either Sat Aug 7th or Sun Aug 8th.

I've consumed most of this piss-water piece of trash Mango beer, and good riddance. I considered going down to the bar tonight for a bit, but being home is the right thing to do for me. I work there til close tomorrow and Thurs then it's off to raking so this is my last evening at the house for a while. I can go to sleep soon so I can work a long day tomorrow. Maybe? Hopefully!

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Sunday, 7-25-21: I balied on my family again.
I was supposed to go down to Jason and Holly's rented camp a couple weeks ago for a visit, but I had to bail on that mission because I had too much work to do. I told them I'd see them on the 25th for Hawke's 2nd birthday party, and now it is the 25th and I bailed on them again. What a bunch of crap! I was beat to shit, and there was no way I was going to pretend to be in good spirits while I drove 3-hours round trip to cram into their house with 25 or 30 other people for a kiddo birthday that said kiddo won't even remember. I suck!

I worked so many hours over the past couple days that I was just totally exhausted and actually on the verge of getting sick. The floor in the event room took way longer than I thought it would to epoxy so bye bye most of my day yesterday working on that. Then I had to work last night as manager on duty and of course the place was crazy busy. I got dizzy a few times because I felt so wiped out. I was going to do the second epoxy coat on the event room floor at about 0200 after my shift ended, but I decided to wait and do it first thing this morning. I was actually concerned that I might pass out back there from exhaustion and paint fumes and if I did pass out no one else would be there to drag my festering caracass out of there.

The paint fumes really didn't bother me at all when I was doing the epoxy, but with a total lack of sleep the body can do weird things. I am glad I waited because I got it mostly done this morning before I came home and went back to bed. I ran out of paint after doing a second coat on 3/4 of the floor so I have to buy one more gallon kit. What a bunch of crap! Thankfully I got the second coat on the most visible areas of that event room.

I do feel better now that I took a couple hour nap around late AM/midday. It's 1545 and the Red Sox were losing to the Yankees 4-0 and getting no-hit into the 8th inning until Verdugo hit a double and now the Sox have runners at 2nd & 3rd base with no outs and only a 4-3 deficit. Rally to take the lead? Guy hopes so! I've had the entire game on the TV, but I was only half-watching a lot of the time because I had to order some supplies online and deep-clean the floors. Thorough vacuum and mopping. The dogs shed a load of hair; thankfully we had them groomed Friday so they should shed less now.

I do feel guilty about not going down to Warren for Hawke's birthday, but I more-so feel a sense of relief because I freed up some much needed precious... precious time to sleep and to clean the house. If I went down to the birthday party I wouldn't even get home for a couple hours (at best) and then the house would be filthy, I'd be exhausted, and I'd only get an hour or two to hang out with my awesome wife before I fell asleep. Plus I might have fallen asleep while driving, even with some caffeine in my system. I drank a Red Bull last night and it barely seemed to make a difference. What a bunch of crap! Sometimes you can be so exhausted that caffiene does not work anymore.

That frigging event room has been a huge time-suck for my ass. It has taken forever to mostly but not quite finish. Epic fail me on time management! I still need to install the mens' room shitter door, but that should only take an hour or two (custom fit so I have to cut and paint some trim boards.) The bathrooms actually fully work now and the wommen's room is totally done. Oh Jesus, hell ya! The bar top needs polyurethane, probably 3 or 4 coats, and the back-bar needs more love. Thankfully all that stuff is minor detail work and the event room will be totally useable for events as early as tomorrow by midday. The first booked party for that room is Friday August 6th so only 12 days from now. 40-50 people drinking and partying to celebrate a 40th birthday party. I'll be camping out and blueberry raking then. At least I think I will. Cliff starts in a couple days, but Gavin and I won't start until Friday or Saturday so who knows how much will be left? I think Cliff's raking crew without Gavin and I is only one other person so probably most of his field will still be left...

Sox took a 5-4 lead awesome! I'm gonna get off this bootleg site that no one ever reads because Kat is on the way home and I want to spend as much time with her as I can before bedtime. We'll have almost no time to spend together for the next couple weeks due to our work schedules at the bar and the upcoming raking season.

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Thursday, 7-22-21: Sox-Yankees on my TV.
I used to watch baseball more, back when I had more precious... precious free time. I had some time this evening to watch a bit of the Sox-Yankees game, and thanks to a rain delay the game is still on at nearly midnight. Sox were losing 3-1, they tied it in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, but the Yankees just took a 4-3 lead in the 10th. What a bunch of crap! Oh well, the Sox are in first place and way ahead of the Yankees so far this season. The Sox have had a damn good season so far.

I would bivouac, but I am seeing if I can stay awake until my awesome wife comes home from work. It is a busy Thursday night at the bar, and I like what I see for daily revenue numbers with still an hour left to go. The place was close to full when I left a couple hours ago. Oh Jesus, hell ya! Lately that bar has been doing well, and I think once the event room is done it will really take off. Maybe? Hopefully! Hard to believe a year ago I updated this bootleg site that almost no one will ever read on July 23rd, 2020 and in part this is what I had to write:

I planned to take Tuesday off to go on a fun little Goonie adventure with my awesome wife/best friend, but the day was not off to a great start when Mom sent me a text message around 0645 asking me to call her when I had a chance. I figured she had a tax question or wanted to talk about Hawke's upcoming 1-year birthday, but I was shocked when I called and she filled me in about Dad. He had to stay in the ER overnight and everyone was awaiting more testing to see when he could go home. At that point I figured they would send him home that day.

Kat and I did have a nice day down in the Southwest/Bass Harbor area. We hiked Beech Mountain, we saw the Bass Head lighthouse, and we stopped in Bucksport to walk some of the waterfront before we got home around suppertime. During the day Mom texted me updates, but it wasn't until later in the day when we realized the severity of the situation. PenBay medical in Rockland/Rockport had to send Dad down to Maine Medical in Portland. OMG WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP! He needed more testing to see how clogged his arteries are, and that test was done yesterday. The result of the test was all-bad. All arteries very clogged, and bypass heart surgery is now needed.

OMG it seems like forever ago all of that happened, and it also seems like forever ago when I started this project:

^Huge siding job I did with Neil at Allen Rd. One year ago I was doing lots of carpentry, I had a nice tan, and I worked outdoors a lot. A LOT. Now I work indoors a lot. A LOT. I did mow Allen Rd today, and I made time for a slow 3-mile jog, but that is enough to get a real tan only a week before blueberry raking.

RED SOX TIE THE GAME 4-4 IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 10TH! Runner at 2nd, no one out, let's win this thing. There is a new rule where a game going into extra innings a runner is assigned to 2nd base so games don't go on forever in "overtime." I love the new rule, and another wild pitch puts Boegarts at 3rd base with no outs. GO SOX!

I had to drop $1750 today, half of the cost of a big job over at North Main. The old lift from the garage needs to come out, and we have a massive tree that needs to be trimmed. Even worse the tree hangs over power lines and the street. What a bunch of crap! Do I have a picture of that tree? Guy looks...

^Not the best photo, but you can see that huge tree off to the left. That tree is TALL. Buyers want it cut back, I could have said NO, but their offer was substantially higher than the next best offer so I am happy to oblige. Not even sure I spelled OBLIGE right hehehe.

SOX WIN IN THE 10th! AWESOME! Sox have beat up on the Yankees so far this season. Too bad I haven't had much time to actually watch the games.

I plan to do the event room floor at the bar tomorrow PM. I don't have it ready yet, but a couple hours of sweeping and mopping should get it there. I'm hoping Dillon wants to help me tomorrow PM for some extra cash, but he is still at work at the bar now so maybe he will be worn out. He did help me this morning for 3 hours, and I really appreciated having him there because he doesn't need to be micro-managed, and he does a good job. We got a lot cleared out of that event room, but it still is not entirely empty. I have one week to finish it. Can I do it? I friggin hope so!

I am booked every day from now until I leave for raking. I work the closing shift tomorrow and Saturday, Hawke's 2nd birthday party is Sunday down in Warren, and I am on the schedule at the bar Monday through Thursday nexxt week before I leave Friday for raking. Cliff thinks it will be a good season, and I hope he is right because we can sure use the money. Doug helped us out a lot financially since he got back three weeks ago, and I can't thank him enough for the help because the bar was hurting for money until he arrived like a jacked-up misanthropic Santa Claus. He needs to be a bouncer at the bar, but first he needs to get settled in here 100%. He has his own work anyway so no worries if he never wants to work at the bar.

Bars and restaurants are hurting for help around here. Like, bad. Some places have had to reduce their hours because they can't get the staff in place, but so far we are very lucky to have people. Unfortunately it is a struggle to keep the place staffed, and I feel guilty that I have to leave to blueberry rake when the bar could use me there for that week. I love raking, I'm good at it, and we need the money so I am not going to cancel. Plus if I didn't go it would totally screw over Cliff, and he has been great to Gavin and I for the past 15 years, give or take, that we have worked for him. Plus I truly enjoy raking because it is great exercise and a different experience for that entire week. We burn 1000000 calories (slight exaggeration) so we can eat crap foods and have some booze and still power up.

Speaking of powering up, I am finally back to a routine in the bootleg gym over at Allen Rd. I only use it a couple times a week, but I've also been doing some yoga, some jogs, and some racquetball so I feel physically about ready for the raking season. I am NOT in as good of shape as I was at this time last year, but I'm not that far off the mark and I have made big improvements since Kat and I had the 'rona in early May. May was awful. Even Kat seems to be doing a little better because she has some some yoga recently, but I still worry about her overall health...

Alright turds, all two of you who read this bootleg site, I am feeling tired so maybe I won't stay up until Kat gets home. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, it will be another 12-14 hour day, so I really should rest while I can. Goonies never say die!

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Tuesday, 7-20-21: This room is still not done!
I can't seem to finish the event room down at the bar. What a bunch of crap! I've been working on the frigging thing for around 10 weeks so all I wanna know is why? Why am I taking so long? The answer is actually obvious. I have too much else to do so I can't really focus on the work back there for any stretch. I start on some work, something comes up, and the day flies by. Today I got a good start and then the womens' bathroom stall dividers arrived via freight truck, pallet dropped out front, took a hour to get all the supplies in the event room and the bootleg pallet and cardboard removed and hauled-on.

After that I had to go to the tax office to do things for a couple clients and then it was already time to put the dogs out and do lunch. That friggin' tax office is a pain in my arse and I am looking forward to moving it over to the bar. I probably won't even promote the tax business anymore. I'll *hopefully* just keep the clients I have and not look for new business (other than a referral every once in a while, no advertising or signs up.) I dunno I still need to coordinate all of that with the landlord. He and I haven't even talked in a couple weeks because things stay busy. Very busy.

I need to finish this part of the event room within the next couple days so I can do the floor:

^The back-bar. The bar itself isn't done yet either. What a bunch of crap! In the area pictured above there will be a countertop, a shelf or two for some liquor, a sink or two, and a fridge for bottles of soda and beer. We had planned for a kegerator system for 2-4 draft beers back there, but F that there is limited space and that room won't be used by drinkers on a regular basis.

I leave for blueberry raking in only 10 days. OMG! I don't feel ready, but I am looking forward to it because working outside this time of year is awesome. Sadly I don't work outside anymore. What a bunch of crap! I have an occasional lawn to mow, but that doesn't take too long. I'm not even very tan so if I don't get more tan I'll be pwned during the week or 9 days of raking. I'd love to work outside more, but that gods damned event room is a time-suck and here it is the middle of summer and I keep working indoors in a room with no window. What a bunch of crap!

All joking and complaining aside I am proud of the event room. It is starting to look really nice, and it is mostly done. I need to do the floor this Friday, no excuses or delays because raking will be happening and I need that room ready to go before I leave. We have a party booked in that room on August 6th so the thing needs to be done with a working bar, working bathrooms, and a FLOOR that does not look bootleg.

I have all the supplies to do the floor, a beige epoxy, so once the floor is cleaned and prepped it won't take too long to actually do. Maybe? Hopefully! My plan right now, as always subject to change, is to roll out the floor Friday so it can dry over the weekend. the bathrooms work right now, but the stall dividers are not installed yet in the ladies' room and the mirrors, TP holders, soap dispensers, etc still need to find their way from boxes onto the walls. That won't take too long, but it still requires precious... precious time that seems to be at a premium lately.

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Tuesday, 7-13-21: Long time no write.
Epic failer me on updating this bootleg site that almost no one ever reads anyway. I am too busy doing other things. Hopefully I'll have more precious... precious free time between now and blueberry raking, but probably not because I still haven't finished the event room at the bar. I started the thing 8 frigging weeks ago so all I can say about my timeline = what a bunch of crap! I thought I'd have it done by June 7th. My bad on that plan.

^Mostly done, but not ready just yet. Bar in photo on left needs finishing, floor needs epoxy, and bathrooms still getting put back together...

^I worked on the mens' bathroom today, and I got all the plumbing closed up under the sink and in the toilet stall. Bruce will hopefully be back later this week or next week to do the toilet and urinal. Women's room plumbing 100% done with stall dividers on order and possibly arriving this week.

I don't work on the event room full-time because I want to help run the restaurant and bar. I'm only officially on the schedule as manager on duty about 3 days a week. However, I'm there every day because there is so much to do. Plus I also do have other things to do like a call from an occasional tax client, a lawn to mow, a property to prepare to sell, etc. Days just fly by now, and as I grow older it seems time speeds up. Especially when I drink hehehe! I am having a couple drinks tonight, my first drinks in 9 days. I won't drink too much tonight, though. 9 days ago I got totally wrecked.

The bar was closed on July 4th for Independence Day so we had a big party here at the house. Again. The Independence Day party has become a tradition here, and half the time I get totally obliterated. This year was no different. I stayed sober-ish under early evening, and after that both Kat and I were shitfaced. I got blackout drunk and don't even remember doing things like playing dodege ball, watching fireworks in the yard, and singing karaoke. Oh, I also facetiously fired all the staff. What a bunch of crap! They all thought it was hilarous, and almost all of our employees were at the house with us. It was epic fun and one for the ages. Des fell into the fire, but thankfully she got out before she could get burned. People puked, people passed out on couches, it was awesome. It took hours to clean the next day, but it was totally worth it for all the memories (that other people have but that I don't have because I was too drunk for half of it what a bunch of crap!)

On Monday the 5th I was actually hungover. I woke up with a pounding headache so I went back to sleep. Epic failer me! I took a couple asprin and felt better by early afternoon, but I was by no means feeling great. Too bad because the weather was perfect. I did find the energy to go for a short jog later that afternoon, but I was sssssllllloooooowwwwww.

I can't believe this month is already almost half over and this is my first bootleg update. Doug is back! He got back 1.5 weeks ago, and he is mostly set up in the in-law apartment here at the house. So far so good, and I am glad he is not interested in drinking and partying because those days are long past. I still like to drink and party some (July 4th hehehe), but not like back in the day when he and I lived together over at Allen Rd and really did crazy shit. No more wrestling matches in the street, no more jumping out windows, no more wheeling kegs into the place...

I can't possibly write about all that has happened so far this month. Too much has happened, some good, some bad. I have gotten more exercise, and the weather has been overall decent. No 90-degree days like we had a few times in June. We did get a huge rainstorm last week that caused a huge leak in Paradis and into part of our bar. What a bunch of crap that was! I was behind on the insurance payment so needless to say after that one I paid the damn bill. The policy had not cancelled, but it was close...