Grand Opening, Grand Party

Buffalo Wild Wings of Hadley, Massachusetts opened its doors to the public on Monday, February 16th. The Hampshire Mall allowed people to camp in its hallways overnight in search of their year of free wings, starting at 11am on Sunday. We officially opened at 11am on Monday, but started letting people in the side door at 10:00 to avoid a huge rush.

All in all, it went pretty well, except that people who are given free food don't seem to feel the need to tip for the service that got them that food, so we all got stiffed for the first couple of hours. Once the paying customers started arriving, I had an exceedingly grumpy couple who, though they didn't complain about anything, seemed determined to be pissed off, and took it out on my tip for reasons unknown. The service industry is great when you have great customers...and it sucks when you don't.

I caused one problem that got blown into a major screwup when one of the trainers tried to fix my mistake and made another one, and it resulted in one table paying for their drinks but getting their food free. They, at least, left me a good tip, although I'm sure it was a thank-you for the free burgers. I was there from 9am to 5:30, and when I got home and took my shoes off, I discovered that my feet were covered in blisters, toes to heels. My shoes aren't uncomfortable - I guess I just have to get used to them.

My Massachusetts license arrived in the mail yesterday, too. We went to the DMV on Saturday like I said, but they no longer have any weekend hours, so I had to wait until Monday. I was expecting to walk out with my new license, like I used to in New Hampshire, but apparently they can't produce them on the spot here. You get a temporary paper copy, which says NOT VALID FOR IDENTIFICATION (although many places will take it anyway), and your actual license gets mailed to you. Once again, I get points for managing to have a good picture taken.

In other recent events, last night was Haven's 13th birthday party, which is the goth nightclub that Craig and I (and now a bunch of other people I know) hang out at. Normally I wouldn't go out partying on a Tuesday night, but that's the only night that Haven is open; every other night of the week they're a gay club called Diva's. Anyway, said party was enormous, the biggest group I've seen descend on Haven in quite a while, probably since the Saints & Sinners ball. Leslie, Byrdy, Sarah, and Eric were there (the crew from Eric's birthday party last weekend), as well as Craig's friend Paul, and Abel and Amanda. I've never not had fun at Haven, but it's even more fun now that I know a bunch of the regulars/old-schoolers. If any of the photos we took turn out decent, I'll post.

I did actually accomplish one thing besides just having crazy fun: I got Amanda (Abel's wife) to have a conversation with me. I wouldn't go so far as to say I got her to actually like me, but civil chat is a start. The fact that she brings their chihuahua with her makes it easier, too, as I can physically occupy myself with patting the dog while talking. While I don't want to be overly optimistic, it definitely could have gone worse.

And last but not least, a shout-out to uncle Carl: thanks for the birthday gift! Especially having been unemployed for a couple of months, it's very much appreciated. My car thanks you too, for the oil change it'll be getting this week, and its finally full tank.