After Hours With The Revolutionary Girl & Company

The first part of the day was a complete disaster and I will give you to lowdown on that score in another post. For the moment, let's say that as much as the first part of the day was dreadful, the second part of the day/evening was great, so the entire day balanced out nicely.

Devoted Readers will remember that last week Friday I was supposed to have after work drinks with the gang at the Bag Manufacturers, Mike, Teresa and Darcy. During another drama-filled day, Teresa came by to inform me that unfortunately the evening would have to be canceled because events of their day conflicted with the plans. So we decided we'd get together again the following Thursday, my traditional Paisley Martini day.

So there I was, at the circular table in the bar waiting for five o'clock to roll around and everyone to arrive. I was already well into my first Paisley Martini and writing in my journal when the Icecapade Queen arrived and joined me. She was checking the spelling on a menu with the Food Lover's Companion and having me read excerpts at random from it. "This sounds so much better when you read it," she enthused. I'm still a little suspicious of her since she abandonned me a while ago, but I was feeling indulgent, so I read descriptions of romanade and such.

About 5.30 Mike arrived minus Teresa and Darcy. Computer disaster had struck the Bag Manufacturers and the entire store system had been down for the majority of the day. The system had been restored only a while ago and Teresa and Darcy were busily taking care of all the backed up orders. Mike had to leave about seven, so he had two IPAs and I had another martini while he showed me his new digital movie camera which was quite impressive. We discussed our varied work situations and the terrible disaster in New Orleans.

At about 6.30 Teresa and Darcy arrived having completed the orders. Now I have to admit that I was a bit surprised to see Darcy as Devoted Readers will remember that I asked her out for coffee back in the New Year and subsequently she disappeared from sight for months. Later, from Teresa I learned that Darcy is painfully shy and socially uncomfortable and she was unable to gracefully decline my invitation, insteading fleeing from any mutual haunts. Well I had no idea. I was very surprised at our first get together when Mike and Teresa said that Darcy wanted to come along and at this point I wasn't certain she would really show up. I gathered that through Mike and Teresa she has learned that I am not another of the strange-os that seem to flock around her.

Mike left around seven and Teresa, Darcy and I proceeded to look through a drink manual published by Old Mr. Boston. Some of these drinks are, well, for lack of a better word, repulsive. Old Mr. Boston favours flavoured gin (mint gin? Bleh!) and drinks that include a raw egg and vast amounts of powdered sugar. Bleh! But we thought it was pretty funny. We discussed photography, literary stuff, which part Mike and I should take in a production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, George or Martha (my suggestion was that we alternate parts), getting together at Lake Sutherland to play croquet and other things and packed it up around 9.30.

I have to say that Darcy turned out to be very nice, as I suspected she would. She was probably far more relaxed and comfortable with her co-workers present and I got her to laugh several times and to make eye contact. She said she'd loan me her copy of Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses and I said I'd loan her my copy of Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. So at long last I meet up with the Revolutionary Girl.