I gotta admit… I’m a little bit addicted to twitter… although WHAT a useful site it’s turned out to be after all…

Yesterday I headed into town with a short list of things I had to do and buy. Top of the list was getting a new eye test and glasses, getting copies of the key to the office in work cut and printing up business cards. I went in without a plan, not having an idea of where was best to do what… but twittered once there, asking for recommendations on where to go – and my twitter buddies didn’t fail me. I’m only going back into town today (on the next train) because I didn’t get a chance to go to the place that I was recommended to get business cards from (oh, and I realised I need to get new speaker cable and a couple of other little things for my DJ gear).

New limits and restrictions have come in on the sale of alcohol, with off-licenses now being forced to close at 10pm.

I’m currently managing a bar in Co. Dublin and I’m still not 100% certain how it will affect us directly. We don’t run a separate off-license outlet but we do sell cans of beer and nagans/shoulders of spirits from the bar for take-away. I’m presuming the new law will apply there meaning we will no longer be able to do it after 10pm although I don’t see any specific mention of bars in what I’ve read about the new laws – only off-licenses.

I’m not sure if this new restriction is supposed to actually HELP pubs (encouraging people to go to the pub to drink instead of stocking up at the offie and drinking at home) but it certainly won’t help our business if we have to comply with it considering most of our ‘take-out’ trade takes place at the end of the night.

[UPDATE] Just got word back from the bar owner who consulted his “very epensive solicitor”. I was right, of course,- we can’t sell anything for take-out after 10pm. Darnit…

Ah the sandwich board… ideal place for witty outbursts. This really got the punters piling in, in our local pub (which I’m manager of) recently…

Well no, not really, – but the one that got a laugh is a picture I don’t have to hand.

It originally advertised that we were showing the RUSSIA -VS- SPAIN match on the big screen, but some smartarse vandal with a piece of chalk changed the R in RUSSIA to a P, changed the IA to a Y, then changed the -VS- to -IN- and rubbed off the S in SPAIN… so it looked like we were advertising some class of porno show. The sandwich board was sitting outside (with the title you can figure out for yourself!) for a couple of hours before I realised it.

Naturally, some of the regulars snapped that sign with their camera phones… must get one of them to send it to me.

As I said in a recent tweet (wow, I’m so up to date… like, using Twitter, man! That was even on CSI!), … today I was a bar manager – tomorrow I’m teaching 5th class in a local primary school (just standing in, “natch”), tomorrow night, I’m a footballer (getting better at that recently), on Thursday I’m a DJ in (the same) local bar – (YES, my Outlook calendar is gone into overdrive) … may be spreading myself a little thin (hah!)… but hey, at the weekend (well, Friday excluded), I’m free!

So… all that, combined with my recent conversion to “single” status means that after over 5 years of absence from “Boards Beers” (pissups organised by the ‘citizens’ of Boards.ie), this Saturday, I’m going to Boards Beer 19 in Dublin (and I’m dragging my brother along too)…

I’m totally assuming, of course, that it’ll look just like this picture (- that’d be me in the middle)…

Should be fun