For the last couple of years I’ve been noticing that police will find any excuse to pull someone over, particularly during the Witching Hours — 1am to 3am. Obviously, they’re looking for drunk drivers — and I suppose that’s a good thing, but are they going too far? Is this eagerness to pull over every car that leaves the vicinity of a bar or night club justified or is it an abuse of the peoples rights?

Tonight, after a group of my friends and I were dropped off by our designated driver, he was pulled over for no apparent reason. He wasn’t speeding, used his turn signals, came to complete stops and drove as well as any sober person on the road is expected to.

Once pulled over, he did not smell of intoxicants, didn’t slur his words, provided the officer with proper ID, registration and proof of insurance. He was polite to the officer and did everything by the book. Even after all of this, he was still asked out of his car to do a series of sobriety tests, which he passed with flying colors, and then asked to take a Breathalyzer (Breath Alcohol Test) which showed a negligible .003 (a .080 is the legal limit in Michigan, and a .003 is equal to a glass of grape juice being consumed).

Even after jumping through all the hoops, he was still detained for over 20 minutes while the police did god-knows-what in their car.

So, is this police doing their job or is it misconduct?

What makes it worse is that Saturday night, another friend of mine suffered through a very similar situation. He did manage to get the cops to give him a reason for being pulled over — which was, get this, because he used his brights and didn’t turn them off fast enough when another car was coming from the opposite direction. In other words, they saw him leaving a bar and decided to use whatever excuse they could to pull him over.

I just don’t get it — I love the police for protecting the public from drunk drivers, but how far is too far? Where is the line between duty and our rights to move about freely without being harassed? Do we turn a blind eye because they’re just trying to keep us safe? Should the police be accountable for haphazardly pulling people over and subjecting them to sobriety tests without any probable cause?

Another song that my bar regulars can’t seem to get enough of … Go figure!

Yeah, so - Since I run a bar, I see drunk and/or random hookups all the time. If I didn’t see at least one per night, I might start thinking something was seriously wrong in the fabric of the universe.

I’m not a one-night-stand kinda guy, in general… It’s just not the way I like to work things. The opportunities are generally there, but I’m typically lookin for love rather than a one-night-stand… I am not, however, immune to lure of a lovely woman — particularly when she’s as smart and easy going as she is gorgeous.

(more…)

… By Polaks!

Knowing it would be a slow night tonight, Venetian Festival taking most of the normal local business, I didn’t really prepare for much. I gave “R.” the night off, I didn’t cut fruit, I didn’t even load up the ice bins.

Thats when it happened. The typically absent Polish resorters abandoned their bonfires and descended on the bar.

Thankfully, most Pols are easy to deal with … they want their Vodka Cran, their Johnny Walker Black and, of course, they want their shots with a 7-up back. No fruit for these guys and gals.

Wow, what a fuckin’ night …

I’m helpin the folks out — bartending at the resort.  We’re having a “reunion show” for a band that used to play here back when I was 15 years old…

Little did I know that 350 people would show up…

The first 3 hours … Well, I couldn’t tell ya much about them.  I was too busy filling 15-drink orders from 3 girls while I was trying to pay attention to the 20-30 people ordering drinks at the bar.  Fuckin’ bedlam — I seriously didn’t even realize the band was playing ’til they were half way through their second set.

Once I got into the rythm of things, I realized there was an insane world of activity going on around me … Even managed to jump over the bar and get between a couple of guys gettin’ ready to throw down, before it actually happened… But there really was a solid couple of hours where I became a drink making machine — Nothing but pour, pour, pour …

8 hours and, nearly $4000 in drink sales later, I’m sittin’ here chatting with Capital “R” trying to get a grasp on what had just happened…  By my figures, I opened over 500 beers and mixed just as many drinks …  All the while, not drinking a single ounce of alcohol … Well, ’til It was 30 minutes to closing.  Then I finally let myself crack open my first beer — for me.

Ah, fuckit — so much more to talk about right not… but the dogs are barkin’ … it’s 3 hours past closing time and I am SPENT!  Maybe I’ll post a more accurate rundown in the morning (afternoon) …

G’Night all!

P.S. — If you ain’t the staff and if you ain’t fuckin’ the staff — go the fuck home.

Yes, thats right — the letter ‘N’.

The ‘N’ Key on this POS laptop fell off a few days back … So, dear letter ‘N’ … Fuck you for falling off.  Fuck you for making it so hard to do simple things … Like type any word with an ‘N’ in it.

I never noticed how many words use the ‘N’ until it fell off … There really are many of them.

You may wonder why I’m going on about the letter ‘N’ — it’s quite simple really … The only other thing I feel like writing about would require that I empty an amazing amount of hate that I’m holding close to my heart right now.  I’m gonna hold on to that hate as a reminder of the pain that caused it.

Have I mentioned how much I love motorcycles?  Well, I really do!

Once upon a time, when things were real shitty and I was feelin’ down, I’d hop in the Talon, roll down all the windows, open up the sunroof and drive…  I’d drive for hours, getting lost, not caring …

Now the Talon has been replaced by a friends Shadow 1100 — no need to roll down the windows; there are none.  Nothing but the sound of the wind and the adrenaline rush …

Things have gone all upside down and backwards over the past couple weeks.  I haven’t posted much because of it.  Seems that all things bad have a theme this time:  Alcohol.

Frankly, I’m ashamed to admit that my family is in the booze peddling business…  I guess in theory I don’t have anything against alcohol.  It’s the alcohol abuse I’ve got a problem with.  I’m sick of watching people fuck up their lives … It’s sad.

On a good note — I just had the worlds best Singapore Noodles.  Singapore Noodles make me smile.