Day 36: "We're Getting Lois a Yard Glass"

It's Lois' birthday! Knowing how much she parties on non-special occasions, I spent my lunch time drafting a will on napkins, just in case. The fact that she'd be receiving a glass that would encourage her to drink a yard-worth of beer in one go didn't help.

Work before was dandy, as usual. I started servicing a huge batch of tank valves, cleaning each one meticulously to ensure that anyone renting a tank wouldn't meet a watery end. It's a bit of a gross job because over time, the lubricants in the valve collect dirt and salt from the ocean. This either corrodes the insides or fills them with oily black goo (a technical term), and eventually makes the valve unusable. But I get to pull them apart and scrub everything down with a toothbrush. That's dedication.

Fortunately I don't have to use a toothbrush to wash gear, so the afternoon chores flew by. It helps that the Open Water students learn to wash everything on the second day of their course. It was Day Two for Teagan and the other Open Waters, so I mostly filled tanks.

Afterward, I got dressed for the night and walked to the pub. Lois and Sam were already working on filling The Yardglass when I arrived. The table around it was filled with empty bottles. I knew it would be an interesting night, hopefully without the loss of any eardrums.

I spent much of the night wandering from group to group. I had a chance to talk more with Lois' parents, some of the nicest people I've met on my trip so far. Her mum all but adopted me, and in true motherly fashion, scolded me for having an untidy room.

Throughout the night, there were games of sort. At one point, it was deemed a good idea to give Lois a plastic bat, spin her unnecessarily, and blindfold her. She managed to break the bat before the pinata, so we roomie-tagteamed it, and I brought a chair down on top the paper mache fish. And after, we got gift bags!

As the affair was open-bar, things got a bit loud early in the night, so the party dispersed. Teagan and I got a ride home with Pix and Tara, one of whom hadn't been drinking (the details for the later part of the night were a bit hazy). We waited up for a bit for Lois to arrive, and after saying our last Happy Birthdays, we all turned in. Tomorrow is my day off, so I'm shooting for not being up before noon. I get the feeling I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight.

Yours in Saying Happy Birthday to Lois,
Robert