Friday, March 22, 2019

Goodbye Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV

Things sure are changing. I moved out of the apartment I've lived in since returning from Neosho last week, and now I was quitting Anheuser-Busch. The last year and a half at AB have been such a wild ride. I learned so much and I think it really set me up for success at my next job. Some of my friends were surprised by the move but I think they were more concerned about their free beer supply than my professional development.


Whatever challenges were waiting for me at my cubicle, the walk to the office each morning was always magical. The smell of the beer brewing here was so wholesome. It was like breathing bread. Some days I feel like I loved and hated this place at the same time. I think it might be a while before I'm comfortable coming back here.


I told my coworkers that after AB I wasn't sure if I would be able to sit through a meeting without a couple of beers. I was only half joking.




I'd been eyeballing these sweet Budweiser shoes in the gift shop window for months. I don't know what the heck I'm going to do with the AB clothing collection I've assembled. I assume most workplaces frown on people wearing Bud Light t-shirts to the office.


Working in logistics and having a view of the St. Louis brewery's warehouse loading operation from my desk was pretty magical.


On my last day I went to visit my buds at the distribution center across the river in Granite City, Illinois. The trip was purely a professional courtesy and not an effort to pick up enough beer to drown a clydesdale, I can tell you that.






I situated my last day to be on a Friday, that way I could have one last little happy hour with my coworkers and go out on a high note.


One of the privileges I am reclaiming is the right to order whatever I want at a bar and not feel guilty.


I packed up my beer bottle collection, lugged it to the car, and drove out of the parking lot of the largest brewer in the world one last time. As I turned a corner a news crew was out front. Of course it was.

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Moved Out, then St. Patrick's II

We moved out of our place in Vangard Lofts for greener pastures... two blocks west. It was my first loft and I had lots of good times there. Sad to leave but I'm excited about the future.














It's amazing the internet worked in this building at all.


St. Patrick's Day is fun because there are two different parades, usually on different days. So even after I walked in the downtown parade I could be a spectator at the Dogtown parade. Bases covered.


A friend of a friend was having people over to their Dogtown house. Fun and beer pong were partaken in.

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Walkin' the St. Pat's Day Parade

A contact at Randall's Wines and Spirits let me walk with their float in the St. Patrick's Day parade. I really like walking in parades. You get a little camaraderie with new float friends, you get to whip plastic necklaces at strangers. What's not to like?






By this point I'd already put in my two weeks notice at Anheuser-Busch, so seeing the majestic clydesdales clomping down the street had an especially emotional effect on me.




I've been to so many free promotional movie screenings that I recognized the guy setting up this float for the upcoming Dumbo movie.


Irish phone booth is about the classiest way to hide a porta-potty that I can think of.


I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was only one bullet hole in the float. City livin"!!








I thought this cable guy float was pretty imaginative.










The King of Hospitality, Mr. Gary, host of Them Yo People.












Saturday, March 02, 2019

Mardi Gras: A Butt Whippin' Good Time

Mardi Gras in St. Louis is a beautiful thing to behold. I booked an all inclusive thing again at Big Daddy's, same as last year. Last year it was really cold so it was nice to have a place to retreat for warmth and bathrooms and the good times. This year was a lot warmer though so I wanted to be out with my people.






This lady had a dress made out of Crown Royal pouches.


I was amused by the dance parties that were taking place in the middle of the street.




So I bought this Natural Light hat at a sale at the office. People kept commenting all day about how they liked it. Well at one point I bumped into another admirer of my hat, but this time he insisted on buying it from me. I refused a few times but when he persisted I figured I could always buy another one, especially considering he was offering $20 which was way more than it cost. I guess you know you have supreme fashion sense when strangers insist on buying your clothes off of your body.






A news photographer walked by so Stuart and I did the weirdest thing we could think of, which at the time involved him whipping my butt with mardi gras beads. Well a picture of this scene ended up on his website, which I hope no one important saw. I get extra professionalism points because you can literally see my office in the background.


I don't remember how or why I ended up with these giant beads. I'm sure that I earned them.




I was impressed by the ingenuity of the person trying to catch parade beads with a tree branch.




Yay! No one got car jacked this year, which was nice.