It was time for our annual work Gala, and I thought it was a good idea to spend the day working on the garage. To be precise, I decided I was going to take the door off and replace the frame I had prepped for the job.
I had finally replaced my router earlier in the week, so I had also notched out the spot for the hinges, and everything was cut to size. After the top and hinge-side pine was replaced, I went to hang the door but even the measure twice, cut once trick failed me. For some reason, the door and the frame notches didn’t match, but now it was getting close to the time we were going to have to leave for the Gala, and Hayleigh’s friends were also starting to arrive so I was feeling the pressure. Why didn’t I start this at 9 AM?
Hayleigh helped me hang the heavy steel door, but I also had to bore the crap out of the hole in the other side of the frame because now the deadbolt didn’t match up either. It was a tight squeeze to shut the door because the hinges were not set into the door properly, but it will lock tonight so that is all that matters.
We arrived close to dinner time at the Hamilton Convention Center. It was good to have it back there as in the early years of my employment, this was the venue most used. It’s also a $20 cab ride with tip so that is handy.
There were some 500 people there, and many great prizes to be won as always. I have won a few times over the years, including walking home with a Playstation 4 once. It was great timing as I was on my own with the girls and having trouble making ends meet, so the $500 I got on Kijiji for it helped cover presents and bills.
Dinner wasn’t the greatest, but the open bar and good cheer with my colleagues more than made up for it. It was the most people from our team that attended in many years, which is thanks in part to our boss encouraging us every year to attend.
Tara won the table centerpiece, as well as a Smeg juicer, and we danced until close to the end, with only a handful of folks left as we made our way home.
Another fun year in the books. Let’s hope I’m not regretting the open bar in the morning.