Happy Hour doesn’t have to be complicated. And honestly, after a complicated week, it shouldn’t be. So that’s why at 4 pm today we took a company walk to pick up some local beer from our nearby grocery store. Our two selections are Sockeye Socktoberfest and Woodland Empire Moondog.
The Sockeye Socktoberfest is a seasonal lager brewed and canned here in Boise. It’s a lightly malty, nutty, toasted lager. Light amber in color and honestly, in flavor. It being an “Octoberfest” beer I was hoping that there was going to be a little bit more body to it, but in fairness, it’s a lager. So maybe I was hoping it wouldn’t taste like one. In the office it was described as “not terrible but uninspiring”.
Our second one is Woodland Empire’s Moondog Amber Ale. This is a beer that just happens to be from a brewery that is within walking distance from the office. This one is bright and lightly hoppy with a hint of apricot. I’m not a fan of hoppy beers (sorry, IPA fans) but this is a nice amount. Plus, it’s a hot walk to the store so this one will hit the spot. It’s refreshing.
The sad part is that we are bringing these back to the office so we can keep working. It would have been great to shut things down and park it at a nearby watering hole and drink to our happy-hour-heart’s content, but sometimes you get to stay late on a Friday and try your damnedest to get some projects finished.
Someone could have said, “I’m calling it and heading out. I. Am. Done. Son.” and moseyed their way to the nearest bar and started their weekend. But we have all stood in solidarity and decided to work together to get this work done! And we also decided having some beer around would make it a little easier, hence the company trip to the store.
The last two weeks have been absolute insanity. It seems like every project has ended up being due the same week. It was so busy last week that I didn’t even get a chance to write a happy hour post. Which if you’re following along, that means I didn’t even get to have happy hour… So far there have been several late nights working this week. With all that, nothing sounded better than leaving the office on Friday and calling it a week. But we decided we were going to stick it out together and get things done.
We’ve been deciding to do things together a lot lately. We decided that we should get a change of scenery once a week and work together outside of the office and get coffee or work on a nice patio. We decided to do walking meetings when we could instead of at a desk. We even decided to give up sugar and beer in September as a company (which might be why we got beer and tons of sweets since we can only have them a couple more days). We’re still allowing bourbon though, we’re not savages.
So spending happy hour at the office should absolutely suck, but right now, it’s not so bad. We’re still talking and joking and having a good time with beers and snacks in hand, we just happen to be at out desks doing it. And we’re doing stuff that we love because we’re passionate about our work. So, yeah, I’m working late on a Friday, but at least I’m still having happy hour with people I like. And come next week, when I’ve gotten ahead on all this, I’m blasting through that office door and plopping my ass in a bar chair and having the happy hour I deserve. And more than likely I’ll be doing it with the people at their desks in the office right now because happy hour is best with friends.
