No-shows

Our usual New Year's Eve thing didn't happen this year. Poor Dave got in touch during the morning to say he'd been violently ill overnight and was still feeling really bad, so there was no way he'd feel up to having us unruly pair over. Carl and I discussed our alternatives and decided to try somewhere in Dún Laoghaire/Glasthule for a meal. I really didn't fancy our chances at such short notice, but the Bay restaurant (over Walters pub) were able to accommodate us and took our booking for 8:30 pm.

I got over to Carl's place around 6:00. He'd been watching 21 on TV and had it on pause when I got there. We weren't able to catch up with the Plus 1 option, so just watched what we could and then had to leave it and head for Bay. I'd seen this before, but enjoyed it more this time round. It was a pity not to be able to watch the rest, especially since we had to abandon it at the point where the main protagonist is setting out to get his own back on Kevin Spacey (can that man do no wrong?).

There was hardly anyone in the restaurant, so it wasn't so surprising that we'd got a table so easily. Our waitress/greeter warned us that our window-side spot would change atmosphere when a group of seven arrived on the adjacent table, but there was no sign of them by the time we left (naughty people: not fair not to turn up - that's the sort of people the proposed cancellation charge is aimed at). Towards the end of our meal (wonderful, as usual) there were sounds of a noisy band warming up, so we decided not to stay in Walters, but went to the nearby Cozi instead.

That was really quiet too. Mike, the barman, was his usual welcoming self, and we got on well across the bar with another customer. Then Peter, an old acquaintance of Carl's, arrived. We chatted with him at a bit of a distance to begin with and then joined him at his table. We celebrated the coming of the new year with him and had a really good time.

[ See tomorrow's blip for a continuation ... ]