Staff Party Night

So last night was Mickey's Xmas staff party. It was okay...food sucked big time, though. The taste might've been better if the damn stuff was HOT. The lady across from me said that the butter wouldn't even melt on her potatoes. The hollandaise sauce on my salmon was tepid at best, the shrimp in it were ice cold...in fact, the only reasonably warm thing on my plate was the rice. Now I know why I've never eaten there before...and I won't be again.It was a sports bar type of setup. For the most part, it's smokefree...but the pool room isn't. I sat at a table that directly faced it, and I was able to watch the smoke waft out of the doorway and creep along the ceiling. I went in once while we were waiting for the lousy food to arrive and had a game of pool with Mickey. Kicked his butt, too! LOL Our neighbors, Max and Jean, were in there at the same time. I swear they both smoked one after another in the 15-20 minutes it took to have one game of pool. The smoke was fairly tolerable at that time...there were only about 2 or 3 other people in there. I tried to go in again after most everyone had eaten. It was standing room only. It was so smoky in there, it was almost like the place was on fire! I lasted maybe 2 minutes before I booked it outta there, mumbling about needing the ladies room. I couldn't stand the smell, but even worse...I couldn't breathe. When I came back from the washroom, I couldn't bring myself to go back in, so I stood at the doorway and watched Mick play pool through the haze. How he could stand it, I haven't a clue...he's been a non smoker all his life. Maybe his years in the military, plus his years of marriage to a chimney...made him impervious to secondhand smoke. LOL My 20+ years of sucking down firsthand smoke didn't help me a bit...I thought I was suffocating. It sucked. The times they are a-changin'. Less than two years ago, the smoke wouldn't have phased me a bit. I'd have sat in there all night and happily contributed to it. I probably would've gotten half snapped, too. I drank 2 kahlua and milk....that's it. Cripes! I'm scaring myself. I don't smoke, I rarely drink anymore, eat reasonably healthy and exercise every day. Who the hell is this woman?!? I'm still getting to know her, but I know that I like her a lot better...and respect her a lot more...than the person I was before. That person seriously cramped my style!