New Year's Eve at the Crown and Sceptre: the best table in the house, great food, the staff stopping by for champagne toasts every few minutes ... the Inside Man's brief tenure as a barman has paid off in spades with great new friends and solid regular status, if not in actual cash. We went out with the pub staff the night before; Geoffrey (Laura's brother, in from New Haven for the holiday) and his English friend Peter both instantly established themselves as drinking legends in their own time. As it turned out, this was merely a warmup for New Year's Eve, when we boogied late into the night with the Ozzies and other Commonwealthers on staff while Geoffrey tried desperately to decide which of the many girls with charming accents he should dance with next. Laura and Tam threw in the towel and went home at about 3 AM, only to get a scolding phone call from Mike the Manager informing them in no uncertain terms that the party was not over and ordering them to come back immediately. Geoffrey, seeking to understand the soul of the British drinker, spent New Year's Day at the pub as well, among the crowds of Queens Park Rangers fans demonstrating a touching faith in Humphrey Bogart's recipe for curing a hangover. Our last set of holiday guests are coming in tonight and have promised to nurse us back to health in return for a bed to sleep in!
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