The Bygone. Haven’t been there since before COVID, but it’s at the top of the Four Seasons. Good views and good whiskey selections.

Courthouses are mask optional. Only reason you’d be asked to remove it is if you speak too quietly.

I had that commute pre-COVID and my work had no remote capability because we handled lots of sensitive health information and the firm didn’t want to risk any HIPAA or other liability. So, I was doing that every day for two years. I’m amazed I was able to sustain it for that long because it took a toll on just about every aspect of my life.

Used to commute from Baltimore to Farragut North in DC. To avoid packed trains in the morning, I’d get to the MARC station at 4:20-4:30. Would usually be walking into the office/gym at 6:30. Couldn’t leave work until 4:30 at the earliest, so the train was packed coming home, plus delays and afternoon traffic once the train got back to Baltimore, I’d often not get home until 6:30 or 7:00pm.

In short? Miserable.

Dennis is the absolute man. Nicest dude in the world and yeah, he’s doing a stellar job with Mahaffey’s. He’s not trying to make it something it’s not; he’s not trying to expand or make it huge. He’s keeping it a cool neighborhood pub. Can’t say enough good things about him and how he runs Mahaffey’s.

The topic never came up when I interacted with her, and I simply never heard that about her from anywhere/one else. I believe you, it’s just news to me.

Jesus Christ. That’s horrible.

Certainly can’t dispute anything you’ve heard; only wanted to speak to my own interactions. Fortunately I’m able to not know too much about Cantonian drama because I don’t go sniffing around for it. I only heard about this because the regulars at the Cardinal seem to still go to their previous bar a lot, so I only heard about this while drinking with a few of those guys.

The rumor I’ve heard is that the owner was overheard dropping the n-word while in the bar itself. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know anything firsthand, and I haven’t even been to the Cardinal itself in about two months. Most of my friends and I stick closer to the square or go over to Fells.

If the owner did in fact drop the n-word, that’s abhorrent and I support the staff quitting and whoever else boycotts the place. The only thing I’ll say—in NO WAY defending the use of that word in ANY situation or context—is that I knew the Cardinal’s owner from their previous bar. Didn’t know them super well, but always friendly and on a first-name basis, and based on my interactions, those allegations genuinely surprised me, as I never took them to be the type of person to say such vile things. But, as I said, if it happened, fuck ‘em.