46,216 Words... Can't Wait for the Finish

Hey everyone, I'm back from the cottage, and just read through all the blogs. Good work, everyone! Two people have already finished and the rest of us are on track to finish this weekend. I am sad that I'll be alone for the finish, but am considering having a party for myself and making the boys toast me with Chamapanade whilst I drink some Henkell Trocken. There will be snackskies of course.
Here is an excerpt, I think it's a little long, but as I haven't posted for a while, maybe it's appropriate? I keep coming back to Jackie's Place when I get bored, which is very often. Here is a description of karaoke night at Jackie's Place.

"Jackie stood at his usual post in Jackie’s Place, behind the bar. Once again, the place was packed. It didn’t seem to matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, the people kept coming back for more. He supposed it was because they had the best music. As usual, he stood ignoring the customers, using a filthy rag to wipe the filthy bar, an exercise in futility. Every table was full, with the exception of Chris Kirkpatrick headquarters, the corner booth and the best table at Jackie’s Place, which had remained vacant since Grace’s abrupt departure, and Jackie planned to keep it empty until her return. The patrons had learned to avoid the corner booth, and not just because of the distasteful photos of N’Sync that decorated the snug booth. The night that Gordon the Vampyre had tried to occupy the exclusive corner booth, Jackie had ordered the Aerosmith cover band to play “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” unceasingly, and had served jauntily decorated cocktails to Gordon and his friends that tasted strongly of ham with a hint of ex-lax. Jackie apparently DID want Gordon to miss a thing. No one had sat in the booth since.
Tonight was karaoke night at Jackie’s Place, a first, and based on the experience, Jackie wasn’t sure that there would be a repeat. In a moment of weakness, he had allowed Gordon to recommend a karaoke service provider, and he was regretting that decision mightily. The karaoke maestro was a vile, arrogant man, who was clearly drunk on the power of controlling the destiny of the karaoke masses. Jackie surmised that the man must have formerly been a frustrated karaoke patron (as all karaoke patrons are), who had decided to run the show, basically so that he could sing as many songs as he wanted, whenever he wanted. He was currently belting out ‘Hero’ by Mariah Carey, and though he was doing a fair job of it, Jackie wanted to punch him in the throat, making it impossible for him breathe in the immediate future, and possibly rendering it difficult for him to sing for the rest of his life.
Jackie couldn’t decide if ‘Hero’ was better or worse than the last song. The vile maestro was forcing people to perform like dancing monkeys, selecting the songs that he wanted them to do, even if they didn’t know them. This had gone awry when a woman had been forced to perform a Rihanna song she clearly was completely unfamiliar with. A group of sisters had joined her, trying to help the floundering woman out, but it was no use. It was a lost cause. They didn’t seem to know the song either. This of course made the vile karaoke maestro look that much more competent when he put on songs for himself, that he had clearly spent hours rehearsing in front of the mirror. It was a disgusting display of narcissistic obsession. The overall effect was pleasing."