As Justin teased in his last post, the three guys behind Regular Guy Brewing have finally reached a point where we are in pretty solid agreement about a game plan for transitioning from a home brewery to a professional operation. We have set a goal for ourselves. Now we just need to fine tune our business plan and track down some money.

Take this as a warning family and friends. I will be hitting you up for support in the not too distant future.

We’ve talked over quite a few options since the idea first came to us to start our own brewery. We crunched a few numbers here and there, and a few even crunched us back. It’s still too early to go into the specifics of our plan (wouldn’t want to jinx anything) but I think the three of us feel pretty darn good about it.

At any rate, thoughts of the future have set the wheels of my mind turning, imagining the various ways that life will be different. One major change. Goodbye office.

I’m not one to complain about my job (too much) but after nearly nine years of sitting behind a computer at a desk five days a week, it will be quite the change to have to roll up my sleeves everyday and get my hands dirty. It’s a change that I am very much looking forward to.

And that’s where my thoughts have transitioned to a different kind of office that I am looking forward to saying farewell to. That being the NBC sitcom – appropriately titled, “The Office.”

Tomorrow marks its final episode…EVER. I could not be happier.

Quite frankly, this show should have been over YEARS ago. It hasn’t been good for a long time, and I am giddy and excited to see it be put out to pasture.

I wanted to stop watching this show seasons ago, but I just couldn’t. I kept watching, thinking that this once great show might get better. An odd sense of obligation kept me tuning in week, after week. Disappointment after disappointment.

Let me backtrack for a moment.

I was an early adopter of this show. I was a huge fan of the BBC original, and while I had my doubts about whether it would work in an Americanized format, I gave it a chance.

Watching the first season was a labor of love. It struggled to find its own identity while still staying somewhat true to its predecessor. It was rough around the edges, but it had potential. Eventually, it found itself.

For the couple seasons that followed, the show was pretty good. Definitely “must see TV.” The characters were unique, but still very relatable. The situations were odd, but still believable. The show was quirky, but still grounded in reality. You didn’t just watch the show, you lived it. You felt what the characters felt. You could see who they were, because in a way, they were you.

But then the show just got stupid. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment that it happened, but the Office eventually just became another sitcom…and not a very good one either. The story lines became absurd. The characters became cartoons. The thing that had made this show great – its believability and connection with reality – was abandoned like a sack of burning dog crap.

It was as if the fame and notoriety that the show had garnered had fueled the cast and crew’s sense of self-importance and entitlement. They became such fans of themselves that they no longer felt they could do any wrong. They got too big for their britches, and they just started cranking out mediocrity that they considered to be comedic gold.

I can’t blame them entirely for that. For whatever reason, the media and fan base continued to shower this show with praise despite its obvious failings and short comings.

I’m sure if anyone did raise even the teeniest bit of criticism, the show runners would have collapsed into the fetal position, covered their ears, and begun to scream, “I can’t hear you!”

But still, even though I could see this show was a sinking ship, I kept watching. Eventually, I began to take more enjoyment from criticizing the show than I did from actually watching it.

And it kept getting worse and worse. Stupider and stupider.

And eventually it built to the point where they just didn’t know how to make the show any worse (or in their mind’s- awesomer). And as such, they are hanging it up tomorrow night with a two hour finale. TWO HOURS….ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!

This isn’t Lost. It’s not MASH. It’s not even Seinfeld. Just get it over with already.

If I had any say in the matter, here is how the episode would go.

• Pam would fall in a well.
• Jim would dive in after her.
• The well would explode.
• Dwight would fill the well with a concoction of beets and paper to put out the fire.
• The paper would catch fire and explode, sending beet shrapnel spraying everywhere, killing everyone except Kevin and Andy.
• Andy and Kevin would move to Vermont where they would sell maple syrup at a roadside stand. They will also form the world’s first heavy metal band fronted by a banjo player.

The end.

As much as I may complain, I know I’ll be watching. My sense of obligation won’t let me not watch it. I’m just glad I have some Regular Guy American Pale Ale on hand to keep me company.

Not sure I’d be able to take it sober.