Archive for December, 2011

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I Get It In 50 Cent

Friday, December 30th, 2011

Having the time off from the cigar shack is quite nice. I haven’t been doiong anything extraordinary, just keeping it burning at a low flame. It works for me. Bill has been stupendous of course. Always there, always supportive and always ready to take the wheel when it needs to be taken. I suppose that could be why he enjoys being a bus driver, a big wheel to steer and Bill is happy.

We’ve been watching movies lately. Last night we watched Snatch which he had never seen before. He does like the British gangster thing and definitely made the connection between Snatch and Pulp Fiction which it so deftly resembles. Bill went to bed after that and I stayed up watching something on cable, definitely unmemorable.

Bill was up and out around 8:00 this morning and I lay in bed trying to avoid the sun streaming through the blinds. A passionate kiss and a strongly worded declaration of love was said before he headed out the door. I got out of bed a little bit earlier than the past few days and made some coffee before stepping into the shower.

After reading emails and updates I headed to the supermarket where I saw the mighty Isis once again. It was the last time for the year. She couldn’t wait until 4:15 when she gets off of work and here it was around 10:30, with a ways to go. I headed home and had a nice breakfast and read the paper which is something that gets rarer and rarer these days.

I once again headed into the city a while after that. I needed a new calendar and figured Barnes & Noble would be the way to go since I still had a Barnes & Noble gift card to use. Alas, the calendar pickings were nearly nonexistent unless I wanted a Dilbert or a Jack Russell terrier calendar. Still I wandered around a bit and mainly looked at books that I had taken out of the library.

It was certainly a nicer day weather wise, than yesterday and I had a cigar as I walked up Park Avenue South. Covering all bases, yesterday was Park Avenue itself and today was Park Avenue South. I eventually walked up to the bus terminal where there was another line like the day before.

I was a little bit earlier today so I was more up in the line, meaning that I was able to get on the bus unlike yesterday where I was turned away. Still, I had to stand for the ride back to Hoboken but I didn’t mind. I made it back home safe and sound, cleaned the apartment a bit and had a nice dinner.

That’s about it. It has been quite a mellow day and the evening promises to continue in such a manner. I did check my work email and saw the latest schedule, making sure I didn’t read any other email about so & so leaving the cigar shack corporation with an ‘Auf Wiedersehen’. Not sure if I will write tomorrow so I will wish you all the best wishes for the new year.








02 These Days Nico

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I Get It

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

There are times when you just have to put down the smartphone and this is that time. I have been trying to get my smartphone to work properly, chatting with Vanessa at Samsung. We used the last resort. Resetting my phone to factory defaults.

That meant I lost everything, photos, phone numbers, apps and whatnot. And Scrabble. And Netflix. I had two Scrabble games going for the past couple of weeks, won one by forfeit and lost another. It had been years since I last played Scrabble and I wasn’t as ferocious as I used to be. My ass, it was kicked. And I had taken to watching A Hard Day’s Night on Netflix occasionally on my bus ride into the city.

Still by linking my Facebook with my smartphone I was able to get something resembling my contact list again. Some names and numbers are lost, so if you do not hear from me anytime soon, you might want to give me a call. I am drawn to the little handheld device. It occupies my mind and demands my attention. Perhaps it is a waste of time.

Today I was up and about and headed into Manhattan to see the Vivian Maier exhibition at the Howard Greenberg Gallery on east 57th Street. I trooped on in in the 20 something degree weather, sat on a crowded bus, next to the wheel well. I decided not to sit directly on top on the wheel well, sitting on the aisle. Still, I held my bag in my lap should anyone want to sit next to me. No one did so I rode into the city in relative comfort while people stood all around me.

I marched up Eighth Avenue and walked over to the Smoke Scene where I could pick up a pack of roll ups as well as some papers. As I was leaving I was telling the guys behind the counter that I work for the cigar shack and we frequently send them customers since we don’t sell cigarettes.

They were just about to thank me when I heard the sound of a certain security guard with snot running down his face. This guy is a cantankerous old fool who thinks he is funny but really is just overwhelmingly bitter. And here he was covered in mucous trying to be funny once again.

At the cigar shack, Thomas wouldn’t have anything to do with this guard since he overheard him screaming into his phone about how he was going to do his woman in. I walked out of the store, wishing the guys a happy new year and telling the security guard to buy some tissues and wipe his face which would be crusty when he headed out into the cold air. Not that I cared.

I walked on over to 57th and Madison and took the elevator to the fourteenth floor. It was a revelation to see the photographs of Vivian Maier. So many similarities between her photos and the photos I’ve been taking the past few years. Of course I have the ability to post them here on this blog as well as Facebook, whereas Vivian Maier did not have that option.

I wandered around, looking at the 50 or so photographs on the wall and wondered if it was possible to be influenced by someone whose work I had never heard of or seen before. It was a brief visit and I headed out into the cold. I lit a La Flor Dominicana Air Bender and walked down Park Avenue, taking pictures as I was doing on my way to the exhibition.

An homage or perhaps a continuation of the photographs of Vivian Maier. I stopped by Bill’s building and he came down for a quick chat and kiss before heading to the bus terminal where I waited on a very long line.

I didn’t mind, I stood and read Will Hermes ‘Love Goes To Buildings on Fire’ which is a fun book about NYC music in the 1970’s from the Bronx to the Bowery with all stops in between. Recommended!









03 Photograph

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I Get Around

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Well just because it is a day off, doesn’t mean it’s going to be all peaches and cream. It started last night, really bad shit. Shit so personal and involved that I won’t get into here but I will tweak your curiosity. And no worries, none of you will ever find out what it is, even if you phone me I won’t tell.

I won’t know how it turns out for another week but it was stressful. Stressful enough that Bill had to take over since I was at wit’s end. He basically became me for an hour on the phone, talking to various supervisors and underlings. With his cool head and my frayed nerves it was all for the best and we arrived at a somewhat satisfactory conclusion though like I said, it won’t be known for at least another week.

Basically, be very very careful with online transactions. I like to think if myself as somewhat computer savvy, but I obviously tripped. And not tripped in the fun way of psilocybin or LSD or even Ecstasy, three methods of which I am well acquainted. But it’s all better now (he cautiously wrote with fingers crossed).

Today was another day spent sleeping in. I mainly stayed in today and surfed the net, readins updates and postings on Facebook. Not much worth watching on Turner Classic Movies as far as I could tell though I didn’t really look past a Dr. Kildare marathon to see what was on after those melodramas. Apparently it goes on until 8:00 when the Paleface with Bob Hope and Jane Russell comes on.

I still have some other movies to watch so I might just do that. I am slowly getting used to watching movies on the computer. Last night on TCM Bill & I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind which he had never seen from start to finish. I am not sure if he watched the whole movie last night since he was also doing stuff on his computer.

But he was impressed by what he saw, despite the fact that the storm was wreaking havoc with the cable broadcast, with the screen dropping out for a few minutes every so often. When the storm died down the broadcast improved. We also watched part of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I can understand how some friends said ‘enough with the CGI’.

True it’s loaded with CGI, and Andy Serkis does a commendable job of wearing the green suit once again, but I had no real problem with it and it did thrill the 12 year old boy inside of me. Bill went to bed before the finale and after that I stayed up watching something on TV before turning in at my usual time.

And so I slept late once again, getting out of bed at the time I am usually about to head out to the bus stop. A tentative plan was underfoot, me hanging out with my niece Corinne for a bit this afternoon. And as an added bonus, my niece Cassie was joining us. A few hours with my favorite nieces who’s name starts with a ‘C’.

It was an eye opening chat as we sat at the local diner eating a late lunch. I was certainly surprised and certainly supportive and told one of my nieces that if she ever needed to talk I would be available to her 24/7 and Bill will be as well. Now it’s another night at home. Bill and I received our invitations to Rand & Lisa’s New Year’s Eve thing. Of course we’re going, it would be foolish not to.




2-13 September Girls

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I Get A Kick Out Of You

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

It’s a day off today, the first of a few. I am grateful for the time off, had to arrange a few things to get the time off as well as using the rest of my vacation days. It was not so bad working at the cigar shack yesterday and it’s not so bad to have the time off either.

Of course my body clock is a bit screwed up, I just had dinner (or lunch) and it’s not even 5:30. I slept quite well last night, and slept for a long time, waking up much later than I am used to. Once again as I lay there in bed, Bill leaned over to kiss me good bye for the day as well as offering words of encouragement before he headed out to work. I merely rolled over after telling him to be careful.

Eventually I did get out of bed and made some coffee before jumping into the shower. After a cuppa I headed out to the supermarket where I wandered the aisles and ran into Clara Suarez whom I used to work with in the last century..

She was getting things together for her son’s birthday party, a sleepover. She was dreading it, having a few 7 year old boys running amok in her house on Willow Terrace. As she debated whether or not to buy the bag of bagels in the supermarket or to head to the bagel shop, I wished her a happy new year as well as luck regarding a room full of 7 year old boys.

I made my way home and thought about, my plans for the day. It being the last Tuesday of the month I considered going to the Eagle for cigar night. I had done it previously this year and saw some closeted customers of the cigar shack there and figured since I had nothing else to do, it might be a fun night out, if only for an hour or two.

When I came home I checked the weather report and saw that it promised to rain with 50 mile per hour winds to accompany the rain this evening. Now if the Eagle was closer to the subway or the Path train I might have headed in but my once open mind was made up. I would more than likely be better off staying home. Plus since the cigar smoking is on the rooftop deck, with the 50 mph winds expected the whole evening might be closed.

So it looks like I will be staying home. It’s fine with me, plus I’ve been watching old movies on Turner Classics today, starting with Casablanca, I just finished Witness for the Prosecution. It turned out I had seen the last 15 minutes of Witness for the Prosecution in the 1980’s and I did forget about it, but I did remember how an announcer said to not reveal the ending for anyone lest the ending is spoiled. So now Touch of Evil is on, a movie I tried watching years ago but could not get into it.

The storm rages, the wind is hitting the windows and I am pretty cozy and comfy having just eaten my specialty dish, pasta, pesto and chicken. Bill is on his way home I think so tonight we will probably watch some more movies. I am not sure if he had ever seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but it is the 8:00 movie on TCM.

There are a few movies I also have on DVD, one of them I watched the other night, The Music Never Stopped. A decent movie if not flawed. Its heart was in the right place but it couldn’t help but be a second rate movie all around. It did remind me of how sometimes stroke victims or people with brain ailments respond to music, and of course it was inspired by Oliver Sacks who is one of my favorite authors/doctors.



19 Blue Red and Gray

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I Gave You My Heart (Didn’t I)

Monday, December 26th, 2011

And it’s back at the cigar shack today. Christmas Eve came as a crawl, busy enough but not many customers as previous nights. A lot of people do their shopping after work and like me, once they are out of the city it takes a lot to have them come in again, especially for shopping.

So there was a considerable drop off in numbers but nothing worth crying over. I did quite well by the way. After the cigar shack closed, Zack and Jerry Vale sat in the man cave and two former employees came in for some scotch and cigars. I thought Bill would be outside when I finished but when I called him, he was still in Hoboken so that allowed me to have a cigar and a glass of scotch with this rogue’s gallery.

I did some organizing of the photographs and put them all in decent gift bags before heading out where I met Bill waiting for me. We drove up the West Side Highway to the George Washington Bridge, both of us exchanging stories- Bill having driven to Philly and back from Atlantic City and me weary from eleven hour days.

I didn’t know it, but the ride from the cigar shack to my brother’s house was probably the highlight of the night. We got there and everything seemed to be alright but of course just below the surface there was drama. This one was upset with that one who made noises about heading back to Connecticut. And when the rest of the family showed up the stress intensified.

I seem to always forget that my brother is not who he used to be and tends to get heated quite quickly. And of course he did, berating my other brother and I for not visiting the grave of our parents and maintaining it. Yes it was bullshit and yes it was Christmas Eve. And arguing with my brothers about British rock guitarists wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. Tiresome really.

Other than that, it was good to see the nieces and nephews, I don’t see them that often. They’re good kids. Bill and I rode home listening to the Beatles Christmas Messages which we were entertained by. And once we got home we exchanged presents, Bill got me a very nice external hard drive for my computer and I got him a nice glass topped box for his cuff links as well as engraved collar stays, upon which were phrases that Bill and I say to each other every day.
He loved them and I was happy.

Now at the cigar shack, there is a little over an hour to get through, Thomas being a stand up gent once again is closing. I get to catch a train about 10 minutes earlier than I usually would. Still I will take what I could get.

Now Thomas and Jerry Vale are discussing the career of Rod Stewart. Jerry Vale keeps mentioning the Small Faces when he really means the Faces. Big (or small) difference. It’s all the same to Thomas.

I remarked that I sometimes listen to the music my parents listen to and then Thomas remarked that both Jerry Vale and I are old enough to be his parents.

Ouch! He was right.



03 Dance This Mess Around

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I Found Out

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

s sama m14 si suarez en zara en g. That is what my smartphone microphone interprets what I say. Quite strange, I think it is having a stroke. It’s been a long day following a night of very little sleep. I could not shut my brain off and all I could do was think about the cigar shack. Most disturbing. I reckon I got about two hours of sleep.

And of course since Zack made a request that I certainly could not turn down, I had to be in the cigar shack and hour earlier than usual. And there is the fact that I have to open the cigar shack tomorrow. Bad planning once again. Today has been hectic though of course the numbers are quite good. Zack should be happy as well as the corporate overlords hidden somewhere in the Alps.

Now there are 12 minutes left, Jerry Vale is lurking about. I haven’t spoken to Jerry Vale in weeks, at least not personally since he had that meltdown about having to wait outside the cigar shack in relative comfort as I was making my way in 30 degree weather. I guess he doesn’t care that we don’t speak.

All I was hoping for was an apology but since it’s not forth coming I will just treat him like Marie Natale, a hobbit like creature from my old neighborhood, who would always keep your Spaulding if it went over the fence and landed in her yard. Right now I am not even sure if I will post this tonight since I am so tired and still have things to do, like get some more prints from CVS.

I should have used the CVS in Hoboken since the digital pics I sent this morning were ready this afternoon. Well I am home now. After lucking out and catching the 10:22 bus (they were late, in my favor) I was able to take the bus to the penultimate stop and go to CVS and pick up the photo prints I sent off this morning. If only I had done that on December 15. But that was then and now is here.

I closed the cigar shack with Jerry Vale and we had a little talk which cleared the air. He claims he wasn’t yelling at me that day, but rather yelling at Bradley. I just happened to be collateral damage I guess. These eleven hour shifts are killing everyone’s morale. Tonight was the last of the eleven hour shifts and tomorrow working an eight hour shift will seem like a half day.

Jerry Vale did apologize several times even though one time was all that was needed. We even hugged and he told me something quite nice, that I am special and well regarded by a lot of people. It was awfully nice to hear.

This afternoon when I went to the fast food joint to get some dinner, an elderly woman was on line, allowing people to go past her since she hadn’t made up her mind. As I passed her I told her that if she decided what she wanted she could go ahead of me. She hadn’t and I proceeded to the register.

She came up right behind me, and when she wasn’t looking I told the guy behind the counter that I would pay for her food. When the time came for her to pay, the guy told her that I had taken care of it. She was so happy and couldn’t thank me enough.

It wasn’t much money wise but apparently I made her holiday. She praised me for being such a handsome gentleman and all I could do was blush while holding back some tears. I was quite happy to do something nice like that, and for a moment the I felt in tune with the holiday spirit. It actually got me through the rest of the night. Well that and finally talking to Jerry Vale.

Not sure if I am writing tomorrow. It’s a holiday and there is a lot of running around scheduled. I hope you and yours have a happy and healthy holiday.





06 Tel Ol’ Bill [Alternate Version] 1

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