Interesting Things as of Late

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I Just Called To Say I Love You

Saturday, April 7th, 2012

I did the smart thing today. I took a Xanax before coming in. I knew I was working with Bradley and Thomas and Bradley is becoming more and more human lately whereas Thomas has been getting on my wick. I didn’t need any stress and Thomas has been the typhoid Mary of stress lately. He’s also a shark.

I knew that from the beginning when he came on board at the cigar shack and he’s been tolerable with regards to that. But today, he swiped two customers from me, unknowingly he claimed but still the deed was done. I helped out a customer and took a second to make sure I had the correct item to write up. By that time, the customer was at the register being rung up by Thomas under Thomas name. The customer was so kind as to thank me personally for helping him, in front of Thomas, but it did not seem to register.

Then just a few minutes agoo, a customer walked in, me chatting with him, headed to the humidor when Thomas strikes up a conversation about Ralph Lauren and proceeds to escort the customer into the humidor. I threw my hands up in exasperation and decided I would sit the rest of the time that Thomas would be working, away from Thomas, and sit in the man cave.

He’s a dick, he’s a shark, he’s an only child, he’s Thomas. And if I have to listen to the pearls of wisdom that fall from his lips regarding South Park or Family Guy I might just lose it. Whatever ‘it’ is, it maybe lost. He alsomtold me how he wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day I had off but switched so he could have off with his family. I told him at least he wasn’t working, and he replied, ‘Oh yeah. Thanks for switching.’

But he’s gone now and here I am, eating a banana on the sly as stragglers walk by the cigar shack, occasionally looking in the window, occasionally looking at Magilla Gorilla.

Brian Eno is singing how he would come running to tie my shoes which is a sweet sentiment. I would run to Bill to tie his shoes and I know he would do the same for me. The last 17 minutes on a Saturday in a holiday weekend truly makes this area like a cemetery.

I did have two online friends from a cigar group come in. Joseph and David, up from Delaware to visit the auto show at the Javits Center. Big burly guys, and quite nice. We’ve chatted online a few times and made the arrangements. A handsome couple they are.

I hooked them up with some cigars and set them up in the man cave. The two of them sitting in arm chairs while the usual suspects eyed them somewhat warily from the table, wondering why they were getting such care and attention from me, care and attention to such a degree that the usual suspects would never ever get from me.

Familiarity does breed contempt and I am quite familiar with these guys.

Tomorrow is Easter, and here is my Easter joke.

Easter is when Jesus emerges from his tomb and if he sees his shadow it’s six more weeks of lent.

It’s my joke, a joke a made years ago. Happy Spring!

Black Israelites, yelling & being ignored

Cigarmen David & Joseph with me in between

Have a Cigar

Tags:Joseph & David
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I Hope You Dance

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

Tuesday Afternoon by the Moody Blues is playing. It’s probably the only Moody Blues song I like, or at the very least, the one I like the most. I heard it constantly growing up in the 1970’s, on WNEW-FM. I eventually worked with Justin Hayward on something in the 1990’s (maybe it was a Moody Blues thing) and though I never got too close to him, engineers told me the guy was basically toast.

Back at the cigar shack today, no despair happening. A good day with Bradley and Jerry Vale with Zack buried in the office under a mountain of paperwork. Sales were fair, nothing great. It’s only the third of the month and we’re on par with last year, though I think the home chateau might be hoping for higher numbers.

It’s been quite a nice spring day outside, I was able to enjoy a slightly damaged cigar and read some more Kurt Vonnegut during my lunch hour. Bill has been super phenomenal lately. He’s singing the national anthem again before the Mets game at CitiField on April 22. I’ve already put in my request for a day off. I am hoping it does not rain. Still any time spent with Bill is time well spent.

I had some good customers today. Sometimes you get some really good ones, others are not so good. Some are pleasant and some are dicks. Today it was all pleasant. It is early yet, a little over an hour left, leaving the dicks, plenty of time to make their uncircumcised appearances. Jimmy Seltzer is here, playing the role of my favorite customer. He remarked on the good mood I am in. ‘Just riding that manic high’ was my explanation.

Even some customers who get on my wick didn’t bother me that much today, some even going so far as to be somewhat pleasant. Now ‘Take The Long Way Home’ by Supertramp is playing. A guilty pleasure for me. I loved Even in The Quietest Moments’ and Breakfast in America’. Jerry Vale just mentioned seeing them at the Garden for the Breakfast in America tour. I mentioned that they broke up soon after the tour, right after they reached the top.

In some ways it’s like Harper Lee. I watched a documentary on her and Margaret Mitchell last night on PBS. I like the Harper Lee documentary more, having read To Kill a Mockingbird and seen the movie countless times. Miss Harper Lee only wrote that one classic book. Never came out with anything else.

Not that she had to, but anything that she would have done would be compared to Mockingbird, and that would near impossible to duplicate. So I guess she did the right thing, cutting out at the right time, much like Supertramp. Is that a stretch or what?

Now there is a little over a half hour left in the cigar shack. the Eagles are playing ‘One of These Nights’ yes I am going down memory lane and dragging Jimmy Seltzer and Jerry Vale with me. I guess I am lucky since they’re not complaining.

Now I am home, still in a good mood. Bill of course is almost always in a good mood, and stayed up for me to come home. Now he’s in bed and I am in front of the computer. Maybe it was the multivitimin. Or the Shepherd’s Pie I had for lunch. Or spring fever. Anyway, I’m running with it. Or walking briskly.

Anti Samsung protest near cigar shack. Photo taken with a Samsung smartphone

Stevie Wonder – Outside My Window

Tags:Bill
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I Heard You

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

This has been one of the most morose days. It shouldn’t have been but then again I woke up feeling morose and it colored my day through and through. Perhaps it was a continuance from yesterday. Last night was nothing special, except for seeing Bill for an hour before he went to bed.

After that it was me alone in front of the computer watching what gets posted on Facebook. Some good things, some informative things, and of course, some crap. I slept quite deeply, enough so that waking up was difficult. I did not want to get out of bed no matter how Eddie Money was telling me that he had two tickets to paradise, saying that I should pack my bags and we’ll leave tonight.

No, I’d rather have stayed in bed. And I should have really. Work has been one monstrosity after another. I find myself annoyed with so many things, so many people. Once again the comfort level has slipped through my fingers, making a mess on the floor which I of course will have to clean up. Bill has been excellent though. Always there with a hug and ears to listen.

Tomorrow I am not sure if I will write. I am off from work but then again I will have to work. I am attending an event for the unveiling of a new cigar and they geezer who’s name is on the cigar is celebrating his 86th birthday. I have to go and take photographs which shouldn’t be so bad, but overall I would rather be home.

I have a dental appointment in the afternoon and then after that will head to the cigar shack, and then to the Top of the Sixes where the event will be held. A lot of people are looking forward to it, so I guess I have no idea what to expect. Then again I have such low expectations that anything really could be a surprise.

Jimmy Seltzer is sitting in the man cave and Thomas just went back there to have a chat with him. Jazz has been playing for the past few hours and that likely has fouled my mood somewhat. Man I dislike jazz.

So not for me, too self indulgent, too virtuoso-esque. I’m not one for virtuosity, I like the concept that anyone can do it, hence my affection for punk and new wave. I don’t mind hearing it live most of the time, though when I took Bill to see Herbie Hancock at the Blue Note for Christmas a few years ago I was put off by the meandering and the fact that in 90 minutes only 3 songs were played.

And I do like and respect Herbie Hancock, just not that night. Just 18 minutes left of this jazz nonsense then I will be home. Not much to do tonight or tomorrow, just the dentist and the cigar event. Still it could be worse I suppose. My hair could catch fire and that would be a drag.

Now I am home. Feeling a bit better. Played Revolution Earth by the B-52’s on the bus and Vogue by Madge on the walk home. Both helped.

Nessun dorma

Tags:Bill, No tags
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I Hate This Part

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Well it’s been a day off and a lazy day off at that. I slept later than expected, waking up at 10:00. I didn’t mind, things were just a bit slower than usual. And it’s been lazy lazy lazy all day. I shuffled on over to the supermarket as usual, got some things, chatted with Isis and then came home to a nice breakfast. That’s really about all I did today.

I’m content. Laundry can wait, it’s not going anywhere. Not much happening on the net.

Jon Bon Jovi turned 50 today. And today would have been Karen Carpenter’s birthday as well. She would have been 62 today. I’ve always loved her voice. And it is also Lou Reed’s birthday today. Laurie Anderson’s husband is 70 years old today. I like his songs and sometimes I like his voice too. I worked with him in the 1990’s and to put it mildly, he is a handful.

And today is Theodor Geisel’s birthday. Dr. Seuss would have been 104 years old. I guess with the exception of Jon Bon Jovi (who I met in the 1990’s- a nice guy really), Karen Carpenter, Lou Reed and Dr. Seuss have all had some kind of influence on my life. But then again, I do believe everyone you meet in your life has some sort of influence so I guess Jon Bon Jovi too has had some sort of influence.

Yes, I think that with every little encounter that one has with various human beings or even animal I suppose, they contribute something to your person, your being. Then when you are dying, you are finally complete and fully yourself. We’re all works in progress. Tomorrow might have a different philosophy but I’ll stick with that one for now.

I haven’t done this in a while so I figured I will do it now. In February I had 1,084 visits to this here blog.
The top ten are:
New York
Eureka
Hoboken
Los Angeles
Apopka
Chicago
Philadelphia
London
(not set)
San Francisco

I guess not set means smartphones or laptops or iPads. I’m impressed with the numbers though.

The bottom ten are:
Gillette
Barcelona
Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh
Belgrade
Sombor
Aiud
Zary
Maringa
Maua
Sao Goncalo

I don’t know what I can do to get more readers in Aiud. I don’t even know where Aiud is. Ha! I just looked it up and apparently it is located in Transylvania, Romania. 801 of those visitors were new to the blog, and 283 were returning masochists. 40 of them visited via iPads, 27 were using iPhones and the majority were on Samsung Droids. The rest were desktop surfers.

Chrome browsers led the pack followed by Internet Explorers and Firefoxes, Safaris and Android Browsers. 17 visits from Brazil and Australia, 12 in India, 2 in Russia and 1 in China. It’s certainly interesting, to me at least to know that this is read all over the world. More than I anticipated since I was content with Annemarie and Harpy being the main 2 visitors.

Now I have to rethink that. Just not now.

the demolition at 3rd and Washington

Donald Fagen – New Frontier

Tags:You
Posted in Interesting Things as of Late | 4 Comments »

I Hate Seagulls

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Last night was a bad night of sleeping. I went to bed with the best intentions of getting a good night’s sleep and woke up several times. The overhead light went on, a trip to the bathroom, and the need for some ibuprofen after all that.

There was the plan to go to the Eagle last night in Chelsea for cigar night and to drum up business for the cigar shack. With the tooth extraction and not smoking cigars yesterday it seemed like a better idea to just go home. I did make arrangements to come in late today since I had that plan but I decided to proceed as normal.

So as I groggily wandered around the apartment, having coffee and cereal after a shower I wandered out into the drizzle and waited for the bus. Uneventful ride of course and neighbor Deborah is nowhere to be seen. I just stared out the window and minded my own business. It is leap day, Sadie Hawkins day or whatever it is that you want to call it which could explain why things are a bit weird today.

And Davy Jones died today which is sad. I liked the Monkees and didn’t care that they were the PreFab Four. I enjoyed their music a lot, great hit singles and I also enjoyed their TV show. I didn’t catch the show the first time around but in the 1970’s I caught it in reruns on Channel 9, it seemed to be on everyday after school.

I did see Mickey Dolenz a few years ago when he played the Art & Music Festival in Hoboken and he put on a good job. A friend of mine does PR for Mickey Dolenz and told me that the last reunion tour ended abruptly and bitterly, but wouldn’t name names as to who did what. Lot’s of friends are posting Monkees videos on Facebook as a tribute to Davy Jones.

Overall it’s a bummer for a lot of people, those that grew up with the Monkees the first time around. I guess David Bowie can now go back to his original name, David Jones.

Now, at the cigar shack I am trying to kick someone out of the man cave which has been closed for the past half hour. He’s hemming and hawing and chatting with Angela who barely speaks English in an attempt to not leave. And Thomas has had a tide that once again lifted all boats.

The lucky stiff had a customer who came in a dropped a lot of cash on a sale in just under a minute. It almost repeated itself a minute later when the same customer came in to see what else was on sale. Then I guess reason entered the picture and he changed his mind and walked out the door.

I just got back from telling the customer that he had a half an hour longer than most people to finish his cigar and now he must go. I do not like this guy but apparently he must be tolerated since he does attend several of the big ticket events in the cigar shack world in Manhattan.

Just don’t mistake my kindness for weakness.

Spring is in the ground

15. A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You

Tags:Bill, Davy Jones, The Monkees
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I Had To Say It

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

I start this at home, 1:08AM. Iam not tired so I figured I would stya up a while and watch TV. I heard a lot of good things about Downton Abbey and see that it on PBS. As the show opened at Christmas in 1919, presents are handed out to the servants as well family of Downton Abbey. Unfortunately, now is the time for the Emergency Broadcast System to make their monthly announcement and test. So perhaps it’s just as well that I should go to bed. It made me laugh though.

Now, hours later- I put up with the noise from the Emergency Broadcast System, while grateful that there was no ‘real’ emergency to worry about. And after a short time, the audio for Downton Abbey was restored and I found myself engrossed slightly. I mean, Maggie Smith is in it, and a blast from the past, Elizabeth McGovern playing an American married to a member of the British aristocracy. But by the time 1:45 rolled around I knew I was in over my head and needed to go to sleep.

Bill had gone to bed an hour or two previous and had gotten out of bed twice by my count. When I eventually got to bed myself he got out of bed one more time before I faded into relative obscurity. He was up and out around 7:30 as I lay sleeping. He was feeling a little bit better, lending him a pair of my boxer briefs might have helped. Still he did not get nearly enough sleep as he needed and I expect him to be asleep when I get home in an hour or two.

It was fairly busy at the cigar shack, Zack and Bradley and Jerry Vale on board today which made for fierce competition for a handful of sales. Lunch was a waste of time though for the second day in a row I was able to get some Shepherd’s Pie which was wonderful and filling. I always think of Hyman Gross when I have Shepherd’s Pie. He was the one who recommended it to me, telling me that the overpriced supermarket nearby has it at a reasonable price.

I stayed close to the cigar shack during lunch, stopping into 2 nearby stores where friends work, only to find when I arrived that neither friend was available when I stopped by. It wasn’t terribly upsetting but did leave me in the lurch as to what to do for the rest of my rapidly decreasing lunch hour.

I just wandered around outdoors and got a shoeshine which wasn’t nearly enough to kill time. I wound up getting back to work earlier which was a bit of a drag. Still it wasn’t the end of the world and I would have had a quick cigar in the man cave if it weren’t for a certain troll that I have nothing but disdain for. Just too much of a lump to ignore so I avoided him.

03 help!