Archive for the ‘Whats for lunch?’ Category

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I Got Mine

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

OK, the other day my day started (and ended) with Melody of Love by Bobby Vinton in my head. That made me think of Bob Dylan covering Dean Martin’s ‘Return to Me’ from the Sopranos soundtrack. Probably because of Bobby Vinton’s refrain, ‘Return to me, and always be, my melody of love’ before he breaks out into a Polish singalong.

In 1975 while attending St. Francis de Sales grammar school, we had to learn that song and then trooped over to a convent by Felician College to sing the song to a group of old Polish nuns. And here I am later, over 30 years later still thinkng about that song.

Another song from 1975 that popped into my head via Wikipedia was Please Mr Postman by the Carpenters. This time in 1975 it was the number one song and I remember being in the Boy Scouts at Camp No-Be-Bosco in the winter listening to this song on Music Radio 77 WABC. I always liked the Carpenters, well I always liked Karen Carpenter’s voice. I still do. I find it to be quite warm and rich.

Lucky Thomas, he just picked up the phone for a nice order. He’s done well today whereas Bradley and myself were nickle and dime’ing up the numbers. No hard feelings but I am harboring feelings of resentment and have doubts about throwing him some sales in the future whenever I hit my personal goal.

The customer just phoned in an order, sending his daughter to pick up the cigars, so things might change. Not expecting it to happen though. Thomas was in a weird mood in the beginning of the day though he did get better and not bitter. It’s after 7:00 so things have gotten considerably slower in the cigar shack area.

Not expecting sales to improve, in fact after Thomas’ sale that will probably be it. I did have some nice sales today, though not enough to get to my personal goal. It is so friggin dead here I almost expect George Romero to remake Dawn of the Dead in this area.

That brings me back to 1980 where after I saw the Exorcist with Henry Venegas and his girlfriend, we drove to the Paramus Drive In where we caught some of Dawn of the Dead on the sly, using the AM radio to pick up the audio broadcast at 2:00 in the morning. Life sure was simpler then.

Like most of my high school classmates I never saw Henry Venegas after 1980. And don’t even get me started on my fumbled seduction regarding Henry. And attempting to seduce a straight classmate was not the smartest idea anyhow. I was 17 and knew as much about seduction as I do now. What was I thinking? I know what I was thinking about. He was a good guy that Henry Venegas was. I wonder if he ever married his girlfriend?

About 30 minutes left in the cigar shack today. 30 long minutes no doubt. Rand and Lisa stopped by this evening. It was wonderful to see them. They were celebrating Lisa’s birthday and went to the movies and had some dinner out. Lisa of course looked fabulous and Rand was quite the fashion plate himself. They were just passing through, headed back to the bus terminal. I’ve known Rand 30 years and happy to be his friend, as well as Lisa’s friend.

Thomas, it turned out, was closing the store allowing me to leave a few minutes early. I hoped I would catch Rand and Lisa on the bus but they didn’t make it. But it was wonderful to see them nonetheless, as it made my day.






Is THIS your card?


11 Crosseyed and Painless

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I Don’t Deserve You

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

A wet Saturday and it wasn’t so bad. Of course I to work but at least that got me out of the apartment. I watched Bill Maher last night, Bill was rehearsing with his buddy Tom who is playing trumpet in the production that Bill is managing so Bill did not get home until after midnight.

I greeted him at the door and he immediately rested his head on my shoulder, he was so tired. I helped him take off his backpack, so heavy it felt like it was filled with rocks. We talked for a while then Bill went to bed and I stayed up for a little while after that.

Then it was bedtime for me, and I fell asleep almost immediately then was startled when I thought I felt something crawl across my shoulder. That kept me up for a short time before I went to sleep again only to wake up an hour later with an extremely itchy foot.

It drove me crazy, enough so that I had to get out of bed and do something about it. All I could think of was Purell and that seemed to do the trick. I was able to sleep soundly after that and woke up a few hours later. The temperature had dropped considerably making me not want to get out of bed to paddle across the cold ceramic tile that constitutes the floor of the apartment.

Bill was gone by the time I had breakfast, doing office work that he wasn’t able to do during the week. I headed out to the bus stop and was soon walking up an avenue to the cigar shack. It was the weekend so that meant an egg sandwich. Different guy behind the counter and he charged me a different price.

It was only a quarter and I think the cashier was trying to get some more out of me asking if I had one or two eggs. It was one but still he gave me the hairy eyeball. I really couldn’t say how many eggs since the fry cook has all the eggs in a pitcher and when he needs to make a product with eggs he just pours some out of the pitcher onto the grill.

It was Bradley, Thomas, Jerry Vale and me working today, another sign of scheduling ineptitude. No need for a full staff on the weekend and no one did that well in sales today, though Thomas got the top spot and I was a close second.

The possum Bradley (a name given to him by Thomas) and Jerry Vale came in third and fourth place respectively. Surprisingly enough the possum was in a decent mood, actually communicating and making jokes.

The day took it’s time getting to the end, Thomas and me manning the boards. We had a good talk about art, I didn’t know that Thomas was artistically inclined. We also talked about age, Thomas figuring out how old I was and saying that I didn’t seem like I was almost 50. It didn’t seem like I was almost 40 either. It was a nice thing to say I think, so I took it as a compliment.

Tomorrow is Sunday, so no posting. You can do what you want.




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I Can’t Wake Up

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Another day, another doofus again. I am the doofus, the day is the same yet somehow different. I am cigar shack bound, yesterday flew by- today not so much. Still somehow I did better than I expected sales wise. I was dragging ass, not through anything of my own doing, circumstances dictated how things went.

I had a customer and was walking into the humidor when it turned out to be an old customer of Calvin’s so that meant the customer went with him. I was fine with that, content to do half of what I did yesterday. But things being what they are, and leaving just Jerry Vale and myself in the shack, somehow I caught up on things. A flurry of customers helped as well as an out of state shipment.

Just had a nice chat with my favorite customer, (or one of them (sorry my friend my friend- you’re still top ranking) Jimmy Seltzer who said that I was a good writer which made me blush and flustered. Still a good thing to hear. As I was writing about my friend my friend, my friend came in, back from Southern California. Not a good trip, close relative passed away.

Good to see him, and though he and his close relative weren’t THAT close, I still offered my condolences. It can’t be easy even if there is distance between 2 people.

Now I am home again, Bill is at Le Poisson Rouge in Destinations tonight. That means he won’t be getting home until late, and then he has to wake up and go to work again. He’s done it before so we know it can be done, but sometimes he does it so often, perhaps too often that he has a physical breakdown and winds up crashing and having to spend a day or two in bed.

The other night as we were driving home, we drove past one of Hyman Gross’ haunts and I mentioned to Bill that I missed Hyman. Bill agreed and said he did too. Tonight as I waited at the gate at the bus terminal I found myself missing him. And now with Patrick Morrissey possibly dead as well, well I suppose that this is how the future will be.

Remember so & so? Well they’re dead. And wakes become social events. I wrote the other night how seeing a flamboyant bird like Patrick walking down Washington Street unmolested made me decide that Hoboken was the place for me.

About a year after that, I was a living on the floor above Patrick and his then boyfriend Alphonso Portillo. I had a car at the time and in early 1985 or 1986 I was driving home on a winter evening and slid on black ice through a stop, hitting a car driving up Adams Street. I hit my head, and my car conked out.

I restarted the car and a huge flame shot out from under the hood. I got out of the car and ran to the fire station a block away. It was all within sight of my apartment building, two blocks away. The firemen put out the fire and of course the police arrived on the scene.

My paper work was a mess. My license, my registration and my insurance had three different addresses on each one. The police officer started giving me a hard time until Patrick showed up. Patrick told the officer to knock it off, to leave me alone.

The cop turned and said, ‘He’s a friend of yours Patty?’ And Patrick said I was. The cop backed off and Patrick walked me home after my car (my last car) was towed away to the junk heap. Patrick invited me down for dinner, meat loaf with a cream cheese filling (the only time I ever had that) as well as possibly the first time I had white wine. It was certainly a bonding experience.

Patrick and I had further adventures and escapades which I will write about some other time. If the news is the worst about Patrick, I certainly hope he is at peace. If not, I hope to see him again. I figure if someone living in Peru can read about Hyman Gross on this here blog, then someone in this world might be reading about Patrick Morrissey.




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I Believe I Can Fly

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Well where do I start? Yesterday was Sunday and I was off. Decided to ignore the spam US Beef sent. Or was it the beef that US Spam sent? It doesn’t matter since it wasn’t real but it was worth a laugh, as well as a reaction from Central NJ that proved hilarious.

Yesterday was busy enough, laundry, some cleaning, and some grocery shopping. Things needed to be done. Bill slept most of the day, I went to the river, enjoyed a cigar and sat reading Mojo Magazine for about an hour before it started getting too cool for me so I headed back home.

Ran into Deborah from the fourth floor of my building and we talked for a few minutes, she was off for a pedicure and I was heading home.

There really isn’t anything on TV lately so I’ve been watching repeats of True Blood. I am looking forward to the new season beginning in a matter of weeks.

Came to the cigar shack today, the Bradley quite ill, ill enough that we sent him home at noon. There was no way he could have done anything except cough and feel miserable. That’s no way to sell cigars and accessories.

It was Thomas and myself, Calvin out for some judicial business. Apparently I missed out on seeing Marcus who came and picked up his gear before heading to the cigar hut, his new place of employment. And it was a very slow start today once Bradley had split.

So, it was just Thomas & me today. When it got closer to lunch time, it picked up and got busy. I ran out and got some lunch and came back, sitting in the office eating. Thomas had a customer and another came in which meant I had to quickly swallow my lunch and jump on the floor to assist a potential customer.

Sometimes there was an actual sale, sometimes it was just tire kicking. My lunch hour lasted about 20 minutes. Thomas had an even shorter lunch hour. We were able to make both hours up later on, both interrupted by commerce.

I neglected to mention that on Saturday I was interviewed by some Turkish fellows on the street. They asked me about social media and how it is used in demonstrations and protests. I mentioned that I have taken part in protests and demonstrations via Facebook in New York City as well as Hoboken..

True, I could have just sat at home and be miserable, posting snarky comments on the blogs and other mediums, but I would much rather march in the street showing my dissatisfaction and anger.

The Turkish fellows asked about how social media plays in the Middle East, specifically in Syria. I told them what I knew about Syria, that 13 year old boy, brutalized and murdered by Syrian political goons.

I also mentioned the Syrian security forces shooting into crowds the day before and killing 28 people. The guy who was interviewing me then told me that he had asked a few people about Syria and the Middle East and that I was the only one that knew anything about what was going on there.

I was surprised to hear that actually, but I shouldn’t have been. It’s so much easier to be ignorant.

These things have been flying off lately. Not this one though...








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I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Just got home. Lately I’ve been starting this here blog, each entry at the cigar shack during some down time, which isn’t really down time, just a quick moment here and there that I can stand and spew out as many words as possible.

Today I worked with Calvin so there was not much of a chance to do such a thing. Which I suppose is fine, but I do like to get a head start on these types of things. It was a busy day though, Calvin did over $3000 worth of business and I did more than $2000.

There was no Thomas and the Bradley was out as well. Marcus made an appearance despite phoning in sick before I got in. It was busy enough that time flew by fast enough.

I also saw Lovely Rita this afternoon. She was in the area, heading home after some dog grooming. It was wonderful to see her, certainly a thrill. She looked great as we caught up about each other, our partners and our friends.

It was on my lunch hour that kept being interrupted by customers (I did not mind at all seeing Lovely Rita on my lunch hour). That always happens. I take lunch and lots of people come streaming in. It’s similar to the occurrence of me having a day off and it almost always rains, or is mainly cold and overcast.

I take a bite, chew and swallow then I sell some cigars as my once warm food gets cooler and cooler. I’m used to it. It used to happen at Wanker Banker, at Wolff Olins and at BIO-IB. At least at those jobs I was able to sit comfortably throughout the day.

Nowadays I spend about 9 hours on my feet, in dress shoes, standing on concrete. The left knee has slowly gotten better but standing around all day certainly can’t help the matter. Bill suggested looking into Worker’s Compensation which I plan to investigate as soon as I can.

Right now I’m pretty much tired. Working tomorrow and Sunday. Tomorrow it’s me and the Bradley and Sunday is back with Calvin. It shouldn’t be so bad and it will involve wearing business casual clothes.

Now I am home, Bill on the couch, Bill Maher on the TV. Yes, the TV has come back with some strange hickeys on its tube. No idea where it’s been and I’m not one to ask. Though we’ve been together for a few years, somethings are better left unsaid.

I saw Hyman Gross on the bus tonight on the way home and he said hello. Calvin was gracious enough to allow me to leave 5 minutes early which got me to the gate in time to be home before 10:00. Everything evened out and reconciling the sales was a breeze tonight.

I would have left 5 minutes early if Calvin wasn’t there anyhow. Hopefully I will be sleeping well tonight. I did last night and once again there was difficulty waking up. Still not a morning person despite Bill’s finest efforts.

Good night.


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I Know I’m Losing You

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Maybe I go looking for trouble. But when I see something that seems fishy I will speak up. Now it seems inconsequential to most, but to a music fan on a tight budget it seems strange. It’s a problem that happened a number of years ago when I bought a birthday present for Julio, The Name of This Band is Talking Heads.

I bought it at the local record shop, Tunes and it was in a plastic envelope, not factory sealed like most new products are. As I was wrapping it I heard something rattling inside. The jewel case was broken. It could have scratched the CD.

They had no answer except the robotic line that just because we played it in the store doesn’t mean it’s been used, it’s still new. So today after hearing about the stripped down version of Double Fantasy I felt I had to get it. A treat, a reward for a pretty good day for me.

Before I left the apartment I called to see if they had it in stock. They said they did so I went before doing some errands. Stopped by Mr. L’s where I saw Tony the barber. He cleaned me up nicely this morning.

I walked over to Tunes and sure enough there was one copy, in a plastic envelope, next to Milk & Honey, Walls & Bridges, Mind Games, Imagine etc, all factory sealed. I asked why Double Fantasy wasn’t sealed like the others and was told because it was in the listening post.

I asked wouldn’t that make it used? No, that’s how we do it here. I decided to push it along a bit and said, if it was played wouldn’t that make it used? No, that’s how we do it here.

Once more, I asked the girl behind the counter, clearly annoyed with my question what’s the difference between something being taken home and played and something for sale that was played in the store, to which she replied, that’s how we do it here.

I made the purchase anyway but couldn’t let it go. I called the other Tunes store in NJ and asked for the manager who I figured would be the owner. The one whom I had the almost exact same chat a few years ago.

The girl who answered the phone couldn’t handle my question after a few minutes and then some guy came on the line. He asked what was the problem and I repeated it. He too had the same answer as the robot girl, “No, that’s how we do it here.”

Then he mentioned they had a shrink wrap machine in the back and sometimes they repackage used items which seems dodgy to me.

He said he was sorry I felt the way I did and I said I accepted his apology which greatly upset him, causing him to say that he wasn’t apologizing to me exactly.

I did mention that I do try to support bricks and mortar record stores but I wouldn’t have this problem with Amazon or iTunes. ‘Well, we’re not Amazon’ said the manager. ‘What is the point of this call’ he asked and I said I just wanted an answer to why used items are sold as new.

I also mentioned that I was writing this for an article (this here article). ‘Why did I buy the CD then?’ he asked and I mentioned that I bought it because I wanted the package. I could have just as easily gone to the bibliothèque and gotten it from there and burned it. I’ve already burned the two discs (one stripped down John & Yoko, the other the originally released 1980 version).

According to the receipt, If I still have the original packaging and the receipt I can get a full cash refund within 14 days. I might just do that. The CD is back in the plastic envelope and the receipts are intact.

What do YOU think about this ‘issue’? I’d really like to know.

It was a good day regardless. I had two interviews scheduled, one asked for a reschedule and the other went as planned. And it went well. Really well. Well enough that I have an interview with the client tomorrow.

Things seem to be moving fast. It’s similar to 8 years ago, when I first moved back to Hoboken, almost to the date. I was between jobs and the first night (or close to it) I plugged in and went online searching for a job.

The next day, Matt Semegram from ATS called and asked to see me regarding the position. I scheduled an interview with Matt the next day. He said I was a good fit and they would probably like me. He emailed me some tests which I completed and sent back after I finished it at home.

Matt called the next morning and said that they wanted to meet with me that afternoon. I went in the middle of a monsoon and spoke with Bobby Risotto. I started the job the next day.

Today while filling out the forms at the staffing agency, and after I met with Angela and her supervisor Lorraine I came home after seeing Bill for a few minutes and dashed off a thank you email. I wrote I would be able to start October 18.

About two hours ago, I got a call. The client wants to see me tomorrow morning at 9:30. They will be calling me tonight to confirm and let me know where to go. Fingers crossed.

Do not call me between 8:00 and 10:00PM tonight. You know who you are.

That's him. That's my Bill. Over there.


After a shave and a visit to Tony the barber at Mr. L's.

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