What’s it doing outside?

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I Go To Sleep Pretenders

Friday, January 13th, 2012

A day off yesterday which was nice and somewhat busy. Bill and I have been problems with our kitchen heater, a gas on gas contraption which has been on the fritz the past couple of weeks. To ignite the thing you need to lay on the floor and hold in the red button, the ignition switch, for a minute and hopefully that would get the pilot light lit. And when the light would be lit, more often than not it would go out after about 5 minutes.

Being on the 5th floor it is usually colder than it is on the street, so when it would get cold, we would have a pot of water on the stove top in a slow boil and when it would get really cold, we would turn on the oven with the door open. It did the job but it was getting frustrating. I contacted the absentee landlord who duly sent his repairman over.

It turned out that the thermo-coupling was loose. So loose that the repairman was able to unscrew it with his hand. A set of pliers fixed that problem and we were able to have a decently heated apartment last night for the first time in weeks.

Then there was the bathroom problem, specifically the toilet. There was a puddle of water next to the toilet bowl and we had been using rags to sop it up. I thought that it was leaking, after 10 years of 2 guys over 200 pounds sitting on the bowl day in and day out, I figured it was bound to leak, but the repairman figured out that it was condensation that accumulated causing the puddles to form.

He took care of that and he was out of the apartment about 15 minutes after arriving. It went much better than expected. Today was a visit from the Hoboken Building Inspector. Our 5 year visit was due. The tenants received a notice that today would be the day and since the absentee landlord has no keys, someone would have to be there.

I made arrangements to come in late and take care of that. The window of opportunity was from 10AM to 1PM and they showed up close to 12:30. Another quick visit. Smoke and CO detectors were functioning, fire escape had easy access and no mold in the bathroom. So all in all it wasn’t so bad.

I expected to be back at the cigar shack by 2PM but wound up getting in at 1:30. It was not busy at all, Thomas texting me to hurry up since they already had 3 customers and they had been open for 90 minutes already. Out into the brutal cold for me, wind whipping around, cutting like a knife. Still I walked up the avenue to save some dosh and that wasn’t so bad.

As long as you’re moving the weather is fine. The minute you stop, that’s when you feel the cold. And I did.

01 Johnsburg, Illinois

Tags:absentee landlord, Bill, heater, repairman
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I Get Lonely Too Drake

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Another spectacular day at the cigar shack. True things are quite slow, here, there and everywhere. A glass of Johnnie Walker Blue did not help much though Zack was quite generous is doling out glasses for Thomas, Bradley and myself as well as Zack. No one likes to drink alone so we all drank, separately.

I know I clinked glasses with Zack, not sure if Thomas or Bradley did the same. The day was spent mainly cleaning glass, removing glass and making sure it had no streaks. It makes the cleaning woman’s job that much easier. We spend the day cleaning the cigar shack, she comes in and puts her finishing touches on our work.

I don’t mind, I do like the cleaning woman, she is a sweetheart. She doesn’t speak much English, but we all like her enough that Thomas, Bradley, Jerry Vale and myself put some money in a Christmas card, which Bradley and myself did in 2010. I certainly hope to not be around to do that in 2012.

I have 12 months to make sure that doesn’t happen, but then again it is not up to me. It could be up to Zack, who might just kick me out when it comes time for the employee reviews come up. As far as I know they never came up before, at least I wasn’t reviewed. But with new big Swiss cheeses calling the shots, that is one of the things they have planned.

So meanwhile back at the cigar shack, the numbers, they aren’t so great. Between you and me and the wall behind you, paying the rent could be a problem especially in the area where the cigar shack is located. So far the numbers for January aren’t doing the magic that they hoped for, but then again it is only January 4. There is still that big Martin Luther King Jr sales weekend coming up.

A few weeks ago, the cigar shack had a drawing for a humidor. You had to buy a bag of cigars (that weren’t selling) and your name would be entered in a drawing for a humidor. Bradley pulled out a name that no one recognized and was going to pull out a name that we all knew. I told him that was not right, that it wasn’t fair.

The rule is the name that gets pulled out first is the one that gets called. Bradley’s argument was that life isn’t fair. I agreed that life wasn’t fair but here was an opportunity to make it somewhat fair. So they called the gent who one and left a message. Three weeks later, the humidor is still here, the winner has not returned our calls so a customer that the staff knows will more than likely get the humidor, rather than someone named Addeo.

Another long day is taking it’s sweet ass time in getting to the end. Bill is at home cleaning the apartment with his friend Fred, the heart breaker. 14 degrees when I left the apartment this morning, wore the leather jacket I bought for Bill 2 Christmases ago under my overcoat.

Time (Clock Of The Heart)

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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

Tags:Bill, The Eagle
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I Don’t Want To Change The World

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Well today has been somewhat productive and even better, sociable. Having off today afforded me some more relaxation time. That’s what I’d call it since I basically woke up at the same time as when I have to go to work. So I got out of bed and made some coffee. A trip to the supermarket was once again in order since after this pot of coffee there was no more coffee to be had.

So after a couple of cups I headed out, with the shopping bag filled with shirts and trousers to be cleaned. I walked by Mr. L’s, my barber and did not see anyone in Tony’s chair. Once I stepped in I saw that Tony wasn’t their either. His son Nick told me that Tony was at the market getting milk for the coffee. I set down the canvas bag and told Nick I would be right back, and went out to vote.

The precinct is only a few doors down and I was in and out in less than five minutes. When I got back to Mr. L’s, Tony was back and waiting for me, even though by this time there were two other guys waiting for a haircut. Maybe they were waiting for Nick and didn’t care much for Tony’s methods, but in any event I walked over to Tony, shook his hand and sat in his chair.

He asked how the cigar business was, telling me that he had gone to a wedding with his wife and at the reception there was a man rolling cigars. I like Tony’s work, he goes so far as to trim nose hair, eye brows and ear hair, and takes extraordinary measures to get as much white hair out of my goatee, so I don’t wind up barba blanca.

Then it was off to Cary’s Dry Cleaners where I dropped off my shirts as well as Bill’s stuff. Then a trip to the supermarket which was not very crowded but I felt like either I was stalking or being stalked. I would go to an aisle and there would be the same woman each and everytime, eyeballing me.

Perhaps I was being cruised but as usual I had no clue. Came home and texted with Mike Cecchini who lives up the block. I saw him on Sunday at Maxwells and told him then I had a few CD’s from Mojo and Uncut to lend him. He was coming over as I started the laundry so I gather 33 CD’s and put them in a bag and walked them down to the street.

The apartment was a bit of a mess to have him come up and it was a beautiful day outside anyhow. I never even opened some of the CD’s and told him he could hang onto them for as long as he’d like. I did upload some of them but the majority of them have been unheard by me, and it’s mainly since I was not so interested in the genre, be it Heavy Metal or the dreaded Americana. Metal I am almost always ambivalent about and Americana is best served in small doses.

I was out and about in the afternoon and enjoying a cigar as I walked up Washington Street I ran into the always wonderful Thaler Pekar, a very smart and brilliant woman. And despite her saying that she was feeling so tired, she looked great. Her husband Tom is a lucky guy and I’m sure he knows it. He’s a nice guy too. Maxwells people keep popping up.

She was off to the Farmer’s Market which I believe is it’s last day today for the year and I was heading back home. So that’s about it, been a nice day, saw friends, did laundry and now Bill is home too so it’s all good.

Rest in Peace Joe Frazier and Heavy D.

Bobbi Martin – For the Love of Him – 1970

Tags:Bill, Mike Cecchini, Thaler Pekar
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I Don’t Wanna Grow Up

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Well it is snowing out right now. Some places have power out, most mass transit is a mess. Bill was stuck on a D train for over an hour making him late for the penultimate show that his is stage managing. I sure Bill was at wit’s end while on the train. Most trains between 59th street and 125th street have been messed up thanks to the rain and now the snow. I just hope he gets home alright.

It’s been a long wet day. It started out once again with me reluctantly getting out of bed. Bill was still fast asleep as I shuffled around, making coffee, pouring cereal and headed for the shower. A steady rain fell outside but it didn’t seem that bad. As I was getting myself ready, Bill awoke and gave me a good morning kiss.

I headed out, down the stairs and could hear the rain falling hard on the hallway skylight. Bill poked his head out and wished me a good day. I did the same as I took his picture and proceeded down the four flights.

On the street it was pouring out and out came the umbrella. A walk up to Washington Street and a short wait for the bus with other damp people. Despite the rain I still wanted my egg sandwich so I walked up the avenue to my usual spot. After getting the egg sandwich I continued up the avenue listening to Hot Chip.

Juan turned me on to Hot Chip a few years ago and today I found out that he may be in town next week for his birthday. It would be nice to see him again. At the cigar shack it was Thomas and Jerry Vale and it was good. Since it was so slushy out, I opted to stay in at lunch time though I did step out for the usual phone call to my sister. Things are alright on the left coast and I headed into the shack and smoked a cigar in the man cave.

The afternoon was not so busy and though I am not too keen on selling pens, I sold two pens which brought my sales up higher than Thomas and Jerry Vale into four figures. And as the day turned into night, the snow kept falling, sidewalks getting slippery.

Less customers coming in, leaving Thomas and Jerry Vale and myself to chat with a really nice customer who is a favorite among most of the staff. The customer eventually went home as did Thomas about an hour later. Jerry Vale and I spent the rest of the time cleaning up the store and getting things ready for tomorrow’s shift. I won’t be a part of that shift having tomorrow off but still things had to be done as well as set up.

Then it was Jerry vale’s turn to leave, and I was alone in the cigar shack making sure the money was counted and put away. A long wait for the subway downtown made me miss the earlier bus but it was no problem really.

A 20 minute wait and soon we were hurtling through the Lincoln Tunnel. I wasn’t sure if there would be power at home since I checked some Facebook status of friends and family and it seemed that they were in the dark due to downed power lines. As luck would have it, I was OK, the power was on in Hoboken, no downed trees.

Now I am waiting for Bill to walk through the door and into my arms. Happy to be home and happy to be off tomorrow.

05 That’s Love, That It Is

Tags:Bill, Cigar Shack, Snow
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I Don’t Wanna Fight

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Standing on the corner of the road to no regret. That is the download from last night. I just played it here at the shack. Thomas remarked again that Green Gartside sounded like Elliott Smith. I am not that familiar with the late Elliott Smith, not much beyond what Juan put on CD’s and whatever might have popped up on the Mojo/Uncut CD’s.

Elliott Smith does seem to be a go to for Thomas and probably Juan too. I guess it might be a twenty something thing. I will take Scritti Politti any day. Seeing Scritti Politti a few years ago at the Bowery ballroom with Lesley Robertson and Adam Ames was definitely a high point on my concert going days.

Also one of the last major concerts in the past few years. 5 years ago actually and having just written that I wonder where the time went. Don’t know what happened to Lesley Robertson and I do come across Adam Ames ever so often on Facebook. I know Adam is not at Wolff Olins anymore but I am not sure if Lesley is still there. But that’s not my concern anymore.

I am at the cigar shack. Today is miles ahead of yesterday. That’s probably because of Thomas’ return. Zack was invisible mostly and Frank Burns taking a spill on the floor was definitely funny. Zack did make an appearance for that and laughed louder than anyone and the red face on Frank Burns made everyone else laugh almost as loud and as hard as Zack.

Though mostly invisible Zack was actually kind today. Apparently the event last night was a success which more than likely added to his bonhomie. And his double breasted suit fit him exceptionally well today.

It was not that bad a day like I said, and for lunch I took a train to midtown and walked back to the shack, just to have something to do. And it was a good day for it. Tomorrow is a day off and a Nor’easter is expected. So I expect to be housebound. Perhaps a trip to the bibliotheque is in order, get some DVD’s and watch them.

I’ve been enamored of the Harry Potter movies lately. I saw the first one in the theater with Annemarie and Rex and Earl who was probably about the same age as Daniel Radcliffe and company. I saw the movies here and there since then, but it was the last two in the series, the Deathly Hallows which really did my head in.

So good, the both of them. Luckily the first part is constantly on cable lately so I’ve been catching bits and pieces of that. Zack lent me a bootleg DVD of part 2, a not bad copy, Danish subtitles. So that’s been fun, and I’ve been able to brush up on my Danish. I guess Zack is not such a bad dude any how.

Thomas is being a douche bag, yet an agreeable douche bag so that is not so bad after all. And now I am home. Ran into Chaz on the street and it was good to see him. As much catching up that could be done in 15 minutes was had, then he was off to Benny’s and I was headed home to the loving arms of Bill waiting for me at the door sans rolling pin and curlers.