Another day, another dollar or in this case another roll of toilet paper. For the past two days I have been ill. I started feeling ill on Friday while at the cigar shack. I told Zack and Frank Burns how I was feeling and they were understandably alarmed for their own safety.
I did not mention how I was freezing in the shack since the last time I complained about how cold I was, Zack told me to stop whining. So I kept my mouth shut and worked while Frank Burns yelled at the television in the man cave with his cousin watching the World Series.
I think the bird team won, ably defeating every other team on the planet, therefore winning the World Series. Take that Zambia! Eat shit Lichtenstein! Drop dead Paraguay! Go to hell Sri Lanka! I made it home and after adding a few touches to the entry, I went to sleep and was able enough to make it to work on Saturday.
Definitely a low key kind of day, and once again when I got home I went right to sleep. Now somewhere between Saturday night and Sunday morning I took a turn for the worse. I did not sleep well at all and dear Bill was understandably concerned. He suggested making a doctor’s appointment and I reluctantly agreed.
Unfortunately, I could not make an appointment for Sunday, so I had to choose Monday, today. I woke up as usual on Monday morning and after spending a considerably amount of time in the bathroom, I called up the cigar shack manager and left a voice mail telling him how sick I was.
I had a feeling he wasn’t going to answer his phone. After that I went back to bed and slept another hour. Sweaty, fever dreams followed. Insane situations, people I hadn’t seen in years popped up in a too real manner. It was like high definition. After escaping the fever dreams (death eaters!) I hopped into the shower and put on some clean clothes and headed to the doctor.
Now I am not too fond of this doctor and his twin brother. It’s all too much like Dead Ringers, only these twins definitely do not look like Jeremy Irons. After waiting in the waiting room with a motley group of other ill and sniffling people I was escorted into the doctor’s office and within a few minutes involving a cold stethoscope the doctor gave me some anti-biotic and showed me the door.
It was quite a nice door. Wood, I think. Then I made my way back home and went back to sleep. A few hours later I woke up and was feeling a little better. A bit hungry and not as dehydrated as I was earlier, I plan on returning to the cigar shack tomorrow.
I dislike being sick but then again I am sure everyone dislikes being sick. Worst Halloween ever! Back in the day I would get sick from eating too much candy. Not this time. No candy, no trick and no treat for me. Angels and Devils
A hum drum day off. More hum than drum, or maybe more drum than hum but in any event it was a day off. And it’s been alright thus far. Had crazy dreams last night, one included 2 classmates from 30 years ago, Frank Wester and Ken Mallia who in the dream turned out to be lovers and in the process of adopting a baby.
I don’t think either was gay and though we were all in the same graduating class I don’t think the 2 ever socialized. I hadn’t thought of Ken Mallia since the year 2000 when I attended the 20th year reunion and a mutual friend told me that Ken won’t ever return to New Jersey nor would he visit 2 Pearl Court at the bottom of Trudy Drive.
The last time I saw Frank Wester was at Hitsville in Passaic and that must have been 1982. Frank recognized me and came up to me telling me that my music taste was spot on, New Wave was truly the way to go, despite his mocking me for liking the genre throughout high school.
Frank Wester was not at the reunion either and I decided then and there that it would be my last reunion, I had no desire to see any of these people again, except for Jim Carley or John Nesselt, who both declined to attend the reunion. Those were the 2 friends from high school that I would be interested in seeing once again, but over 30 years later it seems highly unlikely that our paths would cross once more.
The Wester/Mallia dream segued into a dream where I was in an industrial park looking for a place to pee. I found what seemed to be a deserted area and was about to leave my mark, but was soon surrounded by news crews headed by someone wearing a Brian Eno mask. I’m sure I had other dreams but those were the last ones before waking up and starting my day. I’ve read somewhere that a dream lasts only a few seconds then it is supplanted by another dream so that is something to consider.
The day had a lazy start. I showered but had no coffee to make so I took a chance and headed out first to the bibliothèque and then to the supermarket where the cashier took issue with the cover of the Daily News, stating that the Goldman Sachs fat cat was just one of the problems that is going on right now.
Since I did not have any coffee I just nodded my head and walked out after paying. Breakfast and a fresh pot of coffee was had and I read all about the fat cat from Goldman Sachs. Then it was basically watching the TV and checking emails. Heard from the former CEO of an old job who seemed to be fishing about, asking how I was doing, what I was up to.
I replied in kind and he mentioned that he would get back to me, then directed an underling to continue the correspondence setting up a phone call due to happen sometime next week which offered me a little bit of hope, but with a healthy amount of skepticism so as not to be overwhelmed by such a thing.
It’s been a day of steady rain and I hadn’t been out much and now I don’t think I will be out again until tomorrow morning when it’s back to the cigar shack for me. 16 – Rhythm of the Rain
Right now at the cigar shop I am playing Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Armed Forces. Hard to believe that album is 31 years old. I remember playing it so much that my brother Brian said that I would soon be tired of it. That wasn’t true, but it was replaced by other music and bands back then.
Every week it seemed there was something new and exciting being released and surely something followed that caught and captured my imagination. Today nothing really captures my imagination and certainly working in the cigar shop having an imagination is a detriment.
Today was working with the possum and the old lady Jerry Vale. They seemed to get along quite well and I suppose Thomas and I make a good opposing team. It hasn’t been too busy but the sales have been quite good. I am thisclose to breaking $2000.00 but if I don’t make it, I will be happy with the sales numbers that I got.
The possum was itself today, glasses free and showing those beady little eyes it has. The old lady just stands around telling tales of yesterday, being a footloose youth in the 1970’s in Manhattan. Seeing this one and that one wherever and whenever.
When not telling tales of yore the old stands around hands clasped in front, or behind and occasionally humming along like an old washerwoman. Sunday’s Best just played and the line ‘Blame it all upon the darkie’ (sang satirically of course) was heard by myself and not the two people of color buying cigars for the evening. She wanted a big cigar and he opted for the thinner, more lady like cigar. whatever works I suppose.
The old lady hums along to Chemistry Class by Elvis and Co and he is certainly way off the naval base with that one. The lovely couple who bought the cigars have just put me over my goal so I am relatively content. No the old lady whistles. Most annoying, hands in pockets and doing her best to gain an inch or two in height.
Hard to believe but I have to work again with these two characters. I can easily understand how some managerial types are fond of the drink, I can see how it gets them through the day. The line between happy drunk and angry drunk is much too narrow and I would more than likely injure someone, if not myself.
I would not mind something bad to befall Christophe Sigmond, extraordinaire trou du cul. His glutes were not kissed the way he prefers and since I would not open up a new box of cigars for him he decided he did not like my attitude. I apologized and that just made him angrier.
I deferred to him totally, making sure he had enough rope but it wasn’t enough. He remarked he didn’t like my intonation to which I replied that intonation was overrated.So perhaps the powers that be will hear of my transgression and I am sure I might eventually hear it from Zack.
The safe was short some money tonight and I know for sure it wasn’t me since the first time I went into the safe was went I went to count at the end of the day. Old lady Jerry Vale certainly did not since he’s just a part timer so it must have been the possum. The possum who’s drawer always comes up short.
Well tonight it was over which explained why the safe was short. He was insinuating a week or so ago that it might be Jerry vale’s fault why his drawer kept coming up short. I think the possum doth protest too much.
Oh yes, it was the day from hell. And it started out in the hellish manner before I even left Hoboken. I wait for the bus and nine times out of ten I am the one who flags down the bus. Most of the other people at my bus stop are way too involved with their iPhones and their smartphones.
You would think the bus driver (who I like and just got back from his vacation) would pull up to the person who flagged the bus, but no. He stops the bus wherever there is a young woman standing. It annoyed me enough that I just let everyone else get on the bus before me, including people who don’t know how much the commute is or lack the exact change necessary.
And of course once those people, about ten of them, got on the bus all of the good seats were taken leaving me to sit on top of the wheel well. It was the first of many things that happened. Bill was off today so that he could work the load in for the show that opens later this week. That meant no calling Bill for support or just to hear his voice, letting me know that he is there for me.
I soldiered on, not looking forward to working alongside the Possum. Sure enough there was the Possum on the phone when I walked into the cigar shack. Another scheduling debacle. Calvin was in the office which is where he spends most of his time lately. Jerry Vale was due in later in the day.
It was another slow day, not much business. Calvin mentioned that the sales for last month were lower than the previous year and the way things have been lately, October does not bode well either.
A customer came in today, I recognized him from being in the cigar shack on Sunday. He was returning the $395.00 lighter he bought on Sunday, he wanted a torch lighter after all, and the one he bought was a soft flame. I remember Thomas selling it to this guy.
The possum stepped up and offered to take care of the return and I thanked him and set about helping another customer. When an item is returned, the return falls to the sales associate, in this case it would be Thomas. The Possum made the return mine and on the tally for a good part of the day, I had about 20 sales, but only $9.69 in my column thanks to the refund which should have gone to Thomas. By the time I found out, it was too late to do anything about it.
Another customer came in with a return as well, and I recognized it as my sale. It was a key chain that a forgetful daughter bought for her father’s birthday at the last minute. The mother came in as a favor for her daughter, all the way from Rockland County.
I was going through the motions of the return and asked if the mother had the credit card. She said no, that I should credit her account since she pays the daughter’s credit card bills all the time. I told her we couldn’t do that. So she frantically tried calling her daughter, texting her daughter, all the while nervous about the time left on her parking meter.
She also did not believe me that we can get cellphone signals in the cigar shack. She went outside and came back in, telling me that her daughter just texted her about something unrelated so she was going to text the daughter to call back ASPCA. You read that right. I finished the return and immediately wrote that one down.
The day plodded forward, the Possum stealing a customer from me, I in turn stole a customer from him. I did not ask how he liked them apples, but did hope he would choke on one.
Oh just got back from the cigar shack today and once again it was a bear of a day. It started out in a blasé way, grey skies, falling rain. Not much inspiration to get out of bed. Bill headed off later than usual, only about 45 minutes before I got out of bed. Shower, cereal, coffee and whatever.
And soon I was out on the street walking to the bus stop, talking to Bill on the phone. I love our routines. No Deborah on the bus, just the friendly bus driver and quite a few unfamiliar faces. Broke away from the herd in the bus terminal, going my own way.
Despite just missing an express train I was still early enough for work. Iced coffee, a trip to the bank and another phone call to Bill. Then I found myself in the cigar shack. Calvin was sequestered in the office trying to manage a budget for the next quarter.
This is probably the reason why he turned down the managerial position way back when. He was off yesterday trying to make sense of the budget, during which- a slurry phone call was had in the afternoon. He told me he did not want to be disturbed and I did my best to avoid him at any cost and I was mostly successful.
Of course there are customers who claim to be Calvin’s best friend who popped their heads in and distracted Calvin from his job at hand. There were three of us on staff today besides Calvin. Bradley and Jerry Vale were in as well and Bradley kept grabbing the lion’s share of sales, even Jerry Vale had passed me by.
I was too busy doing menial tasks so I didn’t really care. These things had to be done. When they were done, Calvin emerged from the office and felt that I was loafing about and suggested that I send out some emails to my clients and try to drum up business. Apparently we’ve gone in the past seven days from doing so much better than the year before, to hardly anyone coming into the cigar shack. Since the last year/this year announcement was made, things had definitely fallen by the wayside.
And I did not really need to know the gauge of Calvin’s Prince Albert. Bradley split at his appointed time leaving Jerry Vale and myself with Calvin crunching numbers in the office. Since I was off the floor I was way behind, but it could be explained away.
As I was outside cleaning the window some Europeans came in and were looking around. I tried to help them as best as I could and to my delight we got along quite nicely despite the language problem, thanks to the overworked interpreter in the entourage.
They decided on a nice paperweight and a letter opener to go with it. I set about getting it all ready, and while trying to find the boxes for the items. I found the letter opener box but the paperweight box proved elusive. I didn’t want to but I had to ask Calvin if he had any idea. He didn’t, only saying it should be where I couldn’t find it.
So it was on my knees I went looking for a nonexistent box. A few minutes later Calvin emerged from the office and with an air of authority told me to ring up the item while he found the box. Only he didn’t find the box, he found a box similar to what I was looking for. A different paperweight would now be without a box.
I rang up the items as well as wrapping them and they thanked me before heading out the door. The sale put me in second place right behind Bradley.
Calvin mentioned that Thomas and I will spend tomorrow matching the items in the showcases to the empty boxes nearby. Calvin planned on leaving the cigar shack at 7:30, at 9:19 I left him in the office with a ‘see ya tomorrow’ and heading out the door to my life.
Have another drink drunko!
Yesterday, being the magical day that it was, the bar was set quite high. Of course anything that followed would be bound to be a disappointment. Maybe it’s a Catholic thing from my past, ‘You’re having fun today, tomorrow you will be sorry’.
Just thinking about sitting with Bill, eating some really big burgers, walking around afterwards and smoking cigars, then going to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert certainly warms my heart a day later. Today was different. The magic of course had faded somewhat.
I had an interview scheduled for today, something a friend had set up for me. I mainly went on behalf of the friend for putting herself out there (Thanks Elizabeth). I was a bit anxious as I got myself ready. All I had to go on was a nice chat on the phone this past Sunday and that went especially well. Still I tried to not have any high hopes regarding what may happen.
I took a quarter of a tab of Xanax and as I approached the building I bought a banana from a fruit vendor on the street. Wanted to be in the best of all possible moods and it turned out I was. With the Xanax/Banana combination working through my system I took the elevator to a very high floor.
Lazyteat@gmail says that 1/4 tab of Xanax is being pumped full of drugs.
Apparently “I have found pumping the body full of drugs prior to an interview usually does not work out in the favor of the applicant” so it seems that Miss Greg has gone to interviews pumped full of drugs which did not work out well at all for Miss Thing. I suppose that is why she hasn’t responded to my email asking what it was that they do for a living. Perhaps they don’t work, perhaps she’s not living.
I was astounded by the view, and I could see the Statue of Liberty, and looking over Brooklyn I could even see the ocean in the distance, as well as my neighborhood in Hoboken. I found myself thinking that I would love to work in an office like this with such stunning vistas.
After a short wait, I met with the gentlemen who were friends with Elizabeth, and we walked into a conference room. They had my resume and we ran down the jobs listed. Why did I leave there? What happened here? What do you think of our firm? The last one threw me but I think I recovered and answered with a modicum of relative intelligence.
The interview ended sooner than I expected and was told they would tell me whether or not I got the job. I felt a bit deflated and was soon on the street. Bill’s office was nearby and I gave him a call. He came down and I told him what happened, how I felt the question about the company was probably my Achilles Heel.
Bill was reassuring and suggested that I send an email, thanking them for the meeting. I told him I was already planning on doing that. Then Bill had the added idea of sending an actual Thank You card, a cherry on top as it were. I thought it was a good idea and bought a card in the bus terminal.
I walked home, feeling a bit disconsolate back in Hoboken. After all I did get a haircut and shaved my goatee for this interview, which wasn’t so bad since I did need a haircut and the goatee had a little too much grey in it.
I changed out of my suit and back into shorts and sneakers. I spoke with my brother Frank and that was good. He suggested taking a walk by the river and I explained that I had done that so often lately it is starting to mean nothing to me. Still I had filled out the Thank You card and decided to walk to the post office and drop it off.
I did take Frank’s advice and sat by the river, enjoyed a cigar and read about Zooey Deschanel in the latest New York magazine. After reading all about Zooey, I decided to head home. I made a playlist of the original songs covered in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and listened to that as I walked home. Then my phone rang.
I didn’t recognize the number but saw it was a 212 area code. I answered it and it turned out to be the guy I interviewed with. He was being truthful, telling me that I did not get the job. He explained to me why I didn’t get it, which is something I never heard before.
Basically, I was too good for the job and would have been bored in 15 minutes. I explained that I actually thrive in tedium, in fact I would love a boring job, and it’s where I do my best work. He laughed but once again said that I was basically overqualified.
Perhaps it was telling him about the jobs not on the resume, which would be the music business and People Magazine. Two jobs that people would think would be fabulous and glamorous, therefore rendering any office job to be extremely boring.
‘On the contrary’ I thought, but the gentleman’s mind was made up. He did mention that he was on an HR Council and a friend of his, also on the council might be looking for someone just like me, so he asked if it would be OK to forward my resume to the friend. I couldn’t really say no to that, now could I?
He ended the call telling me he was sorry that it didn’t work out, adding that he ‘wasn’t saying no, just saying not now’, and once again saying I was just too good for the job. I told him that I was disappointed, but I was smiling nonetheless.
So like I wrote earlier, after such a magical day yesterday, lunch with dear friends, dinner and a show with Bill, my spouse (more than a mere roommate), basically anything that followed was bound to be a disappointment, and yes I was quite disappointed today.
At the very least I have some great memories and a whole lot of good friends and family who sincerely love me, as I love them. I am a lucky guy, for some people don’t have that.
The Cake photo sent by Pedro
Happy birthday....make a wish and blow...... lmfao..... yadigg ?????
