Archive for the ‘Yesterday’s News Tomorrow’ Category

« Older Entries

I Hear A Symphony

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

I slept really well last night despite the fact that Bill was not in bed next to me. I don’t usually sleep that well when he is away but I guess since I did not sleep that well the night before, my body made up for it. My good friend Lois was working retail in Hoboken today and had a quandary as to what to play while she was working.

I asked if she had an iPod but she didn’t. On the way to the bus stop this morning I figured that since I have an extra iPod I would lend her the extra. I was listening to Hot Chip as I waited in the sun across the street from the bus stop. I decided to make a playlist from one of the tracks when all of a sudden my iPod up and died. Or actually went into a coma.

Being in the sun I couldn’t read the message on the device. I tried to reset it a few times to no avail and did not look forward to the music choices that Bradley or Thomas might present. I know they’re good guys and generally have good taste in music but I used to be a DJ and I guess I like to control the music at the cigar shack.

I think my co-workers recognize that if I can pick the music then I am happy and I think they like to make me happy. Or maybe it’s simply a case of ‘letting the baby have it’s bottle’.

No iPod meant I had to listen to people on the bus, in the bus terminal and in the street as I walked to the cigar shack. I was determined though, to find out whether or not I could reset the iPod once I had access to a computer. As luck would have it as soon as I plugged the iPod in the AC outlet it came back to life. Who knows? Maybe when I unplug it it will go back to being Karen Ann Quinlan.

The day at the cigar shack was slow enough for me to write another blog entry for the cigar shack. http://cigarshackasaurus.com It was an easy write as it usually is. Just show me what to write and I will write it Wow 13 minutes left. I just sold a lime green pen case to a woman named Lynn somewhere in Michigan. Poor thing sounded like she had a behemoth of a head cold.

I just want to go home now. Thomas kicked ass all day, definitely getting the lion’s share and then some in sales. I came in second, happy to have put Bradley in third place. Now the Feelies are playing and I can hear the great Stan Demeski on drums loud and clear. Dave Weckerman’s percussion too.

Crazy wiring on the speakers here. I can here the percussion and drum and the bass and guitar sound far away. On the whole, I’d rather be in Haledon. Not really. First we’ll take Hoboken.

The iPod did work on the bus ride home and I listened to Another Day on Earth by Brian Eno. I don’t think I had heard it on the iPod with the ear buds in but it really is a beautiful piece of work. Jeez I love that Eno so much, I even downloaded an app for Oblique Strategies. I’m pretty sure it’s not official but it’s light hearted entertainment, all the same.

Tomorrow is Sunday so that means I won’t be writing. Why don’t you do some writing? Perhaps leave a comment here, or write your own blog.




01 This

Tags:, ,
Posted in Yesterday's News Tomorrow | 2 Comments »

I Got It

Friday, January 20th, 2012

A Friday for most, but for me it was ‘I don’t know what day it was’ when I woke up this morning. Slept really well due to the melatonin I took before I slept. It helped with the sleeping and made it near impossible to wake up. Still I got out of bed and did my thing. Bill was up and out of course by the time I actually left the bed.

I should not have stayed up so late, but I posted a picture of Janis Joplin and Rick Danko on Facebook and a friend commented on it so of course I had to send a link about the movie Festival Express where the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and The Band are touring across Canada.

When I sent the link I started reading about the Band and next thing I knew it was 1:45AM. About 45 minutes later than I am usually awake. That did not help me waking up at all. The thing is, I don’t really like The Band. Maybe as Dylan’s back up band but on their own I always found them a snooze.

Funny tidbit- in 4th or 5th grade the teacher asked us to make a poster with our favorite bands. I did not know that much about music and the Beatles had ceased to be at that point and no one was really into them so much. I remember my brother Frank talking about The Band so I made a poster saying that The Band were the best band.

It was an easy way out. I wasn’t into Elton then and certainly not into Led Zeppelin since all the bad kids were into them and I was a goody goody. So basically Richard Manuel and Rick Danko are dead, leaving Garth Hudson, Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson are still alive and Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson do not talk to each other. The problem is mainly songwriting credits basically, with Robertson taking the lion’s share.

And that was what kept me awake, reading about a band I don’t really care about. It really was not worth the price I paid today for staying up too late. Another day of wearing thermals. If it is below 30 degrees outside then thermals it is. And it was 26 degrees when I headed out this morning. I once again stood in the sunlight with an eagle eye out for the bus.

5 minutes before it was scheduled to arrive, I moved and waited in the shadows for it. The driver was not racing up the street with 2 cop cars on her tail, no this morning she was somewhat sedate. A solo ride into the city, no Deborah. She’s off to the Dominican Republic with her boyfriend for the next 5 days.

A little over 30 minutes left at the cigar shack. Bradley’s been very nice lately to me, though he hasn’t really had much of anything to say to Thomas. I can’t figure it out and neither can Thomas though we do have our theories. I definitely look forward to sleeping tonight. Even though I don’t sleep well when Bill is not around and he is driving to Atlantic City tonight, I do not think I will have a problem.

Now I am home, Bill is somewhere heading south on the Garden State Parkway. My ride home was uneventful which was nice, and there was the added bonus of my second favorite bus driver behind the wheel. My friend, Chief is driving the late shift so instead of seeing him in the morning I may see him at night when going home.

He’s a good guy and asked me what I thought of the bus driver in the morning. I told him how she was not as good as him and he remarked that she’s been driving for 19 years, and that others have been complaining about her to him. Go figure.

Free Man In Paris

Tags:,
Posted in Yesterday's News Tomorrow | No Comments »

I Fought The Law Dead Kennedys

Monday, December 19th, 2011

44 hours in 4 days. That is where I am at right now. Not as toasted as I thought I would be but still staring at the abyss which by the way keeps winking back at me. Last night Bradley was gracious enough to close up for me, allowing me to get a train to the Path train. The cigar shack did alright as well sales wise so that made Zack very happy as he sat and smoked like Lewis Carroll’s caterpillar in the man cave.

I snagged a seat on the train and was soon home. Bill was up and about and greeting me with a great big hug and a kiss. Bill was watching Lawn hors d’œuvre when I sat down and at 10:00 we started to watch something on PBS about Carole King and James Taylor, me raging Bill with my own personal; stories about James and Carole.

Bill went to bed after that and I stayed up watching Battle: Los Angeles (which wasn’t half bad) and then the second half of Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. Then it was time for me to go to bed.

Woke up once again with Bill being the loving spouse telling me how much he loved me and me grumbling about how I feel the same way. I eventually got out of bed somewhat reluctantly. Fixed myself a breakfast and talked to Bill as I walked to the bus stop. Bill’s co-worker Tom is none too happy about my posting on YouTube, Smooth n’ Fusion at their office party. It was an eye opener for Bill and a nightmare for Tom.

This morning while waiting for my 11:30 bus, the 11:15 bus approaches while there is a 4 x 4 in the bus stop. Two passengers stand there watching the bus roll up, and expecting it to stop even though the driver can’t see them. I do them a favor and flag the bus, they get on without any thanks. I know, I expect too much.

Then after walking up the avenue, foregoing the subway to save some money I get to the cigar shack where Bradley is running the show. Bradley got a phone call from the head of Human Resources about a possible bonus and according to Bradley a commission check as well as our usual payroll.

Three checks in total is what Bradley is telling me but he’s not so sure. I send an email to Sharon Burr, head of Human Resources asking her to respond via email about the matter at hand. An hour later she calls. I explain what is what, and it turns out Bradley is wrong. There will be two checks and the bonus will be direct deposit while the regular payroll which is direct deposit, will be a live check.

I am sure that Sharon Burr is wrong but she is the head of Human Resources and I am not. Then I get into a spat with Bradley over a phone call versus an email. I explain that coming from the corporate world, an email is the best protocol, that a phone message can turn into he said she said or in the worse case a cruel game of telephone.

But Bradley insisted that he was right while admitting that he does not know how the corporate world operates. Bradley is slipping back into idiocy but I should have seen that happening. Perhaps I am being overly familiar since it true, familiarity does breed contempt.


06 Mambo Sinuendo

Tags:
Posted in Yesterday's News Tomorrow | 2 Comments »

I Feel the Earth Move

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

OK, so the computers that we use at the cigar shack are so decrepit that I often make jokes about how we bought them at a garage sale that was had when the Soviet Union collapsed. All tubes and wires and little or no upkeep. Several layers of dust coat the inside of the computers which more than likely hinders any process that they go through hour after hour, day after day.

The home office had been notified and sent the cigar shack a new computer which remained in it’s boxes for weeks, if not a month or two. Finally yesterday the IT guy came in and was all set to hook up the new computer and take away the old one. Well as luck would have it (just as we had the computer in a box for a few months) the new computer was too large for a spot under the register.

A plan was made to get a jigsaw and saw some space under the counter to make room but that was decided against. Now the new computer is back in the box and ready to be sent back to wherever it was that it came from. Lithuania I believe. The humorous part of it all was the computer was laying in the box for so long and no one had the sense to take a look at it. Foibles I believe is what they’re called.

So today Thomas is back from his vacation and he’s back to being the cocky 25 year old he is. I have to keep in mind that if you treat someone with kindness and equanimity that does not necessarily mean you will be treated in the same way. And that’s how Thomas operates. A lesson learned I suppose.

And today like every other day, my beloved Bill has been outstanding. Really great and supportive and I certainly look forward to shooting the set that his jazz combo will perform at the holiday party his company is having at a hot nightspot somewhere in midtown. I’m also looking forward to some excellent food and perhaps a pint or two.

I am also glad that Bill won’t be moving his equipment out of there until next week so that will be once less thing my beloved Bill will have to contend with tomorrow night. After his combo plays he can relax but knowing Bill he will be a flippin’ and a floppin’ on the dance floor as he is known to do.

I attended the party a few years ago thanks to Bill sneaking me in and he was so well known that people kept asking him when he was going to hit the dance floor. Since I work the next day (first day of four eleven hour shifts) I might just split and let Bill get his groove on. He wouldn’t mind and I could just go home and upload the video. Either way who knows what will happen.

I do know that it will be grand to spend quality time with Bill and it’s always a pleasure to watch him play his keyboards. I am so glad I am married to him. And he is so glad to be married to me.

One last thing, I am running another blog concurrently since certain people have wondered where the pathos is, why are names changed. So the names won’t be changed and the whole blog will be as is. So send me an email with bloggo deux in the header and I will send you the link. Some of you already get bloggo deux so there’s no need to send me the email.



02 No Fine Lines 1

Tags:, ,
Posted in Yesterday's News Tomorrow | No Comments »

I Drove All Night

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

I knew I am dictating tonight entry into my smartphone. I am not sure whether not I will continue to correct whatever ari’s might happen. but it should be an interesting a car and then.

I am in the cigar shop once again after 2 day that’s about all I can do right now I don’t wanna be distracted I have to count money to have a problem if you knows off and it has not been so bad. I work with thomas bradley and sheri cell we all got along quite nicely and have quite a few laughs. of course I would rather spend the day with bill said he is driving to atlantic city tonight a late start for him finale thanks for me.

right now I am counting the face in the back a k a h e math games. send mail proposition to be using the microphone to translate what I am saying into text. hopefully you will be as soon as I am. who knows how to make more sense now that sounds amazing right I fingers. so now its me and thomas in about looking at the week ahead.

certainly doable however unpleasant at my page. less than 45 minutes to go getting out at 10 o’clock tonight or rather a little after 10. thomas and I both agree that bradley was in top form and easy to work with today which is different for a change. I certainly hope to hear from body rizoto this week it would be nice to hear something from him.

It’s almost like a Burroughs cut up.

Well I just got home and thought I wouldn’t have to write after dictating what came out as gobbledygook. It’s 11:05PM and I closed the cigar shack at 10:15. Easy getting home though the later hours truly suck. I got in at 12:30 and did the usual 10 hour shift.

I could complain but then again the wankers would respond saying whine whine whine. You don’t see the comments, they go right into the spam folder. Thomas and I had a lengthy discussion about art. I had no idea of his interest and he mentioned that he enjoyed my photos and would consider them worthy of the pantheon that I call ‘Art’.

It was definitely a good thing to hear. We disagreed about R. Mutt and the Fountain. He didn’t see the humor and most definitely does not enjoy conceptual art and really does not like surrealism. And I am all about surrealism. True I edit myself greatly and so a lot of surreal things don’t make the cut.

Perhaps I am too bourgeois, too middle class. That maybe so but I am fine with it. I do what I do and if you like it, that’s fine and if you don’t that’s fine too. Why anyone would go back to something they don’t like time after time, day after day is beyond me.

I am not holding my breath but really don’t mind if they do. They might look good in blue anyhow.






04 Sound And Vision

Tags:, ,
Posted in Yesterday's News Tomorrow | No Comments »

I Don’t Feel Very Receptive Today

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Yeah, sometimes rules get bent, sometimes rules get broken. This is one of those times. Calvin in the back with Jimmy Seltzer, I’m up front writing this. Jimmy suggested that I come up with an outline for the story I am considering putting in the pressure cooker.

A month at a writer’s colony would be nice but that ain’t gonna happen. There are a few around, not close by but it would be nice to have some time there to write write write. Yadoo? Had a good talk with my friend last night.

They received the letter I wrote and were not offended. In fact they told me they were proud of the fact that I write at least 500 words a day, a ‘real’ accomplishment. I was flattered by that remark.

I was also watching part one of the George Harrison documentary by Martin Scorsese which was good, had lots of footage I had never seen before. I hope it gets released on DVD since I would like to own it. Who knew George’s older brothers were still around?

And man Dhani Harrison looks just like his dad circa 1966-67. I haven’t watched the whole thing but I do know how it ends.

Today at the cigar shack it was Calvin and Thomas and Me. Not a bad team, Thomas is coming down with something, Angela- our cleaning lady HAD something and with contact day in day out with customers as well as riding mass transit it seems to be only a matter of time before I get something.

And then there is Bill with the contacts that he makes, who knows what we are each bringing home. I am off tomorrow and I am definitely looking forward to it. I have an appointment in Chilltown but I really don’t expect much of it.

Then perhaps a trip into the city to check out Occupy Wall Street and see what is going on down there. Last night white shirted police inspectors were swinging the billy clubs at protesters who jumped the barricades.

I had an interesting chat with Thomas about that, his attitude was that since they jumped the barricade they deserved to have their head split open. Oh to be young and full of myself at age 25. I was that age once but of course I had a more liberal view of things and did not wish to see the police bashing anyone’s head wide open.

If I have the money I will bring the Occupy Wall Street crew a pizza. ABout 50 minutes left here to go, happy to get this done before I get home since I really want to chill out and not write. But I will if I have to and I usually do have to.

Right now we are listening to the Soundtrack from Twin Peaks by Angelo Badalamenti and it’s jazzy and despite that it’s dissonant enough for me to enjoy it. I got a lot of stuff from Angelo Badalamenti the other day and it’s all so cool and groovy.
Homo again!

Tags:
Posted in Yesterday's News Tomorrow | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries