Posts Tagged ‘Abby’

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Marquee Moon

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Well here it is, a Saturday night. Remarkably I am feeling no edge, even when I shave. Perhaps it’s time to get a new blade. Or a new strop.

Just got back from a boogie woogie ramble in Manhattan. Went in and did some coconut work for Greg Stevens. It was nice for a while, no one was in and all the lights were off.

I left it that way, giving it a cool atmosphere and not wasting any electricity. Of course about 90 minutes later in comes Abby and about six of his fellow country men and women.

It was odd, when I came into the building I saw two of Abby’s countrymen outside having a smoke. I had met them before and waved as I was going in. The security guard Rick, knows me fairly well and said that those two guys outside (the countrymen) tried to get in, but since no one was there he refused them access, despite their pleading that they had keys.

I told Rick that I sort of knew them and waved when I came in. Since they looked at me with an air of indifference I told Rick that they can stay outside for all I cared.

So they waited 90 minutes until the perpetually late Abby showed up for a guided tour of empty cubicles and overturned garbage cans.

Working on Greg Stevens coconut job was tedious but I was grateful to get some tasty cole slaw coming in.

Walking home I listened to Sly and the Family Stone- Anthology. Incredible stuff even after getting burned with Chaz a few years ago seeing Sly at BB King’s nightclub. Sly was shy and unintelligible. Chaz took me and I still have to make it up to him somehow.

Just listening to I Want to Take You Higher made the hair on my arms stand on end. Well it was either Sly & the Family Stone or the electrified subway grating that I was standing on. I’d like to think it was Sly.

Last night after doing some other coconut work for Greg Stevens I walked across town and saw a play that Bill has been stage managing the past few weeks. Now I had seen quite a few projects that Bill has been involved with, some good, some bad.

Fair to middling.

Last night’s show was 4 one act plays that ranged from OK to very funny. I can’t knock the playwright and director since he’s a friend of Bill’s (Arthur French III- not ‘friend of Bill’s’ like in AA) and there really isn’t any need to.

The first act took place in a locker room, after a professional basketball player’s last game. The team manager, the player and his girlfriend. The player’s wife and kids were off stage. It was OK.

The second act took place that beautiful morning in September 2001. Office workers in limbo at 9:15 AM. Some are dead, one is still alive, but basically they’re in limbo. Sort of an existential Twilight Zone which got some nervous giggles from the audience members behind me.

Then came the third act, a two actor piece about 2 former drug buddies, she has HIV and he doesn’t. They were old friends since they were teenagers who became junkies. That was very good and touching.

The fourth and final act was the silliest of all. Set in some near future, maybe 15 minutes from now, a guy is having problems with his robot girlfriend, her replacement robot and the supervisor robot woman who almost became his latest hook up or plug in.

I went out with Bill and the cast for some snacks and a pint. Nice people all of them and if tomorrow wasn’t the last performance I would recommend going to see it.

That’s it for me on this end. How are things holding up on your end?

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Posted in Abstract Absurdist Otherness | 1 Comment »

So Fresh, So Clean

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Jeez I’m tired. Skipped lunch and that’s probably why. I don’t skip lunch and it was because I thought I would be out of the office by 2:00 that I didn’t eat.

The reason for that was Greg Stevens. He’s still having Blackberry problems, carrying over from the other day. I couldn’t do much but provide physical support, which meant sitting in Greg’s office while he talked with his actual IT guy in Los Angeles, AT&T customer service, Blackberry customer service and some other service, all on a conference call.

Greg considers me his IT guy in Manhattan which is nice but would make people like Rand and even Bill chortle at the thought of me being in Information Technology. Sure I know a little bit more than Greg which is a good thing, keeps my foot still in the door.

The intern came in today. She was telling me that Abby called her mother to complain that the intern wasn’t taking Abby’s calls. The intern is Asian Indian as well and she got the job since they’re all part of a sub-continental network of sorts.

Apparently Abby has taken to showing up at around 6:00 and actually asked where I was last time he was in. Numb nuts doesn’t know that I don’t work with him anymore. Still, he is welcome to ask, but it doesn’t mean he’ll get me to do anything for him.

Whom am I kidding? If I could help him I’m sure I would, but he’s the type to take my kindness for weakness.

I also found out from the intern that she heard I’ll be working 3 days a week. Well today is day 3. I did get an email from Vivek and I told him that I’ve worked 29 hours so far, and that includes the 2 days I worked last week.

He said that he would give me a Cafe Press T-shirt for my collection tomorrow so I will just have to go in with my sweet kissable taint, hopefully for just a few minutes and then off to the bait shop.

Today on my way home I stopped by the Chasm residence. Good to see Casey and the missus. Casey has a great opportunity tomorrow and I off course wished him well. He’d make a great spokesperson for his invention.

It was good to sit still and hang out with them for a little while. Probably much like Juan felt last night when he stopped by for a spell. A nice visit with friends, not too long.

So tomorrow I’ll sleep late and get to the office around noon which isn’t that bad. And I’ll probably get some work done while I’m there since Vivek as you know from reading these entries is notoriously late.

Annemarie and Earl fly in tomorrow and I already told Julio I need the beach gear since there is a good chance that I’ll be headed to Sandy Hook on Sunday. I’m sure I’ll have to keep on him about that. It will be good to sit on the beach and look at the ocean.

I’m probably going to head out with Rand & Lisa check out some music on the pier at 13th street in Hoboken tonight. He called and I didn’t have anything else to do anyway, so why the hell not?

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Posted in Whats for lunch? | 2 Comments »

Young and Dancing

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Here I am again, on Bill’s Mac. I’m lucky since he doesn’t mind. Of course my hours using his Mac are limited but that’s ok.

Right now it’s a beautiful warm day, a nice breeze is blowing through the open window.

So today was my first day of being unemployed. Not so bad so far. I mean, the weather has held up nicely.

I did go into the office again. Met Greg Stevens and the head honcho from the Los Angeles office. Nice guy the head honcho is.

They may be taking me on, but that will have to be discussed with their next meetings I suppose. I filed my unemployment claim while I was in the office.

Vivek was in, looking better than he did yesterday. I am still with the program that Vivek suggested, getting financed bajo la mesa. We’ll see how that works out. It could be a decent thing and all I can do is count on their hopelessness when I’m not in.

The deckchairs still need to be arranged.

I did have a scare on the way home, saw Abby in Hoboken talking on his cell on Washington Street. I knew it was him and lucky my bus rolled on by so there was no contact at all, plus his head is so far up his ass all he would be able to see is his lower intestine and not me.

Last night was nice, I watched True Blood and wow! Of course I can’t give anything away. I’m sure when Annemarie shows up we’ll watch an episode or two since she’s now into it from watching the DVD’s of the first season.

Tonight I’ll watch Weeds and Nurse Jackie I guess.

I have a few invites for the 4th of July on Saturday. I was invited to Rand’s sister’s house in Weehawken, as well as one of the neo-cons having a party on his boat in Port Liberte in Jersey City.

I think I’ll be sticking with Jim and Meghan and their Super girls and see Conor Oberst and Jenny Lewis at Battery Park City. That’s in the afternoon so I would have sometime between then and the fireworks at night.

This year the fireworks are going to be on the Hudson River, in honor of Henry Hudson discovering something that was already there and well known. And it was a mistake on Henry’s part, thinking it might be a passage to China.

I guess anywhere in Hoboken would be a good spot to watch the fireworks.

Tonight Bill and I are having a ‘date’ so to speak. Just another nice little dinner. It’s because of that, that I had to take a raincheck from Casey Chasm who was hanging out tonight and invited me over.

I have to meet up with him and the missus before they blow this Popsicle stand of Hoboken. Also have to talk to Rand about a new computer since mine is definitely on the way out. I’m sure we will cross paths the next couple of days.

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Um “oh” e um “ah!”

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

What a day this has been. First off, I broke the rule of going to sleep the same time as Bill and wound up not being able to sleep well. A few interruptions and before I knew it, Bill was kissing me goodbye, telling me that I looked angelic laying there.

A few minutes later the alarm clock went off, no music- just the buzzer. I got it together and looked forward to an easy going day. Vivek in Las Vegas, and Sanjay flew in last night from Florida thanks to my ticket purchases.

Last night after finagling the tickets Abby was in the office. I need this I need that. Fine, whatever. I left around 5:00 and didn’t say goodbye. He was on the phone.

I left and halfway through my walk to the bus terminal, I get a phone call. It’s Abby. He couldn’t believe I left when he needed envelopes and stamps and copies to be made.

Not for work, but his own personal accounts. I told him to go to my cube and instructed him where to find the things he needed. Then he needed copies to be made and I instructed him on how to operate a copier. Hit the green button!

This morning after Bill left I did my thing and made it to the bus. As I sat down on the bus I realized that I left my cellphone at home. I almost got off the bus but decided to proceed with the day.

A nice walk across town and I soon found myself in the office by 9:15. At 9:16 I get a phone call from Sanjay. Tomorrow is a conference call at noon and I’m expected. I mentioned that I thought I was off on Fridays.

Sanjay says, no problem, we’ll just do the conference call on Monday. I explain to him that Monday is a federal holiday. No problem for him, they’ll just conference me in from home. Oh what a thrill.

Sanjay eventually made it in the office right around the same time as Abby. That made things busy and not as easygoing as I had hoped. A quick demonstration on how the Movie Box works in hotel rooms.

If you want to watch a crappy movie that went straight to DVD then this Movie Box is for you. And the adult fare is strictly hetero and boring.

The day went on and on. At one point I had to go to the post office for Abby and get some mail certified. I warned him that the lines in the post office can be long and I wasn’t sure when I would be back.

The line wasn’t that long and afterwards I used the opportunity to take a leisurely stroll around midtown and enjoyed a Padron.

I figured out that I knew what I had to do and as I finished my cigar I went back to the office with a new, fresh outlook. It was 3:00.

At 3:01 the phone rings, It’s Nash who works in Kent, Washington. He’s frantic, telling me the conference call is going on and I should be in on it.

Sanjay was in a meeting and Abby was somewhere. So I followed Nash’s instructions and jumped in on the conference call. I didn’t know what was going on and all these instructions were being thrown at me.

There was no one I could turn to or ask anything of so all I could do was take notes and I wound up transcribing most of the call.

I was in over my head. It seemed that anytime I get a grip on the situation the rug gets pulled out from under me. I am really at the end of my rope and I am considering telling Vivek when he returns that I don’t think it’s going to work out.

It’s not what I was hired for and I don’t like the hours. I’m sure they would be better off with someone else who could do the job. And the hours, the dirty looks that I get when I try to leave at 5:30 or 6:00. They seem to be nice people but I don’t think I can work with them.

And it’s soon enough that they wouldn’t have invested that much in me.

I’d be willing to continue supporting the office, booking conference rooms, ordering supplies, being the liaison between the office and the building personnel who like me a lot.

I’m well liked by the office personnel and even the conservatives seem to like me enough to make unofficial overtures that they’d take me on if it doesn’t work out.

But this dealing with hotel and motel owners and the insane hours and tardiness of these guys is really wearing me down. Perhaps that is what is causing me to lose sleep at night.

Right now I’m so tired that when Harpy called I could only respond in monosyllabic words.

I come home, not wanting to cook so I pick up two slices of pizza. Bill comes home and a few minutes later the buzzer rings. It’s a pizza that Bill’s ordered. He doesn’t care. He hasn’t had lunch and will eat the whole pie himself.

This day, will it ever end?

Bill before pizza
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Sobabambau

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Well let’s see, at 9:02 I walked through the door. I am home having left the office at 8:00. Not happy at all about that. This shit is fucked up.

I was in the office at 9:30 this morning and 10.5 hours later I was walking out. More of this bullshit. Movie Beam my ass.

I blame Vivek. He has an idea and expects it to become fully formed as soon as the words leave his mouth. His idea that I will be working for his new venture and not the company that hired me, to do a job that I wasn’t hired for is immensely frustrating.

Gone are the days where a friend would call and ask if I knew of anyone looking for a job. I wish that call would come through. But the phone doesn’t ring.

My Korean stalker still calls and leaves messages. She calls and perhaps she’s offering me a job, in Korean.

Not that I would take it.

Luckily I had a sandwich left over from lunch. I had to order for a few visiting lawyers in the office (we’re being sued) and was told to get something for myself.

I had hoped to eat it at home but I wound up wolfing it down while Abby waited in a conference room with no ventilation (they shut off the building ventilation at 5:00PM) and talking either very fast in English or Hindi.

I really couldn’t tell.

Abby’s a good guy, or seems to be and says he runs 2 other businesses. I told him I don’t like this late hour nonsense and he says he understands, he doesn’t like it much either.

I’m busy enough during the day or at least trying to be busy which also takes a lot of energy and by the time I used to go home is when these Movie Beamers start to become active. They wonder why I’m cranky and dragging my ass, muttering under my breath.

And a lot of it involved once again calling up various hotel/motel people telling them I am faxing over a form for them to sign and fax right back.

And of course, they never fax it back, leaving me to call them an hour later, 2 hours later, then finding out that so & so who was supposed to sign it left for the day. Oh the steam comes out of my ears rendering my phone useless.

And I’m s till dealing with my bank card fiasco. Trying to get refunds for shipping the cursed items back to the origin. I might as well eat the shipping charges. Less frustration and it would only cost $7.95.

But this frustration at work, this coming home at 9:00 is bullshit.

It is interesting that once the sun goes down and the trash from delis and restaurants goes to the curbs the rats come out. Saw several this evening on the way home.

Big rats too.

It’s something to watch as they squeeze their way through a closed garage door.

That’s all I have to write about tonight, I’m pretty tired of being frustrated and writing about it is reliving it. I yelled at a coat hanger tonight when I came home.

Oh and my computer died at work today.

Happy 25th Anniversary to Brian & Karen!

Cinco de Mayo!

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Shake Shake Mama

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

OK, I have a half hour to write. Julio just called inviting me down to his and Stine’s apartment. The baby’s asleep in bed and he’s offering a glass of wine.

How could I resist?

Julio called earlier today asking if I could write a letter on Stine’s behalf so she can get citizenship and not be deported. That should be no problem. So I have 30 minutes to write this entry tonight.

Last night wasn’t as bad as I anticipated, regarding Pap Smear. It was a reading and not an actual play. It started as soon as I sat down. It seems they were waiting for me.

It was supposed to start at 7:30 and I got there at 7:15 after braving the crowds in Times Square as I puffed on a Padron.

Since it was just a reading the performances weren’t as over the top as last time and you needed to use your imagination so that helped. It was painless and over before I knew it.

Came home and watched some TV while having a good talk with Bill. He went to sleep as Bill Maher was starting and I stayed up until 1:30 watching whatever it was that I was watching.

I took a ‘There was cool music before Nirvana’ quiz on Facebook. My friend Betti Cola took the test and scored in the low 90′s. Andy, former sound man at McSwells got in the upper 90′s.

I scored a perfect 100% which another friend, Thaler commented on saying she and her husband Tom were waiting for my results and not surprised by my score.

There was some guesswork involved and despite what some people might say, I did not cheat.

I was too tired to cheat actually.

I went to bed feeling good as Bill wore his sleep apnea mask which was louder than usual. It was white noise, like a very loud waterfall, but still I slept until 8:00.

I had a phone call from Abby who had some boxes in his car for work that he could keep in his car since his car was leased and had to be returned today. I told him to call me at 8:00 and I would go to the office with him and get the boxes stored.

He called at 8:15. He picked me up around 10:00 and we rode into the city. Cleared a few things up between us. He’s always late as most Asian Indians are. He said they operate on IST, Indian Standard Time. His words not mine.

Still I proved that I was a team player and sent him off on his way once we got the boxes to my office.

I walked across town were I ran into Lois and Fred who were online outside of Midtown Comics where it was comic book day and they were getting some free comic books. Perhaps they will sell them at their Gate Sale, weather permitting.

I came home, Bill was still here. We watched King Kong by Peter Jackson on TNT and it was fun. I loved the original and thought I loved the Dino Di Laurentis version, but I didn’t.

Peter Jackson was really faithful to the original and it was fun to watch, even with my sweaty hands towards the end scenes on top of the Empire State Building.

Still a very sad story, yes it wasn’t the plane that got Kong. Twas beauty that killed the beast. But I’m sure you knew that already.

After that I walked Bill to the bus stop and I wandered over to Tunes where I bought the latest Bob Dylan cd which I already like more than the last one, Modern Times.

David Hildago from Los Lobos and his accordion are one it throughout, giving it a Springsteen feel as well as a New Orleans Zydeco sound. I recommend it.

That’s it for me. Time for some wine with the Alexander’s parents downstairs.

Cheers!

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