Tag Archives: Bergen County

Bummed Out City

Yeah, It’s been one of those days. I should have stayed in bed until the afternoon instead of rising at 9:00.

Last night Julio and I took yet another walk along the river, a few other people looking at the wreckage or at least trying to. It was dark and all that could be seen were police boats anchored around the site where the helicopter and the plane hit the Hudson River.

Like I wrote yesterday there were no survivors.

Not much to see yet people kept coming and staring into the darkness that lay between the shores of Hoboken and Manhattan.

A block or so away the girls were all dolled up for a Saturday night on the town. Big bouncers stood next to them as the girls tried to entice Julio & myself into various bars and clubs.

We just wandered up the boulevard, running into the Latino kid who works at the shoemaker shop around the corner. He invited me to stop by the store sometime, saying he had a gift certificate for me.

Since the last time I was there in November 2008, things had gotten ugly real fast. It wasn’t his fault, it was the runner they have, some GED program drop out who turned up the heat on the problem at hand. A born & raised Hobokenite from way back when with nary a tooth in his head.

The Latino kid was gracious and shook my hand and wished me a good evening before going on his merry way.

Julio and I continued walking when we ran into Bill who was just getting back from stage managing a play in midtown, off off Broadway.

Actually we heard him first, saying that Julio and I made for a nice couple. The three of us walked back to our building, Bill explaining his plan for the night at 10:00.

He was going to rent a Zip Car at midnight so he could drive around Bergen County and explore the routes for the bus company he’s going to be driving for.

Having grown up in Bergen County I knew of some of the routes, but I wasn’t about to head out there and go driving. He expected to get back in a few hours, like around 2:00 or 3:00.

I didn’t stay up, I just went to bed. When I woke up this morning, there was Bill in bed. I asked him what time he got in and he said 5:00 making me feel I did the smart thing and stayed home.

It’s ridiculous, but Bill wants to drive a bus that badly and who am I to say otherwise? He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t do drugs. He just wants to drive a bus.

Now I’m at home after walking around by myself. I was going to head into the city, just to get out of Hoboken and brave what appeared to be approaching storm clouds.

But, I missed the bus and walked along the river and sat, enjoying a cigar and finishing up the New Yorker and reading some of the Tom Waits biography by Barney Hoskyns.

Not much to see again, just some boats and some buoys making where debris was submerged as well as various news trucks parked alongside the road.

I should have gone into Manhattan.

8.9.09 Recovery boats 001
8.9.09 Recovery boats 002
8.9.09 Recovery boats 003
8.9.09 Recovery boats 004

News crews in their tents

News crews in their tents

Too Much Monkey Business

Friday has arrived. Took it’s sweet time getting here. It was a relatively productive day, but first, last night’s TV. Yes, Lost was on and yes it was good. All about Desmond. No barrow. No marketplace. Not much in the memory department either. It was good and the scene with Penelope was sweet. A happy ending of sorts. Talked to Annemarie on the phone for a while last night. Just family drama, too personal to write about here. How’s that for a tease?

Things have been very tense in upper Bergen County for a while and they all came to a head. Fucked up teenagers, damaged parents makes for a emotional maelstrom. And then in lower Bergen County, my sister in law Elaine is having an angiogram, and Frank is stressed. With the cutbacks in state employees I wonder if Frank will be affected. He’s a country employee you see, and shit rolls downhill. Annemarie is trying to organize a laughter yoga group and that’s slow going. I hope it works out, though all you need is one person. Or maybe one other person. You can laugh by yourself, but it’s easier to laugh with someone else.

I laughed loudly watching the Daily Show last night with Jason Jones jonesing for Starbucks coffee, going so far as rooting through garbage cans and drinking a used condom filled with coffee. Yes it was gross and it was also hilarious. I slept incredibly well last night, woke up really rested and in a decent mood. I timed myself and I can wake up and be out of the apartment in 45 minutes, including a shower and coffee. I didn’t shave today, since it’s Friday. Also cut my forehead with my thumbnail. Not used to having nails, you see.

For most of my life I bit my nails, and for the past couple of months I haven’t. I haven’t even used the bitter nail enamel that I was using for years. It’s bitter, it’s probably poison and it did deter me from biting my nails for a while, until I washed my hands a few times and the poison would wash off. Now I compulsively file my nails and that seems to be the tact that works. I still want to write something about Nail Biters Anonymous, which involves someone like me, or actually me, going up before the group and saying , ‘Hello I’m John and I’m a compulsive nail biter’ only to get the response of ‘What? We can’t understand you, take you fingers out of your mouth!’. That’s as far as I got. If anyone else has an idea on how to follow that, I’d like to hear it.

Bill is hoping to come over this weekend, if just for the opportunity to sleep in our bed, he’s been couch bound for a few months now, and not sleeping well. I’m looking forward to sleeping next to him again. Hopefully I won’t hit him while I’m sleeping. It’s been known to happen. Got my Guinness for the weekend, I’m set for what comes before Part B.