Posts Tagged ‘Cigars’

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I Like the Sunrise

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Just got home from day one of a four day stint working in the cigar shop. It was an interesting day to say the least. First thing, which happens to be the latest thing, Keith Olbermann’s last show was tonight. All of a sudden, at the end of the show he announced that it is no more.

I found out when I checked my email a few minutes ago from the LA Times and the New York Times. No explanation given. Perhaps over the weekend, or at least next week, if ever. It will be explained at some point, that’s for sure.

Back at the cigar shop, all seemed well. Today was payday and Calvin was extra nice, wanting for me to buy a box of cigars and ship them to Hoboken. He would like to buy some cigars and ship them with mine.

So he buttered me up, I relented and made him pay for shipping. It’s cheaper to buy cigars in New York and ship them to New Jersey since interstate commerce cannot be taxed. I save a ton of money doing so.

After getting all that together, I received a phone call from the guy who called me earlier in the week. An interview has been set up for next Tuesday. There’s an online application I have to fill out which I haven’t checked yet and I will once I am done writing this here blog entry tonight. I’m trying to not let my hope get out of control.

The day proceeded as it often does, slowly and the man cave back room was filled with smoke. Calvin had his two hour lunch and I manned the front of the store while he smoked in the back room. I don’t mind Calvin taking a two hour lunch. He usually comes back happy and he’s out of my hair during that time.

Another phone call, from someone who had come across my resume online. The called, named Mike noted that I had sales experience on the resume, 7.5 months of sales experience selling cigars. Mike asked if I was interested in becoming a stock broker and I told him that I was not interested. That call ended quite quickly.

I had a good lunch at what is becoming my favorite diner, the Moon Rock, next to what used to be A&R Studios, then Le Bar Bat and now it’s Providence. The food is good, they seat me in a booth where I can sit and read and there is hardly anyone there when I am there.

After that it was a 15 minute visit at the internet computer bank nestled in the back of Universal News. The new guy, Fred was in when I returned from lunch and he was helping Calvin unpack boxes that had just come in. A long day finally came to an end. Fred left a few minutes early so he could catch a train home and I closed up the shop.

Uneventful rides home, and now here I sit, Bill a few feet behind me and Bill Maher and company (including Rachel Maddow who has no idea what happened with Keith Olbermann) pour forth from the television. Another day of work tomorrow, day 2.

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I Concentrate on You

Monday, December 13th, 2010

It’s Monday and I have been off of work today. I slept in later than usual, took a melatonin after watching Time Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Shameless, the William H Macy show on Showtime. It doesn’t start until January but somehow I found the first episode.

It was pretty good actually, though William H Macy made his first appearance in the last minute. Right now, I am oddly entranced by Claire Danes performance as Temple Grandin in the HBO movie of the same name.

She plays the autistic researcher named Temple Grandin who streamlined the cattle herding industry, which lead to the slaughterhouse (abattoir is a much nicer word). Improvements for the cattle industry, not so much for the cattle themselves.

It’s a very interesting movie, and Claire Danes is unrecognizable as Temple Grandin. It’s a welcome distraction from the day I’ve been having. I’m also watching Temple Grandin instead of the frustration of the news, International, national, local and political.

The day started out alright I guess but the blues did creep in. Just the blues for no reason at all. Perhaps it was because of different things, like books and CD’s I dropped off last week are still listed on my bibliothèque card as being out.

Or going to the dry cleaners as Bill asked to pick up clothes only to find that they couldn’t find them. As I climbed the stairs to the apartment, the dry cleaners phoned to say they found the clothes. They giggled and I grimaced.
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Just one of those days. The temperature dropped considerably and earlier when I was outside there were snow flurries. I got a text from Roda, who invited me to the Maxwells Holiday party. I’m not going, last year was too awkward and I felt really out of place.

And I was broke last year and could barely afford a pint. This year, I do have some money and could buy myself a pint or two, but I’m really not drinking these days and I do have to go to work tomorrow. Perhaps I will go, if only to drop off a DVD that Kevin Craughn made.

Kevin burned The Radiant Child the documentary about Jean Michael Basquiat that Roda and I had seen a few months ago. But already that feeling has left me and I would be content to stay home. Just stopping by would be impossible since I’m sure a few people I know would be at the party and wouldn’t allow me to leave without having a drink.

I think I prefer to stay home. I have It’s Complicated starring Meryl Streep (an excellent skater btw), Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin. I also have a 2 DVD set of Citizen Kane. Both from the library. I also have Shutter Island from Netflix, so I have choices.

Guess I won’t watch Keith Olbermann tonight. I think I’ll steer clear of frustration, anger and depression. That’s not so bad. At least I don’t think so.

Plenty of things to watch until Bill comes home.

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Posted in What's for Dinner? | 2 Comments »

I Need a Situation

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

Baby, I know you’re wonderin’, why I don’t come over to your place. Cause I’m not too sure about how you feel, so I’d rather go at my own pace. Yes, I just posted a Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam video on Facebook, and so now the song is in my head.

Today was back at work for me. Back at the cigar shop. Don, Sean & myself. It was the last weekend of a fine team. Don’s last weekend is next week, but Calvin will be with us and that is no fun. Sean came up with the idea of ordering a pizza for this special weekend and so that was nice.

I agreed knowing that I would be likely having pizza with Bill tonight. So a greasy pizza this afternoon, and a coal over pizza tonight with Bill. Both were good and hit the spot. When I was living in Weehawken, pizza was the main staple of my diet, passing Monetti’s Pizza every night.

Now, maybe I have pizza once a week. And today was the exception to that rule.

Last night, instead of seeing Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby I stayed home while Bill tried to explain to his friend Theresa how to operate an iBook. But it was more than that. Theresa needed to be schooled on most of the computer basics, that Ctrl B means BOLD, Ctrl I means Italics and Ctrl U means Underlined. Stuff like that. No underlining on WordPress.

It was an interesting and entertaining evening. I mainly sat in front of my computer as they chatted. I tried watching Bill Maher and the DVD of Inherit the Wind which I have been watching in spurts for the past few days.

The DVD is from the bibliothèque and is due back in a few days. I have off Monday and Tuesday so I should have ample to time to finish that one off. I also have the animated movie, 9, with the voices of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly and Jennifer Connelly. It’s directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.

I just got that off the cover of the DVD. I have no idea who Timur Bekmambetov is. That’s also due back at the bibliothèque soon so I’d better get crackin’ on that.

I am looking forward to tonight’s Saturday Night Live. The guest host is Scarlett Johansson and the musical guests are Arcade Fire. Hopefully there will be funny skits.

And since tomorrow is Sunday, I don’t think I’ll be a postin’. Unless there is something to post about.

What? Oh I still have to write more? How much have I written so far? Only 449? It seemed like more. Felt like it at least. Oh well still have to meet that quota.

Bill mentioned to Theresa that I write every day, at least 500 words. She was impressed. And I hope you are too.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

All work and no play play, makes Jack a dull boy.

Raymond aka & Don aka


Sean aka


Hyman Gross

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I Dig Love

Friday, November 12th, 2010

It’s been a pretty good day. I had off after all. Got some things done which was nice, spent some money too. I bought some new headphones for the iPod and also a cassette adapter to convert my tapes into mp3′s.

The headphones work fine, the cassette adapter, not so much. I will probably have to figure that one out. The first tape I tried to convert was the Tom Tom Club, Close to the Bone. It’s their second album and of course I like it more than their first album.

The first album is readily available on CD, the second album only available if you buy the deluxe version of the first album. I did that once before, while I was still an office manager. I thought I found a great deal and a good price, but it was actually the CD that I had already.

I tried uploading the cassette earlier but it came out horribly. I can play the cassette through my computer though.

Tonight Bill’s friend Theresa is coming over. She has a new Mac book, as does Bill, and Bill is going to show her how to use her laptop properly. Also tonight Wreckless Eric is playing with Amy Rigby at the Bowery Electric.

Dave Bell is supposed to be going and I was asked to go but I thought I was working. Now that I’m not, I’m not going. I do have to work tomorrow and I am just as happy staying home and doing not much at all. I’m a lazy sod after all.

I heard from Canon today with regards to my camera. I don’t know what was wrong with it, but they fixed it, for under $100.00. I think it was what they call the dry cell on the camera. It just went kaput. I suppose I will find out next week when I am supposed to get my camera back.

Also got a Lampe Berger unit that I bought at the cigar shop and had shipped to the Guitar Bar. It burns an oil that covers up various odors, which we use in the cigar shop to cover up the smell of cigars. Hard to believe some people don’t like the smell of cigars, at least good cigars. I’ve always liked the smell of a good cigar.

I never minded the smell, whether from the cigars that my father smoked around the house or the smell of cigars that Father Lennon would smoke while roaming the halls of St. Francis de Sales in Lodi. And the cigars they smoked were more than like cheap machine rolled cigars, like White Owls or Antonio & Cleopatra.

The smell should go over well with Theresa coming over, and also good for our next door neighbor, Kim, who hasn’t complained but if I can smell cigars (and I smoke cigars) then she could more than likely smell them as well.

Not much else to report on this end. I’m staying in, not going out. Back to work tomorrow and Sunday and off Monday and Tuesday. It’s a messed up schedule but that is the life of retail. The epiphany still holds. It may not be the job that I want, but it’s the job that I got.

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I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun

Friday, August 20th, 2010

It’s now Friday and lucky me, I have off Saturday and Sunday. Maybe now I will see what all the fuss is about. It’s been a while I think that I’ve had Saturday and Sunday off. This was arranged a few weeks ago when I requested to have August 22nd off to see the Specials at Summerstage.

Then to my dismay, the State Department wouldn’t give the band visas. So the show was canceled but I still have 2 days off. Instead of a free show to see the Specials, I am going to Joe’s Pub tomorrow night to see Adele Bertei, backed by the Raybeats with Gail Ann Dorsey from David Bowie’s band on bass.

It’s so unlike me and I’m going alone. There may be tickets still available so feel free to join me. It’s only $20.00. I felt I should see some music over the weekend.

And though I’ve seen the Raybeats several times back in the eighties, and I’ve met Gail Ann Dorsey, I’ve never seen Adele Bertei, having missed the Contortions and the Bloods back in the day.

I had to set reminders to let me know about the show, so rarely do I go out these days.

I even thought about checking out some galleries tomorrow, perhaps an early start. Some things to do about the apartment, laundry, general cleaning up so an early start should occur. I wrote that with a straight face.

Straight meaning, not laughing.

Today was a pretty good day at the cigar shop. Pretty busy and money was made. I did almost $2000.00 worth of sales. Still I was in third place. I do like working at the cigar shop, the staff is alright to work with and the customers are mainly OK.

My Friend, My Friend hasn’t been in the shop the past couple of days, I hope he is well. He’s an intelligent bloke and is good for smart conversation.

I suppose reinventing oneself for a job goes on everywhere, but it’s not a total reinvention, more like the tweaking around the edges. I thought I would have to do a complete overhaul but obviously it wasn’t to be.

Some people know me as one person, others know me as someone else and my co-workers know me as someone entirely different. Or am I. It’s all in perception I guess. We all see things differently.

It’s all like Rashomon, but where and who is the ghost?

I treated myself to a Good Burger dinner tonight. I ate at the shop in the back and figured I would work it off as well as walk it off, which I hope I did when I walked from the cigar shop to the bus terminal.

Tonight’s musical journey was courtesy of the Pretenders first album, called Pretenders. 16 minute, 57 seconds, from Precious (not based on the book Push by Sapphire) to Space Invaders.

Funnily enough, I think I bought the Pretenders first album at EJ Korvettes in Paramus, the same day I bought the Specials first album.

Ah, 1979. A pretty good year for music.

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This Charming Man

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

Just woke up from a dream, where I was on the phone with a former co-worker. She’s been out of work too and there wasn’t too good a connection so I had to ask her a few times what she had just said. In the dream I was in the apartment and walking through the kitchen and all of a sudden there was a water leak from somewhere where there isn’t any pipes or anything like that.

Just thought it was odd and it’s what actually woke me up from a fairly deep sleep of about a hour.

The day has been OK. Last night was cool too. Last night was watching Olbermann and then Radio Days with Bill. Funny thing is, when I first saw Radio Days in 1986 I didn’t much care for it. It was good, but I thought it was too treacly.

Too close to Neil Simon territory for me. It wasn’t until a few years later did I realize that it’s probably one of Woody Allen’s best. Seth Green was excellent in in. I wonder whatever happened to him?

We totally bypassed the news and watched instead 30 Rock from the other night. That had to be one of the funniest episodes ever, if only for Alec Baldwin on the subway. He had the panhandler spiel down pat.

It was hilarious, not to demean panhandlers of course. At least the ones who actually need to beg for money, not the scam artists.

It was 11:30 when Bill decided it was the best time to start shredding papers. That was a bit unnerving. I wound up going to be around 1:00, leaving Bill to watch Colin Ferguson with Ewan McGregor alone. I did catch the Pixies on Conan O’Brien and they were actually pretty good. Looked like they all were getting along too.

Never quite got into the Pixies though even after I’d seen them at McSwells. Slept well and woke up to see Bill shredding some more paper. The room was more crowded than it was before I went to sleep. Bill was off for some physical therapy, deep tissue massage for his knees.

I went out and got the paper and some bagels. Nothing for the third floor family though. Bill came home with his own bagels and eventually did what he does all the time with his bagels. He puts them in the oven until their charred and then he eats them.

Drives me crazy and stinks up the apartment with the odor of burnt bread. He’s a strange one that Bill, but I can’t help but love him. Despite that, with each gnaw of a burnt bagel I climbed the wall an inch or two.

I decided to head into the city just to get away. A walk around midtown on a Saturday afternoon. No one around except tourists and they were easy to avoid.

I hadn’t had a cigar in a while so I bought one at Barclay Rex and wandered around. It wasn’t as exciting as it sounded though and soon enough, I was on the Path train heading back home to Hoboken.

Bill was off driving to Atlantic City today and isn’t coming back until tomorrow. So no burnt bagels tonight.

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