Tag Archives: Raymond

I Really Like Him

Well it certainly feels like winter has arrived though it’s not official. Very cold and blustery outside today. It is just as the forecasters announced on the news the past couple of days. It looked like it was going to rain when I went out earlier so I brought and umbrella. I was off to see Raymond at the smoke shop. Shlomo was in as well as his partner, Israel. It was a good opportunity to have a smoke and chat with Raymond. He gets along really well with Shlomo and Israel and it is through Raymond that I’ve been in their good graces.

I enjoyed a smoke and using whatever expertise I had from the last job I held I was able to help various visitors to the smoke shop and turn them from visitors into customers. Just out of being a nice guy. I’m certainly not getting paid. I would like to see Shlomo and Israel succeed and I don’t mind helping out. If they want to throw me a free cigar, that’s fine. And if they don’t or can’t, well that’s fine too. Whatever I can do to help them out while I am just hanging out, I do.

Bill came home this morning and soon went to bed. He usually drives to Atlantic City tonight but there is a different itinerary. He’s not driving to Atlantic City, he’s not driving anywhere. No, he is home tonight and will drive tomorrow to somewhere different. The neighbors are still doing their illegal construction, furniture in the hallway, of course it’s the part of the hallway where the lights are out so if one isn’t careful there is a chance you can walk face first into a sofa. There are a lot of things moving in and out of that space.

Mr. Wonderful Jim Mastro was on TV earlier. The local NBC affiliate had something about small businesses in Hoboken today, how they are doing after the storm and there was god old Jim, playing a mandolin. He also had screen time, telling people to shop local (in Hoboken). I’ve done my bit, getting that ukulele earlier this month during the dark ages and I hope other people purchase items at the Guitar Bar (as well as Guitar Bar Jr.) and the other stores in town. Hoboken still needs help despite city hall saying 93% of businesses are back.

The Path train is still out, no trains to and from Hoboken. The Erie Lackawanna station is open There are plenty of buses and there are plenty of buses to take people into the city and back. The word is that the really big supermarket will be out of business until February of next year. And of course there are the rumors. In the smoke shop a guy was talking about how Radio Shack was looted. It wasn’t. Nothing really bad happened crime-wise in Hoboken. No hordes, no Visigoths descending from Jersey City Heights to pillage the mile square city. Where do these people get their information?


Another Girl, Another Planet

I’ll Bass You (Club Mix)

Well today has been a sociable day for me. Started out nicely with Bill getting home before I woke up and a good morning kiss was sweet. I got out of bed as Bill saw getting his stuff together so he would be all ready to go when the time came. I had a nice breakfast after showering and talked with Bill before he went to sleep for a few hours. It was nice, he is great. A trip to the supermarket was in order, needed to buy milk. No 2% available so I went totally skim which is good I suppose, just not enough body for a decent cup of coffee.

After a few hours of reading and posting some very funny things on Facebook I headed out. I stopped by the new cigar shop in town, nice guys, good staff, and a decent selection. I was blessed yesterday by a cigar salesman. Being blessed is cigar shack lingo from back in the day, primarily what Raymond used to say, meaning a cigar salesman just gave you a free cigar. It does have a certain ring to it and lacks the pretense that exists in certain circles I guess.

I chatted with the fellows who run the shop and had a nice robusto. They told me that Raymond was going to be around, he was in his way to Hoboken. They knew I knew Raymond since I last saw Raymond at another local cigar shop in May soon after my dismissal from the cigar shack. It was for an event in Hoboken and to my surprise as well as Raymond there were a number of cigar shack customers there all bitching and moaning about how the cigar shack is terrible since a phogna bologna like Zack is running the show.

I couldn’t stay though, I needed to get home and make sure Bill was up and ready to go driving again and there was also the weekend call to California, almost every Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 PM. I was walking home, picking up Bill’s laundry and taking to Annemarie on the phone when Raymond phoned. I couldn’t take the call since I was talking to my sister but I did get the voicemail. I came home, there was Bill running around. A kiss goodbye and then I asked where his glasses were. Oh yeah, he needs those when driving.

He made it down a flight of stairs before I heard him coming back. He left his phones behind. I got them for him and he was finally on his way, promising to use his latitude. I called Raymond and soon I was headed back to Washington Street. It was considerably cooler out since the sun had gone down, but I was fine. I had a cigar in my pocket from earlier and met up with Raymond. Good talk, he seems to be doing well. I seem to be doing well so we were both happy with our respective states.

Of course we discussed the cigar shack, how Marcus informed Zack about this here blog. How Zack told Raymond that I was bad mouthing the cigar shack. I just went back and read the entries from earlier in May and yeah I did make a comment about Zack is a great manager when he is sober. Perhaps it was the fear that I would say such a thing to the inhuman resource manager who was coming in to review Zack’s managerial performance so far.

Well that was then, this is now. I won’t grace the cigar shack with the bottom of my shoe. I’ve moved on, I just keep glancing in the rear view mirror as they shrink in the distance. Funny how the lack of an ego can turn out to be quite a large ego, but still that large ego shrinks like George Costanza coming out of the ocean.




Dopestyle – I’ll Bass You (Club Mix)