Tag Archives: Roda

Rocky and Fumble

What a day. If there was a day to run into friends it would be today. But no one is around it seems. It started with a phone call from someone I used to work with, Dave who reminded me of someone I used to work around, Rocky. Dave is in the cigar business and was calling to shoot the shit as it were. As he talked about his adventures and misadventures I was walking to the bibliothèque. He knows Shlomo and Israel from the other cigar store and dished the dirt on them.

I had to get off the phone and told Dave that he should call me over the weekend, when my calling plan is not as restrictive as it is during the week. In fact anyone calling me would have the best chance of getting me on the weekends and that means you too Mr. Chasm.

I got home and found some emails from Bill and his former boss. It’s a mishegas to say the least and I replied that ‘Yeah what happened was uncool but Moe was a dick and karma’s a bitch.’ And just like when you close that door, that moment that you realize you just locked yourself out with the keys on the other side of the door, I realized after I hit the send button, the email went to Moe and not Bill, followed by a manic cackle from me that was tempered by regret at this fumble.

Moe responded soon enough, stating that he did not deserve to be called that and I said I was sorry. But it did weigh heavily on my conscience. All afternoon it weighed me down. So after roaming around Hoboken heavy hearted, I wrote once again to Moe, stating that what I wrote was not intended for him to read but once something is seen it can’t be unseen. Moe should understand that since he had been known to reply to ‘all’ on emails (throughout the company) that should only have been sent to the original recipient.

I closed with my sincere regret and sorrow that things ended the way they did. He replied that he was sorry they ended that way too. Where things stand, I don’t know. I do know that I won’t be seeing Moe at the Mets game tomorrow, now that this has happened. Then again, I wasn’t really planning on seeing him anyway. It would have been too awkward for all concerned and now it is really awkward.

Other than that, it is back to Maxwell’s for me again tonight. RoDa is working as well and I have something in mind that he might be interested in. Not going to say what it is right now, but it is something that came to me last night when I went to bed. Something that was so compelling that I got out of bed and wrote it down, sketched it down really, a germ of an idea. I just have to convince RoDa to use Google Drive, which is a great program that everyone should use.
IMG_20130419_151649

IMG_20130419_151657

IMG_20130419_151704

IMG_20130419_151732

Rocky & Fumble (with friends) from Los Bros Hernandez- Love & Rockets

Rocky & Fumble (with friends) from Los Bros Hernandez- Love & Rockets


Don’t Pass Me By

Stage Fright

“It’s my 30th birthday…” said Rachel, the sister in law of the bartender. Rachel is from Charlotte, South Carolina. “Happy birthday Rachel.” “thank you. It feels different being 30 and all…”
“30’s nothing” I tell her and ask her and her friend to guess my age.
“42”. That was nice to hear and their faces dropped when I told them that I was 50. They didn’t ask for proof so they could think I was putting them on, they were tipsy and celebratory.

I am old enough to be the father of several of these twenty somethings. It’s humorous.
They’re not like Juan though. Juan does his own thing and doesn’t care what other people think mostly.
I wrote ‘mostly’, since no matter what, people do care what others think of them.
Juan doesn’t even give a shit about what I think of him. Off to Leonardo and the Principal Crawfish for him it is.

I worked Saturday night and Rand came by and RoDa was managing so that made for a good night. It was busy enough and as usual the stage fright or anxiety I get before going to work dissipated. It was a good staff and fairly crowded. At one point as I was winding my way through the crowd (I mangled the nail on my left hand and needed to get nail clippers from my bag) I tried to maneuver my way around a short woman. She was trying to maneuver out of my way and I wound up grabbing her breast.

I immediately apologized and she accepted the apology, knowing that it was purely an accident. I’m sure I blushed and when I returned to my spot on the floor, I mentioned to RoDa and Rand that I just grabbed a woman’s breast and that it felt like a bag of sand. Rand got the joke immediately and explained to RoDa that it was a line from the 40 Year Old Virgin. For me it was the first and probably last time I’ve ever touched a woman’s breast. I’m pretty sure I was bottle fed when I was a baby so I didn’t even see my mother’s breasts at feeding time.

I worked the whole shift and came home and tried watching Saturday Night Live with Melissa McCarthy as the host. It looked funny and decided to hold off from watching it so I could see it with Bill and or, Juan. Once again I slept really well and woke up refreshed. Bill was driving from Atlantic City and after that headed to check in on his mother. My anxiety kicked in again as the day progressed, I ran a few errands but mainly stayed indoors until it was time to go.

I was scheduled to work at 6:00 so I had dinner around 5:00. I walked up Washington Street and started seating people almost immediately after getting to Maxwell’s. There is a Sunday evening special which goes from 5:00 to 8:00 and there were a few families taking advantage of the three course meal plan. Bands were scheduled in the back room and the restaurant was busy but not excessively busy. Allie stopped by for dinner with his friend Kevin. Allie is an old friend from Maxwell’s and it was good to see him, albeit worrisome since he was walking with a cane.

And Allie was let go from his job last week as well. He’s older than Bill and myself, but has a steadier head on his shoulders so he’s probably prepared for this type of thing. Bob Bert also came in for dinner and it was cool to have a few words with him. I actually had a dream that had Bob Bert on a beach, a few feet away from Brian Jones and Keith Richards. I told Bob about that and he said it would have been cool if it were true. But Brian Jones died in 1969 and Bob being a couple of years older than me would have been an adolescent then. Of course I am reading too much into that.

Bob left and soon Allie and Kevin did too. I made friends with a German couple who were there to see some American rock and roll. Nice couple, they were headed to Florida for the rest of their holiday and enjoyed Maxwell’s very much. I consider myself the cruise director onboard the SS Maxwell’s, perhaps from watching Love Boat too many times when I was growing up- but I feel so Lauren Tewes when I am at the door.

Today was the day that spring finally arrived and after doing laundry, I took a walk around Hoboken, winding up by the river where I sat and continued reading ‘Across the Great Divide’, Barney Hoskyns book about the Band. I don’t really care for the band, I just enjoy Barney’s writing. It has gotten me to listen to their music, primarily their well-known songs, which is better than nothing I suppose.
IMG_20130406_101145

IMG_20130406_104142

IMG_20130406_104535

IMG_20130406_113624

IMG_20130406_120751