I suppose it was my own fault. I should have checked the calendar for today last night. Though, to be fair if I knew, my evening would have been filled with apprehension. I should have checked and saw that Yancy and his supervisor and his cohort would be visiting my fruit stand this morning.

Now that Marcus has gone their presence has been felt more and more. Apparently, Marcus used to run interference on behalf of Jimmy Santiago and myself. Now without Marcus, they have been more and more visible. And Jimmy Santiago is greatly annoyed by this turn of events.

On Monday, someone who never visits this fruit stand visited in the morning. On his way out he noticed a not very well done paint job and brought it up to the powers that be at his fruit stand, which caused one of those powers that be to reprimand Jimmy Santiago.

I admit I had noticed the bad paint job but for one thing I did not think it was a big deal. And unless one is looking directly at the wall no one would notice it. Most of the time, meaning 99% of the time people are staring at their devices in their hand and would not notice.

The visitor noticed and sounded the alarm. Now Jimmy Santiago is talking about heading out in a month. He’s been here for a few years and is starting to see where things might end up. That is distressing to me but I will have to adapt if that happens. I myself, am not looking to leave and once again they will have to kick me out, I’m not leaving voluntarily.

Yesterday was Rafe Dais’ birthday and I sent him a message. He was upset when I was let go. He did hook me up with some office items months before my abrupt departure so I bear no malice towards him. His kid though, is another story.

Things between Mike and myself are OK. Not where they used to be. I had reached out to him last night and got his voicemail and I did not leave a message. He plans on stopping by to give me the money I had loaned to his beloved Wade.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Mike was tired of hearing me complain about it and hung up the phone in middle of the conversation which put an end to any conversation between us for a few days.

He may have spoken to Bill more than me during those days, which was fine by me.

I am so disappointed by the human race. The current situation in this country is awful. Even the liberal bubble in Hoboken is not so liberal anymore. As Mike told me a while ago, people hear that you live in Hoboken, they think you have money. Nevermind that folks like me moved here when it was cheaper. Nowadays it’s all expensive condos and what not. It started in the 1980’s and I suppose it has come to full fruition.

Mike made it to my office. He had a seltzer and some pretzels and also paid me the $40 that his beloved Wade owed me. I have doubts we will do that whole thing again but knowing myself I just might.

While Mike was hovering around my desk, I was playing Midnight Vultures by Beck. It’s possibly my favorite Beck album and I have happy memories about seeing Beck on Valentine’s Day with Julio back in 1999.

There is a song called ‘Broken Train’ and part of it reminded me of a song with a lyric ‘except for my shoes’. I wracked my brain trying to figure it out in my head. I don’t need a smartphone to occupy my thoughts, I can do that all by myself.

Back and forth I kept thinking ‘except for my shoes’. I also thought I would take the train to the Newport station in Jersey City since Hoboken trains were not operating and walked with Mike to the 14th Street station.

As luck would have it, when I got to the turnstile, a Hoboken train pulled in and I hopped onto it, telling Mike I would see him later. The doors closed and I saw Mike turning away from the turnstile. I wasn’t sure if he had the fare available but there was nothing I could do.

I got to Hoboken, still thinking ‘except for my shoes’. I walked past a building where I helped an elderly gent who asked me if I could move his groceries to his front step where he could carry from there. He wasn’t there tonight and I kept walking.

I picked up some shirts from Mona and came home and situated myself. I was going to look up ‘except for my shoes’ online when it revealed itself to me. It was a line from The Cars’ “Moving in Stereo” from their first album.

It’s an enjoyable part of having music constantly playing in my head, trying to figure out where that riff or lyric was from. It took a while, but I figured out where ‘except for my shoes’ came from.

Wednesday, August 12. It was a Thursday 50 years ago when my sister Annemarie took me to my first rock concert. Elton John at Madison Square Garden. It was a graduation gift. My world revolved around Elton back in 1976.

My bedroom had posters on the walls, and my brother Frank was supplying me with Elton records. Annemarie saw Elton on Thanksgiving 1976, the concert where John Lennon made an appearance for 3 songs. I recall Annemarie waking me up back then and telling me that bass players were sexy.

She promised that she would take me to see Elton John the next time he came around. So in 1976, Elton was playing 7 nights at Madison Square Garden, which was a record at that time. It was not consecutive nights, though; the old girl needed a night off now and then.

Billy Connolly opened the show in banana-shaped boots singing a parody of Rhinestone Cowboy which was a hit at the time, Billy sang it as Half Stoned Cowboy. I did not pay any attention to Billy Connolly, I was there for Elton.

It was also the first time I saw people smoking pot, mainly in bowls. I am not sure if Brian or Annemarie partook, though they both did at that time; they might not have wanted to be seen getting high by me. Elton appeared at the top of the stage dressed as the Statue of Liberty, torch and all.

Then they launched into Grow Some Funk of Your Own from their latest LP, Rock of the Westies. I was disappointed that it was not the Elton John Band that I loved; Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson had been fired and replaced by new faces that I did not care for. I liked them, but I wanted the guys who had been playing for years.

I got over it; I had no choice. Elton was in top form. Maybe I had a contact high but most of the night was a blur. Elton was the orange-haired ant running around a piano ringed in neon. The only people I recognized besides Elton were Davey Johnstone (who I met 25 years later) and Ray Cooper.

Kiki Dee came out and sang her hit, I Got the Music In Me and her duet with Elton Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. It was the beginning of a change for Elton though. He was soon to come out as bisexual and I was also discovering my own nascent sexuality. My world was about to turn upside down.

The next day I think I had a mini-breakdown of sorts. Annemarie was going to see Jefferson Starship at the Nassau Coliseum and I really wanted to go see Elton again, but that was not going to happen.

I remember being in tears in the bathroom on Riverview Avenue dealing with my hormones and desire to go to a concert again. Plus, High School was looming on the horizon and I had no idea what to expect.

Overall, I did not know much of anything.