Ok. Last night went well. Had a fun time with a fun guy, and no fungi. Came home, wrote, watched the Station Agent on TV. Love that film. Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale. I really like Bobby Cannavale. Not only is he easy on the eye, but a great actor to boot. Watched John Lequizamo on ER and then to bed. Woke up at 6:00 and was so bored left for work at 6:45.

Started reading Harpers this week, probably going to subscribe. Enabling Lewis Lapham to buy more nice suits. Hey, if it wasn’t for his advice, you more than likely wouldn’t be reading this. So blame him.

Walked to work, listening to Scissor Sisters and got to work at 7:50. Nice, with no one in the office, I was able to wander and take my time, no hustling. Bleedin Hope was out on her vacation. Listened to her voice mail. Quite chipper. Not at all like someone who has just handed in her resignation. Brenda showed me an email that Bleedin’ Hope sent with bad usage of the word emphasis. Lucille the Lush seems to be in charge, or at least all important decisions are to be made by her, according to Bleedin Hope’s outgoing message.

“Hi, I’m traveling internationally and won’t have access to cell phone or email…blah blah blah” The wombus never said anything via in person, by sycophant or email, which makes me think once again Bleedin Hope never said anything, just expecting me to go, “No. Don’t quit.” I took matters into my own hands and asked a few senior vice presidents and managing directors if I could put them down as references for my job hunt. They all agreed, and some said I didn’t even have to ask. Nice guys on top, crumb bums in the middle, then me. I guess nice guys make the bread in that sandwich.

So I did my thing, just a lot of work, knocked most of it out by 2:00. From then on in it was reading newspapers, stocking the fridge with Poland Spring, and bringing some bottled water down to the guys at the security desk in the lobby. Look at a few websites for jobs and sent another email to Matthew Semegram the guy who placed me at Wanker Banker all those years ago. OK, three years ago.

There was some good news from Annemarie about her husband Rex. Rex had a procedure for his heart and it seems to have gone well. He might’ve been released from the hospital today, but they gave him a private room, and want him to stay one more night. So all is going good for Annemarie, Rex and Earl. I asked Bill to pray for Rex, but Bill being Bill, prayed for all three, which was very nice.

Saw Marcia, Marcus Rasta’s woman. That was nice. Indulgent I know, but helps out on wet indoor weekends. Tomorrow may entail a trip to Sym’s so Julio can buy a new suit. I enjoy buying suits, so I maybe of some assistance. We’ll see.

I got an email from MoJo Magazine. They were asking about favorite Mark E. Smith rants. I picked ‘Winston Churchill had a speech impediment, and look what he did.’, form Tempo House by The Fall.

The other night I had a few lines pop into my head about a couple that were having an open relationship. I wrote before I went to sleep. I wrote: A Play about a couple in a not so open relationship.

“You’ve fooled around before”
“Yes, but with many people! You’re seeing only one person!!!”
“So? I’m loyal….”

That’s about as far as it went. Perhaps this is the seeding. Or Sowing.

But I really have to say, I forgot how much I enjoy writing. Probably a lot more enjoyment derived by me writing it, than by you, dear reader, reading it.

10.21.05

Bananas. It’s all bananas. I believe today was my third anniversary at work. Of course, none of my coworkers from that period are there. They’ve all moved on and apparently speak to each other, wondering why I’m still there. To tell you the truth, I really couldn’t answer. I’ve been good, going to bed at 10:30 each night, waking up at 6:00 AM feeling well rested, definitely a marked improvement on my morning outlook. No, really. I have had discussions with Bill about his unhappiness with me not being a morning person. Of course, he chose to have these conversations in the morning. Generally not a very good idea. Perhaps it’s like going into a starving lion’s den and trying to convince the lion to go vegan.

I was listenening to Brian Eno’s ‘Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)’ as I puttered along the street to work. 8:02AM, no one else there. I set about starting up the office, dropping off newspapers, stocking the fridge, turning machines on, stuff like that. All was going well, as I was quite busy. About an hour after that Bleedin’ Hope shows up and sits next to me saying that it would probably be a good idea to get a temp. The funny thing is, she had asked a put upon coworker, Brenda, to do certain tasks while Bleedin’ Hope flew off to Europe on vacation for two weeks, Brenda said, No, Hire a temp. Bleedin Hope says a temp is not in the budget.

Then Bleedin Hope comes out and tells me it would be a good idea to get a temp to work with me. I said there was no need. She mentioned that she had some complaints about the phones being unanswered. I told her that I sent her emails most of the time when I was away from my desk, telling her phones were being forwarded. I also mentioned that some of her Admins don’t answer their phones. She made it a point to say Admin, singular. I said, no it’s plural.

Zelcah, the bitch that started all this decides to leave in the middle of the day, not telling anyone that she’s off getting her hair done for an hour and a half. No one knows that Zelcah is desperately trying to get her old job back, calling the old office everyday. I also said that I answer Zilch’s managing directors phones more than she does. Bleedin Hope asked how I knew this, I told her because I see her.

Then she mentions that my ‘buddy’ Brenda doesn’t answer phones either. I said ‘well at least she has a buddy’. Brenda has been so put upon since Bleedin Hope arrived and took over. Bleedin Hope seemed unaware that there is still ill will between Zelcah and myself. Well Bleedin Hope’s head is so far up her ass you can see it when she opens her mouth.

Then she says, that I should speak with the great wombus, Helen Devilakos. I say, no. Why should I speak to her? Everything is fine, dysfunctional but fine. I come in at 8:00 and leave at 5:30. NO problems. Interaction between myself and Zelcah kept to an absolute minimum. Once again I express my disdain for the great wombus, when Bleedin Hope puts her coffee down, and with crocodile tears, gets up and says, ” that’s it. I’m quitting today’.

I say nothing and watch her go to the elevator and hit the down button. Is she going to the street? To the wombus? Who knows? Who cares? Not me. The office lush, Lucille joins her, followed by the wonderfully ignorant Helen PI. Bleedin Hope returns fifteen minutes later saying that the great wombus refused to accept her resignation until she returns from her two week vacation.

Yes, according to Bleedin Hope, the company will pay her for two weeks vacation then allow her to resign. Come on now. She goes to her desk, gets her bags, and leaves work six hours earlier than expected saying that she’s officially on vacation. She actually said this in my face, with tears edging her waterproof make up eyes. Oh boo fucking hoo. She gets to relax and shop and pack six hours earlier than she expected. Life is rough.

No word from the wombus though I did finally file my complaint with the Department of Labor. My complaint was about how a coworker, Christina, made a comment when I showed her a picture of Bob Saget that was sent to me by a former coworker. “You know, we used ta call him Bob Faggot.” Charming. Then a few weeks later, we were listening to some music, and she said, “You know, we used ta sing this as ‘la la la maricon’” Can she get any more charming?

Then she claimed when I said to her that that wasn’t good to say those words, this Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx said, ‘I didn’t know what maricon meant’. Oh yes, I’ve also gotten eight women pregnant. She’s also prone to calling Dominicans, Dumb In A Cans.

There also the time when Bleedin Hope, Lucille the Lush, Helen PI and Zelcah sang happy birthday to Christina in front of me as Christina and I share a big desk. A joke was made about someone being a lesbian. And they call me unprofessional. Knives out. So I had to put it in writing and send it off to Albany so they’ll have my complaint on file.

Yes it’s a rant, a venting if you will. I also had sex tonight.

Good night everybody!

10.20.05