Monthly Archives: July 2006

Sax and Violins

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Oh it’s so god damned hot. The sun beaming painfully on us. This morning I woke up, very warm from the heat. I did my Saturday thing, going out for bagels and the papers, after having taken a shower and had some coffee. It was too hot to do much else. While waiting in the bagel shop I ran into Mike Korman, former guitarist for the late, great Gutbank.

Mike is married to the former Clara Suarez a sweetheart that I used to work with back in the early nineties. We both worked at a video store, a David versus the Goliath named Blockbuster. It was a fun gig and she was cool to work with. Now she’s married to Mike and they have a kid with another one on the way. Mike mentioned something about morning sickness while we chatted on line waiting for our bagels.

Mike and Clara live around the block from me and Bill, and Mike mentioned that I should stop by and hang out and reminisce about McSwells and whatever else might come to mind. I agreed and made tentative plans to meet up with them at some point in the afternoon. I regretted it as soon as I almost said yes, not anything against the two of them but I just didn’t want to be hanging out inside when it was a nice Saturday to be outside.

As the way things go I got a phone call from Rey who was coming into the city with his fiancé Connie and going to Summerstage. I didn’t really know what was going on but I agreed to go. I did know there were some chick DJ’s spinning and some neo soul/house bands happening. I mainly went though to hang out with Rey. I’ve known him for about 20 years, he’s a big and brawny corrections officer at Riker’s Island. I knew him when we both worked together for Rupert Murdoch.

We’ve been through a lot together both good and bad, but he’s always been there for me in some ways and I’ve been there for him. We’ve partied hard and swore off whatever chemicals or booze the next morning on the phone after waking up from our respective comas. I consider myself the Jimmy Olsen to his Superman. He likes to look after his friends and family and I am glad to be of that grouping.

We hung out at Summerstage which we had done many times before, only this time Connie was with us. She’s fun and a fellow corrections officer with Rey, that’s how they met. They’ve just bought a house upstate and I am obligate to visit. Actually committed to visiting since Rey is on vacation in a week or two, and he has absolutely nothing to do. I will be bringing the New York City vibe up to their house and crashing for a night or two.

It should be fun, hanging out with two corrections officers up by Mount Hope. I’m not being facetious either.

Long Tall Sally

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Finally Friday arrives. It felt like Friday on Wednesday, which made yesterday and today a bit odd. Askew, even. Work was work, meaning nothing special. I did take my time getting into work because I had to go to the bank. I got to the office a little after 8:30 which is actually the time I was originally supposed to work, 8:30 to 5:30. It’s really8:00 to 6:00, excepting Friday when I leave at 5:30 to go to the appointment with Philip Beansprout.

Unfortunately rode in a car on the Path train with no air conditioning. The other cars were jam packed which meant even if the air conditioning was on, you weren’t going to feel it, it was that crowded. At least I had room. All the seats were taken, and there were the standers like myself, hanging on and sweating. When I got to the office it looked like someone threw a bucket of water on me. At least that’s what one of the nice ones said. Luckily I had an extra t shirt, which is a must during the summer.

I got through the day. Felicia was in for a few hours, still sick and I kept telling her to go home. Not just for her own sake, but for my own. Whatever she has, I don’t want. I hate being sick in the summer. I learned that lesson at Wanker Banker when a coworker kept coming in to work while getting sicker and sicker. I kept sending her home, but eventually I caught what she had. A lesson learned. Eventually Felicia went home.

The air was quite thick in the city with nary a breeze. A 10 minute thunderstorm didn’t help matters either. Not good for anyone. Oddly enough at home we haven’t even installed the air conditioning, being on the fifth floor there’s been a breeze blowing quite a bit. We have the fans going, always asking for autographs, and that’s all we need. It’s nice.

I made my way up to 57th street to meet up with Bill before we saw Philip. I was early of course. Almost got clipped by a bicycle psychotic going against traffic on Seventh Avenue. Really felt the air brush by as he sped towards Central Park. Other people would probably scream or even actually get hit, I just continued on m way amazed at how close we actually got to each other. No need to shake my fist at him and curse. Who knows? I probably did that to someone at sometime.

Karmic retribution. I met up with Bill outside the building where Philip has his practice and settled in. It was quite an amiable session, all three of us in good spirits. Surprisingly I had a lot of talking to do and though I don’t think I sounded angry or uptight, Philip thinks I should have a solo session for my impulsive anger issues. Hmmm, so that’s what it’s called. I mentioned I could work on some coping skills too. My sister suggested that a while ago, so next week I have a solo session. Other than that, everything is relatively cool.

How are you doing?