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.