I woke up before the alarm clock this morning. Just couldn’t sleep anymore. This is/was my last day at McMann and Tate. As I’ve been saying, it’s the ‘End of an Error’. Yesterday was tiresome, running around Manhattan and the Bronx with Marcus and Shauna. I forgot to mention that Shauna asked me if I had any kids and I of course said no. Then she asked if I had a girlfriend and I went into closet hetero mode, saying that my life is too complicated for sharing with a woman and kids, and if I really wanted to I could watch them on Television.

Same with dogs. They asked if I had one and I said no, too complicated, and there’s always TV. Got to walk the dog? Change the channel. I walked to the path train, probably not going to see Plantain Man anytime soon. Just as well, he’s been all bundled up and not sporting much wood. Oh Ramon, your time has come and gone and will probably come again though I won’t be around to see it. We did exchange names you see. I got off the train, got my bagels and headed to the office for the last time.

People trickled in, and I sat at the desk watching them float by. Donna came in and asked for some info which she put in an email that was sent throughout the office. Coworkers started coming up, apparently they hadn’t heard and some were actually sad to see me go. I know the feeling. I’ve said goodbye to some good coworkers before while staying behind. Eventually I had my exit interview with Donna which went alright. I didn’t bad mouth anyone and only told them that they need to improve their lines of communication. Actually they need lines of communication, then they can improve on them.

I made my rounds in the neighborhood. Talked to the Mexican guys who make my broccoli, lettuce and chicken salad every day. I wished them well. And the girls at the counter who were sad to see me go and made me promise to stop by and say hello. I made the promise, but will I keep it? Seems like a long way to go for a salad. I guess Homer and Bart were wrong when they told Lisa, ‘You don’t make friends with salad.’ The building staff and various delivery guys from FedEx, UPS and DHL all stopped by to give me the brother hug.

I sent my own email out before I left the office. It read,
Subject: Adieu

As you may or may not have heard, today is my last day, and I will be
leaving the employ of McMann and Tate to help people find new employment at a
staffing agency in Midtown as an Office manager. It’s something that I had
done before.
Once I get settled in the new gig, if you know someone who is looking for
work, you can email me at johnozed@gmail.com

Best wishes for the New Year, JOT. Peace out/in!

Obviously I am now back at home writing this. In a little while, I’ll be getting ready to go back to the city and attend the McMann and Tate holiday party. It has a James Bond theme, so I think I’ll be wearing a sharkskin suit. I might pick up a stalk of broccoli in case anyone has any questions and I’ll tell them I’m Cubby Broccoli. Then I’ll have to explain to them just exactly who Cubby Broccoli is.

Cheers!

It’s technically hump day, known to most everyone as Wednesday. Another dark day, waking up in near total darkness with Bill in silhouette, getting ready to go to work. I wandered into the shower and did my thing, had some cereal and coffee and was soon out the door myself, listening to Juan’s last cd collection and digging it very much. Once again I was able to get a seat on the Path train with no blind pregnant women to give me bad vibes. I sat and read the New Yorker, looking for some humor but all I could find was an article on Arlen Specter and that wasn’t funny at all.

Got an email from Jenn about how her father had surgery and she was going to be in about a half hour late. That was fine, but Mark who used to be cool was acting like a jerk since there wasn’t any whole milk only skim. He even sent me a bitchy email about it, insisting that I do something about it so it doesn’t happen again next week. Next week I won’t be working there so does he really think I give a shit? So I went out.

I walked down Houston over to MacDougal where I saw Patti Smith leaving her apartment building. I didn’t say anything, though I did know she lived on MacDougal and figured it would be in this lower part of the street. It was nice to know where to send a holiday card. I thought about telling her how much I enjoy her blog through Columbia/Sony Records but I had to buy milk and she was gone by the time I thought of it. I doubt Patti would remember me from years ago, giving her and her band their per diem from Arista Records.

After the milk run I was out of the office running around the Village purchasing last minute items for the presents to give to the underprivileged in the Bronx. It was pissing rain and it was a pain in the ass but I also was able to squeeze in a brief visit to Farfetched, saying hello to Sharon and Lois and popped into Tower Records which is rapidly going under. Lot’s of bare bones to pick over and picked out Teddy Thompson ‘Separate Ways’ for $5.10 and Soft Cell ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’ with three versions of ‘Tainted Love’ including a dub! Schwing!

Best Buy on Broadway and Bleecker said they had the clock radio that was requested by the underprivileged and when I got there, they didn’t. SO I hopped on a subway to 23rd Street where they actually did have it. I hopped onto the subway and made it back to the office. Then it was off to the Bronx with the courier service to wrap the presents. I instilled a crumb of paranoia into Donna, the de facto office manager (who everyone is asking me if she’s pregnant) and she insisted that I take a ride to the Bronx. Big and scary to just about everyone in the office, to me it was just another borough.

Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic since it was raining most everyone was traveling above ground in an automobile, add the fact that the van driven by Marcus had commercial plates, severely restricting travel. Marcus and his girlfriend Shauna, were both from Haiti and a lot of fun to travel with. Marcus and I agreed that smoking jazz cigarettes is a very good thing and I immediately regretted not having any on my person.
We nearly got lost in the South Bronx, but having cell phones made all the difference. We dropped off the goods at 285 East 171st Street, off Morris Avenue and soon we were slowly heading back into the canyons of midtown Manhattan. I was tired when I got back to the office and I distributed the mail and headed home, still tired.

What comes before Part B? Partay!