Last night Juan, Bill and I watched ‘The Stand’ a made for television movie, written by Stephen King. I read the book in 1981 and saw the movie when it was originally broadcast in the nineties. Still pretty good for a TV movie, eventually both Bill and Juan were taken in by the movie. I didn’t notice it when I first saw it, but even Bill and Juan noticed a lot of homoerotic shots throughout the movie. Very interesting and I simply don’t know how I might have missed it before. Bill didn’t make it to the end, he went to bed before the final hour.

It was a wet night, a major storm passing overhead. That continued to the morning, which made it difficult to wake up. It was a real drag, pouring rain outside, total darkness at 6:30 in the morning. Bill wound up sleeping in, deciding to stay home. That was jarring to say the least. I get accustomed to Bill stirring before I even get out of bed, and on a morning like today’s, I surely could’ve used his wake up call. But I persevered, trying to find in the darkness a suit to wear. I didn’t want to turn the lights on and wake Bill up. I found a nice navy pinstriped suit, braces and a tab collared French cuff shirt. I wore one of Bill’s neckties for luck as it was my fifth day at work.

Bill bought me a monthly bus pass the other day since money is a bit tight for me these days. I think he was inspired by Turk getting a monthly bus pass for Carla on Scrubs. I got to use it which is nice and since Bill bought it I was riding the bus for free. The bus filled up quite fast and by the time it left Hoboken it was mad packed. It pulled into the bus terminal and I strolled out into the rain listening to Rufus Wainwright’s Want One.

I got to the office and said good morning to my new coworkers and bosses. The president said hello, her lieutenant grunted. She’s Naomi, he’s Wally. Eventually my other coworkers came in all in various degrees of blue Monday feelings. The rain out a damper on most everyone’s mood. I tried to be as chipper as possible, as my plan to fit in is to kill them with kindness. As far as I’m concerned, John Ozed doesn’t exist in that office, except for the brief checking of email.

There was a report of a gas leak throughout Manhattan and parts of Hudson County NJ. No one had any idea what the gas may have been, but the shut down the Path train for a few hours because of it. I mentioned to Bill later in the day that it sounded uncannily like the beginning to The Stand. We shall see how this mysterious gas turns out. For those in other parts of the world, go to http://nytimes.com . It’s all there, I’m not making it up.

I also decided on a last ditch attempt to get my bonus from the Wolffmen by sending a guilt loaded email to the president of McMann and Tate. And it goes a little something like this:

Hi Lamisil,
I regret not being able to talk to you about my leaving McMann and Tate. I did my best but after almost nine months I was burnt out and terribly depressed, which even my therapist couldn’t help. I really didn’t have anyone to talk to at McMann and Tate regarding that and my scheduled meeting with Table Lamp, scheduled in October never materialized, which could have made a difference in the way things had turned out. It would’ve been nice to talk to SOMEONE about what was going on.

The abuse I had suffered under Felicia was no help either, from my fifth day at McMann and Tate to being told in June by Felicia to consider looking for a different job, I never really knew where I stood or what kind of performance I was doing, and believe me I did my best. At least the clients noticed and appreciated it. Then in December, I found a memo on my computer from January about how two people should have been hired to work the front desk in two shifts because one person (namely me) would get burnt out. So it seems the front desk situation is known of, but not taken care of. Which in my case could’ve made a world of difference.

I tried not to leave McMann and Tate in the lurch and attempted to take care of supplies and whatnot to cover until someone else came in. I’m glad McMann and Tate had a good year and I had hoped to at least get some recognition bonus wise, but I did the right thing and gave notice, which is more that a few former employees did during my time of employment, and in doing the right thing I lost out on any chance for a financial recognition for whatever contribution my work had achieved for the good of the company and the clients. I told Rachel Floor Vacuum and Lydia Penguin that if there are any questions about things in the office to call me. Obviously I am still willing to help out for the good of McMann and Tate I’m glad I left on a relatively good note and I wish you and your wife, as well as the staff at McMann and Tate a happy and healthy New Year.
Regards,
John

Hey, it’s just an attempt. I’ve got nothing to lose. Just trying to guilt trip and rich hippie narcoleptic into giving me what should be mine.