It’s a Monday again. Came here just in time. Good to interact with other people and to get paid for it makes it even sweeter. I’d rather have been at the beach of course. I’d always rather be at the beach. Bill stayed in bed today since he said his back was bothering him. Seemed ok last night, so I guess we can blame the bed for his troubles. He spent the day at home, then doing laundry at the laundromat. He doesn’t want to use the washing machine in the kitchen, preferring to lug several pounds of clothing down four flights of stairs, then over to a washing machine a few blocks away in 90 degree heat. He wants his clothes cleaned and dried right away, rather than hanging them on racks in the kitchen and the bathroom. I heard it does wonders for the back. I don’t really care. He has the options and refuses to use them, instead preferring to throw money literally down the drain. Generally I’ve stopped giving Bill any suggestions since they go unheeded most, if not all, of the time. It seems to work out best for us. He doesn’t have to hear anything he doesn’t want to hear and I can save my breath. Win win, wouldn’t you say?

Work was quiet today. Vivek and the office Mick went to Australia on Friday, not coming back until this upcoming Friday. So no sub-continent shouting to complain about. Greg Stevens was in. It’s fun to watch him type with one finger. He’s always had a secretary which enabled him to never type. Now he has to type and he’s strictly hunt and peck. He’s also lacking in being computer savvy so a few times today I had to go and try to figure out what is going on with his computer. Sometimes it’s just slow, sometimes he’s typed in the wrong address. Today he lost his portfolio. It was there, but it took a while for it to load fully. I don’t mind. It makes me look good and computer savvy. I can shock and awe them with a quick Ctrl/Alt/Delete. Don’t get me started on the task manager. That might be too much for them. Carla the receptionist had a friend of hers staying over the weekend and they were leaving today so she asked if she could leave early. As long as her work was finished for the day it was alright by me. Tom Chin left early also so no one was going to mind.

One of my tasks that I do in the office is make travel arrangements. Since there is no company card yet, they payment has to be done with the passenger’s credit card. I sure as hell ain’t going to use my plastic. I try to get the best price, sometimes my plane, sometimes by train. Today was both. I arranged for a one day trip to Boston via Jet Blue, for 2 later this month. Easy peasy. Of course there could always be a snag. In the last hour of work I was asked about train info for 2 from New York to Maryland. Once again, I have to get their card. A train this Wednesday from Penn Station to Maryland for 2 was going to cost about $400.00. It was all set, once they decided on a departure time. I gave one of the guys a final figure and the other one say, forget it, he’ll do it himself. That was fine by me. It was 4:50 and I was getting ready to go home anyhow.

Another beautiful day, another day with no one around to do anything with. Last night was pretty mellow, watched a dvd about Howard Zinn, titled You Can’t Be Neutral On a Moving Train. Very good and very informative and what a nice guy Howard Zinn seems to be. It’s good that he’s on the left side of things in the country, we need people like him to look under the rug and show us the sins that have been done on our name. It’s recommended and available through Netflix.

Here is a link to a film in a similar vein called No End in Sight

This is about the US involvement in Iraq, the endless fiasco to put it politely. Some other noise was made regarding reinstating the draft, “I think it certainly makes sense to consider it,” Lt. Gen. Douglas Luke told NPR. “And I can tell you this has always been an option on the table. But, ultimately this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation’s security one means or another.” That’s alarming and they’re saying that it would be a wake up call for middle America which could actually end the war since the draft would cause sacrifices that no one really wants to make.
Cut and Paste THIS:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3471496&page=1

Busy multi media day today eh? Merv Griffin died, he was 82. Tony Wilson died on Friday. He was the founder of Factory Records in the UK, and the subject of the excellent 24 Hour Party People, which is recommended, even if you don’t know anything about that scene. I went with Bill and Pedro to see it in the cinema and they didn’t know anything at all about the Manchester music scene and loved it almost as much as I did. So go check that out if you haven’t already.

Actually saw Julio last night, he came up with 2.5 dozen eggs, about 10 pounds of chicken breast and strawberries. He can be such a romantic. Other guys would bring flowers, but not Julio… Actually the production company he works for did a fast food commercial and all these things were laying around. I’m sure they were picked over already, so it looks like poultry products will be on the menu for the next week or so, though the chicken breasts are quite frozen and would take a day or two to thaw out completely.

It was too nice to stay in again and I wasn’t in the mood for Manhattan again since I’ll be there tomorrow. Today I decided to stay on the jelly side of the Hudson and walked up to the Hoboken Historical Society and viewed their exhibition of Hoboken Music. Big wall of Sinatra, Stephen Foster, Blind Tom (whom I never heard of before) some McSwells and a few other rock and roll groups and clubs and recording studios. It was an ok exhibit and rumored to have Steve Fallon making an appearance later in the year for a seminar. If he’s smoking a Newport and drinking a Rolling Rock, that means it’s going to be a long night.

Spoke with brother Frank over phone lines laden with static which was frustrating to the both of us. Spoke with Annemarie as well. Now I’m just hanging out waiting for the meteor shower.

Here’s some pics to complete the johnozed multimedia extravaganza…