Monthly Archives: December 2010

I Can Read Between the Lines

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And it was back to work again. Had to open the store so that meant early t bed and early to rise. Not so happy, relatively healthy and my being wise is debatable as it ever was. Actually I am pretty happy. Things could be better but overall I am happy, and happiest when I am with Bill.

And Bill is nearby right now, doing his thing as I am doing mine. His is theater and mine is not. At least not yet. Or is it all theater? I know I tend to wallow in drama and I’m sure the Bala Cynwyd occupants are prone to agree.

Waking up at 7:00 was a chore this morning. I know, most of you get up around that time, or perhaps even earlier. Not me lately. Been sleeping until 9:00 then hustling to get out at 11:00. This morning was not that at all. And it was cold too.

Been bitter cold lately and doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. I got on a cozy coach bus which by the time it reached 14th Street it had filled up considerably. A quick ride uptown and soon I was at the cigar shop, 20 minutes early. I didn’t mind, no one else was in yet.

I did a lot of work before I even punched in and soon Marcus was in as well. It was odd since I hadn’t worked alongside Marcus in a few months, but it was manageable. Since he is the head honcho it was easy to defer to his judgment with regards to different matters. ‘Marcus said this, Marcus said that’ was a refrain I repeated a few times throughout the day, and most everyone would shut up after that.

And by most everyone, I mean Calvin and the Bradley who came in just before Marcus headed out for the day. It wasn’t that bad a day, except for the hours that is. Harpy even made an appearance, blessing me with a burn of mash ups with a holiday theme, Rudolph (you don’t have to put on the red light), to the tune of Roxanne by the Police.

It’s pretty good though it is not 100% safe to play at the cigar shop. I tried to buy a nice little 3D poster I saw for sale a week ago at a nearby store, The Beatles in Yellow Submarine that I was going to buy for Alexander, but unfortunately it was sold out. I may hit a similar store on Thursday when I am off.
Or maybe even tomorrow night when I get out of work early. Earlier than 10:30.

Right now I am wearing a sweater and track pants, socks and worn out slippers and listening to Double Fantasy Stripped Down by John & Yoko. Hopefully sleep won’t be a problem tonight and hopefully waking up won’t be a problem tomorrow morning.

The schedule is playing havoc with my body clock, but I guess I’ll be able to reset it on Thursday, my next day off.

I Believe in You

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Well today would have been the day I started the new job. I was supposed to be training for a week during the day, then I suppose next week I would switch over to the 5:30PM – 1:00AM shift. We all know how that turned out don’t we? The home office in Bala Cynwyd undoubtedly chuckles at the outcome.

Instead I had a day off. And it was a day off where I got somethings done and other things were postponed. I stayed up last night and watched a crap movie, Legion. I’m an occasional sucker for biblical apocalypse stories. They’re almost always bad and this was no exception.

Like the night before I was physically tired but mentally awake. But unlike the night before I was able to fall asleep rather quickly rather than tossing and turning and then getting out of bed for a melatonin tablet. Bill was fast asleep of course by the time I hit the hay.

I woke up hours later when Bill was getting ready to go to work and while his was in the other room, his alarm went off a few feet away from my ears. Somehow I managed to switch it off without smashing it to bits. A few minutes later, Bill was kissing me goodbye for the day as I lay there trying to get back to sleep.

It was relatively successful as I eventually got out of bed around 10:00, later than I anticipated. I shuffled about, made some coffee and showered. After a cup of coffee I decided to head out. I walked up to Washington Street and got some bagels and the paper, then headed over to the bibliothèque to pick up some things that were on hold.

I forgot the Patti Smith book at home and figured I would drop it off later in the day or tomorrow. I picked up The Dead, a movie on DVD directed by John Huston, starring Angelica Huston, based on a James Joyce short story in his book, Dubliners.

After the bibliothèque, it was off to the supermarket. A visit to the dry cleaners was not needed since the shirts I dropped off, were picked up and paid for by Bill. He loves taking care of me. It’s quite a nice position to be in. I came home, had some breakfast and watched The Dead. It was as I expected, a very good DVD, and I believe it was John Huston’s last movie.

I also packed up and left at the curb several empty boxes of cigars. I accumulated quite a bit and was only hanging onto them in anticipation of a gate sale. That usually occurs in the warmer months and since we’re starting the colder months, rather that keep them stacked up it was time to get them out.

All in all I left the apartment twice. It was too cold to do much of anything and I was content to stay in. It’s not like my phone was ringing off the hook anyhow. I didn’t have any plans. Now I am full of distraction, Jeopardy is on TV, Scritti Politti is playing on YouTube, I’m writing this.

I’m content but a bit anxious about going back to work tomorrow. No particular reason but this is how insidious the retail experience is. It really takes a lot out of you. Of course it helps if the people or badgers you are working with get along with you. If not, then it’s perfectly arduous.

Tomorrow and Wednesday I am opening up, then it’s off Thursday and back to the late schedule the days following. It’s quite a drag but I’ll get through it and start a new search in January.