Monthly Archives: January 2011

I Had the Craziest Dream

Yes I am tired. Yes I went to work today. Yes it snowed quite a bit last night. Not enough for the NJ Transit system to stop running, not enough to slow down the bus and train schedules. I took my time getting ready for work, walking to the bus stop.

The bus filled up enough with what seemed to be people like me who did not want to go to work today. That was one of the rare times where I identify with the other riders. Most of the time I don’t like them, I don’t care for them and think they’re stupid.

Sometimes it seems like I am on a bus tour to Bala Cynwyd.

A song popped into my head as I rode the bus, and I did my best to duplicate the song in a voice message to Bill’s iPhone. He didn’t know what song it was but I eventually figured it out with his help, the song being Birdland by Weather Report.

I thought of Stanley Siegel whom had Birdland as his theme song for his talk show I think in the 1970’s. That made me think of a major storm in maybe 1975, things shut down, my father not going to work. Me and himself, trekking in the snow to the Lodi A&P to get who knows what. I think my mother was working.

My sister in law Elaine made an appearance, living a block or so away with Frank on Main Street. She gave me a book about the Who which I thought was cool. I more than likely had something to eat before heading out with a sled and heading down Gunther Avenue and wiping out before spilling onto Main Street.

Wilson Street was more of a daredevil street, a steeper hill and a few hills where we would literally go flying a few feet in the air.

I just had a thought, if there were any kids in that neighborhood and if so, do they take their sleds down those hills. It seemed like a personal hill for me and my friends, no other kids from other neighborhoods would go sledding down Gunther Avenue or Wilson Street.

Such carefree times.

Now I commute into the city to a job I don’t particularly care for, no hills for sledding anymore. It was a long day at the cigar shop. Not much foot traffic in the cigar shop area. A lot of people either had the day off or took the day off, opting not to bother with the frozen mess.

It was Calvin and I mostly, with Sean coming in mid-afternoon. I decided to treat myself, a reward for making it in. I went to Whole Foods and had a Shepard’s Pie. I never had it before but it had loomed in my mental menu for the past few days.

I had to find where they made hot foods and took a chance and got a Shepard’s Pie. I was wary since I never had one before and if I didn’t like it, then I would have thrown good money away. But I bought it, and I liked it and will probably have it again.

It certainly was a hearty meal. I had an early lunch and 6 hours later, I was still satisfied with what I had for lunch.


Hopper-esque?


-fin-

I Guess I’ll Have to Dream the Rest

The snow is falling. A major storm is here. Or at least the hype regarding a major storm is here. From the Ohio Valley and from the south two fronts approach earning the moniker of Nor’easter. I thought that was when a storm approached from the north east but I guess in this case it’s when a storm is heading to the north east.

I woke up to the sound of local weatherman Mr. G saying on CBS FM that if you don’t have to go out tomorrow then don’t. I mentioned this to Calvin when I got to work to which Calvin replied that Mr. G is a fool since he wears a wig. Such biting wit.

I am hoping that I have a snow day tomorrow. I have off on Thursday and 2 days off in a row would be very nice. Of course it all depends on what happens in the morning. Most of the local governments caught a lot of flak when the last snowstorm hit around Christmas day and are doing their best not to let that happen again.

There is still snow on the ground from 2 weeks ago and this storm is expected to add 12 to 14 inches on top of that. If I do have to go in tomorrow and it does seem likely, it will probably be a long and quiet day since the snow is not supposed to stop falling until sometime tomorrow afternoon. I won’t know anything until tomorrow morning.

Today was another long day. Time has been moving quite slowly. I got a phone call from a recruiter who offered me a temp to perm job in Exchange Place, Jersey City starting tomorrow. Of course I couldn’t take the job. I mentioned I would like to give some sort of notice at the cigar shop.

Still it was nice to be thought of. It was a bitter cold day and I received a crap cigar from a cigar salesman that Calvin insisted I smoke. He called it homework. It was from a company that has a reputation as being top shelf but it’s simply overrated. And overpriced.

I decided to go to a local diner for lunch today just to get out of the cigar shop. It was good to get out and I like the diner. I think I will be going there more often. It’s close enough and the price of a burger deluxe in Manhattan is about the same as it is in Hoboken and North Jersey.

I made it back to the cigar shop to be able to snag a seat in the back room man cave and smoke some of the free cigar. It was as lackluster as I expected. I didn’t finish it and went back to work. The man cave back room was quite full again. Most of the guys were seeking refuge from the cold and some were doing work on their lap tops since they can’t smoke at home.

That’s it for me. Once again I hope tomorrow is a snow day.

Cheers.