May | 2011 | johnozed

I’ve had better days than I had today. Maybe I’m still wiped out by the double shift yesterday at the cigar shack. I slept really well, pharmaceutically enhanced. Took a Xanax when I got home last night, some anxiety was creeping in around the edges.

Anxiety about something I had to do today. I was quite nervous. You see a customer at the store knows of my love of music and a talent for writing. He works in public relations and wanted to give me a shot at an interview and writing a short bio for an up & coming New York City singer.

It wasn’t my type of music but I felt I should give it a go. As the day approached, as the hour approached I was in the grip of dread. Even waking up this morning I just wasn’t feeling up for it, and for some reason I smacked myself in the chest a few times while I was still in bed.

I did have to go to the grocery store once I showered. Some items needed to be bought and with not enough coffee in my system, I decided to forego a walk to Washington Street and got everything I needed in the supermarket. When I got home I had a nice breakfast and watched some TV.

The appointed hour for the interview was noon today and at exactly 12:00 I made the call. I got voice mail and felt somewhat relieved, thinking that maybe the interview would not take place. Still I looked at the questions I had and studied the materials online for the artist.

About 20 minutes later, my phone rang, a different number than the one I dialed. I answered and it was the artist I was to interview. She was nice and charming and answered all of my questions. I transcribed her responses as we chatted and we both had a few laughs.

Though like I said she wasn’t the type of musician I would follow, after our 30 minute phone call I had a newfound respect for her and her music and would give it another chance. After the interview I took the information and made what I hoped would be a fun and informative one sheet bio.

As requested I sent it off to the customer who set the whole thing up and to my surprise I never heard anything again. I suppose I will see the customer tomorrow and he will either express thanks for the writing or say that he will never ask me to write anything ever again.

Either way, for me it was a hurdle that I think I cleared with no trouble at all. I just reread what I wrote and I don’t think it was that bad. It’s a fun piece geared positively to promoting an up and coming band. I do have to admit that I felt that I was channeling the spirit of Derek Taylor when I was writing it.

No lysergic involved either.

It would make for a nice career if what I wrote is accepted and if it isn’t accepted, I still think it was a pretty good piece. Send me an email and I will forward it to you. Not publishing it here since it hasn’t gotten the green light. Perhaps someday, but not today.

After that I was mainly riding the mood swings this afternoon. Not enough to eat I guess, that always sends me to the depths of despair. And though yesterday was a good day at the cigar shack, I can’t shake the feeling that the sword of Damocles hangs over my head.

Self-doubt and despondency were my shadows throughout most of the afternoon but having just eaten, I feel somewhat better.

Happy birthday Joey Ramone

Oh how to start, where to start. I keep expecting to see Hyman when I turn the corner at the bus terminal. I expect that to go on for a few more days. Today was a long day, a double shift. Calvin asked me a few weeks ago and I agreed to it.

Couldn’t really say no. I didn’t mind really. I was going to be working with Thomas and he’s actually a pleasure to work with. Getting there was the problem. Actually waking up was the problem. Alarm clock set, took melatonin last night so that was a good night’s sleep.

Had a dream where I was frantic because my iPod lost its power. Oddly enough I did not plug it in last night and I wanted to delete a track from a playlist I created, don’t really need to hear Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love in the middle of May. I did delete the track, before heading out into day three of the rainstorm.

Before that I did get a phone call from Bill asking me if his keys were on top of the stove. They were and I put them in my bag and headed down the stair when I realized I did not put my knee brace on. Quickly put it on and headed down the stairs into the aforementioned rainstorm. It was crowded on the bus, filled up quickly. And there was traffic heading into the tunnel.

I texted Bill as we approached the tunnel so he could meet me at the bus terminal. His office is only a bloc or two away so it was no problem for him. The helix outside the tunnel was closed and all the NJ bound traffic was being diverted.

I made it to the terminal and saw Bill who walked me to the subway, letting me use his unlimited Metrocard to pass through the turnstiles. A quick kiss and I was on my way and Bill on his. Luckily, since it was still rush hour there was a train pulling in almost immediately.

Made it to the cigar shack with time to spare to get an egg sandwich and some coffee. I made it in, turned off the alarm. Luckily since I closed last night I knew everything was going to be in order giving me time to enjoy the sandwich and drink some coffee.

I was going to be alone for 2 hours and so I needed to take care of a few things before things really started to happen. A few calls for Marcus and for Calvin, both of whom were unavailable for the day. A couple of customers came in, asking about pens of all things and found the pens I showed them either not up to snuff or merely too expensive.

Thomas eventually showed up and he was great. A lot of fun to work with, while still maintaining an air of professionalism. Many laughs were had and he really helps bring out the best in me. The day didn’t fly by as expected and Thomas kept things competitive always trying to one up on sales which made things interesting.

He maintained the lead in sales throughout most of the day, I jumped ahead when I took a call when there was an order from a cigar bar nearby. Unfortunately I messed up the order and had to correct it, so when things quieted down in the shack I made my way over to the cigar bar, they were happy to see me there and offered me a beer.

I would have taken it but had to get back to the shack and finish up with Thomas. And after that was when I had started to crash. 12 hours on my feet didn’t do me any favors but thanks to Thomas it didn’t hurt too much either. Fave customer Jimmy Seltzer came in and mentioned that I reminded him of Stephen Fry which isn’t so bad.

I am glad to be off from the cigar shack tomorrow but there is something that I will be involved with for the first time tomorrow. If it goes well I will probably write about it somewhat, and let’s face it, if it doesn’t go well I will probably write about that as well. Fingers crossed.

Have a good night, I know I will.