Monthly Archives: July 2011

I Can’t Explain

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Last day before 3 days off. One would hope, one would think that it would be smooth sailing but in reality (a place I am most unaccustomed to) it’s been a bear of a day and I don’t mean heavy set, hairy hirsute gay men.

No it’s been like fighting a grizzly all day long. I did not sleep well last night mainly because Bill was not around. I simply do not sleep well when he’s driving to Atlantic City. Lots of tossing and turning and of course when I finally was able to acquire something resembling sleep that was when the alarm clock would go off.

I woke up to Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones then hit the snooze button, 10 minutes later it was Fleetwood Mac singing Gypsy. Not the Jules Styne / Stephen Sondheim effort, but Stevie Nicks version. I did get myself together, shower and no breakfast. Not enough milk for cereal AND coffee, so it was coffee only.

That was alright since I planned on getting my customary egg sandwich on the way to the cigar shack. A call from Bill asking me to call Annemarie in Saddle Brook to see if she could pick him up at the garage and drop him off at the train station.

If he didn’t catch the 10:00 train, he would have to wait until 1:00 and that would be no good since he needed to be back at the garage at 7:00 again. So I called and left a voice mail for Annemarie and she called me back a few minutes later. I told her the address but she didn’t know where it was.

I explained to my sister where it was and I guess she figured it out. But she didn’t get there in time for Bill to make the 10:00 train so she wound up driving him back to Hoboken. I knew that since Bill called me and asked what stop was I at. He called as my bus was ascending the ramp at the bus terminal.

I was now in Manhattan. And I always catch the bus at 5th street. I headed out the terminal, not in the best mood due to the lack of sleep and was cut off by a taxi running a red light. I punched the taxi.

I then walked over to Smiler’s for my egg sandwich and that went relatively well. I headed out and up the avenue enjoying a slightly damaged cigar from the shack that was headed for the bin.

Quite a few people walking the streets and some were slow so I avoided them by walking close to the curb. At one point as I walked 2 women were taking their time strolling so I walked curbside again.

Coming towards me and the 2 women was an elderly woman with a shopping cart. She motioned to me to tell me something and I took off the iPod thinking she needed help. She did not need help.

She needed to tell me that how I was walking was wrong that people walking on the right side heading in one direction and other people walk on the left in the other direction.

I was disappointed that she did not need any assistance and when I heard what she had to say, I told her that I had no time for her nonsense. She started squawking about something I yelled at her to shut up. Just another nutter on the street that always happen to find me.

I think from now on no matter what, I will keep my iPod on and ignore just about anyone that crosses my path. It will probably be best for all concerned.



I Can’t Drive 55

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Yes it’s Friday. Let’s hear it for Friday! Or let’s not. Some of us have a weekend, some do not. Myself, I have to get through tomorrow and then it’s off for me for 3 days. I was looking forward to seeing my nephew Earl who was flying in on Saturday.

I haven’t seen Earl in a couple of years and now his flight is canceled, upsetting his mother Annemarie and his cousins as well as me and Bill and his aunts and uncles. I was excited about going to the beach with Earl on Monday and Tuesday but it’s all fallen by the wayside.

I hope Annemarie has no difficulty getting a refund back from United Airlines. Facebook friend Neal says the United has the worst customer service so I guess we’ll find out whether or not that happens to be the case.

In the world of employment it wasn’t so bad at the cigar shack. Thomas and Jerry Vale and I were manning the shack. It was a good team, we balance each other very well. Thomas was impeccably dressed as ever, I was wearing my shark skin suit with a skinny tie and Jerry Vale was in his usual duds.

The usual customers came in, but not too many. Most came by yesterday, buying their cigars for the weekend and taking off on Friday. In the man cave yesterday it was packed, today there was plenty of room.

It’s hard to say how it will be from day to day, for some it’s too crowded and for others it’s just right, they’re content to stand and smoke a cigar. There really is camaraderie among cigar smokers and they are generally a friendly bunch, always welcoming new faces, a brotherhood of the leaf is what it is called in some quarters.

Bill is off to Atlantic City again and will be doing the same tomorrow. He was feeling very fatigued the other night and skipped a rehearsal which he made up for last night. Tonight, no rehearsal and so it’s off to Atlantic City.

I will probably see Bill for a few minutes as I wait for the bus tomorrow morning if I am lucky. But he had a late start tonight driving and will probably be arriving later so there’s a good chance that we will miss each other. That’s the gist I suppose. It happens from time to time.

I am happy tomorrow is a casual day in any event. Too hot really to wear a suit, shark skin or whatever. I am almost done with ‘Our Band Can Be Your Life’ by Michael Azerrad. It’s an interesting book, reading about all these bands that played Maxwells when I was there, DJ’ing, working the door, bar backing or checking ID’s.

I just finished reading about Beat Happening and I’m sure I had seen them at some point. One of their last gigs was a sold out show at Maxwells according to the book and I was more than likely there doing something. Hell I practically lived there in the eighties. At one point I was even having my mail delivered there since my mother thought my neighborhood at 2nd and Madison was too unsafe for postal delivery.

‘Our Band Can Be Your Life’ is a good book, thoroughly enjoyable but personally I think bands like Pylon, Let’s Active among others should be written about. I suppose that is what Steve Fallon is working on. I have to find some of my writings and sort them out and send them to Steve for his approval. I hope it’s an oral biography.