November | 2012 | johnozed

Well Dorothy Parker. I’ve posted her quote in the past and reluctant to do it again, so I am not. It’s a Friday night and it’s cold up here in the fifth floor. Earlier I had gone out and it was considerably warmer on the street level. It’s dark in Hoboken and since I haven’t really gone out at night the past few days I’ve noticed there is no power on the next block. And the funeral home around the corner had power when everyone else was out, and tonight they are dark. I think there is a viewing and they have a generator running.

There hasn’t been a garbage pickup and so items are just wasting away on the streets and sidewalks in this neighborhood. It was discussed the other day that if this keeps up we might have a rodent problem. Luckily neighbor Chris feeds a few cats in the neighborhood so that might hold them off, the rodents that is. Chris thinks he lost one of the cats in the storm and from up here on the fifth floor I can hear him at street level, singing and whistling for his wayward cats. I’ve known Chris for over 20 years and the storm reconnected us.

Bill is driving to Pennsylvania tonight, to where exactly I couldn’t tell you. I probably won’t see him until Sunday. Although right now according to Google Latitude, he seems to be driving to Atlantic City, or at least Tinton Falls. He’s been great the past week. He’s always great but this week he’s been stellar. We make a very good team. And of course since he won’t be around I do not expect to sleep well at all. He doesn’t sleep well when I’m not around either so that makes us a pair of solo insomniacs.

I saw Stine and Alexander at the nearby supermarket. The really big supermarket where things are considerably cheaper has been closed since the storm last week. This was reportedly the third time in a year that they’ve been flooded and the rumors around town is they won’t be reopened for some time or even worse, the lease was up and they are not going to renew. That means a lot of people will be out of work which means more competition of jobs here in Hoboken. And people will go back to paying too much for items.

My sister told me of a bus to Newark from Hoboken tomorrow morning. They were looking for 30 volunteers and were presented with more than 30. I posted the info on my Facebook page which might have helped put them over. I emailed the guy who was organizing the jaunt and he thanked me for posting it and also there was no need for me to go. The trip was to unload trucks in Newark and send the storm relief supplies to Hoboken. The bibliothèque remains closed. And so this day like the previous days ends cold and damp at night.

It’s supposed to be a nice weekend though so we’ll see what that brings. A new cigar store is opening in Hoboken, or at least trying to. They seem all ready to go, they just have to open their doors. I spoke with someone I thought was one of the owners who also knew Raymond from the cigar shack. With no threat of Zack, I gave Raymond a nice review, really talked him up when I was asked if I knew him. So that’s that. Pretty dull and boring yet again.

C’est la vie. That’s just the way that it goes.

He’ll Have to Go

Yesterday and last night was a snow storm, today bright and sunny. More flooding though not as severe as it was last week. Still debris covers a lot of sidewalks in Hoboken, basements emptied of all contents. Beds, dressers and of course personal belongings piled up. I think the basement in my building has been cleaned out. I haven’t been down there since I threw out my stuff. Perhaps tomorrow I will go again. It does take its toll, just walking around the street and seeing people trying to put on a brave face while their lives and possessions are ruined.

When I tell people I lost a couple of hundred records (maybe 500), they’re sympathetic. All I need to do is just look a few doors down and see I got off easy. A friend online was almost bemoaning the fact that he can’t get from Jersey City to Brooklyn tonight to see a concert due to the lingering consequences of the Sandy storm last week. He realizes that his whining is stupid because of the fact that it is a minor inconvenience especially compared to others in this area. He does hope its better next week since there is a better show he wants to attend.

It’s hard for me to believe but I have not left Hoboken in almost two weeks. Usually I would jump into the city for something but I’ve been in town since the storm. Strangers still chat with one another as they walk past each other, wishing each other the best. I saw Jim Mastro and he’s still recovering from the storm. I’m not writing a lot about what he’s going through but I hope it works out. He lost a recording studio with some expensive, vintage equipment in it. Perhaps FEMA could help him out.

And despite when snow falls things generally look pretty, when it falls on debris it just looks terribly sad. I guess things are slowly getting back to something resembling normal in most of Hoboken. The bibliothèque is closed, been closed since last week. The majority of the employees are probably getting paid since they’re full time, but of course the part timers aren’t going to get paid. That’s just how things are. I do hope they open soon though since I do have items that need to be returned and the drop off boxes are filled to capacity.

And the Republican Party are licking their wounds, trying to figure out how they lost the election. Now that they’re number one job of making Barack Obama a one term President has failed will they cooperate? Will they help pass a jobs bill? Will both parties do something about climate change? Something has to be done. AIDS prevention, education, the crumbling infrastructure are all things that need to be taken care of as soon as possible. Also closing Guantanamo, getting the troops out of Afghanistan are on the list. I want the President to start kicking ass and not let them off the hook.

Have You Been Making Out OK