34° on a Tuesday evening in Hoboken. It’s been a day. Nothing bad but not much not bad either. Bill is on the road and the weather is making decisions on whether or not he will drive later in the week. I was out and about for a bit this afternoon solo.

I dropped off some winter coats in need of a cleaning and the cost of the two coats was almost $50.00. I suppose that is the going rate, we’ve been going to Mona for decades and not about to start shopping around. They’ll be ready for pick up on Thursday so I know of two things I will be doing on that day.

I spoke to Mike a few times today, also messaging back and forth on the social medias. That was fun and a welcome distraction from my mundane reality. I had a phone interview yesterday. I’m surprised I did not post about it.

The call was at 1 PM. Bill offered to be out of the picture at that time but I asked that he stay for emotional support. It was for the luxury company that was not interested in me at first, but thanks to Brian my employment counselor he decided on a phone interview.

It went well despite the fact that the interviewer was seemingly not comfortable doing interviews. I was more prepared for the interview than they were. They asked the same question a few times, each time slightly rewording the question and each time I gave the same answer. I think they were trying to be clever but I think I was cleverer.

Bill was the witness to this call since I had it on speaker and he agreed with me somewhat, that this person was uncomfortable with interviews and I came off a wee bit more professional than they were. I’m not sure if Bill agreed with me thinking the interviewer was an idiot.

I heard from Billie in DC. My chocolate sister. We’ve been friends for over 40 years. He’s good at listening and offering advice. I told him about the interview and he asked how it went. I said that I didn’t think it went well which Billie interpreted as me putting myself down, telling me what I say out loud goes out into the universe and affects the outcomes of things.

That’s a way of thinking that a few other people have either said out loud or posted online as a meme in the social medias. I had to take him down a notch and explain that I wasn’t saying I was bad in the interview, on the contrary, I did well, it was the interviewer that hobbled the telephone chat.

Mike feels I put myself down and he doesn’t like it. Bill used to feel that way but knows me better than Mike or Billie. If I use self-deprecating humor it’s just that- humor. I am not putting myself down but putting a funny spin on something that has me as a central character.

It was not one of the better phone calls between me & Billie, but he was on vacation and I think a little bit drunk, so he gets a pass. But still, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Monday I think. 39° they say. Been a good weekend. I was well enough to go see Mike on Saturday. Bill came home around 4 AM on Saturday, after a long day’s journey of a bus trip. He knew what he was getting himself into and he was prepared. He was basically out cold when I left around noon.

I took a Lyft to Mike’s crib. Saturday bus schedules can be a bit much and I think the bus trip from Hoboken to Jewett Ave was where I picked up the bug that waylaid me last week, so I wanted to avoid that. I talk to the drivers after scanning for the most economical ride.

The driver on Saturday afternoon was from Sierra Leone and was surprised that I knew where Sierra Leone was, and even more surprised when I played some tracks from the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars collection I had on my phone. He even identified the track, which is the title of this entry for this here blog.

Mike’s apartment is coming along slowly. Needs furniture that’s for sure. All I can do is send links to Target for kitchen table and chair sets that are within his price range. After a few hours of our afternoon play date, I was in another Lyft heading home. This driver was nice as well but I did not inquire as to where he was from.

He wasn’t from here and that doesn’t matter to me. He was a good guy and we had a far-ranging conversation about language and whatnot. Soon I was home. Bill was up and active though soon to go to bed. I stayed up for a while, and then off to bed, exhausted.

The next day was Sunday. Bill and I had a plan to go to the Hoboken Historical Museum to see Rand and view Tim Daly’s exhibition. It was a good turnout with a few friends from old times. And Jack Silbert who put his imprimatur on the event by showing up. It seems like an event is not an event unless Jack Silbert makes an appearance.

Rand was himself, of course, he and Lisa were off to St. John’s today, just some time in the Caribbean Sun. Lisa was on her way to the museum and we did wait a while to see her but she hadn’t arrived when Bill and I had to head out.

It seemed that the bug that Rand had over the NEw Year’s week, was a variation on the bug I had last week. Feeling ill and crappy, seemingly better one day and then awful the next day.

We were off to the supermarket and meandering around with our banter when we ran into Julio and his son, Christian. I wasn’t sure of it was Julio since this bloke was wearing glasses but it was. A nice hug and a quick chat with the two of them.

They were returning from a Boy Scouts camping trip, Friday evening to Sunday. They had a good time. I remember going on a camping trip with my Boy Scout Troop 117 in 1975. Mandy by Barry Manilow was in the top ten that week in 1975, as well as the Carpenter’s Please Mister Postman which to my embarrassment was the first version of that classic that I had heard. Not the Marvelettes nor the Beatles, which is cooler than the Carpenter’s but oh Karen Carpenter’s voice…

After leaving Julio & Chris to head home, Bill and I were in the direction fo Debbie Schwartz who was wandering around wanting to buy eggs. We took her under our wing and brought her to the supermarket where she took out a loan and bought a dozen eggs as well as quail eggs.

It was a fun day and we came home where I made the usual Saturday night dinner on Sunday night. Bill liked it but I thought I overcooked the pasta. It was quite filling nonetheless.