Monthly Archives: February 2025

Contemptuous Familiarity

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Another goddamned day. It’s a fucking Wednesday and I have been in a mood since I woke up. Hoboken has been under a boil water advisory for the past 24 hours and I’m sure it will be corrected eventually but not soon enough for my tastes.

It’s a hassle and not the end of the world but just another straw that has been placed on the back of a camel. It’s been quite cold. I went for a walk, leaving Bill at home and when I came back he asked how it was outside. I explained that it was a February day and the temperatures were 29° but it really felt like 21°.

In any event, I am sick and tired of winter. It’s a drag and I do not want to have anything to do with almost anyone today. And to be under a boil water advisory in the middle of winter does not help anyone. Bill and I watched the documentary Sly Stone: The Burden of Black Genius on Hulu. It’s directed by Questlove, Ahmir Thompson, to his Mom.

I loved it but I am not sure if Bill knew anything about Sly Stone, though he seemed to enjoy it. Then we watched Roy Wood Jr.’s stand-up special which was funny. Bill was off to bed after that and I called Mike and left an unacknowledged voicemail yet again.

I find that annoying with regard to Mike. I know he’s new in our lives here but some recognition is all that is asked for and never received. It’s confusing to me. Both Bill and Mike are into the magical world of Astrology, Bill being a Cancer, Mike a Gemini and me a Virgo. What does it mean, I really couldn’t say.

Most of the time I think it is bullshit but I want to interact with these believers so I play along. The Virgo sign is supposed to represent communication and in that case, I do believe it to be true. I communicate and when others do not respond in kind it all falls apart.

So the unacknowledged voicemail set a tone for most of my day. The ongoing boil water advisory is not helping. And the job search. I send out resumes and apply online for positions and I get rejections or ignored.

It doesn’t help my spirits very much and all it takes is a look back to a few months ago and I get even more upset. I did contact Daisy the other day. The food place she worked at before I got her into Bratty McGrotty had a help-wanted sign.

I sent a text on President’s Day and she eventually replied that she thought about contacting me but was scared to. That was alarming. Daisy does not seem to be like my other friends, the ones that take the good with the bad. Those are true friends. They stick around.

I know Daisy has her kid and no time for nonsense like my nonsense but to say they’re scared to drop a line seemed ridiculous and sounded like the Filipino chick that she works with. Things ended on an OK note but let’s face it, the friendship isn’t going back to whatever it was before. That may be a good thing I reckon.

Four pots of water are boiling. When will the boil water advisory end?

Things got weird. Mike who has a strict schedule at work was able to get some overtime due to some bigwigs showing up tomorrow. He was hoping to get to work early tomorrow and we suggested he come over and sleep on the couch so he can walk to work in the morning.

I called him last night and left a message. He sent texts around 2:30 AM. I thought it odd and it was kindling for the embers that started for me this morning. Plus Bill and I being together so much in the apartment where we have to boil water then let it cool so we can actually use the water, the stress levels were out of the ordinary- high.

Mike asked if I could meet him after work and at 10:30 this morning I said no. The day progressed and my mood improved. Slowly but it was going in the right direction. I was able to tell Mike that I would meet him.

Not much contact after that and I proceeded as planned. I headed out into the winter night, leaving my toasty, humid apartment at 6:15 to meet Mike at 7:15. I walked down Washington Street and called Mike. Connection made, I can hear Mike talking to a coworker. I am on the line for 35 seconds before I hang up and try again. I get the same result. Again. And Again.

Finally, we connect. Mike is annoyed and to me, seems to think that I did not know it was a busy important work week for him. He does not like the fact that I am not in a good mood though by being out on the street on a February winter night I seem to be making an awfully noble effort to be in at least, a better mood.

I am fortunate t have people in my life who recognize the mood I can be in and sometimes stand back and allow it to play out, or try to alleviate my spirits. Or both. Those people are few and far between, living their own lives as they should instead of holding my hand through a momentary crisis.

Mike might be new to someone like me and Bill. We have no ulterior motives, we just want to help him with his life. We love him and want only the best for him. He’s got a lot to learn and so do two old dogs like Bill and myself.

Oddly Moving

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30° in Hoboken on a Monday night. It was a weird day. Started off with Mike calling way too early for me to answer when the phone is on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode. Between the two 60-somethings sharing a bed, a night of uninterrupted sleep is a fleeting goal.

Bill heard my phone vibrate, I did not. Somehow his sleep was disturbed where mine was not. And that’s how the day started. He was in a mood when he woke up which rubbed off on me. I did contact Mike to tell him not to call me at that time but to text instead. Whether or not that is a solution remains to be seen.

Bill and I were in separate rooms, he was doing his thing and I was doing mine. No animosity just recovering from interrupted sleep. He did take a nap. I started watching Homicide: Life on the Street. I loved the show when it was on in the Nineties.

A Friday night event for me. Great characters, story, and script. It didn’t really catch on with the general public but it got along with seven seasons. I remember making a friend when I was working at Arista Records, Kim Cozzens.

I was out on the sidewalk enjoying a Gauloises roll-up and spoke with Kim who worked on the other side of the floor I worked on. We talked about Homicide quite a bit while I was at Arista.

That was over 25 years ago.
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. It was a different time.

I was living in Weehawken. Now I am in Hoboken. I lived in Weehawken for 11 years. Now in Hoboken for 22, going on 23 years. I first moved to Hoboken in 1984. Initially, I moved into a mosquito-infested illegal loft for a month.

Then I moved back home and out again a few months later. This time was 201 Madison Street. The neighborhood featured burned-out buildings which made my Mother cry when she drove down my street.

After 201 Madison I was at 1124 Willow, a basement apartment which I shared with Jimmy Lee. It was a great situation, Jimmy was at his girlfriend’s flat about 28 days a month. It was filthy, improperly ventilated and in the basement. The doors didn’t quite lock and It was surprising that no one ever broke in, though I did have a late-night visitor come through my window.

1124 Willow turned into 216 Madison, down the street from where I originally moved. That was with Kevin Craughn. It was not the ideal situation, it was more like a safety net that was torn and frayed. I moved after being there for maybe a year or two to 710 Jefferson.

That lasted a month or so, my Mother died in May of that year and I moved to Lodi again, thinking this time might be better. It wasn’t and by October of 1991, I had moved to 127 Jane Street in Weehawken.