Monday October 5 2026 My mother would have turned 100 years old yesterday. She was 36 when I came around. She also had a heart attack while carrying me. I remember nothing.

I am back in the belly of the fruit stand, once again. I think I am better acclimated to it but it is a Monday and things are quiet. There was the Monday morning meeting that I usually do not attend since I am usually at my desk blocks away, but being in the belly of the fruit stand it was mandatory.

And it wasn’t that bad. There were six of us and some of the talk was about the expired pretzels. I do hope that it doesn’t bite me on the ass. The potential is there since they are an assistant to a bearded big name in the belly of the fruit stand.

There was a plan for Mike to come over on Sunday. He’s stressed since his government check hasn’t arrived yet. It could all be taken care of if he would settle his score with his bank but instead of paying whatever penalties he might have, he prefers to be stressed out each month looking out for the postal worker who sometimes misdelivers the mail.

On Saturday, Bill and I saw the Roger Guenveur Smith one man show about Jean Michel Basquiat and their friendship. I was hesitant to see it again but the second viewing was better than the first and we had better seats. And the seats were better because we were right in front of Roger Guenveur Smith, not watching at an angle like last time.

Once again Bill and I had a good walk walking from the West Village to the East Village, me having a cigar and chatting with my darling. We decided not to stay for the salon scheduled for after the performance, and walked back across town through Washington Square Park whic was bustling on an autumn night in October.

And again we had pizza at Grimaldi’s which was nice. I think we were home by 10:00 pm and Bill was in bed and I joined him an hour later. Slept well and was anxious about a possible bike ride. Bill and I had gone to the supermarket on Saturday and I forgot some items so a revisit was in order.

I vacillated between cycling and staying home. It looked like rain and the it didn’t. I decided to take a chance. If it got too bad I could just turn around and go home. It wasn’t too bad as I pedaled but realized that as I was rolling through the mist, eventually I would be soaked.

I was about 2 blocks in when I decided to pack it in. I rode to the supermarket and bought the items I had forgotten and so doing lost a wrist mirror that I use for bike riding. It was from the 20th century and had sentimental value but was probably lost in the supermarket. I guess Velcro doesn’t last forever.

Bill napped and Mike was incommunicado. Eventually Bill woke up and Mike sent a text stating he was too depressed to come over, even though it would have been the right thing to do. Now it’s a day later and he might be in a more precarious position today than he was yesterday.

I watched some livestreams from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass yesterday. Annemarie was attending. I was looking forward to seeing Robert Plant and the latest band he is fronting. I didn’t know until I saw but Jesse Welles was also on the bill. He’s a young guitar player in the mold of Bob Dylan. He had a band and covered War Pigs by Black Sabbath. Quite good actually.

One of my dreams last night involved meeting Jesse Welles. In the dream, he was with his band in New York just setting up or taking down equipment. I asked him if he was just in San Francisco in the afternoon and he took me aside as if to tell me a secret. There was a homoerotic vibe to that part of the dream but it went no further than me being told by Jesse Welles to keep it quiet.

A video is playing right now. The agency sent it to me. In case I am operating a forklift, I will know how to fill out the proper paperwork when this opportunity arises. The narrator sounds like he is a high school student at a boys’ school narrating for extra credit. He stumbles, he stammers, and comes across as awkward. It’s called How to Do an OP63.

The video plays. I type on a tablet. Obviously I am not paying any attention to the junior bar’s speaker. The video ended and there were no follow up questions. Last night was good. Bill and I caught up on Ted Lasso and ended on a bittersweet note. Jeopardy was more uplifting. I am at my fruit stand, Bill is on the road and Mike is in his crib. Today is his beloved’s birthday. William Wade is 60.

Back in May I told a coworker about pretzels that had expired in November 2025. The seemed shocking and the coworker felt they had recently ordered them. They also said they would check it out but in August they hadn’t done anything so I took it upon myself to throw them out.

Yesterday they got back to me and asked what happened to the pretzels and when I told them, they asked why did I throw them out, explained they had expired almost a year ago and they mentioned they could have still been donated to a homeless organization. I explained that that seemed like a bad idea, and they told me soup kitchens routinely give out food that had expired 10 years ago.

It was an odd conversation and I contacted Janis who was sitting next to Yancy and filled Yancy in on the situation. Yancy was not happy about this conversation and the thought of donating expired food in the name of the belly of the beast was not a smart decision. I explained that this is what I was told.

Yancy asked me to forward any correspondence on this matter to him since they were planning a meeting with this employee and this is more information that they could use since this employee has been doing some dodgy things indeed,

Next week I will be in the vicinity of the belly of the beast, Monday to Thursday. I think I have a good handle on this situation with none of the anxiety I used to carry around.

I’ve been snacking all morning and was thinking of getting halal food but I’m not hungry, I would be eating according to a schedule, not my personal reality. So I think I will pass on the halal food.

Spoke with Bill on the phone, driving up the NJ Turnpike. Mike is at his crib. I have a cigar in front of me that I will light up in about an hour. For I am a grown up and this is what grown ups do. I think.

Once again, this is written on a tablet, not the befuddled method of dictation. But I do want to bring this tablet home so I could use it next week at the belly of the hive. And I ate a jelly donut and I have jelly on my shirt. What else is new?