I went out earlier. It was overcast but manageable. I was only going a few blocks and then back home. I made it to the cigar store, picked up some sticks, and was hit by about 2 or 3 drops of rain. While chatting briefly with the guy behind the counter, Imran, I looked out the store window and saw people running.

Then sheets of water fell from the sky soon after I stepped out on the sidewalk. It didn’t seem so bad, then I turned onto 7th street which was right into the storm. Within a minute the front part of me was soaking wet, the backside not so much.

There was nothing I could do, so I just walked and made the most out of it. I don’t run these days and figured I’d be wet whether or not I walked or ran. I saw a young mother and daughter in a doorway, sheltering from the rain and said loudly ‘It’s wet!’ which made them laugh.

I was soon climbing the four flights and once through the door, was changing from my soggy duds. Even my underwear was soaked. I think it was from the rain. Since rain was on the horizon, I spent the day with Bill which has been nice.

I cooked the usual Saturday night dinner, penne, pesto and chicken. The experimentation continues and I admit to using Bill as a test subject. And to my delight, he likes it. Now we’re watching Anthony Jeselnik on YouTube. Very edgy and funny.

We caught a few minutes of a male choir singing contemporary hit songs which led me to a Key & Peele skit and down I went through a Key & Peele rabbit hole, presently winding up with Anthony Jeselnik. After this, who knows?

We are watching the two part documentary of David Chase on HBO. David Chase created the Sopranos back in the day. The Sopranos is still an amazing watch but the brutality is a bit much for my delicate self these days.

So, one of the voice notes I posted was about the Babbette brothers. They were friends of my brother Brian and our mutual friend, Dan Belle. One summer afternoon when I had a car, I picked up Dan and the Babbette brothers, going into the Village for records and whatnot.

I recall, going down Fifth Avenue by Washington Square Park. Since it was summer, there were a number of sexy people roaming the streets in the early 1980s. Now, the Babbette brothers were not particularly virile, on the contrary, they were on a spectrum of nerdiness.

And here were the Babbette brothers in the back of my moving car, hanging out the window and catcalling girls. I couldn’t believe it and I wasn’t having it either. I pulled over and asked what the fuck were they doing?

Dan Belle sat silently as I told the Babbette brothers to cut the shit or I will leave them right there on the sidewalk. I don’t know why the Babbette brother popped into my head but I thought it might be worth mentioning for this here blog. I don’t think I ever crossed paths again with the Babbette brothers. I remained friends with Dan Belle for several years and still connect on the social medias. The Babbette brothers are out there as well. I checked.

Bill is telling a story about a bus-driving friend of his and the bus driver’s dentures. It took place before I got my own prosthetic teeth. A long time ago I asked if he mentioned that his husband (me) wore dentures and Bill said it was before that. Bill has quite a few tales of his bus driving compadres which he has worked into his play ‘From Where I Sit’. He’s been working on it for a while and has some really good songs in it as well.

Today is Friday. I finally made it. It was a long four days. Schlomo was out for 3 of those 4 days and his Legume was not on the premises. That reduced the amount of stress. Also reduced in the office today was communication. According to Bill, since I am a Virgo I am all about communication. And when communication breaks down I struggle to keep it together.

Like I predicted a number of posts before, they ended the work from home option. Not totally though. If you want to work from home you can only do so on Fridays. So a good number of people were working from home. I found out the hard way twice. When some people showed up.

They just pop in off the street, most without an appointment. I asked if they had actually spoke to someone and most of the time they did but do not remember who it was they spoke to. So I log into the system and do some detective work and twice today they person that they needed to see was working from home.

I have to treat everyone equally, offering coffee, tea or water and showing the utmost respect. Today I had a bickering couple and I had to raise my voice and tell them they were in an office and not on the street. They quieted down and I was able to find someone who figured out they had no contact with anyone from the firm.

No matter, they were given leads to begin a process that will determine if anything could be done to help them. They were soon on their way only to have someone else arrive wanting to see So & So.

Once again I send a message and find So & So is also working from home. More detective work only this time a higher up was able to step in and help while this cantankerous person sat and brought up things that I had just told him a minute before.

This all has the potential to bite me on the ass next week. All it will take is someone to complain about whatever I did that was found to be so offensive and perhaps even terrifying enough to claim that I am scary to them.

As far as I know, no explanation is needed, just say that I frighten them and they won’t have to do their job properly. And to the powers that be, that is OK.