Communication Breakdowns | johnozed

Just woke up from a Xanap. It was good and longer than the 15 minute allotment I’d been having lately. This was deep and restful. Glad I did it. In fact I probably could have slept a lot longer if I did not have the foresight to set the online alarm clock two rooms away. The online alarm clock sounds like a slippery rubber puppy yapping and makes one get out of bed before it piddles on the floor. No dreams to recollect from the Xanap. It was quite a muggy day and I enjoyed the sleep in the air conditioned room.

Last night I did go out, and I was a few minutes before the storm, the derecho that was fast approaching. iTunes came out with a new Beatles collection, 14 songs that I of course had already, so I made my own version of Tomorrow Never Knows. I listened to that on my iPod on my way and had an umbrella as well as my camera stashed away in my bag as I strolled down Washington Street with my head held high. The show was scheduled to be in Sinatra Park by the Hudson River but was moved prior.

It was moved to a pub directly across the street from the Guitar Bar which Mr. Wonderful Jim Mastro had posted on Facebook. Still some people are not plugged in all the time like I usually am, and someone posted signs at Sinatra Park directing them of the relocation. With ominous skies approaching from the west, I threw the cigar I was smoking into a puddle and walked into the pub. It was in a side room, not the main part of the bar and I was directed through a door which had put me onto the makeshift stage.

Nimbly stepping over chords and wires I found Jim Mastro and asked him where Meghan was. It turned out she was not coming. She did not want the girls, Lily & Ruby hanging out in a pub, not that hanging out in a bar or a pub or a VFW Post ever did anything wrong for me. I was disappointed and went out to the sidewalk to call Meghan. She was on the other line and after explaining why she wasn’t there told me she would call me back. I stood at the sidewalk and took some pictures of the storm clouds.

The Guitar Bar All Stars started with a rip roaring version of Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. I thought it was a little loud and went outside for a minute, after saying hello to my friend Karyn. It wasn’t raining yet and when I came back in Karyn was talking to someone else and I saw another friend, Alice who sometimes plays bass in Karyn’s band. I bought myself another Corona and bought one for Alice as well.

I did have a quick chat with Alice who asked if I was working. When I told her my situation, she remembered and wondered if there was a way to make money from this here blog, “Perhaps some advertising?” I remarked that this here blog is too personal, and the only adverts I could hope to attract would be pharmaceutical companies pushing antidepressants. Alice laughed. It would have been nice to talk to the both of them, Karyn and Alice, but it was too noisy and after the third song I bid my goodbyes.

Of course as soon as I opened the door I saw the deluge. I was off to meet Bill and luckily I had the umbrella. I rearranged my shoulder bag and opened the umbrella and headed out. The skies were full of lightning and the streets and sidewalks were rapidly getting flooded. I was a little worried about being struck by a falling tree branch rather than lightning though that was in the back of my mind. I wisely wore boots instead of sneakers so my feet were relatively dry.

The shorts I was wearing did become see through, so my black boxer briefs were plainly visible. I made it home as the storm raged, and immediately got out of my wet clothes, the boots drying out in the hallway. And that was it basically. It would have been a different, more fun scene at Sinatra Park but since we were at the mercy of the elements there was nothing else that could be done.

Today as dry once again and muggy as all hell. I had a few errands to run and after that was done I walked over to the river and did some busking. The toddlers love to stop by and watching me play, saying hello and doing whatever dances toddlers do under the watchful eyes of their guardians. Not too many people out today though I did make about $1.45, which when added to what I made the other day surpasses whatever monies I had made when I first started busking a few years ago.

Then I came home and had a Xanap which brings us to the beginning of this here blog. Currently watching the Olympic opening ceremonies with Bill and enjoying them. Former roommate Kevin has been a bit pissy about the whole thing, snarky comments on Facebook. I remember going to clubs and making fun of people who were dancing and having a good time. Then eventually I realized they were having a much better time than I was as I sat there making fun of people that were having the fun that I wasn’t having. Though I’m not dancing I am having more fun than Kevin it seems.

Derecho!

1-03 Get Behind The Mule [Live]

It is hot. It has been hot the past week or so. This is nothing new. All across the US it has been hot in record temperatures. Still there are fools who do not believe in climate change and they also do not believe it is manmade. No, with all the cars and trucks on the roads, with environmental protection regulations reduced or discarded, with the rain forests being depleted, there is no way that climate change could be manmade.

Fucking idiots. In the winter when there is a record paralyzing snow storm these jackasses usually say ‘how about that global warming?’, not realizing that as they say that in 20 degree cold, on the other side of the planet forest fires and dust storms are all the rage. I mean just look at the cloud formations. Some crazy shapes or dark and violent storms appearing out of nowhere, unforeseen by meteorologists knocking out power for a million people in the Maryland/Virginia/Washington DC area.

It was in this heat that I went out this afternoon. It was the last day to feed Lois and Fred’s cat and I was more than happy to do it. For a moment I was happy to at least get out of the apartment. I did the same thing yesterday, but once on the street I noticed I did not use deodorant which left me feeling a bit overripe. No worries, I just went home after feline feeding and applied the deodorant and sweated some more in the apartment.

Bill was around, napping for a little while before getting up much earlier than expected. In a totally different move from last year’s July 4th Bill and I made plans to see the fireworks on the Hudson River. Julio and I had been texting about meeting up, and initially I thought we would go to 4th Street in Hoboken and watch there, but since Julio was uptown we headed that way. Of course there were a lot of people going in the same direction. Enough people to make meeting up a bit difficult.

But we figured it out. Julio pulled up on his bicycle while Bill and I sat on a curb smoking cigars. Rand and Lisa texted that they were at 14th Street and we were only 3 blocks away but there were a few thousand people between us so we decided to stay where we were. The fireworks were excellent. Usually it’s seen them once, why see them again, but they were impressive. Perhaps it was because they were so close and so loud.

Bill and I held hands while watching while Julio took pictures to send to Stine and Alexander in Denmark. In the back of my mind I had to be wary since two men holding hands can attract unwanted attention. In fact while Bill and I were waiting for Julio, a young gay couple walked by us holding hands. One of them was wearing a Wonder Woman t-shirt so I said ‘Hey Wonder Woman’, but he was too sullen to acknowledge and probably thought Bill and I were two Hoboken guys smoking cigars and putting him down. As if a Hoboken guy would recognize Diana Prince’s breastplate. Friggin’ newbies.

After the fireworks we decided to stay put and let everyone else go first. We stood and talked for a while, Julio telling us about his apartment with fantastic air conditioning. Julio was surprised to hear that we hadn’t installed our unit yet. I mentioned that Bill doesn’t mind since he’s Puerto Rican and Bill promptly shot that one down. That line was from a year or so ago.

I had come home from work, crazy hot outside and before I left the apartment that morning, I shut the windows since it was supposed to rain. It may have rained, it might not have, but when I came home there was Bill sitting in the dense heat in the apartment with the windows still closed. I asked him why he didn’t open the windows and he said ‘I don’t mind the heat, I’m Puerto Rican!’ So it’s been a running gag since then. But not anymore.

As we walked from the Hudson River there was a lot of traffic on the streets. Bill mentioned that the buses were not running down Washington but using the side streets instead. As we passed a bus stop there were a couple of dozen people waiting for a bus. I asked Bill if the buses were not coming their way and he said they weren’t and went to the people to tell them where they could catch the buses. As he was doing that Julio and I crossed the street. I asked a police officer if buses were running down Washington Street and the cop said they were.

Julio and I looked at each other and said ‘uh oh’. The dozens of people that Bill was talking to were walking past us to the designated stop. Bill made sure the last person who was waiting for the bus was on their way. We Bill caught up with me & Julio, we told him what the cop said. Bill said the cop was wrong and their were posters made telling people where to catch the bus. Why they didn’t read it, I don’t know. Bill was right, the cops were wrong. We soon split after that, Julio riding off on his bike and Bill and I walking home holding hands.

Bill stayed up for a while when we got back home, I stayed up and watched the directors cut of Alien. It was just as good as I remembered and didn’t notice much that was different from the previous times I had seen the movie. Maybe the scene where Tom Skerritt and Harry Dean Stanton are still alive and asking for Sigourney Weaver to kill them was different or new. Would I have stopped what I was doing to get Jones the cat? I couldn’t really say.

I woke up this morning and after some coffee and cereal, I installed the air conditioner again and waited for the cool down. Slowly the bedroom was getting cooler and after a while I turned it off and headed out to feed the cat. I wore a hat this time and while it kept the heat in my head, it also kept the sun off my face. I decided to go to the really big supermarket to get a few things and saved some money once again.

Lois had given me a big bag of socks from where she works. Apparently they are samples and they are nice to have, so I’m walking through the supermarket with the bag of socks as well as a canvas bag with a bottle of water in it. I get what I need and decide to head up to Washington Street before going home. There is a store on Washington that has a nice produce section and the celery I buy there lasts longer than celery bought in the supermarkets. Maybe it because it’s packed in ice, but it lasts about two weeks whereas the supermarket celery goes limp within a week.

I walk through the heat, a panhandler asks me to buy him a soda to which I reply I am unemployed. He grimaced and walked away. I walk into the store and go to where the celery and produce was kept on ice but all I see is some oranges. The woman behind the counter sees my consternation and asks what I am looking for. I tell her and she tells me they’re not carrying it anymore. A week or so ago they get rid of their deli counter and now this.

Perhaps they’re going into the liquor business since they do sell that as well and you know there are simply not enough places to buy liquor in Hoboken. A liquor store on almost every other block will not do. So yeah, I was disappointed and overheated and had to get out of there as fast as possible before I said the wrong thing.

Now I am back home, relaxing and not doing much else. How about you?