Category Archives: Cool Cold Reality

Where it is and what it came from. The end-all, be-all, and all-for-a-dollar.

I Get Lonely Too Jeremih

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Day two or perhaps a day too many. It was not as bad as yesterday, Bradley absent, Zack, Thomas and me running the show. Interesting international crowd in the cigar shack today, Zack scoring big time with some guy from Mongolia with his daughters or wives and their interpreter. Zack would point at something and they guy from Mongolia would say yes.

Meanwhile I had a Korean woman who wanted something modern in lighters and whatever I showed her was not modern enough or too much money. Then she asked if she could get a discount and I almost lost it. A discount? For what? All I needed was a reason which was not forthcoming, though even if she did have a reason there would be no discount.

I did sell her a lighter and she asked if she could get a free can of butane. I checked with Zack and he was still buzzing from his four figured sale so he was more than alright with that. It took most of the day for me to catch up with Thomas (who peaked early) and Zack (who had climax after climax) but eventually I hit my goal which was nice.

Now it’s sort of after hours, the cigar shack zone has quieted down considerably, not much going on otherwise. Jimmy Seltzer just came in and just put me in second place, barely ahead of Thomas. Like I said, it was a better day than yesterday, some friction at first, Thomas and Zack had a little chat and according to Thomas it was about how Zack doesn’t seem to trust Thomas and myself, putting all of his stock in his second in command, which is fitting and a bit awkward, especially with me knowing all the shit that Zack has said about number two over the past year.

But that is all water under the bridge I suppose. It is bitterly cold out today, the temperature never reached above 30 degrees and when the wind would blow it cut like Dorothy Parker’s tongue. Just about an hour to go tonight, Thomas is closing which will allow me to wait for the train about 15 minutes earlier. Still it should not be so bad, at least I won’t be walking.

I also saw Deborah my downstairs neighbor who offers hope for the future. I only sampled a bit of the hope, not wanting to be overwhelmed only to be sent dashed upon the rocks. It would be nice but then again, a lot of things would be nice. I just want to get home and get warm. Been sleeping nicely lately, though the other night I sort of hit Bill in the face, or rather the sleep apnea mask.

I was sort of hovering about his body in the dream and when the dream changed, down came my hand. He said something and I apologized profusely, as is my wont. I’ve been careful not to levitate around Bill while we are both sleeping. Takes some work, but it is worth it.

Code of the streets- Instrumental

I Get It In Omarion

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It is back to the cigar shack after a week of not much of anything. I did some things around the apartment, cleaning, laundry but not much else. New Years Eve was even mellower, Bill & I going to Arthur’s Tavern for steaks, followed by cigars and then winding up at Rand & Lisa’s for midnight cocktails.

Good crowd there, John Fig and his wife Arianna and their daughter Luna, Lois & Fred, Mike C and his gorgeous girlfriend Sarah. We apparently missed Chaz who stopped by en route to West Paterson to spend midnight with his Aunt Rena.We’ll be seeing him this weekend when he has his holiday party.

Bill and I watched a few movies over the weekend, Love Actually, some Harry Potter and yesterday watched mindlessly an Absolutely Fabulous marathon. For the longest time, the humor Absolutely Fabulous escaped me. I felt I was going to have my ‘gay card’ revoked, but being hungover from the night before must have helped since I did chuckle a few times as did Bill.

He went to bed pretty early last night since he was driving a bus to Washington DC today. I tracked him on my smartphone. Since I can’t be with him, it was good to at least know where he was even though the GPS was dodgy. One minute he is on the Cross Bronx Expressway and next he is crossing the border into Maryland.

Since Maryland turned up more than the Grand Concourse I went with Maryland. It was justified since he did cross into Washington DC eventually. And now, thanks to a paper screw up, he is on his way home, deadheading from Washington DC. He expects to be home by midnight or thereabouts so I will more than likely be awake.

Oh yeah, I just got home a few minutes ago. It was a long day at the cigar shack, I came in and saw Zack talking to Bradley at the counter, Thomas floating around somewhere. As I was taking my coat off, Thomas materialized and asked if I heard about Bradley. I did not so Bradley told me the news.

Bradley is now the assistant manager, which is what I basically told Bradley a few months ago. I harbor no hard feelings, Bradley is good at the job and is born to work in the world of retail. I think Zack was expecting me to be upset since I had been working there longer, but no I was not upset at all. In fact I congratulated Bradley on his promotion, and asked him if he got a raise, which he did.

And since it was a federal holiday today a lot of people had off from work today, making the cigar shack area quite deserted. It was a long day and it seems that Zack does not like the fact that things are slow. He’s been through many January’s before so it really shouldn’t be a surprise. I feel bad for Zack though. It seems like he is being set up for a fall.

The cigar shack probably pays a lot of money in rent and with the slow sales and the sluggish economy it promises to be a brutal year. And on top of that Zack and his wife are expecting a baby so there is that added stress. An interesting thing happened today, 2 customers came into the cigar shack, a couple.

Thomas asked them if they needed help and they said they were just browsing. I came out and asked the same thing as Thomas and I got the same answer. So Thomas and I backed off, letting them browse while keeping our eyes on them. A minute or so later, Zack comes out of the office and asks the couple if there is anything they would like to see and of course they say yes to Zack. So Zack tool care of the couple and made a sale while Thomas and I busied ourselves doing other things.

The couple left with their purchase and Zack then turned to Thomas and myself, about to berate us for not helping the couple. I had to explain to Zack that just because he watches the cameras in the store, it’s not reality necessarily. I explained that both Thomas and myself offered our assistance which they did not want, then he comes out and they do want assistance.

We did not do anything wrong, we weren’t goofing off. I don’t think Zack appreciated my explanation but it was the truth and he went back to the office ostensibly to check the cameras to see if we really did interact with the customers. Apparently, asking a customer if they need help is not the way to go. Asking them if there is anything they would like to see is the proper way to bait the hook.

It’s going to be a long year.



2-02 Take The Cash (K.A.S.H)