Category Archives: Happy?

I Don’t Wanna Lose You

Well after a good night’s sleep with minimal trips to the lavatory I woke up relatively refreshed after silent bargaining with the alarm clock. It was an interesting sleep, more dreams with regards to people I hadn’t seen in decades.

A side note, Ken Mallia popped up on my Facebook friends list, you know, people you may know who are friends of friends last week. He looks heavier and a lot like his dad who was quite a funny character.

I was up and about shuffling through the apartment a few hours after Bill gave me quite a passionate send before he left. Some coffee to be made, cereal in the bowl with milk and a hot shower waiting. Then I got myself together and checked mail, watched the Daily Show and The Colbert Report from last night and soon I was walking up the street to the bus stop.

While waiting for the bus I noticed smoke billowing down 5th Street. I went to check it out but did not see any fire, just smoke. A minute or so later four or five fire trucks were barreling down Washington Street, just a few doors up from the bus stop. No idea where the fire was, or even if there was a fire. If there was it was under control by the time the firemen arrived.

My bus driver maneuvered around the fire trucks and we made it to the next stop where my neighbor Deborah got on board. She noticed I wasn’t on the bus yesterday and figured I might have taken an earlier bus. I gave her a sanitized version of Monday, leaving out the gross points. We did share a chuckle about the twin doctors whom her boyfriend doesn’t like as well.

An easy ride through the tunnel and soon we were parting ways at the bus terminal. A quick subway ride uptown and soon I was in the vicinity of the cigar shack. I wasn’t at 100% but close to it. A nice chat with Zack in the shack and soon Jerry Vale joined the cast of characters. The usual rogue’s gallery was ensconced in the man cave already smoking up a storm. It’s been getting crowded earlier and they never leave.

Zack had a late lunch which made my lunch an hour later and made Jerry Vale’s lunch, dinner. Nevertheless I was determined to go outside for my hour and sit and read. And I did just that, rereading Please Kill Me, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, a book about the early days of New York City Punk Rock, starting with Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. I read it in the 1990’s and it still is an enjoyable read.

Then it was back to work and much to my surprise I was taking the lead in sales once again. And the numbers came out for October, the cigar shack doing much better than predicted. Thomas grabbed the lion’s share but still there was enough to go around for all of us, except for Jerry Vale since he is but a mere part timer.







15 – ’til

I Don’t Even Know Myself

Well it’s been a nice day off, and after yesterday’s headache if it was raining cats and dogs it would still be a good day. I came home last night, Bill stayed up to wait for me which was quite nice. We talked or rather Bill listened as I told him my tales of woe.

He went to bed and I stayed up watching The Sorcerer’s Apprentice for some reason. It wasn’t that good but then again it wasn’t that bad. It was a good way to kill some time, to tire the mind and the eyes and prepare one for a good night’s sleep. And it was a good night’s sleep.

Bill was up and out at his usual time, way too early for me, but he once again kissed me goodbye before heading out. Such a nice thing. I eventually got out of bed and started my day. Had nothing planned really, just a day to decompress. I did have to do some grocery shopping and there were shirts to be dropped off at the dry cleaners.

A brief chat with Mona at the cleaners then a walk around the supermarket, pushing the shopping cart and trying to avoid the little old ladies who hog the aisles. I saw my favorite cashier Isis and she was looking good and as usual quite friendly. I came home and had a nice breakfast and after that, set about trying to figure out the smartphone and all the apps that I could get as well as surfing the net and checking emails.

A few weeks ago I got a letter from an old friend. It’s a rare thing to get a letter these days, a handwritten letter. The penmanship took some time to figure out and I felt that I in turn should respond with a letter of my own.

So for the past couple of days, I would sit on a bench by the park and write my letter. I opted to print the words out since my cursive skills seem to have fallen by the wayside. Sure a sentence here or there is relatively legible but a few pages written looks like a first draft by Ted Kaczynski, full of words crossed out and misspelled.

With a final post script I was out the door, enjoying a cigar and wandering around Hoboken eventually winding up at the Frank Sinatra Post Office by Pier A. On the way back home I stopped at the Garden of Eden and got myself a small salad since I noticed my diet had been lacking in green leafy things, to eat.

I ate that at home and soon after that I had a nap. While I slept I dreamed about our neighbor Mike who was moving lots of things in and out while Bill was trying to squeeze past Mike’s cronies to make it up the stairs to me. I set my alarm on the cellphone and also left the cellphone in the TV room while I napped.

I heard it go off and decided a few more minutes wouldn’t be so bad to sleep. It turned out to be 15 extra minutes before I got out of bed. I headed out for what is likely the last time for the day, stopping by Hoboken Daily news and seeing Andy for a few minutes before heading home and making supper for myself.

And now I am here, writing this and trying not to do much of anything else. That’s about it. My friend should get the letter in a day or two since they do live in town. I hope they enjoy it since I already forgot what it is that I wrote.