It is the first Friday in August, and it’s friggin’ hot outside. More humid than anything, really. Not much in the way of breezes. On Thursday night, I stop by the cigar shop in Hoboken and get a nice mid-sized cigar for a lunchtime smoke. I got a Jaime Garcia, nice size, good cigar.

When I went outside to get my lunch, I found my spot filled with construction equipment so I would not be sitting and puffing away as I planned. I kept the Jaime Garcia in my shirt pocket and opted for the small Romeo and Julietta that I generally enjoy when on my lunch break. A rethink was required.

When I was walking back from getting my Halal food, I passed a building that is under some sort of construction or renovation. I figured that would do. I finished my Halal food. The guys in the truck generally hook me up, but it was a bit boring today.

Just not getting the same thrill I had gotten in the past. It was satisfactory and filling but bland overall. Not their fault at all. Just tired taste buds on my tongue.

Bill and I watched the newest episode of Ted Lasso. He’s back with some of the same characters. The episode took place in Ted’s hometown, with Rebecca, Keeley and Higgins flying over to see if Ted would go back to Richmond and coach the women’s football team.

We sort of know how it will turn out but they’re releasing the episodes one at a time rather than making everything available for streaming all at once. Last night we watched the last 2 episodes of the third season. Of course we’d seen them before, a few times, but it really is such a good, heartwarming show we really didn’t mind.

So I sat on the steps next to a sign that said ‘Rat Poison’ was in the area of the building undergoing renovation. A few people smiled as they walked by, I guessed the smell of the cigar was not as off-putting as I thought it would be. Most of the time all you can smell on the streets is weed, and it doesn’t seem to be a natural smell of weed, but rather something artificial.

As I sat, Marcus strolled by with his Chick Fillet in a bag. Today is his last day and he really hasn’t said much to me at all. I suppose that’s how it will be. His leaving won’t be a bang, but a whimper. He walked by, looking either straight ahead or looking ahead, and in any event did not see me or if he did, he didn’t have anything to say to me.

Now Marcus has left the fruit stand, having handed in his gloves and fruit-picking equipment. There was no face to face goodbye but he left a note, which was something in itself. He urged me to work with the team, though I thought I was doing that.

Perhaps I need to be more gregarious? I don’t know. He mentioned that there were a lot of personalities, but I should just try and no one wants me to fail. He says I have a knowledge and a sense of people that the team doesn’t know about and Marcus would like me to show it. That was nice, wasn’t it? Was it?

I discussed this with Bill and it was a good talk. I explained that I work by myself, alone for 90% of the time. It’s a fact. Marcus didn’t seem to realize that. He never saw me at the major fruit stand, working alongside Kimberly, Janis and Violet, not to mention Yancy.

Bill reminded me that Marcus is more than half my age and is still growing, as am I.

A nice day today, though I am indoors, in air conditioning. I heard that it was quite humid out today, the air quite thick. Back at the fruit stand that I like. It’s Marcus’ penultimate day at the fruit stand. I believe it is the only job that he has had, having come to the fruit stand right out of college. 7 years is enough for him and I sort of understand his point of view. He’s in his thirties and looking to make a change. And he has a child that he is trying to place in private school and that costs a lot of money.

Janis mentioned how much Marcus made, and compared it to how much she has made. It’s more than me that’s for sure. Janis and I are closer in income than Marcus and me, or Marcus and Janis. I bear no grudge and have no jealousy.

I remember working at the HBJ warehouse. Laszlo, who I used to work with had left, moving onto something else. He was out of the employment picture and when we crossed paths again, he belittled me for remaining where I was. That set me off and I wound up looking for work elsewhere.

My luck was running out at the book publishing company anyway. A company called the 1330 Company swept me up. They were based somewhere in Tennessee or Kentucky. The job was to drive around in their van, using their tools and materials and go to dentist offices to place racks for pamphlets and whatever regarding modern dentistry and procedures.

Once when in training I took the HBJ van to go to a seminar in Queens by LaGuardia airport. This was back in the day when smoking was allowed everywhere. I was also smoking pot at that time and would stash a joint in the pack of Marlboros I was smoking.

A crumb of the joint fell out and wound up in the cigarette. I lit up and was oblivious to the situation and wondered why everyone was looking at me ‘that way’. It didn’t matter, I had the job and soon left HBJ for the 1330 company. It was not a good fit and I left a few months later.

A friend of mine, Kartha Meavney, got me a job at the messenger company she worked with, En Route. It was right around the corner from where I am right now. That was not a good fit either and I left that job for Friedman, Alpren and Greene, an accounting firm that was at 53rd and Broadway. It was a grown-up job working with Tyree Thomas and Patricia McKnight.

Tyree was a good guy, he had a plan for us to all get together for New Years Eve in 1999. It never happened. I left Freidman Alpren and Greene soon after that, after I felt snubbed by some coworkers on Broadway. I was walking down Broadway, they were walking up.

I said hello and they acted like they didn’t know me. It was a good job though but my ego was wounded. It was also where I bought my Fender acoustic guitar and sang across the street after work in McCann’s bar. I sang Dirty Old Town and Walking After Midnight