Category Archives: Hopelessly banal with a slathering of ennui

Wrong Line Service

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Wrong line service

Yesterday I wrote. Today Tuesday, December 16th, 2025, I dictate. I am a dictator. Hahaha.

Well, I got a Christmas card from Elaine, so I’m sending her a Christmas card as well as Annemarie, Brian, and Billie in DC, Meg and Rob, and Julio and Stine.

I am not looking for anything in return, so whereas I used to send photographs with the cards. I am not doing that this year. It seems I had forgotten, and once I had sealed the envelopes, that’s when I remembered, so it’s much too late for that.

Bill was supposed to be on the road, and he is not, so he is disappointed, and I just called him and woke him up from a nap, so I think he’s a little stressed about that, which probably means he is going to be depressed for the holidays, perhaps.

He was depressed for my birthday, and he’s going to be depressed for these holidays, so it’s financial depression, and it’s affecting him adversely, I think. Not that he said anything to me about it

Mike is planning to take Bill and me out for dinner. I am aiming for between the holidays. I am off the last 2 weeks of the year, and I think it’s a good idea we’re looking at the Elysian Cafe, which is low-key and tasty, cozy with good food, and affordable.

Mike has told me that he’s putting away money for that. Elaine has invited the three of us to Christmas dinner, so that should be nice. Mike is happy to be invited, and I asked Elaine if she didn’t come out and say it, but I asked if we could bring him, and she said yes.

One of my Facebook accounts is still persona non grata, and they’re not responding to anything, so there’s nothing I can do about it but just maintain the secondary account, which is actually the first account.

I am listening to remixes of Christmas hits from a CD mix from Harpy. Harpy has nothing to say to anyone, as far as I know these days. It is awfully quiet in the office, which is not so bad, I suppose. I cannot believe this job, though.

I asked if bonuses were coming our way from Jimmy Chile, and he said no, they were not, so it’s better to know than not know.

I am going to have a later lunch, which should be okay with regard to dinner.

I was thinking of a 4:00 lunch, but it’s 2:35 right now, and I’m getting hungry, so I think I’m looking at the 3:00 lunch instead, which is not so bad.

When I get back to Hoboken, I will have to drop off the Christmas cards at the post office and hope for the best. I went to the bibliothèque, where I saw Angel and Deborah making those Bibliothèque patrons quite happy

I just played 2 episodes of the cancelled Showtime TV series, The Man Who Fell to Earth. I bought the series a few weeks ago. Bill has been watching from the sidelines while doing computer things on his tablet and phone

Wrong line service was the mishearing of ‘Roman Circus’ by The Bongos

19°

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Build me a bridge/love rollercoaster/Above the clouds
This morning’s earworms

What a motherfucking Monday, December 15, 2025, has turned out to be. It had been a decent weekend. Mike came over on Friday and left Sunday night. That was fine; it was good having him around. Bill was on the road and did not come back until Saturday afternoon, and it was wonderful having him back home.

We’ve been having problems with the drain in the kitchen sink. It’s been backing up, and we’ve been using a plunger. Unfortunately, the water was not going down the drain but rather, into the washing machine. On Friday evening, when I usually do my laundry, I was all set, thinking I would have to stand by the sink during the wash.

I opened the lid and poured a cup of detergent into the machine when I noticed that it was half filled with dirty dishwater. So I gathered my laundry and walked over to the laundromat, where it was washed and folded, and ready 24 hours later. Tomas at the laundromat does a good job.

The showerhead I installed back in September had a bit of a leak, which I kept putting off, but would have to tighten it eventually. Saturday night, Bill went to bed early, and Mike and I shot videos of each other for a Facebook group.

On Sunday, Robert the ‘super’ came by and used a snake to go through the drain, and Bill was with Robert on that front. It seemed to have worked initially, but we soon found out that it did not work at all. In fact, Stephanie, in the apartment below us, knocked on our door to let us know that our drains were backing up into her apartment.

It was disconcerting. Mike eventually went back to his crib, and Bill and I caught up on TV shows we usually watch together. He was in bed soon enough and I followed soon after.

I woke up at the usual time for a Monday morning. I headed into the shower, where I found the showerhead was completely useless and soaked me and the bathroom. I yelled out ‘Fuck’ and Bill thought I had fallen, which is a fear of mine lately.

I removed the showerhead and had an awkward shower. After the shower, I sat at my computer and did what I always do, visit the Hunger Site and then post on that Met-ah website. A bit after 7 AM, I was outside in the 19° weather. I got my bagel and carefully walked to the PATH train. There was about 2.5 inches of snow from Saturday into Sunday, and whatever melted on Sunday was frozen on Monday morning, and people did not shovel their sidewalks.

Manhattan was bearable except for the cold winds blasting down the canyons of the city. I made it to my desk and started my day. The restart of the computer had the windows from Friday reopen, and Meta-ah was one of the tabs. It was shut down due to an accusation of sharing photos of the sexualization of children.

I immediately appealed the decision and did so numerous times throughout the day. There has been no reply from Met-ah. That leads me to think it was decided by some artificial intelligence. I have absolutely no idea what Met-ah was talking about and asked to see it, but I have seen nothing.

I have no clue as to where I stand. My dear friend RoDa may have been accused of something similar; he was accused of posting naughty photos. Neither one of us has any idea where we stand or even if we stand. But we stand together in the artificial intelligence dock.