The big fruit stand. It has been a busy morning, working alongside Violeta. She’s new and it’s our first time working together. And we’re getting along just fine, thank you very much. It’s quiet at the moment. Janis is off doing Janis things, Kimberly on a different floor holding it down, Yancy has actually been at his desk which is a rare occurrence.

It’s quite brazen of me to be writing this at the desk out in the open but there’s not much at the moment, just sitting and waiting for the requests to come in. Generally afternoons are a bit of a lull, people don’t submit their wants and needs until after 4:30 PM, just when we have our eye on the door and the other eye on the clock.

Today was a free lunch day as well much to my surprise. In an attempt to save some money, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, true comfort food and relatively healthy. I say that since my sister makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the beach and my sister eats healthier than me, so my trust in her is implicit.

I had two servings of Mexican food, make your own taco. Only my taco making skills are subpar so I ate a bowl of taco ingredients but not necessarily a taco.

Violeta is pleasant and I’ve been taking charge of the music and trying to please her ear and since I do not know what exactly what she likes, I have been playing R&B stuff and some soul. No complaints that I have heard. I played Me’Shell Ndegeocello and now I am playing Dusty in Memphis by Dusty Springfield. I got my copy of Dusty in Memphis from the one & only Arif Mardin. A true honor indeed.

After I had my ersatz Mexican taco I went out for a smoke, leaving Violeta with my phone number to call should she get overwhelmed. As I was outside the fruit stand, I saw some promotional thing going on sponsored by Nike.

They were giving out Philadelphia Cheese Steaks across the street from where the New York Knicks play. I suppose it was a subtle dig at the Knicks. Within minutes a line of about 50 peoplequeued up to get a free cheese steak. Having eaten my own free lunch I stepped aside with my little cigar so as not to disturb those discerning palates.

And now all is quiet. I spoke with Bill who will be motoring the next couple of days, then I spoke to Mike who told me about a dream he had where Bill and I won the lottery, enough that we were able to set Mike up with a cozy apartment by Exchange Place in Jersey City, which is where he wanted to live.

Bill and I bought a place on 11th Street in Hoboken while maintaining our current place for storage. I guess we won a lot of money in the dream. I hope it was a correct prediction, though having written that…

Back at it. May 11, 2026, a Monday. Sleep was not easy last night. Went to bed at a decent hour, before 11 PM, and woke up around 1:30 after thinking I had slept longer than 2 and a half hours. After that, it was waking up every now and then once again, thinking it was time to get up. A full night of uninterrupted sleep would have been nice, but it was not to be.

Bill had gone to bed a little after 10 PM. I pushed him in the direction of the bedroom, telling him I needed to get to sleep and have my prep work to do. We had watched The Diplomat on Netflix, which we both enjoyed very much. Still have a few episodes to watch, and we will do just that. Tonight, it will probably be catching up on Jeopardy as well as John Oliver.

Bill came home Saturday night and Sunday morning. I stumbled across him getting up to empty my bladder around 2:30 AM, and Bill was on the couch watching whatever it was that he was watching. I shuffled by to & fro. Saturday was mostly a solo. A trip to the big supermarket and I was back a little after noon. And that was it. I pretty much stayed indoors.

Mike was with his beloved, and Bill was driving some sports team around upstate New York. Annemarie is in Japan, so there was not even a 3:00 PM phone call as we’ve been doing since the twentieth century. I think I watched some Beatles docs. Familiar and entertaining, and good background noise.

Sunday started as it usually does, with me getting up around 9:00 AM. I turn on the clock radio to hear a segment of Breakfast with the Beatles. All it takes is a minute to listen to what is being played. I did not remember what it was that played when I was getting out of bed.

The coffee was made by me the day before, and I set about having coffee and watching Jane Pauley on CBS Sunday Morning, the only concession to CBS that passes muster these days. That started in 2019 when Bill and I went to his friend Pershing’s barbecue in Pennsylvania. We stayed in a motel and, waking up, turned on CBS Sunday Morning. Now it’s part of our Sunday morning routine, or at least my Sunday morning routine.

After breakfast, I eventually got myself ready, the plan being a trip to Coles Street in Jersey City, where Mike and his beloved were going to be, shooting vids and pics. I told Bill what I was doing and offered him the chance to accompany me and first he was wishy washy, eventually deciding he wanted to be with me and so would join me.

We took a Lyft to Coles Street and met up with Mike and his beloved, Wade. It was the first time Bill and I met Wade, though I had spoken with him a few times on the phone in the past. Bill and Wade settled into a conversation that only drivers could have, Bill being a bus driver and Wade driving trucks, while Mike and I set about taking photos and videos.

After about 2 hours of that, we parted ways, Bill and I walking back to Hoboken, leaving Mile and Wade to their own devices.

Now I am home on Monday evening. Bill is at an actors’ meeting, and Mike is incommunicado. Not much else to report. Tomorrow promises more of the same and then all day Wednesday at the big fruit stand. The usual apprehension is here, and I will carry that with me. It’s nothing I haven’t done before, and I hope to take that nervous energy and apply it to my advantage.