Funny, now that I have been home the past two days, instead of dictating, I sit and write. I admit getting a bit lazy; I usually dictate into my phone, since I’m not in front of the computer. I’m usually in the city or at work, which is usually the reason for being in the city.

Mike was here once again last night. We had a good talk. Bill came home safe & sound, and he joined whatever conversation or viewing that was going on. After Bill went to bed, Mike and I shot videos. I was up later than expected and had no trouble sleeping.

I woke up this Tuesday morning, the penultimate Tuesday, a few minutes before 9:00 AM. Bill and Mike were both awake and puttering around. Mike was going to leave in the afternoon, but a call from his parole officer had him heading home sooner rather than later, and Bill was taking him in a Zip Car.

They left in a blur, and I wound up slowly starting the 23rd day of December. About an hour after Bill returned, he got a phone call. He’s going to be on the road, leaving this Friday and possibly gone for two weeks. That spent my spirits crashing.

Last night, Mike told me his beloved that he might be flying in next week for New Year’s. That news was dispiriting, and my showing that made Mike start to look for the door. I explained that I needed to eat, and my feelings would likely improve. Mike explained that his beloved procrastinates, and it’s unlikely that he will actually follow through on his travel plans.

I was somewhat reassured, but in the back of my mind, as Jimmy Chile calls ‘the evil Jiminy Cricket’, chirped, but there is always a possibility… that it’s not 100% certain. The return of the superstitious atheist.

With Bill, it of course hit harder. I just folded into myself and was anxious about Bill being away for so long. Yes, I have separation anxiety, but this also concerns his health. Bill, like myself, ain’t gettin’ any younger…

I took an unneeded nap and then walked around Hoboken by myself, the weather a mirror of my emotions, gray with dampened spirits. Bill and I did talk, and his plan changed, as it will. Things are usually set by the time Bill walks out the door. This trip seems to be more complicated, and the balls are up in the air, even when the rubber hits the road.

Bill, with his superpower being travel plans, thrives in this and contacts other drivers about what the itinerary is and picks their brains for what they might know about the excursion. Bill might be here for New Year’s Eve and leave once more on New Year’s Day.

It’s all up in the air. Between now and then, things will likely be changed and or dropped. Mike is scheduled to return tomorrow, then the Garfield expedition. Things are changing. Always.

The The with ‘This is the Day’ plays in my head. Friday, December 19th it’s taken forever to get here, and now it’s here.

The effing rainstorm outside and I am at the little fruit stand having to head into the large fruit stand through this major storm it’s not cold but it’s windy and wet umbrellas don’t really help I stopped by the little fruit stand by some time to change my clothes to have something to eat and now that I’ve changed my clothes and had something to eat I’m about to head up to the major food stamps with Yancy, Kimberly, Anise and Lex Luthor

Took the PATH train to Midtown. I am sitting in the conference room, waiting for my fellow drones. There is no sign of anyone, which leads me to believe that perhaps this meeting was cancelled. It wouldn’t make me happy, but it wouldn’t make me sad either, because that means I can get back to my desk.

And I just remembered I did not post last night. I was at my coworkers’ soiree at a pub in midtown, around the block from the major hive, had one kind of Guinness and three chicken tenders, and was out within an hour and home shortly after that. I just hung up with Bill and watched The Man Who Fell to Earth. Watching the Spaceman, I totally spaced out.

3 minutes to Showtime, don’t know what’s going on.

I suppose that the easy-going days at a job around the holidays are long gone. I do think back to those HBJ days when a lot of employees were basically drunk that final afternoon before the holiday. And then afterward, they would head off to a pub like the Mousetrap and continue their swim to oblivion.

One particular memory is of me heading up to the Garden State Plaza to buy my records. Hall & Oates’ X-Static sticks out in my head, specifically the song IntraVino. I walked past the MouseTrap and poked my head in.

They were still 3 sheets to the wind on my return, and I got a ride home from Gary Pless, who was most certainly blotto and drove down the wrong way of the one way street that used to be Riverview Ave.

He did get home, and as far as I know, no one was hurt. It was 1979, so 46 years ago. Crazy. I was 17 in December 1979, so I more than likely had a driver’s license but perhaps no car. It was a Friday night, so my parents were more than likely having drinks at the VFW. Everyone drank and drove, and it was no big deal. The last work day was Friday, December 21.

Now I am relatively sober. It has stopped raining a few hours ago, and the temperatures will be dropping quite soon. I walked around a bit during my lunch break, over to Fourth Avenue, across from where Farfetched used to be, so I could drop off a Christmas card for Rita since she sent one to Bill and me.

Running down the clock. 90 minutes left more or less. I just want to go home and chill. Jimmy Chile reportedly has a fatty that is supposed to do my head in. That was the plan yesterday. Today, being a new day, might have a different outcome, though that is not how Jimmy Chile operates.

I have to confess I am disappointed with Jimmy Chile. He did talk up a good talk about having some Dynamite weed that was going to melt my face. They brought it up yesterday, and we’re going to do it today, but he left without it, and I think it’s rude to bring something up that was promised that was not delivered, especially when it comes to substances like that.

So I’m looking home with disappointment, but at least it’s not raining, and I’m getting my own shit anyway.