I was correct. The good feeling didn’t last. New Yorkers are getting surly again, two of the gorgons came to work today. Sometimes I just wish I was wrong. It wasn’t so bad. I was able to flee the office for a spell and hide out at the Post Office which really isn’t much of a refuge, but it beats hell almost every time.

There was a silver lining though. Jamie, the office manager, who I’m liking more and more gave Christina and I gifts. Money cards, which contained a very generous amount. Apparently an office collection was taken up and wow, they came through. Perhaps even the gorgons contributed.

Then my allies in IT, Gazi, Vinnie and Ahsen gave me a separate gift, not for Christina. Cash, very nice, very generous. I was touched, really. I regretted hounding Gazi to return my first volume of ‘I Claudius’. I figured that since I thought I was going to lose my job at any moment that it would be good to get my shit together. But having wrote that I placed it back in my bag, but now I remember that he’s going to be out until next year. I took the DVD back out of the bag. Maybe next year for Gazi.

These guys are great. I really dig them. They all received brotha hugs. They didn’t have to do it. The other day Gazi handed me a stack of photos that I was printing. Not business related, yet not X rated. That was cool of him. I plan to get them things for their babies, they all became dads this year. Vinnie for the first time, Gazi and Ahsen for the second or third time.

I plan to get them some baby things from Farfetched. I was thinking about it before they were so generous, no I am compelled to do so. They’re worth it. I got Jamie a copy of the latest MoJo Magazine from the UK. She’s a big Bruce fan so we sort of bond about him. My knowledge of Bruce is mainly from my brothers and sister.

Lately I’ve been listening to some songs from His second LP, ‘The Wild etc.’ That’s the one I heard the most from Frank’s room, and Annemarie’s room when I was growing up. I have a sweet memory from this past summer with Annemarie, Earl and Stine, Julio’s soon to be betrothed.

Driving through the shore towns, the moneyed shore towns that is, and listening to ‘Incident on Fifty Seventh Street’. But why does he keep singing, ‘Puerto Rican Jane, Won’t you tell me what’s your name’? It’s Jane dummy.

I guess I like ‘Wild’, Born to Run and Darkness out of all his things. But I truly adore his version of Tom Waits ‘Jersey Girl’. A really beautiful song, enhanced by the crowd going nuts every time Bruce mentions New Jersey.

I’d love to hear Tom Waits version sometime. I love Tom. Very challenging. Quite the outsider. I like that. One of the best shows ever was seeing him and his band on Broadway. Brilliant. Would love to see him again, but the last time he played NY the price was quite steep. But I’m sure he’d be worth it. I’d love to go with Bill and Julio. It would be a show unlike any they’d ever seen before.

I missed the Roches, Loudon Wainwright played with the Roches and his daughter Lucy was there too. And I am missing the McGarrigles tonight. C’est La vie.

Ok there is a major transit strike in town. It’s pretty dire for a lot of people. It’s not so bad coming into New York City from Hoboken. But it’s a major problem for a lot of people. If you live and work in Manhattan you’re pretty much ok. A lot of walking is involved. But you’d be surprised at how many people rarely walk in this great walking city.

I walk almost everyday from 42nd Street and Eight Avenue to 56th Street and Park Avenue. That’s in the morning, in the evening I walk from 56th down to 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue. That’s a lot of walking I suppose. I don’t think of it. So when I heard people complaining about walking twenty blocks and act like it’s climbing Mount Everest, all I could do was larf.

Because of the transit strike, I had an excellent day. Very busy and very productive, and calm and peaceful. You see the three gorgons were out due to the strike. I woke up knowing that if there was a strike, they would not be in. It was a very good feeling. I didn’t hustle or make any extra effort to get to the office. I knew Christina wasn’t going to be there.

I had no idea who would actually be there though. I meandered on my way to work. Tony who I photographed as he made my egg sandwich last week was absent due to the strike. I couldn’t believe this! Fucking Transit Workers Union! Fucking MTA! I got over it and left. The substitute Tony was taking way too long.

I was in no hurry. I had Talking Heads 77 on the Ipod. Haven’t heard it in a long time Actually was thinking the other day that it’s one of my least favorites, but actually it’s so good.

Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic except for emergency vehicles. This was one of those moments when New Yorkers really do pull together and are actually considerate of each other. The ‘we’re all in the same boat’ feeling. It won’t last long though.

I got to the office at 8:05. Not bad at all. Imagine if I applied myself. Maybe could’ve gotten in at 8:03. If only I was more of a go-getter. The office was almost empty. At one end was John McGruff, at the other Gazi and Vinnie.

Gazi and Vinnie are two of the techs. The IT department. Good guys, pretty funny. Allies. But today was Armistice Day almost. Or maybe a cease fire, when the bad guys don’t show up, or in this case, the gorgons and the gorgons were out. Brenda came in, and we both knew it was going to be a good day. She’s no gorgon.

It flew by and there was free pizza. What could be better? I know it’s not going to last. The good feeling inside will fade like the good feelings outside. But be here now. Enjoy the moment.

I had wandered around midtown after work and enjoyed it all. Lot’s of people walking, subterraneans, troglodytes and me. The whole strike hasn’t affected me like a lot of other people. It really helped me out considerably.

I decided to take the bus home because I had a feeling the PATH would be crowded with people going downtown. They wouldn’t be heading to Hoboken. I lucked out, a bus was almost ready to go, I got in and sat next to a woman reading the Wall Street Journal, or more like hiding behind it.

A few rows up, some wild eyed guy, in a good way perhaps, got up and looked in my direction. Did I know him? Was he looking at me, or the person behind me? Or the woman hiding behind the Wall Street Journal?

No, it was me. I didn’t know him at all. No late night trick, that’s for sure. Too normal looking. He was wearing a navy Mickey Mantle T shirt and a green LL Bean hunter’s coat. Like I said, not my type.

He walks over to me, and holds out the latest Time magazine, Persons of the Year, and asks me if I know who the persons of the year are. I say, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Bono. He is stunned. He starts to go back to his seat a few rows ahead, then turns and gives me the magazine, asking me, ‘How did I know?’

I take the magazine and put it in the overheard compartment. He goes back to his seat. I ask the woman who is hiding behind the Journal, ‘Why did that happen to me?’ She said it was because I made eye contact. That’s why she was hiding behind the Journal. I guess she appreciated me sitting there.

I pulled out Man Ray in Montparnasse and dove right in. Crazy guy kept looking at my direction, at me. I furrowed my brow reading about some party with Picasso and Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp playing chess in some café in 1922. Crazy guy started talking to the guy behind him, then as his stop approached he moved to the front of the bus.

The girl behind the Journal asked if he was tweaked or what. He might have been. I said he could be a very happy yet lonely guy. Of course when I got off the bus a few stops later I had an eerie feeling that he might have snuck up behind me with a rolled up copy of the Persons of The Year, ready to bash my head in. Or maybe not.