Category Archives: Interesting Things as of Late

isn’t it all?

I Just Called To Say I Love You

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I did the smart thing today. I took a Xanax before coming in. I knew I was working with Bradley and Thomas and Bradley is becoming more and more human lately whereas Thomas has been getting on my wick. I didn’t need any stress and Thomas has been the typhoid Mary of stress lately. He’s also a shark.

I knew that from the beginning when he came on board at the cigar shack and he’s been tolerable with regards to that. But today, he swiped two customers from me, unknowingly he claimed but still the deed was done. I helped out a customer and took a second to make sure I had the correct item to write up. By that time, the customer was at the register being rung up by Thomas under Thomas name. The customer was so kind as to thank me personally for helping him, in front of Thomas, but it did not seem to register.

Then just a few minutes agoo, a customer walked in, me chatting with him, headed to the humidor when Thomas strikes up a conversation about Ralph Lauren and proceeds to escort the customer into the humidor. I threw my hands up in exasperation and decided I would sit the rest of the time that Thomas would be working, away from Thomas, and sit in the man cave.

He’s a dick, he’s a shark, he’s an only child, he’s Thomas. And if I have to listen to the pearls of wisdom that fall from his lips regarding South Park or Family Guy I might just lose it. Whatever ‘it’ is, it maybe lost. He alsomtold me how he wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day I had off but switched so he could have off with his family. I told him at least he wasn’t working, and he replied, ‘Oh yeah. Thanks for switching.’

But he’s gone now and here I am, eating a banana on the sly as stragglers walk by the cigar shack, occasionally looking in the window, occasionally looking at Magilla Gorilla.

Brian Eno is singing how he would come running to tie my shoes which is a sweet sentiment. I would run to Bill to tie his shoes and I know he would do the same for me. The last 17 minutes on a Saturday in a holiday weekend truly makes this area like a cemetery.

I did have two online friends from a cigar group come in. Joseph and David, up from Delaware to visit the auto show at the Javits Center. Big burly guys, and quite nice. We’ve chatted online a few times and made the arrangements. A handsome couple they are.

I hooked them up with some cigars and set them up in the man cave. The two of them sitting in arm chairs while the usual suspects eyed them somewhat warily from the table, wondering why they were getting such care and attention from me, care and attention to such a degree that the usual suspects would never ever get from me.

Familiarity does breed contempt and I am quite familiar with these guys.

Tomorrow is Easter, and here is my Easter joke.

Easter is when Jesus emerges from his tomb and if he sees his shadow it’s six more weeks of lent.

It’s my joke, a joke a made years ago. Happy Spring!


Black Israelites, yelling & being ignored


Cigarmen David & Joseph with me in between


Have a Cigar

I Hope You Dance

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Tuesday Afternoon by the Moody Blues is playing. It’s probably the only Moody Blues song I like, or at the very least, the one I like the most. I heard it constantly growing up in the 1970’s, on WNEW-FM. I eventually worked with Justin Hayward on something in the 1990’s (maybe it was a Moody Blues thing) and though I never got too close to him, engineers told me the guy was basically toast.

Back at the cigar shack today, no despair happening. A good day with Bradley and Jerry Vale with Zack buried in the office under a mountain of paperwork. Sales were fair, nothing great. It’s only the third of the month and we’re on par with last year, though I think the home chateau might be hoping for higher numbers.

It’s been quite a nice spring day outside, I was able to enjoy a slightly damaged cigar and read some more Kurt Vonnegut during my lunch hour. Bill has been super phenomenal lately. He’s singing the national anthem again before the Mets game at CitiField on April 22. I’ve already put in my request for a day off. I am hoping it does not rain. Still any time spent with Bill is time well spent.

I had some good customers today. Sometimes you get some really good ones, others are not so good. Some are pleasant and some are dicks. Today it was all pleasant. It is early yet, a little over an hour left, leaving the dicks, plenty of time to make their uncircumcised appearances. Jimmy Seltzer is here, playing the role of my favorite customer. He remarked on the good mood I am in. ‘Just riding that manic high’ was my explanation.

Even some customers who get on my wick didn’t bother me that much today, some even going so far as to be somewhat pleasant. Now ‘Take The Long Way Home’ by Supertramp is playing. A guilty pleasure for me. I loved Even in The Quietest Moments’ and Breakfast in America’. Jerry Vale just mentioned seeing them at the Garden for the Breakfast in America tour. I mentioned that they broke up soon after the tour, right after they reached the top.

In some ways it’s like Harper Lee. I watched a documentary on her and Margaret Mitchell last night on PBS. I like the Harper Lee documentary more, having read To Kill a Mockingbird and seen the movie countless times. Miss Harper Lee only wrote that one classic book. Never came out with anything else.

Not that she had to, but anything that she would have done would be compared to Mockingbird, and that would near impossible to duplicate. So I guess she did the right thing, cutting out at the right time, much like Supertramp. Is that a stretch or what?

Now there is a little over a half hour left in the cigar shack. the Eagles are playing ‘One of These Nights’ yes I am going down memory lane and dragging Jimmy Seltzer and Jerry Vale with me. I guess I am lucky since they’re not complaining.

Now I am home, still in a good mood. Bill of course is almost always in a good mood, and stayed up for me to come home. Now he’s in bed and I am in front of the computer. Maybe it was the multivitimin. Or the Shepherd’s Pie I had for lunch. Or spring fever. Anyway, I’m running with it. Or walking briskly.




Anti Samsung protest near cigar shack. Photo taken with a Samsung smartphone


Stevie Wonder – Outside My Window