Category Archives: So how’s band camp?

I Have Friends in Holy Spaces

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Well I am home. I expected to get home later since a staph meeting was scheduled much to the dismay of Thomas and myself. I also had to go to work an hour earlier than usual which did not make me happy at all. I did sleep really well last night but that did not help with waking up in the morning. After a valiant struggle I was able to get out of bed and do my usual routine before heading out into the cold.

And it was quite cold this morning as I waited on Bloomfield Street for that 12 bus to Manhattan. Indifferent crowd on the bus an hour earlier. No one I knew so I just stared out the window, alternating with the smartphone. The cigar shack was dead yesterday and today promised to be the same only with a staph meeting being the cherry on top.

So for the first hour it was Zack and myself. Zack was ensconced on his office doing things and after a while he came out and told me that he had a lot of work on his hands and the staph meeting isn’t going to happen after all. I must have had a shit eating grin on my face as I explained to Zack that I didn’t mind about that. I told him that I understood that he is at the cigar shack all the time (except for weekends) and that I was not looking forward to getting into work at 10:30AM and not leaving until possibly 10:30PM.

Things picked up somewhat, proving that Mondays are not necessarily Sundays. Thomas came in and we clashed a few times. I do have to take a step back sometimes and realize that Thomas is only 25 and has so much more to learn about life and things. On the other end of the spectrum, Bradley and Jerry Vale were in today as well, in jeans and definitely not in a suit & tie like Thomas, Zack & myself.

They were working in the stock room cleaning things up so no need for fancy clothes. The day went along in an alright manner. I had a nice lunch at the diner, a Ma & Pa special and read the New Yorker. Back at the shack an hour later, actually a little bit earlier than an hour since Thomas was complaining about how hungry he was and how he didn’t want to have lunch at 5:00. I was about 10 minutes early so he was able to head out himself and saving me from hearing his whining about how late it was. It made a difference.

Bradley and Jerry Vale were done with their project and helped out with the unpacking of boxes. I found a nearly full box of cigars nestled in the area were we keep our empty cigar boxes. It was the second time that happened. Apparently someone has been putting boxes of cigars hidden among the empty boxes, perhaps hoping to steal them. Zack was surprised at this and I asked Bradley and Jerry Vale about it and they had no idea so that means whenever we give away our empty cigar boxes we have to make sure the boxes that get picked are truly empty.

With no staph meeting that meant I was able to leave early tonight, I was in early and Thomas was closing. Zack asked that I stay in case it gets busy but since it was not busy at all I left at around 8:45, roughly a half hour earlier than usual.

Uneventful bus ride home, and I listened to James, a band from the UK from the 1990’s that Eno produced. I never heard this particular album, Wah Wah but it’s very good.

Who cares if I am 15 years too late?


05. [Say Something]

I Guess It’s American

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A Saturday in the cigar shack. Not a bad day as far as I am concerned. Thanks to a Chilean Sea Bass I’ve done quite good as did the store. There was a bit of a “to do” today. A customer bought a humidor that was marked down and asked if he could pick it up later in the week.

Bradley who had done the sale said ‘Sure, no problem’ and it wasn’t a problem since we had done this for various customers in the past. The customer came in today to pick it up and Bradley and I went crazy looking for the humidor. The customer decided to go home and would pick it up some other time.

Bradley and I kept looking but let’s face it, the cigar shack isn’t that large and one of us would have found it eventually. Thomas and Zack had been working in the cigar shack’s walk in humidor yesterday and that’s where the purchased humidor was last seen, where Bradley had left it, in a shopping bag. I suggested he call Zack and Thomas to see if they knew, perhaps they had moved it without telling anyone.

So Bradley did text them and Thomas replied that he had no idea. No word from Zack. Bradley had the idea to check the video tape and sure enough, there was Bradley placing the humidor in the walk in humidor. He checked the following days and there was a morning, Zack was the only one in the store, and it was a bit busy.

A well dressed guy walks around and goes into the humidor by himself while Zack was helping customers in the front of the shack. The well dressed guy looks around the walk in humidor and also checks to see Zack being busy with other people. The guy checks the bag, not really seeing what it was and seeing that Zack was still quite busy, picks up the bag and walks right out of the store, right under Zack’s nose.

Bradley and I couldn’t believe it. So brazen, this guy just walks in, looks around and just steals a humidor. The customer that it was sold to was understanding and the whole thing needs to be resolved on Monday, a refund or another humidor. That will be decided by Zack and the customer. I was infuriated as was Bradley and Jerry Vale.

I don’t recall seeing the well dressed guy before, but with a closer look, he could be someone that someone had seen before. Really douche bag behavior. It put a damper on the day but I do have to say that Bradley, Jerry Vale and myself were glad that it did not happen on any of our shifts.

There will be some tightening up I am sure, perhaps there will be no more ‘one guy working solo until the afternoon shift comes in’, since this did happen with Zack working solo, waiting for me to come in. I’m off tomorrow so I won’t have to deal with it until Monday.


"what's taters Precious?"



03 Shoplifters Of The World Unite