And now it’s Saturday night. Around 10:30. I got home about a half hour ago. A bit tired. Two more days of work, then two days off which is quite nice. Just got to make it to Monday night. Still relieved at I am not working the Monday Night Football thing.

My distaste for most sporting events is now known. No distaste for the athletes though. Apparently a Jason Taylor came into the cigar shop this afternoon. I think he plays for the Jets. I wouldn’t know, but I can guess since one of his kids was wearing a New York Jets t-shirt.

A long day at the store. 11:30 to 9:30. I was glad to be able to go outside for lunch this afternoon. Yesterday, Calvin asked that I take lunch ad sit in the back room to make the already overcrowded backroom look fuller than it actually was.

Reluctantly I did sit there, re-reading David Rakoff’s Don’t Get Too Comfortable. This afternoon I sat on a bench near the park and started reading Rakoff’s latest, Half Empty. Quite funny indeed. It was too short a lunch in the middle of too long a day.

But it was an awfully nice day outside and I was glad to be able to enjoy it, as well as a fun phone call with Annemarie, out in rainy Northern California.

Woke up this morning with Free Man in Paris by Joni Mitchell in my head. Last night I went to bed with Todd Rundgren’s It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference. I don’t know why, there is no explanation as far as I can tell.

I saw Bill for a few minutes this morning as I was getting ready for work. He had just come home from driving a bus to and from Atlantic City. He had some bagels which I could not partake of since I had no time.

A brisk walk up the avenue to the cigar shop with a stop at the Farmer’s Market where I bought the usual organic chocolate chop cookies. This time I did share them with Don & Bradley. Tomorrow it’s work with Don & Sean.

Still no word from the sporting goods corporate office, and all I can say is C’est la vie. They seem a bit flaky, what with the rescheduling and my pursuing them to set up an interview. Perhaps it’s all for the best and perhaps something will happen. The woman who interviewed me seemed to like me enough I suppose.

Tomorrow some emergency drills are taking place at the Lincoln Tunnel in the morning which means I might actually be late for a valid reason. No need to lie, but with some foresight, I should leave earlier than usual to be on the safe side.

I got a late text from Rand inviting me over for drinks tonight, but I had to turn him down. After a long day today and another tomorrow, I’d rather not be hungover. It was an open ended invitation, allowing me to come over and blow off steam which is very nice of Rand & Lisa.

Is it worth it? A new winter coat for the wife, and a bicycle on the boy’s birthday? It’s just a rumor that was spread around town, somebody said that someone got filed in, for saying that people get killed in, the result of our shipbuilding.

It’s been that kind of day. Yesterday was a day full of hope. And I maintained that hope, so much so, that I did not check emails regarding the job for the rest of the night. I even decided not to return the Double Fantasy CD from Tunes, figuring I should continue riding the wave of good karma and let the sleeping dogs at Tunes lie.

I maintained the faith that I did the best that I could do and the rest was up to them, but I did harbor the thought that I had gotten the job. Maybe they wouldn’t say anything today, or tomorrow. Maybe they would wait until next week, or the end of the month.

I proceeded with my day today, filled with hope, some optimism and maybe a touch of cockiness, or rather smugness. I felt that I wouldn’t be doing this routine anymore, I was so good at the interview, I couldn’t think that someone else may have gotten the job.

As I waited for the bus I did call the recruiter who set the whole thing up and asked if she had heard anything. She didn’t and told me she was in a meeting (a lie, since why would she take the call from me if she was in a meeting?) but she said she would call me back if she heard anything.

Still I had that hope thing going on. I called Bill before I went in and chatted for a few minutes. Good old Bill, super supportive, the light to my darkness, the yin to my yang.

There were a few giggles when I showed up clean shaven. They had never seen me like this before and it surprised them somewhat. Things were going alright until about a half hour in. I got the call from the recruiter.

She told me I came in second place, the Gee’s decided to go with someone else. She said she’d keep an eye out for me but of course she would say that.

Yes, I was trying to get into the Gee’s, an investment bank at 157th and Lexington. Apparently Michael Noeill and ghnSiova Melley (their real names ?) opted for someone else.

Why? What did I do wrong? Was it because I sent 4 references that weren’t asked for? Was it because I merely cut and pasted the thank you notes the recruiter sent and didn’t proof them until it was too late, which was when I saw some grammatical errors.

I’ll never find out unless Michael Noeill and ghnSiova Melley Google their names and read this. And even then would they have the cojones to actually write a comment? Extremely doubtful.

Still I have other irons in the fire and that hope thing remains, resumes sent to cousins could still get some action.

More nonsense drama in the cigar shop. One of Calvin’s devoted customers was supposedly greatly upset with me since I did not forward a message that he never told me about.

And another favored customer of Calvin’s was written up late last year for being into hardcore kinky sex as well as being abusive to his wife. The guy seems like a coke fiend and usually comes in wired for sound.

So despite the letdown at noon, I realize there was nothing I could do about it. Once again, I’ve got to hang in there.

This pic sums the day up somewhat.