Category Archives: the day after yesterday

I Like Dreamin’

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This is the sixth hour of a Mary Tyler Moore marathon. It’s been on that long and I still get a chuckle out of every episode. Saturday nights, 9:00PM, Channel 2, after All in the Family & The Jeffersons and before the Bob Newhart Show (tomorrow’s marathon) and the Carol Burnett Show.

A quieter day than the previous few and more humid it seems. There is plenty of parking available in Hoboken this weekend. It’s the unofficial start of summer so a lot of the locals have left town. The supermarket was fairly empty this morning though the streets were busy this afternoon.

Last night I went to Maxwells to see RoDa. I walked up around 8:30, had a pint of Stella Artois when I got there, chatted with RoDa for a spell and then headed home. I was home at 10:00 since it started getting busy and RoDa was running around. I didn’t know anyone there except for Handsome Dick Manitoba who was headlining in the back room last night. The one pint of Stella really got me buzzing and I probably could have stayed for another but opted to come home instead.

I came home and watched TV as the Stella buzz faded. I eventually went to bed at my usual time and about a half hour later I was sitting in front of the computer since I couldn’t sleep. Bill was driving to Atlantic City and I never sleep that well when he is away. He was due home this morning at 9:30 and remarked that I would probably be asleep when he came home. I told him I doubted that, but having taken 2 melatonin tablets I wound up being asleep when he walked through the door. I did get up when he went to bed and did the usual morning routine, only a bit slower.

I was able to find for a notebook of song chords that I used when I was busking frequently and for the past couple of days couldn’t find it though I did start throwing crap out as I looked. Now I have to sort the real crap from the questionable crap. Luckily Bill has a very good shredder so that made things a lot easier.

I was going to take the guitar out and play by the river but the clouds overhead seemed about to burst so whatever strumming I did, I did indoors. Some songs were easy to fall back into and others took some time to figure out again. If Rand and I are going to reactivate the Art Hams again, we’re going to need some songs. I have my suggestions, songs that I can play without difficulty and I am sure Rand has his songs, plus there are a few songs from back in the day, during one of the three times we actually played out.

Tonight I am going to Hoboken Cigars and will see Raymond my former cigar shack co-worker. I used to beg off attending his events since I was working at the cigar shack. Now that I am not, I have no excuse really.

And now I’m back. I do enjoy these early evening jaunts. I walked over to Hoboken Cigars through the hummus laden streets of Hoboken. It is so humid out, despite dousing my head with cold water before heading out I was sweating once again when I hit the streets.

I saw Raymond and it was good. He seems to have a Saturday night gig here and he introduced me to the owner. We talked about the cigar shack and how things were then and now. I’m almost tempted to write about the rumor that has Calvin heading off to work with the former genital massager but I’ve decided not to. A few cigar shack customers were there and that was all they wanted to talk about, as if I had any idea what goes on in Calvin’s mind.

A nice night out in Hoboken and I’m glad I made it out once again. Bill is driving down to Atlantic City once again and the Mary Tyler Moore marathon continues.

07 Rapture

I Know You Well

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OK, the less said about Saturday, the better. May 12 hasn’t been a good day or me for about 20 years. I will say though that Bill and I did find time and went to the movies for some pure escapism and by escapism I mean, we went to see The AVengers in 3D. It was a lot of a fun and provided some good laughs for the both of us. I know the stories (though there was no Ant Man or Wasp) but Bill didn’t and he had a real good time. After that was a trip to Shop Rite where he had never been before so that was an adventure for him.

We came home, watched some TV before heading off to bed. His mom was feeling well enough for Bill to take her to church, her old church, not the progressive church where he currently goes to from time to time. No the old church is still virulently anti-gay and his mother is comfortable with that, though with Alzheimer’s it’s hard to say what really makes her comfortable.

I finished up a ton of laundry and walked around Hoboken for a spell, reading and enjoying a cigar on the crowded Hudson River walkway. I came home after a while and didn’t do much but watch the clothes dry on the racks throughout the apartment. On his way home, Bill called from the Holland Tunnel. He rented a car and still had some time with it and asked if I wanted to go joyriding with him. Being a late Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t really say no.

I met him outside the building and soon we were headed west with no particular place to go. We rode to the Lodi/Maywood border on Route 17 and drove around, past the Bergen Mall as I told Bill stories of my youth. How Annemarie used to work at the A&P which is no more, funeral homes and hair salons. We wound up in Paramus, on Century Road, driving past the George Washington Cemetery, making a right on Paramus Road where I showed Bill my old high school. He asked if I wanted to drive through it, but I adamantly said no.

I had plenty of stories to tall so we drove through Fair Lawn to Saddle Brook where I told Bill how I was shipped off to other families for a week at a time, usually hosted by alcoholic adults and their wayward children. Billy & Eileen Hayes, Bud and Trinka Oberele, Pat & Vinny Crowley, Marge Mudrack. ALl names that meant nothing to Bill and even less for e these days, but still are part of my history.

SInce we were in the neighborhood and since it was Mother’s Day, a visit to St. Mary’s Cemetery was in order. It took a few minutes to find the headstone but we found it sure enough. I introduced Bill to the patch of grass under which my parents decompose.

Bill was hungry so it was off to the Saddle Brook Diner for some good food, a few dollars cheaper than it is in Manhattan. Homeward bound, hitting traffic once we approached the Lincoln Tunnel so it was a tour through Union City and Jersey City.

Indeed quality time was spent with Bill. So lovely. We really love each other and deserve each other and maintain a balance which isn’t always easy but we get by.

And it was back to the cigar shack for me which I’d rather not write about since it was so piss poor the first half, but Thomas proved himself to be quite generous since I couldn’t get on base at all. And now I find myself indebted to his largesse.

Rest in peace Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn.

Collapsing New People