Category Archives: the day after yesterday

Working for the Clampdown

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It’s Tuesday again. Today I sent a few resumes to different staffing agencies. I won’t work at a staffing agency again but if they can find me a gig somewhere that would be nice. I’m sure they’re inundated with resumes.

The staffing agencies used to have resumes piling up by the fax machines when I was working for Staffmark and Golden Staffing and things were relatively good then. Haven’t heard anything yet, but maybe tomorrow. All I can do is continuously check the email.

I felt October would be a good month so here goes. I have been checking out jobs on my own for a while now, so if the staffing agencies want to take me on, they’ll be doing all the searching. I’m ready.

Last October, while I was still employed I think I had the Swine Flu or the H1N1 virus. I had never been as sick in my life as I was for that week and a half last year. I was so sick that I wound up going to the emergency room and left with a prescription for anti-biotics, which knocked the flu out of my system 5 days later.

I do remember when I came out of it, that I had turned a corner in my life. And I believe that was the Swine Flu. And I’m not getting the shot since I had never gotten one before.

Today I heard from Andy, an old friend of Chaz. Andy was at the National Equality March on Sunday and I might have seen him but wasn’t sure. He mentioned that several of his friends say that all the time.

That Andy, has such a familiar face and body type that other people get mistaken for him a lot. Such is the life of a bear and I’m glad I am a wolf.

Also heard from Kathe, Chaz’ wife. She’s back in Jersey City with Chaz but is heading down to Florida to help an aunt who has Alzheimer’s disease.

I was on the phone with Kathe for about 40 minutes. It was fun. I really hadn’t spoken with her since she left Jersey City a couple of years ago. We made tentative plans on gallery hopping next week.

I’ll try to steer the hopping in a different direction and perhaps see some art that I hadn’t seen before. There is that Dennis Hopper photography exhibition that I’d like to see that I missed last week with Harpy.

Juan stopped by last night. Always good to see him. He was looking good. No computer or TV so he doesn’t know what’s going on. His broken heart has healed and he’s happy about that, things back to the way they were, shuttling back and forth between Trenton and Ocean Grove.

I may even see him later in the week when he returns his mother’s car which he borrowed since his own car went kaput. He was only around for a couple of hours, before Bill came home.

Bill told me the other day that he will be singing the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden again for the fourth time, this time, singing before the NY Knicks basketball game on December 20. Very exciting news indeed. Something to look forward to.

I watched the Love Guru this afternoon. A certain someone said it was really funny and I listened to her. But man I had never seen a movie as bad as that since I don’t know what. I do like the way Romany Malco shaves his goatee. That’s about the only thing I ‘got’ from the Love Guru. I don’t think I can pull off his goatee though, literally or figuratively.

Today while wandering around Hoboken in the afternoon, I stopped by the Guitar Bar to say hello to Jim Mastro. It seems every time I’m walking around I stop by and say hello to Jim. He’s a nice guy.

When I stopped by on Saturday he was very busy which was good for the Guitar Bar so we didn’t have much time to chat. But we chatted this afternoon.

He mentioned a guy was in the store earlier today, talking to Jim and saying that the revolution will be coming and suggested that Jim get a gun for the upcoming insurrection. Jim is an Obama voter, which the tea bagger didn’t know.

Scary times and a bit unnerving to say the least. What the hell is going on with this country? Why do they hate Barack Obama so much? I disliked Bush intensely, for myriad reasons but still I never fomented revolution.

Is this the road we are headed down? Or are they just loud mouthed squeaky wheels making the most noise?

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Hallogallo

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10.4.09 Hoboken 038

Yesterday turned out to be quite an alright day. I wandered around Hoboken, which is more crowded on weekends now that no one leaves for the Jersey shore on weekends after the summer. That makes the waterfront which is usually not that crowded, densely populated on weekends.

And with the piers falling into the river, a quiet spot to sit and read the New Yorker and have a cigar isn’t as easy as it is Monday through Friday. But I persevered and found a bench in the shadow of Steven’s Tech, across from Sybil’s Cave and sat there.

I talked to Billie from DC for a while and midway through our conversation, a couple walked by, the guy in the couple said, ‘That looks like John Ozed’. That caught my attention and told Billie I would call him back.

The couple walked closer and I said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’. The guy knew I didn’t know who he was, the woman had no clue. He came up and introduced himself. It was Jason Stasium. Jason was a guy I worked with at Right Track Recording in the 1990’s.

We were friends then, I brought him to a taping of the Letterman show back in the day. Elvis Costello and Toshi Reagan performed. I liked Jason and used to make fun of him. He was a Deadhead then, following Jerry & Co around the country.

But after Jerry died, Jason settled down in New York and started working as an assistant engineer. It was funny the other day I was walking down Garden Street and saw someone who looked like Jason in the 1990’s and I thought about his then girlfriend who worked at Angelica’s Kitchen in the East Village.

She was nice too and got me some discounted gift certificates that I gave to my vegetarian roommate William and Julio who was a vegetarian at the time.

We did some catching up, Jason introduced me to his wife, who’s name escapes me at the moment. Where was so and so that we worked with? What’s going on with Right Track? Where is Joe Lizzi? Gian East?

Those are the only 2 I know and that was via Facebook and Jason doesn’t want to join Facebook.

I remember a few years ago I sent an email to him, congratulating him on either winning an award or being part of a Broadway show that won an award. His response was ‘who the hell are you?’ So I dropped the subject and expected never to hear from him again.

I wasn’t hurt or anything. Just felt that door had closed.

It wasn’t like on September 11, 2002 when I contacted a former co-worker Gerri Delaney who witnessed the previous years events next to me. I called her to see how she was doing that first anniversary and basically got ‘Why are you calling me?’.

Now that was awkward. Awkward enough, especially on that raw anniversary to cut contact. A few years later she somehow got my name and called me when I was working on the Titanic. It was all, ‘Hey! How’s it going/Let’s have drinks’ I was noncommittal and did write her number down before eventually losing it.

I did see her once when I was walking out of Grand Central Station and she was entering it. I was in a suit and tie so I looked like most of the other men passing through and she didn’t make the connection and that was fine by me.

Just a few weeks ago, while waiting for Brenda, yet another former co-worker, I stood around waiting when who walks by but Gerri Delaney. This time I could have sworn she saw me, even passed by looking at a menu near by, so as to steal a second glance. I just turned and looked the other way.

I did exchange phone numbers with Jason so perhaps we will meet up for dinner like he mentioned. I also made plans and bought tickets for a trip to Washington DC this weekend. Just a one day trip, get on bus, March on Washington, listen to speakers, get back on bus.

I should be seeing Billie, if only for a few hours so that should be fun.

10.4.09 Hoboken 039