uncategorizable | johnozed

Well I slept well last night and with Bill not going to the day job I couldn’t depend on his good bye kiss to gently wake me up. He lay in bed with his apnea mask on and I tossed and turned and did my usual bargaining with the snooze button, eventually getting out of bed and shuffling into the kitchen to make coffee, poured the cereal and then stepped into the shower.

Bill did not get out of bed until about 15 minutes before I left, a nice hug and a kiss occurred and soon I was trampling down the stairs to the street. It was breezier than it’s been the temperatures were in the low 60 degree range.

The bus wasn’t that crowded and once again there was no sign of Deborah from the fourth floor in my building. I didn’t mind, I just stared out the window as we drove up Washington Street. Into the city in no time, and after the subway ride uptown I got an iced coffee and started my day with Bradley and Thomas.

Both were in a good mood and it turned out that yesterday was a good day sales wise for the cigar shack. It was a slow start for me though, and then one of the registers crashed. We restarted it and the usual password was no longer effective.

A call to Calvin was made, but since he was off performing his familial duties he wasn’t getting back to us right away. A call to Marcus who is now persona non grata offered no help with the password. SO a call had to be made with the IT department of the cigar shack headquarters, and they weren’t exactly available. A message was left for them to get in touch with us since it was a relatively urgent matter. No register, no sales, no money coming in. Not a good thing.

I eventually went to lunch, leaving Thomas to deal with the IT guy when he finally called back an hour later. It was a slow day at the shop. Most everyone now buys their cigars on Thursday before the weekend so they could make an early getaway from the city, so the one register would have to do.

Thomas had also planned Friday afternoon movies, just a little entertainment, free of cost, just buy a cigar sit back and relax. Unfortunately some of his choices are movies that I generally avoid. I was given the go ahead to pick the next line up.

Today’s movie was Hear No Evil, See No Evil. The last team up of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. I remember going to the movies with Julio when this movie came out, both of us quite red eyed.

We went to Secaucus and everyone was going to see the Harrison Ford/Sean Connery movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark 3 and since we were both contrarians, we opted for Hear No Evil, See No Evil. Despite being in a mellow altered state, it was quite a lousy movie.

Thomas has also picked up both the Godfather 1 and Godfather 2 as well as Godfather 3 which he picked since it is a series. Just that part 3 is not very good at all. He also picked up Scarface, not the classic starring Paul Muni, but rather that atrocious piece of shit starring Al Pacino and directed by that awful hack, Brian De Palma.

I’ve only seen it on VHS and it was a 2 tape set. I never made it beyond the first tape. I always chuckle at the young idiots today wearing t-shirts with Tony Montana’s visage on the front, thinking that this generation does not know good films at all. Then again that generation (as well as older generations) have no problem with branding.

I forgot to mention I met NJ Senator Frank Lautenberg yesterday. He was near the cigar shack as I was coming back from lunch. I called out ‘Senator’ and he stopped and shook my hand and introduced myself as being from Hoboken to which he mentioned that he loves Hoboken. It was a nice and brief meeting and he went his way and I went back to work.

Monday May 30, 2011. A day off and quite a nice day off. It’s been very hot though, in the 90 degree range. I slept late, until 10:00AM. Bill was home already and he was getting ready to go to bed just as I was getting ready to start my day.

He was kind enough to pick up the paper as well as some bagels. That meant I didn’t have to leave the apartment until I wanted to. And I didn’t want to, at least not right away. Bill was a sleep and I was awake, having a lukewarm shower and making coffee. Not at the same time.

The reason for the lukewarm water was because I shut off the s for the gas on gas heater built into our stove. It’s old and I had to shut off the pilot which kept things in the kitchen very warm and with temperatures heading to triple digits I had to do something.

The thing is I turned off all the gas for the stove as well as the hot water heater. So the water stayed warm in the heater but once that was gone it was getting cooler and cooler. Manageable showers for the time being but not my preferred method of showering.

I tried relighting the pilot in the hot water heater several times last night, but to no avail. That meant if I couldn’t do it I would have to give Julio a call. He has the magic touch and would have it lit in no time at all. Me, it took a few hours before I gave up laying on the floor, one hand on the pilot thermostat and the other hitting the ignition repeatedly.

I tried again this morning before sending a text to Julio asking if he was home. About an hour later he called to tell me he just left. He asked what the problem was and I explained to me what it was.

He told me to do the same thing that I had done previously and after getting off the phone with him I tried it again and though I didn’t hear the ‘click click click’ of the ignition, I did hear that gas in the tank ignite. I turned on the hot water in the nearby sink and sure enough it was hot. Apparently just mentioning Julio coming over would be enough to get things to work again.

I wasn’t about to take another shower but was happy to have hot water again. I watched some TV, specifically a movie, Three O’Clock High a movie that Pedro turned me onto about 23 years ago. Silly little high school teen movie, still has its charm.

After that a walk around Hoboken, many people walking around on a gorgeous and hot afternoon. I enjoyed a La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Valiente and walked around the waterfront. I thought about bringing my guitar but decided against it.

I sat on a bench and looked at Manhattan glistening in the sun and read the rest of last week’s New Yorker. After a spell I finished my cigar and walked over to Washington Street, stopping by Ben & Jerry’s to treat myself to a Chocolate Therapy ice cream cone. Then I climbed up the 64 steps to my apartment where Bill was getting ready to head out and I was ready for a nap.

A lazy do nothing day, except for getting the hot water heater to work which was something. Perhaps tomorrow will be more of the same, but a gallery visit might be in order.