Category Archives: What are you looking at?

I’m Your Money

I can’t go on. I’ll go on. And here I am, going on again. Been awhile since I wrote that, a couple of days, weeks, months perhaps. Last night, made it home earlier than usual and went to bed at a decent hour, like around 12:30.

And fell asleep but once again, not a restful sleep. Not Bill coughing, just unable to get a good night’s sleep. And I had one Stella Artois before bed. It didn’t help, but it didn’t hurt either.

One more day of work, making Sunday, Friday. Funny how that worked out.

Bill was up and out this morning once again. Not driving a bus though. A photo and video shoot for his band. He’s been growing a beard this week and being Puerto Rican, it took him an hour or so.

But the beard was flecked with gray and the video/photo shoot was supposed to show the band in the 1970’s up to the present day. So the gray had to go and thanks to Just For Men, he dyed it out this morning, leaving some of the supplies on the sink. Or actually the directions taped on the bathroom wall.

I’ve actually thought about using Just For Men myself but being of the ginger persuasion I am not sure there is a proper dye kit for me. It didn’t really matter, my gray speckled goatee suits me just fine I think.

I made my way to the bus stop in time to see an early bus pulling away. I didn’t hustle since I knew there was a bus coming soon enough. A ride into the city with a full bus. I got off at the bus terminal and headed up the avenue.

Stopped off at a branch of my bank, and used the ATM. I intended to only use the ATM for a Balance Inquiry and to get $20.00. I hit balance inquiry on the screen and received the Fast Cash of $60.00 which is what I didn’t want.

I went and spoke to the guy in the suit on the floor and he said, ‘Oh yeah, that ATM is broken.’ Why don’t you put a sign on it, or even unplug it? ‘We put a sign on it, but someone keeps taking it down’. Nothing about unplugging.

‘You can always make a deposit and put the extra money back into your account.’ Why would I do that? I don’t have the time, which is why I used the ATM. Just what I didn’t need to deal with in the morning feeling sluggish.

I did find some silver lining in the fact that I wouldn’t need to get anymore money in the next few days since I had more than I needed at the moment.

I made it to the cigar shop once again after buying some organic chocolate chip cookies at the Farmer’s Market. Everyone seemed sluggish at the shop. They stayed and worked the event, drinking whiskey and smoking cigars. I wisely went home.

The day crawled, few regulars coming in and few customers at first. At lunch I smoked a cigar by the park, spoke with Annemarie and read Uncut magazine which has been dissatisfying the past few months.

Back at the shop things still were a grind and not a sexy grind. I snuck out for a quick break a little while after that and called up Ann Patterson nee Boyles. It’s a landmark birthday for her today but she didn’t answer her phone.

While I left a message John Cleese walked by. I couldn’t take a cell phone picture fast enough since I was leaving a message. Who knows how the message came out? I mean, who besides Ann?

The day’s end at the cigar shop couldn’t come fast enough. I sold some cigars to some French blokes who didn’t speak English but understood my pidgin French.

I made it out of the shop and to the bus terminal in 18.4 seconds thanks to the Clash and the first 6 tracks from their first album (US Version).

Not fast enough to catch the 9:35 bus leaving me to wait twenty minutes for the next one. A quick stop at the supermarket and now here I am, writing.

Taking tomorrow off for this here blog unless there is something to write about.

that gray flecked goatee

I’m Gonna Be A Teenage Idol

And it was back to work for me today. Thanks to Annemarie, I remember to live in the present. I’m trying to stop looking back at the past, thinking that ‘things were so much better then’. They may have been but they don’t exist anymore and there’s no going back.

At the beach yesterday, I found myself thinking about the future, specifically today. Today meaning work. Thanks to Annemarie I snapped out of it. She’s good like that. And it was thinking like that, that had me prepared to face today. And it wasn’t so bad after all.

Lately my mantra has been, ‘At least you have a job’. True, the pay could be better, the hours could be better, but this is the situation I am in and I have to make the most of it.

My computer has been acting up. Right now it says there is no internet connection, but I know there is one. It’s been difficult to upload pictures and videos, mainly of the party on Sunday.

I have Jon & Deena of the Cucumbers singing My Boyfriend, I have Tim & Lily of the Street Corner Mourners singing an old Irish Folk song “I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day” and “Thirteen” by Big Star.

I don’t know if I have Bob Pierson singing Roy Orbison’s Sweet Dreams Baby and I don’t think I have my performance of the Fabs’ All My Loving or Bill singing Picture in a Frame by Tom Waits, accompanied by Lois DiLivio.

Maybe I do. It’s just that the computer is so slow. It’s been slow since the heat wave last week.

I did see Rand this morning at the bus stop. He was actually there to see me, but as I met him, my bus pulled up and I got on it and Rand walked. I’m sure if he ran alongside we could have had a quick little chat, but it didn’t matter since I couldn’t open the windows enough.

The day went by as it generally does. At first it was waiting for Marcus to leave, then waiting for Calvin to go home. There was a difference of 7 hours between the former leaving and the latter going home.

I had a cigar at lunch, a $25.00 cigar and since it was raining, I actually ate in the backroom with some customers, and had a nice chat with Mona about the far right and their wish to turn this country into a theocracy.

We talked about our spouses as well, she being hitched to a woman from Holland and me with what’s his name, Bill.

I made a deal with Don Birch and I counted the safe while he closed the register. That made me out of the store at 9:05. According to iTunes I made it from the shop to the bus terminal in 13.5 minutes.

But that is an error since I didn’t start playing the Talking Heads ‘Naked’ album until I got a block away and the third song, Totally Nude ended when I set foot on the corner of 42nd Street and Eight Avenue.

So it wasn’t really leaving the shop and entering the terminal, but it was close though. And 13.5 minutes to walk down 15 blocks isn’t so bad either.

Good ol' what's his name....Bill.