What’s for Dinner? | johnozed

I just got back from a nice supper with Julio, Stine and Superboy, Alexander. Quite nice, mainly appetizers that Stine made. She’s a great cook, and I eat just about anything she makes including artichoke spread which was super tasty and went well on bread.

Some chickpeas and some meat balls with a nice tomato sauce. And since I was there Alexander was compelled to put on a show and didn’t eat his food. Lots of running around and showing me his latest toys. I asked him how old he was and he told me 3, which I guess is OK since his birthday is next month and there was no reason to split hairs.

It was a nice visit after a day of running around. I paid a visit to see my friend Corey who I used to work with back in the 1990’s when I worked in the music business. Corey worked for a cartage company when I first met him. A cartage company is or was a company that rented out machines or instruments to various studios and sessions.

We hit it off and I eventually left the studio business and he went into the studio business working for Sony Studios with our mutual friend Miriam. And somehow we all wound up working at Arista Records in Suzanne Savage’s A&R Administration department, Corey worked in the legal field and we shared a space.

Now Corey is working for one of the last major labels which could vanish at any moment. I recommend he hang in there since things are still so dire out there in the real world. He’s also a grandfather, at the age of 40. It was a weird tale that he told and he still finds himself scratching his head at what happened. Not my story to tell but he is making the best of an interesting situation.

And then I wandered around midtown Manhattan for a spell, enough time spent to get color in my face which Julio remarked upon when he saw me.

Right now I am a bit distracted by Van Morrison. Specifically Moondance. I was planning on uploading a burned copy of that as well as Tupelo Honey but both come up with no titles, no info just the length of the song. It happens every now and then when I get burned CD’s from Arcata and I obsess over trying to figure out what song is what.

I don’t have that iPhone program (or an iPhone/Smartphone) where you just check a few seconds and with a few minutes you get the info that you might need. I’ve been using Amazon to check the track listing but now I find I can’t put the songs in the order that they were released in.

Still I am grateful for the songs and will figure out what is what eventually. I would probably be more proactive if it weren’t for the bottle of wine that Julio and I finished off. I am so not a drinker these days, it really doesn’t take much which is a good thing. All I want to do now is sleep.

And sleep I will- eventually, with the windows open a bit since the temperature was in the 70 degree range today. Back to work tomorrow and off again on Sunday. The head cheeses aren’t expected in this weekend so chances are I will not see Marcus or Calvin but there is always the outside chance.

I was a bit grumpy yesterday, mainly since it was jazz all day, but still I had the best sales of the staff, including the shark known as Calvin.

A real estate agent's photo.

I came thisclose to wearing the same thing.

Bill is off to Atlantic City, first time driving since January. He was a bit anxious since there has been a few bus accidents in the past week. I did my best to reassure him that he would be alright.

I used to nap in style,
An hour was worth my while,
10 minutes at best
Is my current rest,
And 50 minutes are in denial.

That limerick is true. I just made it up, the first line in my mind when I woke up from the aforementioned nap. I thought I’d have an hour long nap but it didn’t turn out to be that way. No worries, 10 minutes was enough but more would have been nice as well. A cat nap is all I needed I suppose.

I didn’t exert myself much at all today. Been lazy but somewhat productive. Errands were run, groceries were bought. I rarely have Saturdays off these days and was surprised that the price of the Daily News is now a dollar. Threw me for a loop. A buck.

At risk of sounding like an old geezer, but I remember buying the Daily News for five cents, the Night Owl edition at the Saddle Brook Diner. I used to eat a lot at that diner. It was and still is across the street from the Saddle Brook VFW, where I spent a lot of time when I was growing up.

It was where my brother Brian and some other children of drunken veterans were accused of stealing tips by the staff. I also saw a car accident where everything seemed to go into slow motion right outside the diner, and I sort of knew one of the people involved in the accident, one of the Peplowski girls from the other side of Lodi.

Three visits to the dry cleaners today. One was to drop off, one was to pick up and another time later on to pick up Bill’s stuff. The owner’s name is Mona and I like her. Mona and her husband run a cheerful shop and they do good work at a good price.

Not much planned for the evening. Had a headache most of the day and aspirin did not do the job. Woke up with it actually. Figured it was a dehydration headache and hydrated myself as soon as I could but the headache persisted, hence the aspirin.

It seems like the ten minute nap did the job and I feel a whole lot better, but a desire to go out is nonexistent. Anyway, I have to work tomorrow.

I noticed this morning when I was out and about, that the 10:30 bus that never shows up when I need to go to work on a Saturday morning showed up when it was supposed to. I cannot help but take this personally.

Is my reputation that terrible that bus drivers will forgo a time table just to avoid me, at the cost of dozens of riders? And does this have anything to bear on my relationship with my own personal bus driver- Bill, who just so happens to be driving to Atlantic City tonight? It’s certainly most unnerving.

And now I am going to make some dinner, using the sauce that Stine made last week. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I won’t be writing unless there is something extraordinary to write about.

That’s about it, smell ya later.