Whats for lunch? | johnozed

And so it was back to work for me today after a day off which was quite productive, or at least somewhat productive. Today there was some difficulty waking up more than likely from the fact that it was raining outside and who really wants to get out of bed on a rainy day?

Bill had off today, he had an audition for a TV show this afternoon and also wanted to continue on his progress with regards to cleaning the apartment. SO Bill and his buddy are doing just that, cleaning the apartment. Bill said it would be all Spic & Span when I get home. I do have my reservations though.

My day at the cigar shack started in the red though. Last week I sold a few items totaling over $700.00. It was a good sale, the customer was nice and I enjoyed helping her. Unfortunately between that day and this morning, she found the same items online at a considerably lower price.

So she returned them for a refund and I can’t blame her for that but that put me in the hole. I spent the day trying to get out of the hole, bit by bit, cigar by cigar. A little over an hour ago, I was finally out of the hole and content to be in the low 3 figures. Back in Black should have been the theme song.

Slowly my numbers increased and soon I was hovering around $500.00. In the past 45 minutes thanks to 2 customers from far away lands I am now over 4 figures. I am happy about that and so is Zack. It’s been a busy kind of day, Zack, Bradley and Thomas and myself. Bradley and Thomas have done stellar work today.

There was an event that no one really wanted to have a part of. The cigar shack rarely has sales but the head cheeses insisted so we had no choice but to do what the head cheeses ordered. Food was ordered, whiskey distributor arrived, but unfortunately no one who said they were coming, came.

There was disappointment from the manager and the assistant manager but when the time came for them to leave, they left with whiskey on the breath.

This afternoon as I was coming back from lunch, before I headed into the cigar shack I was outside having a smoke. I saw this gent standing outside the cigar shack on the sidewalk holding up a pamphlet titled ‘TRY THIS!!!’. I figured he was handing out samples of something so I asked the gent what it was he wanted people to try.

It turned out he was looking for work as a personal assistant. His name is L. Jay Walker and he thinks of possibilities and getting them done as well as trying to find a cure for snoring. He claims to be big, strong, smart, compassionate as well as being a humorous guy with a calm and peaceful demeanor.

He can guarantee your safety and he’s quite handy as well as a great listener. So if you are looking for a personal assistant or know of someone who is, send an email to ljaywalker54@gmail.com. I figure it wouldn’t take much of anything for me to post his info and it would sure beat handing out pamphlets outside of a shopping area. He seemed like a nice guy anyhow.

Photo by 'Thomas'

Christine's house of LOVE

Groove Is In The Heart

OK, the other day my day started (and ended) with Melody of Love by Bobby Vinton in my head. That made me think of Bob Dylan covering Dean Martin’s ‘Return to Me’ from the Sopranos soundtrack. Probably because of Bobby Vinton’s refrain, ‘Return to me, and always be, my melody of love’ before he breaks out into a Polish singalong.

In 1975 while attending St. Francis de Sales grammar school, we had to learn that song and then trooped over to a convent by Felician College to sing the song to a group of old Polish nuns. And here I am later, over 30 years later still thinkng about that song.

Another song from 1975 that popped into my head via Wikipedia was Please Mr Postman by the Carpenters. This time in 1975 it was the number one song and I remember being in the Boy Scouts at Camp No-Be-Bosco in the winter listening to this song on Music Radio 77 WABC. I always liked the Carpenters, well I always liked Karen Carpenter’s voice. I still do. I find it to be quite warm and rich.

Lucky Thomas, he just picked up the phone for a nice order. He’s done well today whereas Bradley and myself were nickle and dime’ing up the numbers. No hard feelings but I am harboring feelings of resentment and have doubts about throwing him some sales in the future whenever I hit my personal goal.

The customer just phoned in an order, sending his daughter to pick up the cigars, so things might change. Not expecting it to happen though. Thomas was in a weird mood in the beginning of the day though he did get better and not bitter. It’s after 7:00 so things have gotten considerably slower in the cigar shack area.

Not expecting sales to improve, in fact after Thomas’ sale that will probably be it. I did have some nice sales today, though not enough to get to my personal goal. It is so friggin dead here I almost expect George Romero to remake Dawn of the Dead in this area.

That brings me back to 1980 where after I saw the Exorcist with Henry Venegas and his girlfriend, we drove to the Paramus Drive In where we caught some of Dawn of the Dead on the sly, using the AM radio to pick up the audio broadcast at 2:00 in the morning. Life sure was simpler then.

Like most of my high school classmates I never saw Henry Venegas after 1980. And don’t even get me started on my fumbled seduction regarding Henry. And attempting to seduce a straight classmate was not the smartest idea anyhow. I was 17 and knew as much about seduction as I do now. What was I thinking? I know what I was thinking about. He was a good guy that Henry Venegas was. I wonder if he ever married his girlfriend?

About 30 minutes left in the cigar shack today. 30 long minutes no doubt. Rand and Lisa stopped by this evening. It was wonderful to see them. They were celebrating Lisa’s birthday and went to the movies and had some dinner out. Lisa of course looked fabulous and Rand was quite the fashion plate himself. They were just passing through, headed back to the bus terminal. I’ve known Rand 30 years and happy to be his friend, as well as Lisa’s friend.

Thomas, it turned out, was closing the store allowing me to leave a few minutes early. I hoped I would catch Rand and Lisa on the bus but they didn’t make it. But it was wonderful to see them nonetheless, as it made my day.