What’s it doing outside? | johnozed

Oh how to start, where to start. I keep expecting to see Hyman when I turn the corner at the bus terminal. I expect that to go on for a few more days. Today was a long day, a double shift. Calvin asked me a few weeks ago and I agreed to it.

Couldn’t really say no. I didn’t mind really. I was going to be working with Thomas and he’s actually a pleasure to work with. Getting there was the problem. Actually waking up was the problem. Alarm clock set, took melatonin last night so that was a good night’s sleep.

Had a dream where I was frantic because my iPod lost its power. Oddly enough I did not plug it in last night and I wanted to delete a track from a playlist I created, don’t really need to hear Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love in the middle of May. I did delete the track, before heading out into day three of the rainstorm.

Before that I did get a phone call from Bill asking me if his keys were on top of the stove. They were and I put them in my bag and headed down the stair when I realized I did not put my knee brace on. Quickly put it on and headed down the stairs into the aforementioned rainstorm. It was crowded on the bus, filled up quickly. And there was traffic heading into the tunnel.

I texted Bill as we approached the tunnel so he could meet me at the bus terminal. His office is only a bloc or two away so it was no problem for him. The helix outside the tunnel was closed and all the NJ bound traffic was being diverted.

I made it to the terminal and saw Bill who walked me to the subway, letting me use his unlimited Metrocard to pass through the turnstiles. A quick kiss and I was on my way and Bill on his. Luckily, since it was still rush hour there was a train pulling in almost immediately.

Made it to the cigar shack with time to spare to get an egg sandwich and some coffee. I made it in, turned off the alarm. Luckily since I closed last night I knew everything was going to be in order giving me time to enjoy the sandwich and drink some coffee.

I was going to be alone for 2 hours and so I needed to take care of a few things before things really started to happen. A few calls for Marcus and for Calvin, both of whom were unavailable for the day. A couple of customers came in, asking about pens of all things and found the pens I showed them either not up to snuff or merely too expensive.

Thomas eventually showed up and he was great. A lot of fun to work with, while still maintaining an air of professionalism. Many laughs were had and he really helps bring out the best in me. The day didn’t fly by as expected and Thomas kept things competitive always trying to one up on sales which made things interesting.

He maintained the lead in sales throughout most of the day, I jumped ahead when I took a call when there was an order from a cigar bar nearby. Unfortunately I messed up the order and had to correct it, so when things quieted down in the shack I made my way over to the cigar bar, they were happy to see me there and offered me a beer.

I would have taken it but had to get back to the shack and finish up with Thomas. And after that was when I had started to crash. 12 hours on my feet didn’t do me any favors but thanks to Thomas it didn’t hurt too much either. Fave customer Jimmy Seltzer came in and mentioned that I reminded him of Stephen Fry which isn’t so bad.

I am glad to be off from the cigar shack tomorrow but there is something that I will be involved with for the first time tomorrow. If it goes well I will probably write about it somewhat, and let’s face it, if it doesn’t go well I will probably write about that as well. Fingers crossed.

Have a good night, I know I will.

for Hyman Gross

A day without the brain dead Bradley is like a day with sunshine. Yes the brain dead Bradley went back to the confederacy, just a few days off, not permanent, but one can hope and entertain fantasies. Like being struck by a homesickness, symptoms so strong that he may feel the best thing to do is stay put.

Just finished last week’s New Yorker, specifically the article on the brain and how it relates to time. Or the article on time and how the brain perceives it. To my surprise towards the end of the article they go to England where they meet up with Brian Eno, who is very much interested in that type of thing.

Then there was a review of the new book on Malcolm X which was a good read. I was big into Malcolm X before the Spike Lee revival, in fact I was one of the few white guys in the US who was wearing a Malcolm X t-shirt a few years before the movie came out.

Oh the stares I used to get. I still respect Malcolm X but I certainly do not have the same ardor that I used to have. And the OCD from the other day was a complete waste of time. Of course the door was locked. I realized that this morning on the way in. I remembered looking at the door key as I was walking out and that should have been the tip off.

I came in this morning, and Calvin had a complaint about how one of his customers, Steve Sciatica was upset with me. Mainly because he’s an idiot and I did not laugh at his asinine jokes, so he went running to Calvin to complain. The guy is strictly vaginal slang.

Funny thing is, or maybe the ironic thing, is that Bill’s boss bought Bill a box of cigars for administrative professionals day. I set the whole thing up on Tuesday, no discount, all on the up & up.

Now the same thing happened in December and Calvin took the sale and the commission then, he was all over Bill’s boss like white on rice. Yesterday since it was my sale Calvin barely gave Bill’s boss the time of day.

Now compare that to Calvin’s guy who is a gigantic asshole to Bill’s boss who isn’t. It’s the ace up my sleeve if and when Calvin has the cojones to bring up Steve Sciatica once again.

I did speak with Thomas (who while being only a year or two older than Juan, is so much younger mentally & culturally than our Juan) about the Calvin/Sciatica Bill’s boss thing while Calvin was at lunch and told Thomas that what I was telling him was in confidence and that I didn’t need to have to deal with another situation with the brain dead Bradley in any event.

When I came back from lunch I found that Calvin was oddly distant, but that might have been some substance marking the distance.

I spoke with Hyman Gross today. He is having surgery on his tibia and fibula tomorrow morning at 10:00. It all depends on his bone density whether or not he can get a pin inserted. Or it will require a cast on his leg, forcing him to stay put for 12 weeks, which isn’t that good since Hyman lives to get around. Or a plate for his leg which will also incapacitate him for a lengthy amount of time. We’re all hoping he has good bone density.

I won’t be able to see him until Sunday but I will be calling him tomorrow afternoon.

Interesting to see ol’ lazy teat Greg still reading the blog.