Category Archives: WTF

I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues

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Today is Sunday which means yesterday was Saturday. I worked yesterday, today I have off. It’s been a productive day, cleaning the apartment, which Bill started yesterday. Perhaps if we both work in tandem we will have a really clean apartment. But for today we will settle for functional.

Work was long and slow yesterday and I did not want to go in. My resolve to get out of this retail circus remains strong. I waited for about 30 minutes in the cold for the 10:30 bus which did not arrive until 10:50.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to Chaz’ party that night. I wasn’t feeling on top of my game and I was staring down the barrel of a 10 hour shift. I texted Chaz letting him know I wasn’t sure and also texted Rand with the same message.

Bill was going to be driving a bus to Atlantic City and I also didn’t feel like going by myself. As things turned out, Atlantic City had a big snowstorm and so bus trips down there were canceled. So Bill stayed home and cleaned the apartment while I watched the clock move ever so slowly from 11:30 AM to 9:30 PM.

Somewhere in the middle of that I read online of the shooting of the congresswoman in Arizona, as well as the murder of a 9 year old girl, a federal judge and four other people. It was terribly sad and I didn’t know how bad it was since the cigar smokers in the man cave would rather watch college football on the TV than watch the events as they unfold.

Of course if they did watch the news, it would be the same regurgitated mess repeated over and over. It was reported that Rep. Giffords was shot in the head and had died, but then another report came online saying that she was not dead, just in intensive care.

And the latest is that she has been able to respond to simple questions from her doctors. It’s been a sad story all around, for the victims, their families and for the United States overall.

The work day continued on, working with Calvin and Sean. Sean helps me out a lot with sales, usually ringing things up on my register so that I get more of that 1/3 of 1% commission. But Calvin caught on and made sure than any 3 figure sales that Sean was about to complete were done on Calvin’s register. Calvin is the boss you see and doesn’t do much of anything for Sean except for threatening him, whereas I usually buy Sean food, like a burger or some pizza.

I do feel pity for Calvin, for here he is an assistant manager with a wife and kid to support and I really don’t mind him getting whatever commission happens. It would be nice if I got that 1/3 of 1%, but I’m not going to sweat it. And I’m sure Calvin gets more than 1/3 of 1% anyhow.

Calvin split at his appointed hour and it was Sean and myself for the remainder of the day, or by this time, night. Finally it was time to go.

Bill decided to go to the party and even rented a car so that we wouldn’t be at the mercy of a car service to bring us back to Hoboken. I got the latest Mojo & Uncut magazines for Chaz and gave him 2 passes for the American Museum of Natural History.

I met Bill after taking the Path train to Journal Square in Jersey City and we drove up to Chez Chaz. Most of the usual New Year’s crowd was there, Andy, Deborah and Rand & Lisa as well as a few other people that I see year to year but forget their names and too embarrassed to ask after all this time.

It was all rather adult, sitting there, chatting and having beers. Chaz made some excellent vegetarian chili which hit the spot after being outside waiting for Bill to arrive in the black Beetle he rented. Many laughs and stories as well as information about Representative Giffords.

We left around 12:30, giving Rand & Lisa a ride back to Hoboken. I came home to find Bill had done an awful lot of cleaning which impressed me enough to do my share this afternoon.

It’s been a good day, though I did watch a lot of news concerning Tucson, AZ.

Sad sad sad.

Christina Taylor Green 9/11/2001 - 1/8/2011

I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)

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Oy. Mama may have and Papa may have but lord have mercy, this child is tired. Another long day, starting with Bill leaving at 5:30 and kissing me good bye. I stayed in bed as long as possible until Elton John and Kiki Dee woke me up with their yammering, ‘Don’t go breaking my heart’. I used to like that song, but ultimately it’s really not one of Elton’s best. Maybe it’s one of Kiki Dee’s best but not for me.

Right now Bill is playing his keyboard and singing. He doesn’t do that often enough. He’s a different person when he plays, showing a side of him seldom seen. Lawrence O’Donnell is reciting the usual crap that goes on in politics, but it’s turned down low, allowing Bill’s melodious tones to float through the air.

At the cigar shop it was mainly me and Calvin which was mostly alright. The brain dead Bradley made an appearance, dropping off keys that he accidentally brought home last night. We would have gotten by just fine without the keys or seeing the brain dead Bradley today.

It was fairly slow, hardly any regulars showed up at first. They stayed away when Calvin had his lunch time cigar, but when it was my turn it was crazy crowded. A few good guys showed up, Jason, Donnie and of course the formerly named Raymond, now named Dave. It was good to see Dave but it was too crowded to relax and enjoy myself. Plus there were a few lunkheads sitting about too.

Marcus made an appearance later in the day, playing against type as he and Calvin hung out and sharpened their knives for use against Sean who did not come in on Sunday after getting into a street fight in Brooklyn on New Year’s night.

Sean is always late and they’ve probably seen him goofing off and doing nothing one too many times. So there is blood in the water and the sharks are circling. I was hoping to have a burger and fries to treat myself but Marcus and Calvin and some pen seller would not leave.

Don’t they know that after 7:30 it’s my shop and I am the one to get things done?

And Fred the part timer came in, and saw that it was busy. He was 20 minutes early and asked Calvin if he should punch in and help out. Calvin said yes, but to rectify the fact that Fred was early, Fred had to leave early, leaving me to close the store solo.

Yes, the cigar shop did not want to pay the $2.75 it would have to give to Fred should he actually close the shop with me. It was fine with me but it would have helped somewhat if he stayed. I have to get out of this place. It’s terribly ridiculous. And not in a good way of course.

Fred asked me why they had such a high turnover and one of the reasons could be because they always change the rules, or create new rules to justify their ineptitude. How Ron or Dave worked there for 2 years is totally beyond my comprehension. And the low pay doesn’t help.

Tomorrow is a day off and I plan on spending part of the day rewriting my resume. And doing laundry. Maybe I’ll launder my resume. It couldn’t hurt. And it will wash those messy stains from last year, opting for honesty, and letting the chips fall where they may.

I’ll be happy to sleep in and not have to deal with whatever it is the cigar shop offers, besides cigars that is. Cigars certainly don’t smell as bad as the bullshit I have to put up with most of the time.