Monday I think. 39° they say. Been a good weekend. I was well enough to go see Mike on Saturday. Bill came home around 4 AM on Saturday, after a long day’s journey of a bus trip. He knew what he was getting himself into and he was prepared. He was basically out cold when I left around noon.

I took a Lyft to Mike’s crib. Saturday bus schedules can be a bit much and I think the bus trip from Hoboken to Jewett Ave was where I picked up the bug that waylaid me last week, so I wanted to avoid that. I talk to the drivers after scanning for the most economical ride.

The driver on Saturday afternoon was from Sierra Leone and was surprised that I knew where Sierra Leone was, and even more surprised when I played some tracks from the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars collection I had on my phone. He even identified the track, which is the title of this entry for this here blog.

Mike’s apartment is coming along slowly. Needs furniture that’s for sure. All I can do is send links to Target for kitchen table and chair sets that are within his price range. After a few hours of our afternoon play date, I was in another Lyft heading home. This driver was nice as well but I did not inquire as to where he was from.

He wasn’t from here and that doesn’t matter to me. He was a good guy and we had a far-ranging conversation about language and whatnot. Soon I was home. Bill was up and active though soon to go to bed. I stayed up for a while, and then off to bed, exhausted.

The next day was Sunday. Bill and I had a plan to go to the Hoboken Historical Museum to see Rand and view Tim Daly’s exhibition. It was a good turnout with a few friends from old times. And Jack Silbert who put his imprimatur on the event by showing up. It seems like an event is not an event unless Jack Silbert makes an appearance.

Rand was himself, of course, he and Lisa were off to St. John’s today, just some time in the Caribbean Sun. Lisa was on her way to the museum and we did wait a while to see her but she hadn’t arrived when Bill and I had to head out.

It seemed that the bug that Rand had over the NEw Year’s week, was a variation on the bug I had last week. Feeling ill and crappy, seemingly better one day and then awful the next day.

We were off to the supermarket and meandering around with our banter when we ran into Julio and his son, Christian. I wasn’t sure of it was Julio since this bloke was wearing glasses but it was. A nice hug and a quick chat with the two of them.

They were returning from a Boy Scouts camping trip, Friday evening to Sunday. They had a good time. I remember going on a camping trip with my Boy Scout Troop 117 in 1975. Mandy by Barry Manilow was in the top ten that week in 1975, as well as the Carpenter’s Please Mister Postman which to my embarrassment was the first version of that classic that I had heard. Not the Marvelettes nor the Beatles, which is cooler than the Carpenter’s but oh Karen Carpenter’s voice…

After leaving Julio & Chris to head home, Bill and I were in the direction fo Debbie Schwartz who was wandering around wanting to buy eggs. We took her under our wing and brought her to the supermarket where she took out a loan and bought a dozen eggs as well as quail eggs.

It was a fun day and we came home where I made the usual Saturday night dinner on Sunday night. Bill liked it but I thought I overcooked the pasta. It was quite filling nonetheless.

Friday 31°. Not as cold as it’s been. Plans that were made yesterday fell by the wayside this morning. Yesterday I was feeling better, this morning my body had other ideas, like not to stray too far from the porcelain in the bathroom.

I thought I could rally and get over to see Mike this afternoon but it was not to be. Mike was understanding. I was not. I was disappointed since I hadn’t done much of anything this week and this was to be the high point. Just getting out of the apartment for a change of scenery would’ve been nice. But you make plans and sometimes the plans fall apart.

Bill was out on the road so all I had today was my loneliness. Tomorrow is Billie’s birthday and I asked Bill to pick up a birthday card. I also asked Bill to write the card since I always do it and thought a handwriting change might be fun. And it was. Bill wrote some funny things and signed it with our names plus our alter egos. I doodled a bunch of hearts on the opposite side of the card. I just had to include something.

So today’s trip outside the apartment was a walk to the main post office. That was about it. That was the highlight of the day. I did talk with Mike for a few hours and that was enjoyable on many levels. Still, I would have liked to have spent time with him mano y mano. The plan lives on for tomorrow. I will make certain of that despite it really being out of my hands.

I don’t want to pass whatever bug that I had to Bill or Mike. Bill might stand the greater risk since he’s by my side most of the time. I could have gotten the bug from either one of them. They could be carriers. Or it could all be my hard luck.

The Path train from Hoboken to the World Trade Center was messed up for hours yesterday which in one way made me grateful that I did not have to deal with it and yet, depressed that I was not part of it, having had my routine destroyed. I would have monitored the situation and known which way to go.

It also made me miss my daily contact with Daisy, with her naive outlook on life. As jaded and cynical as I can be, Daisy’s sweetness reduced my viewpoint somewhat. It’s been almost a month since our last texts and there is a possibility that there will be no more interaction. It’s a shame but I guess my bitterness might have been more than she could bear.

There is a chance that she confided to one of her Filipino co-workers who were instructed by their maven Joselito Semen to disregard and disparage me whenever my name arose. That could be paranoid ideation on my part and I’m fine with it.

I almost sent a text to Rafe Dais about the resolution of the Zach/Jean dilemma from October which was resolved by the orchestration headed by that rancid saucer of milk, Lyor Leigh and my dismissal.

I did hear from Brian the employment counselor with regards to a phone interview on Monday. He came up with some talking points, of what might be brought up as well as questions that I could ask if prompted. Of course, I am anxious, thinking I have the job already when I most definitely don’t, and feel that I am being called on the rug by a potential employer. Brian suggested that I turn on the charm which I will have to summon forth when the phone rings at 1:00 PM.