johnozed

A day off after working a five day shift. Surprisingly enough it wasn’t as bad as previous five day shifts. Yesterday was with Bradley and Jerry Vale and that wasn’t so bad. We made sure the store would be in tip top shape for when Calvin returns from wherever he was for the past week.

It wasn’t that busy a day but it was still somewhat hot out. Not the 104 degrees like the other day, but actually around 94 degrees which made it a little bit comfortable. Still it was too hot to go outside for lunch so I once again stayed in the cigar shack and had a cigar in the man cave.

It was day five of doing that and it certainly was not as crowded as it had been the previous days. Just me and a customer. A seven hour playlist I made the other night was on and the customer sat across from me watching a sparsely attended Mets game in Tampa Bay as I read and finished last week’s New Yorker.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly and I insisted on closing the store sending Bradley and Jerry Vale home as soon as the opportunity arose. Fifteen minutes was not going to make much of a difference anyway.

I came home, Bill was asleep after returning from Boston on the bus. His pal Fred had continued on to New Hampshire leaving Bill to take an acting class on Sunday morning. I had some really crappy pizza when I came home and settled in to watch True Blood (quite busy and intense) then Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage.

Though I hadn’t watched Entourage in a few years I figured I would catch the last season and forgot how hot James Caan’s son Steve is. It’s definitely the hair and the cocky attitude. And the tight bod. I watched a documentary on John Lennon in New York City which I had seen before.

It was a hot summer night and nothing was on really anyhow. 20 years ago I would have been living in Lodi with my father, watching probably ‘I, Claudius’ on PBS and drinking while my father slept. And that scene was not going to last much longer. A few months later I had changed my address to Weehawken. A definite improvement.

This morning I woke up to find Bill still in bed. I was surprised to find out he had taken the day off. It wasn’t a bad thing, just a surprise. I was anticipating on being home alone but here he was. Before I even took a shower I had to tell him not to fill the water pitcher all the way since it overflows in the fridge when he does overfill it.

And I also told him not to remove the trap when he is showering since it doesn’t make matters any better, in fact it makes it worse. We have a crappy drain in our bath tub and despite Julio using a snake and finding two other broken snakes in the drain it still takes a long time for the water to go away. He rarely showers here and usually does so at the gym in the morning.

So he’s not used to the way things run or don’t run here. Bill said he was going to have a plumber come by and fix it but since he really doesn’t use the shower as often as I do, if at all and I have no real problem with it then it’s no big deal, an annoyance at best. When I heard him say that about having a plumber visit I said ‘whatever’ to which he requested that I stop saying ’whatever’ since he doesn’t like it.

So I grunted instead.

A Saturday in the cigar shack which went well overall. No punching taxi cabs or telling little old ladies to shut up. Once again despite the fact that I took 2 melatonin tablets last night I did not sleep that well last night. Maybe it was because of the heat or maybe it was because I just could not get a proper sleep. I don’t know.

The day did start with disappointment. A donut on the kitchen table that I was thinking about as I lay in that state between sleep and actually waking up was gone when I walked into the kitchen. Bill ate it. Yes I was pissed but decided to let it go, after all what could I do?

Bill was on a bus with his crush, Fred en route to Boston. I can’t get any decent time off to go to the beach with Bill but if Fred asks Bill to jump, Bill says ‘how high?’ AT least that’s how it seems to me. Regardless this is how it is. Fred (who had relationships with Bill’s friend Margaret and Rand’s wife Lisa, both of which ended badly mind you)will always be the leading light in Bill’s light. I remain in shadow.

Of course Fred is straight, making him unobtainable as far as I know and everyone always wants what they can’t have so Bill will always want Fred. I’m just old dependable. Bill could always say the same thing about Pedro and me. So I guess that makes us even somewhat.

I do know Bill loves me and I certainly love him. I was just a bit bitter when I wrote that earlier.
I am much calmer now and safe at home.

Right now, Jerry Vale stands near me, not saying anything, just twirling his eyeglasses in his hand with his other hand in his pocket. I think he wants to use this computer but he hasn’t asked for it and as you can probably tell I am in the middle of writing this. I think Jerry Vale might be afraid or at least intimidated by me. I don’t really care.

Sad about Amy Winehouse. I had hoped she would clean up her act and prove some people wrong, but I guess she was doomed to the inevitable overdose. I almost played Back In Black but felt maybe it would be too soon. But maybe not.

Blondie, Parallel Lines is on right now and perhaps after Fade Away & Radiate I switch over to Amy. Working with Thomas was a lot of fun even though he had sinking spirits. He’s fast becoming a favorite co-worker. One more day out of a 5 day stretch. Off Monday and that is when Calvin returns to the cigar shack.

Back on Tuesday and Wednesday then off Thursday which is cool since th3e Guitar Bar All Stars are playing in Hoboken and I really want to see my pseudo daughter before she heads off to college. I guess I will finish this at home.

Planning on taking the Path train in since the bus terminal ramps are under construction and I don’t feel like sitting on a bus for any amount of time.

So I did the smart thing and rode the train to the Path train. Cool, air conditioned, able to sit and read the New Yorker. I even gave up my seat so 2 girlfriends could sit and chat rather than me sitting in between the 2 girls. It was then a walk up Washington Street on a Saturday night, past the bars with people lined up outside to have their ID’s checked by a beefy bouncer.

I am home now, and working tomorrow. I may write tomorrow or I may not. If there is something to write about I will, if not then I won’t.