I’m Afraid of Americans

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Back to work today after a nice day off. Weather was quite nice again. I saw Samantha Bee today. She’s pregnant again.

It was Calvin, Raymond and Sean today with Marcus flitting in and out. It was a good team to work with. I also received my personal code and the key to the store, so it’s official, I will mainly be closing the store from now on.

And I’m fine with it. It’s not like I had much of a social life the past 11 months or even before that. I see my friends from time to time and that’s fine. I’m not exactly a shut in. Everyone has their own lives to live and I’ve got mine.

And now my life is tied to this job. I suppose it was fortuitous timing since the republicans have blocked unemployment benefits for people who have been collecting for over 6 months.

Apparently like that stupid crank from February, the dumb as fuck republicans think the unemployed are lazy for not taking jobs that pay less than the unemployment benefit. So if Mom and Dad are out of work, trying to make ends meet you’d had better hope they take that job at McDonald’s.

I had to educate Raymond on how this current economic mess is actually because of that piece of shit Ronald Reagan and his dismantling of the New Deal policies of the FDR administration. How he and others dismantled the rules and regulations designed to make sure the banks don’t get into another economic mess like the great depression.

Yep, let the banks and big business run themselves without any oversight. Not like the crash of 1929 will happen again.

And here we are now standing on the verge of another great depression. It’s strange (for lack of a better word) that so many people are unaware of the bitch he-devil Reagan and the evil that he created, instead they revere this vaginal slang.

So if I were still collecting the unemployment benefit, I would be in serious trouble since I was out of work for 11 months.

And today made for the beginning of my second month, selling cigars. One of the shops nearby has a lovely manager called, Elizabeth. She stops by a few times a day, usually to use the loo. She asked how it was working out for me and I told her I thought it was working well.

I remarked on how I hoped my co-workers and managers like me and she reassured me, telling me that they loved me. That was nice to hear. And I guess getting the code and the key proves that they believe that I am doing a good job.

And they’re starting to appreciate my music in the store which is good. I also do not show a pout when a negative comment is made about it.

I played The Bird and The Bee, their first album and was told it was putting people to sleep. Some of the cigar smoking guys were shocked to hear the song, F*cking Boyfriend a few weeks ago as well so I’ve been wary about paying them.

This evening I played the Hall & Oates cover album and it was well regarded. More than likely because the songs were recognizable. I’m not complaining.

I played Hall & Oates as well which was ironic since I also played the Hall & Oates song Intravino when a gathering of sommeliers took place.

Twilight at Columbus Circle

I’m All Over It

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What a beautiful day it has been. Simply splendid. Nice weather, not humid, an occasional breeze.

I slept soundly last night. Bill didn’t. When we left East LA last night it was cool and breezy and the comment was made about having the windows open while we slept. I was hesitant, figuring it that it still might be too hot.

But when I finally went to bed, Bill had the air conditioner on. I decided to turn it off and open the window. I don’t know if the open window prevented Bill from a good night’s sleep, but I think it helped me. I suppose we’ll continue the experiment tonight and see how that goes.

I was up hours after Bill left, and after breakfast and showering I dropped off a suit at the Cary’s Dry Cleaners and went to the bibliothèque. On the way I spoke to Pedro who got back from South Beach the other day.

He had a blast and recommended that I visit there some day. Unlikely, but I did not say no.

In the bibliothèque, Diane the librarian, remembered a DVD she recommended the other day, Role Models starring Paul Rudd. So I picked that up.

But my main thing was the fact that a book about the Beatles, You Never Give Me Your Money by Peter Doggett finally came in. It was released earlier this month and for once BCCLS did not say it was too new, like the message I got when I requested Iggy & the Stooges Raw Power remaster. And I requested it from the Hoboken bibliothèque.

So far so good with regards to the Beatle book. The prologue was all about 8 December 1980, how Paul was shocked, George wouldn’t answer the phone and Ringo was drunk. Cynthia Lennon was staying with Maureen Cox, Ringo’s ex when she got the call.

John’s Aunt Mimi was in bed drifting in and out of sleep, listening to the BBC World Service and not know if she was dreaming or not when she heard about John’s brutal murder. That was the prologue, not I’m in chapter one, where Brian Epstein has died and the Fabs are starting up Apple Corps. The book promises to be full of Apple juice and so far I’ve been entertained.

I sat by the river and read, smoking a cigar. The sweet Karen Kuhl stopped by for a minute. She’s playing the Pier 13 show tomorrow night, but I won’t be able to make it since it ends at 10:00 and I won’t be getting to Hoboken after work until 10:00.

She’s also unsure if she could make the party in 12 days (!), and that’s too bad since I had hoped she’d sing a song or two from the Gutbank days. She’s unsure like I said so who knows? She just might. Then Karen split and Rand pulled up on his bike, and we had a nice chat as well.

It was almost like a talk show, I’m on a bench and a few friends stop by for a chat. Simple premise. It could be done I suppose. I’d be willing to do it on Public Access, even in the winter and in the rain.

It would be a surreal affair and with me being me, I don’t see how it could be any other way.

I always wanted to have a talk show. I remember way back, growing up and sitting in mounds of snow with Donna Foglio and playing talk show. I wanted to be Mike Douglas and she was a reluctant Totie Fields.

A Beautiful Day in Hoboken