The first Tuesday of May 2025. It has been another drizzly day, nothing but clouds in the sky, making it all white, no blue skies on the horizon. Actually, there was for a few minutes as I walked home from the PATH train.

Bill is on the road, and we both agreed that it would be good to have Mike here, so we made a set of keys for him. I’m useless when alone, and it’s good that Mike is around. Tonight it was hot dogs and French fries for dinner.

Easy to make and not much to clean up. Mike has a limited palate and won’t eat certain foods. Whole wheat bread? No way. Mike likes Wonder Bread. He’s on his own in that pantry. He did buy hot dog rolls the other night, so he finished them off tonight.

Work has been good, I think. I show up early and spend way too much time remembering passwords. Too many passwords, and if someone is standing over my shoulder watching me trying to apply the right password, then stress is added. So, showing up early and getting it all set up is the way to go for me.

I’m not complaining. I start work at 8:00 AM, so doing all that beforehand is on my time. Saves face, I think. I did have to call for assistance from Phillip, who is an IT guy for the company that hired me. And we were able to create a new password which I wrote down for the future, and by the future, I mean, tomorrow morning.

I left soon after 5:00 PM, and I think I closed my area properly, and if I didn’t, I will find out tomorrow. My desk is directly in the line of an air conditioning vent. I put in a ticket yesterday to have that taken care of, and I almost brought a sweater, but figured they would have taken care of it.

They didn’t, and the morning was spent with me wearing the rain jacket I wore to work. At lunch, I went and bought a long-sleeved shirt, which did the job somewhat, but I made a note to bring the sweater tomorrow.

I am now working in Union Square, which is a nice neighborhood to work in. I am right down the street from the former messenger company I worked at 40 years ago. That place is gone now, as are most messenger companies.

When I was working for Bratty McGrotty last year, I started taking notes of messenger companies, thinking that I could always get a job at one of those places, but let’s face it, it would not be a good idea. The pay is lousy, and you are outside, rain or snow or sunshine.

I walked by the buildings where Andy Warhol had his studios in the 1970s. The whole neighborhood has changed a few times since then. I’d like to think that I changed a few times since then as well.

A rainy Monday in May. First Monday at that. The weekend went astray. Whatever ideas or plans I had did not work out. I adapted, a bit clumsily. No one else noticed but me, though, or so I would like to think. Mike was supposed to come over on Friday, but could not, and his inability to come over carried over to Saturday.

His laundry was here in Hoboken, and he asked if I could bring it to his crib in Jersey City. And I did just that. We hung out for an hour or two before I was in a rideshare back to Hoboken. Bill and I love having Mike over, but we adapted to Mike’s absence.

I try to maintain the sleep schedule that I keep during the week, maybe staying up a little bit later before heading off to bed. Bill was up and on the road hours before I stirred and shuffled through the apartment. Saturday was the sixth anniversary of my brother Frank’s passing, and I called his widow, Elaine, on Sunday.

She told me how she was doing, I told her how I was doing, when Bill called. He was done for the day and on the road back home. While I was waiting on Sunday morning after watching Jane Pauley and company, the doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting anyone, and I certainly didn’t order anything, so I ignored it.

The doorbell kept ringing, and I carried on ignoring it. Finally, a text came through. Mike. It was Mike at the buzzer. He had a half day at work and thought he would surprise me, which he did. Luckily, I had enough coffee and breakfast to be mostly human, and he was soon in the apartment, waiting with me for Bill to come home.

Bill came home, and soon Mike and I were en route to the really big supermarket where Mike was able to cash in over $100 in coins at the coin changing machine. Then it was home all day since it was raining on and off throughout the afternoon and evening. Mike likes Hoboken, and I try to indulge his fascination despite my jaded hindsight. Mike doesn’t mind, he just takes it all in.

It was also May 4th, so that meant May the Fourth be with you was the buzz on social medias. I added my two cents to the online postings and had a good time doing that. We streamed Rogue One, which is a very good Star Wars flick, but had to compete with the smartphones in Bill and Mike’s hands. Midway through, I paused the movie and instead of going back to it, played John Waters’ Hairspray from 1988.

I think Mike had only seen the musical from the 90s, so this was new, and it had his attention. He enjoyed it, and I explained that I prefer the 1988 original to the musical from a few years later. It had more grit to it and was funnier. I own the 1988 version on DVD and also purchased a digital version, which we streamed.

I started the work week at a new location from where I was the past two weeks. Same company, different location. I do my best, and I hope to do well. And my coworkers seem to think that I am. A shorter commute, too.