Bill | johnozed | Page 119

A Friday for most, but for me it was ‘I don’t know what day it was’ when I woke up this morning. Slept really well due to the melatonin I took before I slept. It helped with the sleeping and made it near impossible to wake up. Still I got out of bed and did my thing. Bill was up and out of course by the time I actually left the bed.

I should not have stayed up so late, but I posted a picture of Janis Joplin and Rick Danko on Facebook and a friend commented on it so of course I had to send a link about the movie Festival Express where the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and The Band are touring across Canada.

When I sent the link I started reading about the Band and next thing I knew it was 1:45AM. About 45 minutes later than I am usually awake. That did not help me waking up at all. The thing is, I don’t really like The Band. Maybe as Dylan’s back up band but on their own I always found them a snooze.

Funny tidbit- in 4th or 5th grade the teacher asked us to make a poster with our favorite bands. I did not know that much about music and the Beatles had ceased to be at that point and no one was really into them so much. I remember my brother Frank talking about The Band so I made a poster saying that The Band were the best band.

It was an easy way out. I wasn’t into Elton then and certainly not into Led Zeppelin since all the bad kids were into them and I was a goody goody. So basically Richard Manuel and Rick Danko are dead, leaving Garth Hudson, Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson are still alive and Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson do not talk to each other. The problem is mainly songwriting credits basically, with Robertson taking the lion’s share.

And that was what kept me awake, reading about a band I don’t really care about. It really was not worth the price I paid today for staying up too late. Another day of wearing thermals. If it is below 30 degrees outside then thermals it is. And it was 26 degrees when I headed out this morning. I once again stood in the sunlight with an eagle eye out for the bus.

5 minutes before it was scheduled to arrive, I moved and waited in the shadows for it. The driver was not racing up the street with 2 cop cars on her tail, no this morning she was somewhat sedate. A solo ride into the city, no Deborah. She’s off to the Dominican Republic with her boyfriend for the next 5 days.

A little over 30 minutes left at the cigar shack. Bradley’s been very nice lately to me, though he hasn’t really had much of anything to say to Thomas. I can’t figure it out and neither can Thomas though we do have our theories. I definitely look forward to sleeping tonight. Even though I don’t sleep well when Bill is not around and he is driving to Atlantic City tonight, I do not think I will have a problem.

Now I am home, Bill is somewhere heading south on the Garden State Parkway. My ride home was uneventful which was nice, and there was the added bonus of my second favorite bus driver behind the wheel. My friend, Chief is driving the late shift so instead of seeing him in the morning I may see him at night when going home.

He’s a good guy and asked me what I thought of the bus driver in the morning. I told him how she was not as good as him and he remarked that she’s been driving for 19 years, and that others have been complaining about her to him. Go figure.

Free Man In Paris

I am writing this knowing that it will not be posted tonight. Today was the Internet protest against SOPA and PIPA, all the major websites like Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and a few more went dark as a way to show how the Internet would be lacking should these laws come to pass. For me it was back to work today.

After quite a splendid day yesterday, today was bound to be a come down. I rallied though, got myself together and was out on the street, in the cold. My usual bus driver, my second favorite bus driver wasn’t driving on my schedule today, or any time soon. He mentioned it to me last week and I have to say I am sorry to see him go.

He’s driving a different shift and may be back in April. I rode in silence, downstairs Deborah wasn’t on board this morning. From the bus terminal I once again walked up the avenue to the cigar shack, stopping off to get my iced coffee and a quick phone call with Bill. I got to the cigar shack where Zack was considerably under the weather and Thomas was getting screwed again.

He’s scheduled to work six days in a row in the upcoming weeks and he’s not looking forward to it. He’s 25 years old so if any one can handle it, it would be him. Zack was looking tattered and spent most of the day in the office. He’s supposed to be heading down to the Caribbean in a few days and I advised him to head home early. Who wants to be sick in the Caribbean? I’ve never been, but I figure that it would not be any fun.

So now things are winding down in the cigar shack, Thomas and I just had a good chat with a very rich man from the midwest. Nice guy. I offered to be adopted by him but he wasn’t having it. I could easily call him Dad if need be. He restores cars for a hobby and lost a few fingers on his left hand doing so.

NOW it’s the next day, back online, back to the beat, back to the blog. It’s been an interesting day. As I waited for my bus, the new driver flew right by with two cops cars flying fast behind her, lights and sirens a blazing. Whether the two were connected I don’t know but I hope so since the bus driver did not stop for any stops it seemed.

I got to the cigar shack a few minutes late and walked past Zack and Bradley and Thomas having a semi-heated discussion. Thomas was cool, but Zack and Bradley were heated and loud. After about a half hour it all seemed calm and I was glad I wasn’t involved.

Jimmy Seltzer made an early appearance. I mentioned I had a dream about him with a porn stache and he mentioned we talked about that a week or so ago. I didn’t remember but in hindsight he’s probably right for where else would I get the idea of Jimmy Seltzer with a porn stache?

Oh yeah, almost forgot that Juan stopped by last night. It was hard to believe I hadn’t seen him since maybe September or October of last year. And of course it was great to see him, wonderful to have him over. He was funny and cutting as ever and I really should put more effort into meeting up with him, not being so tired, such an old fogey. He is really such a good guy and both Bill and I really enjoy having him around.