Tag Archives: Bill

I Don’t Wanna Lose You

Well after a good night’s sleep with minimal trips to the lavatory I woke up relatively refreshed after silent bargaining with the alarm clock. It was an interesting sleep, more dreams with regards to people I hadn’t seen in decades.

A side note, Ken Mallia popped up on my Facebook friends list, you know, people you may know who are friends of friends last week. He looks heavier and a lot like his dad who was quite a funny character.

I was up and about shuffling through the apartment a few hours after Bill gave me quite a passionate send before he left. Some coffee to be made, cereal in the bowl with milk and a hot shower waiting. Then I got myself together and checked mail, watched the Daily Show and The Colbert Report from last night and soon I was walking up the street to the bus stop.

While waiting for the bus I noticed smoke billowing down 5th Street. I went to check it out but did not see any fire, just smoke. A minute or so later four or five fire trucks were barreling down Washington Street, just a few doors up from the bus stop. No idea where the fire was, or even if there was a fire. If there was it was under control by the time the firemen arrived.

My bus driver maneuvered around the fire trucks and we made it to the next stop where my neighbor Deborah got on board. She noticed I wasn’t on the bus yesterday and figured I might have taken an earlier bus. I gave her a sanitized version of Monday, leaving out the gross points. We did share a chuckle about the twin doctors whom her boyfriend doesn’t like as well.

An easy ride through the tunnel and soon we were parting ways at the bus terminal. A quick subway ride uptown and soon I was in the vicinity of the cigar shack. I wasn’t at 100% but close to it. A nice chat with Zack in the shack and soon Jerry Vale joined the cast of characters. The usual rogue’s gallery was ensconced in the man cave already smoking up a storm. It’s been getting crowded earlier and they never leave.

Zack had a late lunch which made my lunch an hour later and made Jerry Vale’s lunch, dinner. Nevertheless I was determined to go outside for my hour and sit and read. And I did just that, rereading Please Kill Me, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, a book about the early days of New York City Punk Rock, starting with Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. I read it in the 1990’s and it still is an enjoyable read.

Then it was back to work and much to my surprise I was taking the lead in sales once again. And the numbers came out for October, the cigar shack doing much better than predicted. Thomas grabbed the lion’s share but still there was enough to go around for all of us, except for Jerry Vale since he is but a mere part timer.







15 – ’til

I Don’t Wanna Know

Another day, another dollar or in this case another roll of toilet paper. For the past two days I have been ill. I started feeling ill on Friday while at the cigar shack. I told Zack and Frank Burns how I was feeling and they were understandably alarmed for their own safety.

I did not mention how I was freezing in the shack since the last time I complained about how cold I was, Zack told me to stop whining. So I kept my mouth shut and worked while Frank Burns yelled at the television in the man cave with his cousin watching the World Series.

I think the bird team won, ably defeating every other team on the planet, therefore winning the World Series. Take that Zambia! Eat shit Lichtenstein! Drop dead Paraguay! Go to hell Sri Lanka! I made it home and after adding a few touches to the entry, I went to sleep and was able enough to make it to work on Saturday.

Definitely a low key kind of day, and once again when I got home I went right to sleep. Now somewhere between Saturday night and Sunday morning I took a turn for the worse. I did not sleep well at all and dear Bill was understandably concerned. He suggested making a doctor’s appointment and I reluctantly agreed.

Unfortunately, I could not make an appointment for Sunday, so I had to choose Monday, today. I woke up as usual on Monday morning and after spending a considerably amount of time in the bathroom, I called up the cigar shack manager and left a voice mail telling him how sick I was.

I had a feeling he wasn’t going to answer his phone. After that I went back to bed and slept another hour. Sweaty, fever dreams followed. Insane situations, people I hadn’t seen in years popped up in a too real manner. It was like high definition. After escaping the fever dreams (death eaters!) I hopped into the shower and put on some clean clothes and headed to the doctor.

Now I am not too fond of this doctor and his twin brother. It’s all too much like Dead Ringers, only these twins definitely do not look like Jeremy Irons. After waiting in the waiting room with a motley group of other ill and sniffling people I was escorted into the doctor’s office and within a few minutes involving a cold stethoscope the doctor gave me some anti-biotic and showed me the door.

It was quite a nice door. Wood, I think. Then I made my way back home and went back to sleep. A few hours later I woke up and was feeling a little better. A bit hungry and not as dehydrated as I was earlier, I plan on returning to the cigar shack tomorrow.

I dislike being sick but then again I am sure everyone dislikes being sick. Worst Halloween ever! Back in the day I would get sick from eating too much candy. Not this time. No candy, no trick and no treat for me.




Angels and Devils