Tag Archives: Bill

I Learned the Hard Way

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Well well well. Where to begin? I’ll start at the end. As I was walking from the cigar shop to the bus terminal, listening to Pet Shop Boys singles collection, by cellphone rings. It’s Bill. My first thought was that Bill was nearby and saw me stomping down the avenue.

No, it wasn’t anything pleasant like that. Bill told me, he was washing his hands in the bathroom and heard some water running behind him and walked into the kitchen to find water spewing forth from the hot water heater that was installed 2 years ago.

Peter our absentee landlord decided to save money and bought a General Electric hot water heater from Home Depot. I told Bill to turn off the spigot (tighty righty, lefty Lucy) and then I called Julio. A hint of panic in my face as I asked him to do me a favor, to go up to our apartment and check to see if Bill was able to turn off the water.

He moaned but did come upstairs. I then called Peter and let him know what was going on. He was on the line with Bill and got off the phone with me as soon as he could. I trudged to the gate and chatted with Hyman Gross.

He asked how I was doing, what kind of day did I have. I told him I was glad the work was done and also told him about what happened with the hot water heater. He assumed the hot water heater was in the basement like other places have. Not us. Our hot water heater is between the stove and the kitchen sink.

He asked how big the hot water heater was and I told him it was as big as he was, which made him remark that it was probably shrinking like he is. Hyman is in his 80’s in case you didn’t know. His remark made me laugh somewhat.

But as the minutes moved on I realized how much of a hassle this was going to be. I have a job interview tomorrow morning, with a recruiter. It’s for a Monday through Friday job and that’s what I was looking for.

The hours are unlike any hours I’ve worked before. 5:30PM to 1:00AM. It’s a law firm and my job would be to make sure all the lawyers and others will get their town cars home. It’s also supposed to be an immediate hire.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I came home and trudged up the four flights to the fifth floor where U heard voices. I was hoping it would be Peter but he’s an absentee landlord after all. It was Bill and Julio in the kitchen.

The blue bucket underneath the spigot collecting a steady stream of water, wads of paper towels on the floor, some puddles as well. Julio took off a pipe from the water heater since it was difficult to use the bucket with the pipe there, and with the hot water heater now defunct, the pipe in question was redundant.

Julio stayed for a little while as I threw out the paper towels and laid down newspapers, remembering the method used when the cellar in our house in Lodi would sometimes flood. Super absorbent and cheaper than paper towels.

Also threw down some rags to sop up the water. Julio split and went back to his life, Bill and I discussed Bill taking off tomorrow for the installation of a new water heater. Peter’s flunky Robert is supposed to get one and deliver and install it.

Robert is an idiot and I don’t trust him so I will have to tell Bill to keep an eye on everything Robert does. So that is where I’m at right now. Very tired too.

I Don’t Care If the Sun Don’t Shine

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It’s a Monday and it feels like a Sunday. Sunday was actually nice. It was Halloween which in Hoboken gave an excuse for grown ups to party in costume on Saturday night and for kids to do the same the next day.

The kids in Hoboken don’t knock on doors, they just go to the various stores and hit up shop owners for candy. Eventually the stores run out of candy and post signs on doors and windows saying just that. I went out in the middle of the afternoon, Washington Street crowded with kids and adults.

I missed the Ragamuffin parade, but still there were large groups in costume, going to parties or wherever. It was amusing to watch and I took some snapshots. Most of the action was on the boulevard so after walking to the post office, I opted to swing round back via the river.

I walked out onto Pier A, it was chilly but sunny as I enjoyed a cigar. Ahead of me were two teenage girls, one of whom turned out to be Ruby, Jim and Meghan’s daughter. She was having Halloween hijinks, the two of them dressed up like characters from Pokemon. After my time, for sure.

Came back home and just chilled out. Bill was headed to the gym and I made myself a nice dinner. Bill and I watched Bill Hicks Live, a compilation of some of his live shows. I totally missed the boat on Bill Hicks when he was alive, and only in the past few years have I ever really heard of him.

And that was from reading about him or seeing ads for a DVD or CD release in Mojo or Uncut magazines. The UK certainly took him to heart. Bill who loves watching stand up comedy hadn’t really seen Hicks’ act before but really liked it a lot.

Enough so that he went online to look up Bill Hicks on Wikipedia. Bill Hicks died at 32 from pancreatic cancer in 1994, in his parent’s home. Bill sussed out that my dislike for Denis Leary is because Leary stole bits of Bill Hicks’ act, sometimes word for word. My antipathy for Denis Leary seems validated.

Boardwalk Empire was on after Bill Hicks and after that Bill went to bed. I stayed up for a while, started watching Poltergeist when midway through I quit and went to bed.

I tried watching that Walking Dead show on AMC, but after the high intensity of Dead Set, this one seemed to be a bit plodding. Maybe it was a zombie script, and a zombie director. Perhaps this is post-Lost television, the hope that the series lasts a few years and they could have an unfolding plot.

It hasn’t really caught on, in fact besides Lost, all the other attempts for an episodic series have failed thus far.

Tonight feels like a Sunday night, feels like I have school tomorrow and homework to be done. Just thinking about work at the cigar shop is unnerving. I always have the feeling I’ve done something wrong.

I usually haven’t, but still I feel like the other shoe is about to drop. It usually gets better once I’m there. It’s all the scenarios in my head that run through my mind beforehand is what can be a real spoiler. Perhaps it’s just an unease about tomorrow, and it being election day. Don’t forget to VOTE people!

Juan is supposed to be in the area. I haven’t seen him since July, at Maxwells and then Rand & Lisa’s. He said he might stop by around 9:00 which could mean 10:00. He’s having dinner with his family, who he hasn’t seen since July as well. It will be nice to see him.