Tag Archives: Bill

I’m a Greedy Man

Ugh. So tired. How many times have I written that as an intro to an entry? Can I get a Bala Cynwyd auditor here? And maybe some choice Cafe Press items to peruse and perhaps purchase? I had a day off yesterday and this retail schedule is wrecking havoc with my body clock.

Today was arduous. Just very slow. I opened the store today, not by myself since they still haven’t trusted me with a key. It was me and Don Birch.

I stood outside for a few minutes knocking on the window trying to get his attention in the humidor. He finally looked up when I decided to call the store.

It was a slow start but in the afternoon the back room was thick with cigar smoke as about 12 guys sat around watching the World Cup. Raymond and Sean made it in for the 11:30 shift.

We make for a good crew. We can obviously handle things on our own. Calvin had off and we guessed that Marcus took the day off to make ready his wedding plans on July 11. No one from the store is invited and everyone is happy not to be invited.

A comment was passed on my music, specifically a track by Tricky, ‘Pumpkin’. It was said it sounded like music from an opium den. I guess that was supposed to be a bad thing.

Before my official lunch, I ate my turkey sandwich and for my official lunch went out and sat in one of my usual benches by the park, had a cigar and read the May 3 edition of the New Yorker.

It’s a very long article about a custody battle, murder and the trial that followed in Queens involving Russian immigrants from an obscure Jewish sect. It’s very involving and engrossing and so far I’ve been reading it for the past 4 days. Or maybe 3 days, my body clock being out of whack.

Back in time to relax amidst the cigar smoke in the back room. After that, the afternoon crawled yet again. In fact the last hour was so slow. Too much watching the clock on the wall.

I did not sleep well at all last night. I did sleep but had an angry dream with me being kidnapped to Orlando, Florida by my parents. My father oddly quiet, my mother passive. My brothers and their wives were there as was my sister and her husband.

None of their kids were there. I yelled at my mother that I wasn’t supposed to be there since I just started a new job and couldn’t afford to be there.

To my dismay the only way to get out of Orlando was to try to get the one called Ann B. Davis to pick me up at the airport and that was like pulling teeth. The one called Ann B. Davis more than likely came up since Connie and I talked about her in the phone conversation we had earlier in the afternoon.

Just saw Chaz for a few minutes. He had a collection of clippings as well as Pride Magazine which has the photo of Bill and myself. It turns out Bill got a copy and scanned it to me this afternoon and now it’s my profile picture as well as Bill’s on Facebook.

In case you’re not in Facebook, here it is. 2 more days of work, then I am off for the weekend.

I’m a Believer

Off today. And so far no rain. It is supposed to rain tonight. Have a few things to do, some running around, so in a little while I will be heading out to get a start on it. Need one or two new shirts for work and maybe a pair of shoes that are good for standing around in for 9 hours.

Last night had some nice dreams, mainly about making new friends. One dream involved me driving around Washington Heights, Harpy territory. Narrow streets in what seemed to be a Mini Cooper. That dream was like a conclusion that happened on the other side of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee.

Another dream took place in an airport where I made friends with a woman sitting next to me at a bar. Then I was on a bus, more than likely driven by Bill and I talked to my Uncle Joseph about the new friend.

The last dream involved me talking to a very big man, almost a giant, who was very sensitive and didn’t have many friends. That last dream seemed to take place in Hoboken on Pier A, and I brought the giant friend into a function at what a cross between the W Hotel and the Saddle Brook VFW.

Yesterday at work, after I was entered into the system I checked my name and in doing so I found my cousin Randall who now lives in Ronkokoma on Long Island. I hadn’t seen Randall in 35 years or so and couldn’t find any reason to get back in touch with him.

His info was last updated in 2002. I much preferred my cousins from my mother’s side of the family to my father’s side. And hopefully I will be seeing some of the good cousins next month at the party. The party which is causing me some anxiety.

I’ve already asked some people for help. Some friends are helping set up, another friend is making salad. Yesterday the song that kept playing in my head was Ringo Starr’s You’re Sixteen. Right now it’s Chicago, Just You & Me. I prefer Ringo of course.

Part of my running around involved going into the city and also the Newport Mall in Jersey City. Instead I’ve only made it to the Burlington Coat Factory where I bought 2 new dress shirts for work, on sale.

Now I have to go to the Post Office and drop off a package to be repaired by Eagle Creek. Zipper broke on my bag and it has a lifetime warranty. It’s being shipped to Inwood which is on Long Island.

I also have to go to Inwood at 2:00 on the 28th to take a class in being a tobacconist. According to Don Birch, it’s mainly things that I know already. In a bad neighborhood. And then it’s back to work after that.

So it’s been a good day. Despite the overcast clouds which have largely disappeared, I enjoyed walking around Hoboken. Back to work tomorrow, next day off is Tuesday.

And then I have the last weekend in June off. Would be nice to go to the beach, but I doubt that will happen, unless you, dear reader shows up on Saturday morning in a car ready to drive down to Sandy Hook.

I’d be willing to help pay for gas. And if not Sandy Hook, Monmouth Beach will do.

Now I am off to pick up Bill’s laundry and dry cleaning which includes some of my shirts. So I guess it’s our dry cleaning and laundry.

Ah, the civil unioned life. Quite civil.