Bill | johnozed

I was off today and it’s been a good day so far. I am heading out soon to have dinner with Bill at Julio & Stine’s. I haven’t been to see them since maybe February and I’m sure it’s been longer since Bill had seen them. Today has been alright. Last night Bill and I finally sat down and talked about a lot of things and cleared the air. Things are as they should be.

I slept fairly well last night and woke up close to my usual wake up time this morning. Just as well since construction began on the apartment below soon after I got out of bed. I told Bill that he did not have to make coffee for me this morning, I could do it myself. So after a shower I had some coffee and headed out into the world. It was a warm enough day but lately you never can tell. I headed out to the supermarket and got a few things.

I did see Isis, my favorite cashier. The reason that I hadn’t seen her was because she had accompanied her son to school (sophomore year) and stayed there all day, all week since he was suspended. That was the only way to get around his suspension so that he could continue going to class. A pain in the ass for Isis and humiliation for her son no doubt. She must have had her son while she was still a teenager since she can’t be much into her thirties if you ask me.

After a hearty breakfast I was out and about. I ran into David Cogswell on the street. Now David Cogswell isn’t someone I know very well. He’s been in Hoboken for quite a while, perhaps even longer than me. He used to be a partner in Rogers and Cogswell, a bookstore in Hoboken back in the day. We have many mutual friends but I am quite sure that the two of us never really had a conversation, just a friendly nodding of the head whenever we would pass each other.

Thanks to being friends on Facebook, and admiring each other’s posts and photographs we now speak to each other, or at least started talking to each other this afternoon. Not much beyond small talk but it was nice to speak. He was just in Jordan on some tourist job and his photos were quite nice. He seemed to enjoy himself. I was off to the local record store to see if the latest Mojo and Uncut magazines were in.

They were. The Beach Boys on the cover of Mojo and Paul McCartney on the cover of Uncut. Both look like interesting reads, then again they usually are, which I why I buy them each month. I walked around Hoboken for a spell, overdressed though, in a leather blazer. I am still not sure if I should wear it when I walk up to Julio and Stine’s. Don’t want to be sweating like a horse when I get there. But the temperature will drop once the sun goes down I’m sure.

Well the sun went down and the temperature barely dropped a degree. I met Bill at the cinemas near where Julio & Stine live and there was a short line for the Avengers movie. We went up to their condo, Alexander as adorable as ever. Stine made a big pan of lasagna which despite two gavons like Bill and myself, there was still plenty left over.

Alexander was busy trying to get my attention or any attention from any adult nearby. Most every toy he had was brought out with much rolling of the eyes from Julio & Stine. 2 bottles of wine, some quality talk between Julio & myself like the two old friends we actually are. Stine and Bill were discussing Bill’s audition tomorrow and in doing so realized that if Bill was going to this audition tomorrow morning, we had better leave.

A walk home after very pleasant farewells, Bill & I passing by Hyman Gross’ old apartment. Hyman passed away a year ago this Sunday, so it was nice to pay some sort of respect. Now we’re home, I’m pleasantly buzzed, Bill’s ready for bed and Bill Maher prattles on. Back to the cigar shack tomorrow.

Rest in Peace Adam Yauch/MCA of the Beastie Boys

11 Sure Shot

Today was a day from purgatory. Not heaven, nor hell, but that place in the middle according to catholic doctrine. Very convenient. The phone and voice mail fiasco continued last night. I was apprehensive to come home last night, rather than deal with Bill and whatever mood he might have been in after his day and mine. And sure enough he was in not much of a mood, very subdued. I was quite subdued too. But he only stayed awake for a few minutes, giving me a perfunctory kiss good night which I reciprocated.

I stayed up some more, watched some TV and eventually went to bed. But I made a point of kissing Bill’s sleeping head before I fell asleep. Had an interesting dream about Julio and I meeting up in an 99 cent shop on Main Street in Lodi. It was a weird dream which featured the old Lodi that I grew up in.

I woke up about an hour earlier than usual, surprised to find Bill gone, surprised there was no farewell kiss. I walked to the bathroom and sent him a text saying that I missed him and would call him when I got to the cigar shack area. No phone call while waiting for the bus, still I texted him, telling him I missed him.

When I got to the cigar shack area, I called him and got a voice mail stating that he would be away from his desk from 9:00 to about 4:15, attending some function that his law firm was having. I suppose this was his way of showing me how I send people to Siberia, and now it was my turn, as if my father never did that to me. I guess 8 years really didn’t count hanging out with Solzhenitsyn.

The man cave at the cigar shack was still shut down, Jerry Vale came in early to allow some guys to crawl through the vents to see if they were open and operating properly. They seemed to be on our end but also needed to check out a neighbor’s vent. So Jerry Vale called the neighbor who flatly refused a 10 minute look see to check on the input and outputs. So the man cave was closed and sales had dropped considerably.

Zack would be tearing his hair out in the office but Zack is bald so there is nothing to pull out. Lawyers are now involved. The cigar shack lawyers, the neighbor’s lawyer and the landlord’s lawyers. It is now officially complicated.

And on another level, I still haven’t heard from the rival cigar shack that I met with. Thanks Freddy Herko. I try to remain hopeful and via a Woody Allen paraphrase, quoting Emily Dickinson, ‘Hope is the thing with feathers’. I am losing feathers. Even Jimmy Seltzer helped with a bolstering of spirits but those reserves are dwindling. Tomorrow is a day off so I am greatly looking forward to it.

It was sweet, both Thomas and Jerry Vale seemed concerned for my well being.