Well it’s a Monday and I am off of work today. I was able to arrange it a few weeks ago. Off yesterday for my birthday and today, just in case I had to recover from something. But I didn’t have anything to recover from.

Saturday night came home from the cigar shop and posted. Bill was out and came home sometime after midnight. He said he wanted to come home for my birthday, and he did. Walking through the door with a big bag with a gift wrapped box inside.

I opened the card first and found an iTunes gift card inside. Then I opened the box and found three very nice monogrammed shirts. Really beautiful. Can’t wait to wear the, only wish it was for an office job, and not for the cigar shop.

Still I look forward to wearing them in the cooler weather. They’re all contrasting collar & cuffs and if it gets cooler I won;t have to worry about sweating through them. It was incredibly nice of Bill. We stayed up and talked and watched whatever was on TV.

Around 2:00 I decided to go to bed and walked into the kitchen. I smelled gas and asked Bill if he did too. He said he did. With the explosion out in San Bruno, CA the other day we decided to call PSE&G and let them know about the smell of gas.

They said they would send someone out within an hour. I went to bed and Bill dealt with the PSE&G guy who turned off the gas at 3:00AM.

Woke up and took a shower on Sunday morning not realizing that that was the last of the water in the hot water heater. Bill and I went out for breakfast at Stacks, the pancake house. It was quite crowded with a line of people waiting for tables stretching out into the sidewalk.

We opted to eat at the counter where I met Anthony Cohen who is the owner and Judy who is the hostess. Both know Bill fairly well since he’s taken to eating there when he comes home from his bus driving duties.

It was a great and filling breakfast, better than anything I could have whipped up for myself. A walk to the supermarket for some items with Bill. We sort of had plans to go to the Whitney Museum to see an installation but the weather was dreary and I was still tired and didn’t want to have to head into the city.

Bill was probably a bit disappointed since it was his idea, but when we came home, he was interested in going back to sleep. I stayed awake and watched TV, saw the first half of Up In The Air.

A few hours later, Calvin calls, first wishing me a happy birthday, then asking where the envelope was for the DVD of the Sugar Ray Leonard fights from Friday night. I told him to check the drawers in the back room. Calvin thanked me and since he never called back, I can only guess that he found the disc.

I woke Bill up a little after 4:00PM, getting him up so that we could go to the Hoboken Museum instead. We looked out the window and saw it was drizzling, but when we got to the street it was teeming. We climbed back up the 4 flights of stairs and Bill went into the bedroom to study the lines for a play he is working on.

He’s actually playing Allen Ginsburg. Yes that Allen Ginsburg. And they know that Ginsburg was not a Puerto Rican man of color.

Around 7:00 we headed out to Arthur’s steakhouse, our spot of choice for celebratory dinners. We sat in the front instead of the backroom which I liked since there are no TV sets in the front room.

Came back and watched True Blood and Mad Men. True Blood had some twists and a few cliffhangers, but over all it merely left me whelmed. They will be back for a season four, since the show’s creator, Alan Ball came on and said so at the end of the season finale.

Mad Men was enjoyable and Bill went off to bed shortly thereafter. I stayed up for a while watching TV and thanking everyone who sent me birthday greetings on Facebook.

Woke up and tried to take a shower, forgetting that there was no hot water. It bummed me out and set the tone for the rest of the day.

I really have to thank Bill for everything that he’s done. He’s really good for me and it’s strange to say, but I’d really be lost without him in my life. He really is my rock. He says I do the same for him but I don’t really see it.

He drives me up the freaking wall most of the time when he’s here but when he’s not here, I miss him terribly.

I had some coffee and looked online at the job listings and there is still nothing out there, adding more to my mood. Plus the low key fun I had with Bill yesterday made me miss it and Bill that much more.

I called the landlord and told him about the gas leak and PSE&G. I also left him a message yesterday about it, but he said he didn’t get it. This is the downside to having an absentee landlord.

I texted Julio about taking a shower in his apartment tomorrow morning which got a quick response. He called and asked what happened. I gave him the lowdown and he said that if was slow at work he’d see what he could do.

Julio came by around 7:00 tonight and was going to hook up the pipes so at least I would have hot water since the concept of me showering in his bathroom was too strange for him to contemplate.

He figured out that it was the pilot lights that had gone out and re- it them. There was no explosion, no blackened faces with singed eyebrows. I keep checking every now and then, lighting a cigar and hoping for the best.

When I called this morning, the landlord said he would have his handyman give me a call. The not so handy man called about a half hour ago, nine hours after the landlord told him to call. PSE&G is still scheduled to come by on Wednesday morning, between 8:00AM and 12:00PM.

Bill arranged to take the first half of the day off and I will be here until 10:10 or so. I called the landlord to tell him just that, and that Julio fixed everything once again.

I did watch the second half of Up In The Air and though it’s a good movie, still it’s a bummer. Watching people lose their jobs, it’s not the laugh riot I had hoped for.

I also listened to some the new Arcade Fire CD which Annemarie burned for me and it’s quite good. I recommend it. And I also recommend the Blushing Roulettes and Nick Drake, with once again, special thanks to Anne and her wonderful brownies.