Well here I am again after a long day at work. It wasn’t so bad though. I did great, connected with quite a few new customers and I was really very funny. I got a lot of laughs. It started out OK as well. I was up before Bill, got myself together with a shower and some coffee and cereal. Bill was up and quite active, he doesn’t need coffee whereas I need a daily infusion.

It’s a balance and we manage quite nicely. Bill was out of the apartment a few minutes before me, a long day for him stage managing. I was out a little while later, waiting for my bus. Using latitude I could see Bill caught an earlier bus and was on 14th Street while I waited at 5th & Washington Street.

Eventually my bus arrived and I settled into a seat. A few stops away about 20 girls from Stevens Tech got on board, the first trip into Manhattan for a few of them. They chatted nervously as the bus rolled along, becoming standing room only before it usually does. And of course with all the nervous young women from Stevens Tech it took a while for them to get off the bus and then stand around waiting for their chaperone to take a proper head count.

They went one way and of course I went another. I walked up the avenue, stopping to get my egg sandwich before heading to the cigar shack. The shack wasn’t too busy, Frank Burns behind the counter. I settled into a quiet spot to eat my egg sandwich before signing in when I saw Frank Burns inundated with customers.

I stepped in and relieved some of the pressure before signing in, yet getting credit for the sales. Pressure off, I went back to the sandwich, then I finally punched in. Jerry Vale made it in a half hour later and the day started accordingly. A new set of drawers came in which needed to replace the old set. Zack told me about it the night before and I set about emptying the old drawers and moving it out.

Then I did the bank run and came back to see that Frank Burns and Jerry Vale moved the new drawers into the man cave. The old drawers were still usable so we kept it to the side instead of throwing it out. I was playing music in the shack with my iPod and a song came on, making Jerry Vale to think it was Delaney and Bonnie.

It wasn’t. It was Joe Tex. That prompted Jerry Vale and I to have a discussion about Delaney and Bonnie. Jerry Vale said that Bonnie was dead. I said she wasn’t. He insisted. I looked it up and saw I was right. I then told Jerry Vale that Bonnie Bramlett was alive, Delaney Bramlett- not so much. Jerry Vale insisted that Bonnie had died a few months ago and that the Wikipedia entry was not updated (as if).

He seemed annoyed and I went to lunch. I had a nice chat with Annemarie for a few minutes as I sat on a bench near the park. Then I read the New Yorker and smoked a cigar. Soon my lunch hour was over but I decided to stop by some girls selling home baked goods by the park for their high school. I bought four blondies and headed back.

Frank Burns was dealing with a hip woman and I asked the woman if the coat she was wearing was a Vivienne Westwood. She said no, she bought it at a Salvation Army. We had a nice chat about clothes and rock and roll and things like that as Frank Burns tried to ring up the sale. The woman was buying cigars and Frank Burns had clipped them before completing the sale.

Well it turned out the woman’s card did not go through and that made Frank Burns very angry. And he also left two cigars unable to be sold again since he had clipped them. I spent the rest of the time with Frank Burns avoiding him since his mood was more poisonous than usual. He finally left, leaving me and Jerry Vale to have a good time and a few laughs about Bonnie Bramlett.

It was a good day and once again I led in sales which was nice. October is turning out to be a much better month than I expected and to watch Frank Burns have his pissy little melt down made it all that much better.









The Rutles – Cheese and Onions