Tag Archives: Cigar Shack

I Am the Rain

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A day off and lacking in something to write. It’s happened before and it’s happening again. Bill is driving down to Atlantic City, my poor baby is a bit under the weather but he feels OK enough to do it. No word on whether or not her is driving tomorrow, as of now he hasn’t heard anything, so maybe he will be able to get some rest.

The cigar shack has been interesting as of late. Yesterday Marcus told the brain dead Bradley that he has resigned from the cigar shack, taking another job at a different cigar hut somewhere in midtown. I was taken aback by his announcement and said ‘What? What?’

Calvin knew about it, he is moving into Marcus’ position. That will put me in the number 2 position since I am the longest serving employee. The brain dead Bradley and I were standing in the doorway when the announcement was made, Calvin facing us and Marcus in between.

According to Calvin, the brain dead Bradley turned beet red when Marcus said what he said. I was flummoxed myself but wished Marcus the best and congratulated Calvin on his promotion. Calvin noted that the brain dead Bradley congratulated Marcus and said nothing about Calvin.

Calvin and I closed the shop last night and had a chat about the brain dead Bradley. I wondered how long it will be before the brain dead Bradley attempts to follow Marcus to the cigar hut. Calvin doesn’t seem to care since Calvin doesn’t seem to care for the brain dead Bradley.

He feels the brain dead Bradley lacks social skills and therefore doesn’t do too well in sales. He’s a good organizer which is something that could be said in his favor. Calvin also mentioned that Marcus had a problem with my being snippy sometimes to customers.

Calvin feels that my snippiness is usually justified and that most of the customers realize that they have to be careful with what they say to me since I usually return the volley. If you can dish it out, you have to be able to take it, at least that’s what Calvin thinks.

So according to Calvin I will be his underboss. It’s not an official position and there probably won’t be any increase in pay. But I assured Calvin of my loyalty, which is something I that I think is quite valuable. I did find out that I have 2 weeks’ vacation, starting in June and plan to take one of those weeks in July when Annemarie is in town with possibly, hopefully Earl.

I was also asked to work a double shift this upcoming Wednesday and being a team player I agreed to do it. 9:30 to 9:30 which really promises to be a long day. It promises to be a bona fide long day, not the usual 10 hour shift that only feels like a long day.

So with any luck, the brain dead Bradley will need to find a new outlet to plug his respirator in soon enough. I look forward to when I will see the back of his soft skull getting smaller and smaller as he walks away he will be out of sight and out of mind.

I’ll be back at the cigar shack tomorrow, then off again on Sunday. It’s a crazy schedule but that’s how it goes I suppose. I did have an enjoyable day today, ran into Mike Cecchini this afternoon and we made tentative plans to meet up. I’d love to play guitar with him so that might be going on somewhere down the line.

I also saw some Christianists proclaiming the end of the world on the street today, dragging their children along with them to a religious misanthropic rally. Fascinating people in a perverse way as they hope their predictions are true and that billions will die while they are sucked into the sky into the bosom of their Iron Age sky god.

They and only they have the inside scoop. I guess they are having rallies to recruit people to their cause, but man will those t-shirts look terribly silly on May 22.

But I guess you can’t have enough rags.










I Am the Law

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Well here I am again, standing behind the counter at the cigar shack. Thomas is pounding out a rhythm, totally flat and off beat, his titanium ring hitting the wood of the counter and making quite a noise. No charm in that.

It’s been a better day than yesterday, time is flying by- not like the other day when it really zoomed but faster than yesterday. I finally finished the Keith Richards autobiography and I enjoyed it very much.

He explained how he fell off the ladder in his library as well as falling out of a tree in Fiji. He says he did not snort his father’s ashes and I believe him. That story came after his brain surgery and the doctor told him, ‘No more bumps’ which means no more cocaine.

And the story went that Keef mixed up his father’s ashes with some blow. His relationship with Mick is like 2 brothers, bitchy and forever intertwined. I can relate to that somehow.

Now perhaps I can get back to the New Yorker where I am reading about Jane Fonda and I have not even cracked open Mojo or Uncut yet. I’ve been carrying it around in my bag since I bought it a few weeks ago.

Listening to Bob Dylan’s Love & Theft in the store right now. It could be my favorite Dylan album. Bob is going to be 70 in a few weeks. I saw him in the 1990’s but did not stay for the whole show.

At the time I was more interested in seeing Patti Smith who just came out of exile after Fred Smith passed away. Bob was nice enough to offer her the opening slot on the tour and she wisely took it.

I went with my Weehawken roommate William. It was odd being in the lobby of the Beacon Theater and seeing familiar faces of people that I had assumed that had died a while ago. The look of shock on my face was more than likely noticeable.

Patti Smith was enjoyable and since I was not so much into Dylan at the time, we left midway through his set. I didn’t get it and I think he was doing Alabama Getaway when William and I made a hasty exit. Not into the Grateful Dead at all you see.

Right now I am downloading the Roches self-titled debut album. I’ve always liked them and was fortunate to see them twice, once at Town Hall as the Roches and once at the Bottom Line as the Caroling Carolers.

When I worked at Farfetched I would play Keep on Doing, the Roches third album often and almost every time I would play it, someone would ask if they were hearing the Roches and when I would answer affirmatively they would almost always go on about how much they loved them.

I also have to confess that I had a crush on Margaret A. Roche for the longest time, nothing sexual just a sheer admiration since she wrote some of their most beautiful songs. I have their debut on vinyl somewhere but I felt I needed to have The Hammond Song on mp3 and on my iPod.

And of course the Roches tie into the Wainwright family thanks to Loudon’s wandering eye. I expect to be playing it at the cigar shack tomorrow. That should raise a few eyebrows. Hey, if you’re in the neighborhood, stop on by and say hello. Just don’t be a douche.

Now I am home and quite happy to be here. Bill is awake, first time in days that he’s been awake when I walked through the door. It’s nice to see him in a vertical position.