Tag Archives: Cigar Shack

I Shall Be Released

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Back in the shack. It’s Wednesday. Bill woke me up with a kiss goodbye this morning and oh how I was not so receptive to it. I think I muttered ‘leave me alone’ before he left.

We joked about it later, how if something happened I would be interviewed and I would say tearily, “My last words to him were ‘leave me alone’. Then he got hit by a bus on the 42nd floor of his building.”

I woke up to the last notes of the Beatles singing All My Loving which I took to be a good sign. I got out of bed at 7:45 and went to the bathroom before deciding that it was way too early so after I did my business I went back to bed, only to get out of bed about a half hour later.

I got it together enough and headed out the door, enjoying a cigar and waiting for the bus. It was a cool spring morning which was nice. No rain and not too cold. I rode the bus to the terminal, reading the New Yorker from last week, all about the Japan earthquake and tsunami.

I got to the cigar shack building and farted around outside until it was time to go in. I was in and out of the cigar shack a few times today. Marcus and Calvin were out and left the cigar shack to Thomas, the Bradley and myself.

It was once again a day of laughter, though not as laid back as it was last Saturday. At one point as I was going through a revolving door and elderly woman was leaving as I was entering. The guy before her was in a hurry and pushed the door hard causing the door to hit her arm.

She turned and started yelling at me and cursing me. I yelled back to her that it wasn’t me, it was the guy before her, and then I called her an old bag. Yes, an old bag is what I called her. It could have been worse and she probably didn’t hear me.

I was able to enjoy a cigar in the man cave and since I was alone I was able to elevate my leg and read the rest of the New Yorker. Elevating the leg helped stretch it and I was not as uncomfortable as I was before I did that.

Now it’s almost 8:00, with just Thomas and I in the shop. Sales were good so far and that will probably be about it for the day. None of the regulars came in today, in fact one of my favorites, Gil Martinez up and left for San Francisco.

Too bad (but good for him), he was a real nice guy. He got a better job offer and since his wife was from the Bay area, he felt it was time to make that leap, which is braver than anything I would do.

No, I’d rather stay in the tri-state area and call old women stuck in revolving doors, old bags. I wrote all of the above in about 20 minutes. Not bad, eh?

The last hour crawled and once again I had top sales. All in the luck of the draw. Whoever answers the phone or gets the next person walking through the door can make a big sale.

Me? I answered the phone. I did not expect to do $2400.00 in sales, with both Thomas and the Bradley being better salesmen than me. That’s all it is, luck. Shark-like behavior can do the job as well and Thomas is proving himself to be quite an able shark.

I Really Don’t Want To Know

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Today is Tuesday which means yesterday was Monday and tomorrow is Wednesday. And it was another day off for me. The next day off will be Sunday and the following Sunday I will be expected at the cigar shack to work inventory at the unholy hour of 7:00AM. But that’s then and not now so I am trying not to think about that.

Lately I have been getting messages from former customers at the cigar shack, asking me how I’m doing. They’re not coming to the cigar shack anymore, instead going to different cigar shops in Manhattan that have lounges. When I had that slurred meeting with Marcus & Calvin, I mentioned the name of one of the cigar shops, calling them our competition.

Marcus was adamant in saying that such and such a place was not our competition. No of course it wouldn’t be if you consider yourself the tobacco equivalent of Hermes or Louis Vuitton. Of course those are actual stores not a boutique that is shoe horned in between a pricey store to buy boots and belts and an eyeglass shop.

Today was a decent day, I did some laundry, ran some errands. A trip to the bibliothèque was in order, returning DVD’s. Last night I watched Annie Hall. I saw that in the cinema, at the Century Theater with my sister.

We made it a point back then to see Woody Allen movies together, starting with Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall, Interiors and Manhattan. Manhattan we saw at the dollar theaters, possibly in Ridgefield Park or Leonia.

We’d travel for a cheap movie. I remember getting weepy at the end of Manhattan when Mariel Hemingway was telling Woody Allen to remember she was only going away for 6 months.

Annie Hall was great to watch last night and I was glad they included the subtitles, showing what Annie and Alvy were thinking when they were having wine on the terrace of Annie’s overpriced ($400.00!) apartment in midtown. With a terrace.

Harpy called in the last 20 minutes so the Los Angeles scenes were not seen, no Alvy crashing his car in the parking lot, no driving through plutonium and no play based on Annie and Alvy’s relationship. Still it was good to hear from Harpy, he calls so infrequently these days.

Bill came home from his writer’s workshop and he helped me out with my leg which had been causing me some discomfort the past couple of days. He helped me stretch it out somewhat as I lay on the floor, Bill holding my foot as my leg was fully extended and helped pull it back to me. It helped quite a bit, and so did the ibuprofen.

I slept really well last night and woke up early enough this morning to catch the Today show which I turned on before stepping into the shower. I need a shave, haven’t shaved since last week and the hair that is popping up is white. If I don’t do something I run the risk of looking like that idiot John Bolton.

The resumes continue going out and I received a call back an hour or so ago while I was in the supermarket. I completed the call once outside with the sounds of buses and other traffic going by. It seemed to have gone well and a meeting is scheduled on Friday morning.

I should be attending that before heading into the cigar shop that day. I also spoke with Casey Chasm who commented last night, mentioning that his phone was destroyed in training. It was a nice brief chat, Mrs. Chasm is due to deliver another child in May and then Casey is off to Afghanistan. I’m sure he’ll be alright.



New Order – Fine Time