Tag Archives: Cigar Shack

I Feel Love

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Well it’s been a very long day for me and for Jerry Vale as well as Bradley. I just found out that our Jerry works seven days a week bless his heart. He’s been struggling and striving for a long time and still he gets up and does his thing.

I have to take into account what Jimmy Seltzer said to me months ago, that while it’s true I don’t like the job, I still come in and do my job and I do it well. I mean there is no tolerance for a job done half assed so I am glad to have passed the tests.

I woke up in time today and got myself together. I was able to see Bill for a few minutes, he was so tired when he came home and I was heading out the door moments later. Bill is driving once again to Atlantic City tonight so I will more than likely see him tomorrow night. I was running a bit late today, not through anything I did but rather from Lincoln Tunnel traffic.

I was happy to see the Atheist billboard above the tunnel as we rolled in under the river. I made my way up the avenue, getting my egg sandwich and all in all I wasn’t that late, only about 10 minutes. I did not listen to any music on my stroll up the avenue since I couldn’t decide on what I should listen to.

So I went the John Cage route and took in the sounds that happened all around me. My very own 4:33. And here I am hours later unable to remember anything that I heard. And at the cigar shack it was busy busy busy. I hit the ground running and to my surprise sold a $5000 humidor which put me in the lead for sales and my high tide lifted all boats. So it was good for the store as well as Bradley and Jerry Vale (& Thomas) since we all get a piece of that pie.

I was also surprised to find out that I am off on Monday. It’s been so hectic lately that I haven’t a clue 3what day it is until I check my schedule. And that is where Jerry Vale comes in with his seven day schedule. If he’s not working here, then he’s working elsewhere. And once again working with Bradley was a pleasure.

It could be from a talk Jerry Vale had with him, or he could very well be coming into his own. And it could also be from me telling him that he is the assistant manager not me and he does a damn good job at it.

I couldn’t really have a talk with Annemarie today which was a bit of a drag but tomorrow I should be able to. It promises to be a shorter day, getting out at 8:30 after coming in at 9:30. Having written that I realize that it’s not really shorter but I will be getting out earlier and you know that can’t be bad.

It is 11:22 and I just got home after riding the Path train with a crowd of Santa Claus’ and helpers singing the 12 Days of Christmas. It was a fun ride and I chuckled as they sang while I read all about Ahmet Ertegun & Atlantic Records.

No writing tomorrow. Enjoy yourselves and be excellent to each other.




08 Sail Away

I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag

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“It’s been a long day.” That’s what Jerry Vale has to say. And for him it was and still is. He was scheduled to come in before noon but got a call to come in even earlier. So he wound up coming in a little before noon. Can’t fault him for that. It’s been a long day for me as well.

Last night was pretty good, Bill came home and drove me crazy (in a good way) like he always does before turning in around 10:30. I stayed up until abut 12:30 before I went to bed. I awoke once again to Bill kissing me goodbye. He said he would see me tomorrow which meant he was driving a bus again tonight to Atlantic City. I wished him well, told him to be careful before getting out of bed and giving him an extra special hug since I love him so.

I then puttered about taking a shower, making coffee and pouring ceral. Yes it’s quite mundane but it beats being an invisible sculptor which is even more mundane. Soon I was on the street walking to the bus stop. It was a nice morning, quite cool. In stood in the sun and enjoyed a nice cigar. It wasn’t too crowded and not too many Hoboken residents roaming around.

The bus ride was uneventful of course and instead of looking at my smartphone I read The Last Sultan, a biography on Ahmet Ertegun. I am enjoying it much more than I expected to though looking at the index I have to say I was bothered by the fact that there is no mention of Arif Mardin in the book, or at least no mention worthy of a listing in the index.

Perhaps there was bad blood in the end between the two Turks though I doubt it. Still I made a point to walk by the first (or one of the first) offices and studios of Atlantic Records at 23456, that is 234 west 56th Street, right next to Patsy’s.

It’s been a long day nonetheless and even though there is less than half an hour left it feels longer than that. That’s probably because I won’t be getting home until after 11:00. Such is life I gather.I have decided that the best way to go to work is with no expectations. When I seem to have a grip on things (or at least that is what I tell myself) things generally go awry. And if I have a bad attitude then that doesn’t work out either.

So tabula rasa seems to be the ‘proper’ way to go. Hopefully there won’t be any problems getting home since the trains were all screwy due to a police officer shooting a groper at the 125th Street station. That happened this afternoon and caused a lot of headaches for the patrons of the cigar shack. At least that was the excuse for them staying here from 10:00AM until 7:00PM.



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06 Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue