Hoboken | johnozed

A day off for me. And yesterday was a day off for you. You didn’t have to read this blog. Of course you never HAVE to, I mean, it is nice that you do and I’m grateful for it. As far as I know you or someone might have been to this here blog and read SOMETHING yesterday. That’s fine.

Today has been gray and chilly. Not exactly welcoming to go outside. Plus after having to deal with people at work in the world of retail, dealing with people on my day off does not appeal to me.

I think I got the hour that I lost with the daylight savings thing. It was well deserved. Yesterday I worked with Calvin and it was alright. Not much to report on that front. The day did go fast but that was probably because the body was saying that it was 4:00 but looking at the clocks it was now 5:00.

It was an agreeable illusion, but with five days in a row of working at the cigar shack, I was pretty much toast at the end of the day. So today was mainly about recharging my batteries.

And speaking of batteries, last night I decided to listen to some Madonna as I headed from the cigar shack to the bus terminal. I heard maybe 2.5 songs before the iPod crapped out. I originally got the iPod from Bill in 2005 and in 2006 I’m pretty sure I got it replaced since it crapped out then.

I was working for Wolff Olins or McMann & Tate and wound up at the Apple Store on Prince Street. I remember having just purchased Bob Dylan’s Modern Times and soon after that the 2005 iPod crashed. The girl at the Smart Bar in the Apple Store made a remark about Dylan burning out just like my iPod.

I’m pretty sure I wound up getting a new iPod. I’ve had it for a few years now and it has served me well, but now I think it is about to shuffle off its mortal coil. I do have a back up courtesy of Julio & Stine from a few years ago, so it’s not the end of the world, but it only holds so many songs.

I’m going to save my money and get a 160GB iPod to replace the 30GB. I blame it all on Madonna. I mean, I should have known better.

And like I wrote on Facebook, if that is the only thing I have to complain about, then I really don’t have anything to complain about. Not with what is going on in the world today.

The news from Japan keeps getting worse and worse. The nuclear power plants are exploding or melting down. Bad news indeed. Hopefully it will get the US to rethink its policy on nuclear energy.

Kaddafi’s killing the Libyan rebels, Saudi Arabia has sent in troops to Bahrain, Wisconsin and Michigan have been going through labor troubles and I’m complaining about my iPod? Oh boo hoo. Woe is me. And I know the same thing could be applied to my employment situation.

Lots of people are still out of work and at least I still have a job so why complain? It’s true, things could be better managed at the cigar shack and despite some nibbles elsewhere I should be happy with what I got.

‘Easier said than done’ he wrote.

The world continues to spin on its axis, albeit a little more wobbly than it was before the earthquake. I’ve been catching up with Big Love on HBO. A very good show, great acting all around. If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth watching on DVD.

You know who you are.

that's my Bill

I used to nap in style,
An hour was worth my while,
10 minutes at best
Is my current rest,
And 50 minutes are in denial.

That limerick is true. I just made it up, the first line in my mind when I woke up from the aforementioned nap. I thought I’d have an hour long nap but it didn’t turn out to be that way. No worries, 10 minutes was enough but more would have been nice as well. A cat nap is all I needed I suppose.

I didn’t exert myself much at all today. Been lazy but somewhat productive. Errands were run, groceries were bought. I rarely have Saturdays off these days and was surprised that the price of the Daily News is now a dollar. Threw me for a loop. A buck.

At risk of sounding like an old geezer, but I remember buying the Daily News for five cents, the Night Owl edition at the Saddle Brook Diner. I used to eat a lot at that diner. It was and still is across the street from the Saddle Brook VFW, where I spent a lot of time when I was growing up.

It was where my brother Brian and some other children of drunken veterans were accused of stealing tips by the staff. I also saw a car accident where everything seemed to go into slow motion right outside the diner, and I sort of knew one of the people involved in the accident, one of the Peplowski girls from the other side of Lodi.

Three visits to the dry cleaners today. One was to drop off, one was to pick up and another time later on to pick up Bill’s stuff. The owner’s name is Mona and I like her. Mona and her husband run a cheerful shop and they do good work at a good price.

Not much planned for the evening. Had a headache most of the day and aspirin did not do the job. Woke up with it actually. Figured it was a dehydration headache and hydrated myself as soon as I could but the headache persisted, hence the aspirin.

It seems like the ten minute nap did the job and I feel a whole lot better, but a desire to go out is nonexistent. Anyway, I have to work tomorrow.

I noticed this morning when I was out and about, that the 10:30 bus that never shows up when I need to go to work on a Saturday morning showed up when it was supposed to. I cannot help but take this personally.

Is my reputation that terrible that bus drivers will forgo a time table just to avoid me, at the cost of dozens of riders? And does this have anything to bear on my relationship with my own personal bus driver- Bill, who just so happens to be driving to Atlantic City tonight? It’s certainly most unnerving.

And now I am going to make some dinner, using the sauce that Stine made last week. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I won’t be writing unless there is something extraordinary to write about.

That’s about it, smell ya later.