Tag Archives: Hyman Gross

I Am A Tangerine

Another day at the cigar shack and another day without the brain dead Bradley, which means another good day. Thomas and Calvin as well as Marcus have all been on board today and it hasn’t been such a bad day after all.

In fact the day started out slowly and then all of a sudden there was a rush, a line of gents and the occasional woman in a queue to buy some cigars and accessories. It certainly made things go faster for a while which made a difference. It all went splendidly, like a well oiled machine.

The day started out with Bill phoning me, telling me he left his iPhone at home. I couldn’t find it, so he had to call and let it ring so I could locate it. That was done then it was a text asking me to find some cables for his phone. Found those cables and I told him I would bring them to him on my way to work.

I figured I was going to be a little late going in and so I phoned the store and told Calvin that I was going to be a bit late. I didn’t figure that the bus I was riding in on would make a right turn and head to 34th street rather than make a left turn and go directly into the bus terminal.

It was a slight diversion but luckily the bus driver knew what to do and a delay of 5 minutes wasn’t so bad. I made it over to Bill office building where I found Bill standing outside waiting for me. It certainly was good to see Bill if only for a few minutes.

Then I headed to the subway to the cigar shack. I was only about 15 minutes late which was better than I expected. Still I don’t handle being late very well and was a wee bit rattled.

Now it’s me and Thomas manning the ship and it’s so far, so good. Thomas is sticking around tonight to begin to learn about closing. He’s supposed to be watching my every move. It should be interesting.

An hour or so later. And it was relatively interesting. Time flew by and before I knew it, it was time to close the cigar shack for the night. My shadow Thomas looked over my shoulder and occasionally out the window looking at pretty girls walking by.

Still he paid enough attention and did what I told him to do, which was basically count this, count that. Count it again, now write this here, check that box and move that there. It was all easy and I wished I had someone like me showing me how to close the registers properly instead of the haphazard way I was taught.

I did have an interesting chat with Marcus and Calvin earlier today about closing the shop and OCD. Marcus had it happen to him as well, not really sure if he closed the shop at night and going so far as to get in his car and drive back to the cigar shack from home just to make sure the door was locked.

I didn’t go that far and it was good to make sure that it was locked with Thomas around.

I also heard from Hyman Gross who had surgery this morning and according to him it went well. He’s looking forward to my visit on Sunday as well as hearing from Bill tomorrow. Bill is presently driving a bus down to Atlantic City tonight and I expect to hear from my beloved in an hour or so.

The weather is quite nice tonight, like an early summer or late spring evening. Turning Japanese played endlessly in my head throughout the day after hearing it on my Ca Plane Pour Moi iPod playlist today. Is it really about masturbation? 30 years later I still have no idea, but man do I have itchy palms and a hankering for sushi.





I Ain’t Worried

Well I’m in an interesting position. Nothing earth shattering or life changing (or maybe it is, I don’t know). I’m home, a day off. Laundry folded and put away. Groceries bought. Nap was taken. Can’t say it’s been productive for a day off, but I did get some things done.

I saw Hyman Gross in the hospital. Once again asleep when I arrived. He’s scheduled for surgery today and he just called me quite unnerved. I tried to reassure him that he would be alright and told him I would visit him in a few hours.

I keep wanting to go out but don’t know where to go. I love Hoboken but it is only a mile square and I’ve covered a lot of ground, though not recently. Itching to do something but lack the impetus to do so.

Last night Juan came over again. And once again it was good to see him and have him over. Bill was even awake for it last night. Didn’t stay up too long, he went to bed while Juan and I hung out and watched some television, the Colbert Report and a repeat of 30 Rock.

Around 12:30 I started getting tired and had to send him out as I was falling asleep. And I slept really well, longer than I anticipated. I was awoken not by the alarm clock but rather my cellphone two rooms away. I didn’t recognize what it was at first and didn’t rush to get out of bed to find out.

Eventually I did get out of bed and found that I missed a call from Hyman. He knew I had off today and was looking forward to me stopping by. I thought he said something regarding his surgery, which was scheduled for 2:00. I went over around 12:30 and sat with him for an hour.

It didn’t seem like he was scheduled for surgery. We chatted for a while about old movies, and I got him some cologne and the New York Times. Then it was a trip to the supermarket for some groceries and picking up some dry cleaning on the way home.

And that’s about it. I want to go out, but then again I don’t want to go out. I will be going to see Hyman again in a little while I guess, but first I’ll call to make sure he is out of surgery. And if so, he might be drugged up again and therefore unconscious. Visiting hours are until 8:00 and it’s now 6:30. I guess I will give him a call about 7:00.

I’ve been asked to do something with regards to my writing. I am asking you, the reader- to perhaps let me know, which of the previous entries struck a chord or made you laugh or cry or punch a wall in either disgust or sheer bliss.

I hope I’m not asking too much, but you are reading this and I reckon that you might have read somethings before. You can leave a comment here in this entry about what’s what. I’d appreciate it.

I just called Hyman. He didn’t have the surgery since he wouldn’t sign the paperwork since they wouldn’t give him a straight answer. 83 years old and still pretty sharp with regards to legal matters. I keep trying to get Hyman to write his life story, from what I gather he has led an interesting life.

So there is no need to go to the hospital tonight. I guess I will stop by on Sunday, my next day off, on the way to going to the Hoboken Art & Music festival.





I’m going to sit on the front steps, have a cigar and read the New Yorker until it gets dark. And I did just that and then it started getting dark.

It was nice to just sit there and read last week’s New Yorker, an article about 2 of my favorite subjects, Time and the Brain. In this case it was how the brain perceives time. My type of article.