Tag Archives: Julio + Stine = Alexander

Young Gifted and Black

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No, the title isn’t about me just a song that has been playing in my head for the past few hours. The Bob and Marcia reggae version, not the Nina Simone version which is still good but heavy enough to make Nina cry when she sang it. Bob and Marcia’s version is very much a fun song, upbeat and optimistic.

It’s a late posting tonight since I just got back from Thanksgiving dinner with Bill and his mother and various cousins and friends. A lovely time indeed.

Last night was mellow yet again. Bill was here in the apartment for about thirty minutes, mainly to pick up some fresh clothes and for an extended bear hug, which I was glad to both give and receive.

Can’t really hug that long on the street when I see Bill after work since you never know who will bash your head in with a brick if you’re seen showing affection to the one you love and the one you love happens to be of the same sex. So we have to hug indoors in the safety of our apartment.

It was all too fleeting, Bill’s visit. We did finalize the itinerary for this morning though. Bill handed me a round trip Metro North ticket and we made plans to meet at Grand Central Station.

I woke up this morning and went out for the papers and some bagels. Had to go to Dunkin Donuts since the Hoboken Bagel store was closed on one of the few days they actually close. I think Christmas is the other day. I’ll find out on December 25 in any event.

Saw Julio and Stine and Kal-El this morning. They were going to Julio’s sister who just gave birth to twins last month. One came home a few weeks ago, the other last weekend. They were premature you see.

I came upstairs, made some breakfast and soon I was suited and out the door headed to Manhattan. Not many people on the bus, which was nice.

I expected some problems crossing Broadway due to the parade and my expectations were on the money. I couldn’t even cross Seventh Avenue. Just people milling about looking at floats and balloons from a distance.

No cops to ask where to cross so I try walking down to the subway hoping I can cross underground. Nope, the gates were closed for entry. I found another subway entrance and was able to get through but the exit I had hoped for on the other side of Broadway was inaccessible.

Luckily there was a cross town shuttle about to leave the station and I squeezed in. Five minutes later I was at Grand Central. I had some time to kill before Bill and his mother arrived so I bought a dozen roses for Bill’s cousin Hiram’s wife, Chris.

Met up with Bill and his mother and soon we were on the railway to Beacon NY, about two hours away.

Hiram picked us up at the station and soon we were mingling with cousins and friends. Chris made a lot of food and we all ate like gavones, at least Bill and I did. Pictures were taken but I can’t figure out how to post them on a Mac so later on down the line you can see them.

You can see Bill’s pictures taken on his Facebook page.
Cut n’ paste time http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?cropsuccess&id=1037999596#/profile.php?id=1062659430

I’m wearing Bill’s hat, which since it fits me better than him, is mine now. He said so.

Tomorrow afternoon Bill and I are going to see Milk and we’re both pretty psyched about it.

We hope you had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

I See Red

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Jesus Christ what a crazy day this has been. First off, since May 2007 I have been receiving harassing calls from an Asian woman who claims I have lied to her and betrayed her.

She usually fills my voice mailbox with messages preventing any legitimate messages from being recording. All the messages are in another language and they starting out in broken English- whispering weeping and usually increase in volume winding up with her screaming and sobbing.

Usually I’ve just erased them. The phone service we use claim they couldn’t help me unless I changed my number (which can’t be done since my number is the main number) or go to the police.

I figured the NYPD has better things to do, but I found out later this afternoon that if I get a police report from the NYPD I can submit that to the phone service who will send it to Verizon (who control most of the land lines in Manhattan) and they could block these calls. No one told me that earlier.

In the meantime, I asked that my phone be forwarded to the fax machine until Monday. I tried it myself but couldn’t so I schedule it to be done at 2PM this afternoon after I had left for the holiday weekend.

At 3PM I checked and expected to hear a fax machine, instead I heard my own voicemail. The psycho didn’t call. Other methods I have used in the past to discourage this woman calling was to digitally record her messages, load them into my iTunes and then play them back as an outgoing messages.

Some Asian woman screaming and crying about how she’s not a celebrity and everyone stares at her when she goes shopping. I can honestly say I don’t know anything about what the hell she is ranting about.

I should also add that I did meet her last year. She showed up in my office, asking to see John Ozed. The receptionist tells me and I go out and introduce myself and she says I am not John Ozed, that someone as put me up to being John Ozed.

Apparently somehow she got my name and work address and has called me almost every day since then. I know it’s odd but that is how it happened.

I live such an interesting life.

Then Bill asks me to pick up some shoes from the shoemaker and some dry cleaning. I go to the shoemaker and hand in the ticket to some Hoboken born and raised inbred. Old geezer paisan. He can’t find it.

Younger Latino worker asks when the shoes were dropped off, I tell him I’m doing someone a favor, and to look at the ticket. Turns out Bill dropped off the shoes October 30. Today is November 26.

They look and look. They ask me what size shoe, what type of shoe and the shoe’s color. I call Bill, he says size 12, penny loafer and they’re black. They can’t read the ticket. I suggest sending it to a pharmacist so they could read it. They didn’t get the joke.

Geezer paisan says some remark about me going to a pharmacist. I ignore him. 20 minutes they find the shoes and start putting on the toe and heel savers. Almost a month to do the job and here they are putting the savers on.

The kid behind the counter takes some money off the bill and wishes me a Happy Thanksgiving but I just take the shoes and I leave.

I call Bill, telling him that I couldn’t believe it took them almost a month to do the job. The Geezer is outside and hears me and says, ‘Yeah so what? It took a month.’ I tell him to mind his own business. He doesn’t like the sound of that, and warns me to watch it.

I tell him to shut the fuck up. He again warns me and I tell him to drop dead.

I get the dry cleaning and come home and feel bad about the kid who wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. I call the store and ask for the Latino kid behind the counter. It turns out he answered the phone.

He asks who’s calling and I tell him I was in the store and they couldn’t find the shoes at first, and anyway ‘you wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and I ignored you and that was wrong’.

I wish him a Happy Thanksgiving and tell him that I like the work that they do there, but if the geezer is there next time I won’t be coming in. He says he understands and says, Happy Thanksgiving my friend.

I just saw Rand and Lisa outside and then Julio and Stine with Alexander. Rand and Lisa headed home and I went upstairs with the family unit. Had a few glasses of wine, told them the story I just wrote and watched Alexander teethe.

Alexander restored my faith in humanity so all is well. A few glasses of wine helped also.

Tomorrow, the trip to Beacon NY with Bill and his mother via MetroNorth to have Thanksgiving dinner with Bill’s cousin and his family.

This was written once again on Bill’s Mac since my computer is at Rand’s with a new hard drive I bought this afternoon being repaired and installed.