Tag Archives: The History Boys

This Charming Man

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Well there was a howling wind last night. Bill made it home to Hoboken as Robert the oh so handyman was disconnecting the hot water heater. I helped Robert move the heater with the broken tank out into the hallway. Robert reassured me that it wasn’t anything I had done, the heater was about 12 years old and they really don’t last much past their five year warranty. I was reassured as Robert headed down the stairs and off into the storm. He was gone for a while and I thought I’d be calling up Julio and Stine to ask if I could use their shower in the morning. No need to ask for Bill since he showers at his gym.

Bill asked if I was hungry and I said I was a little bit, which prompted him to call and order a Grimaldi’s pizza. I was in the mood for it and obviously so was Bill. I sat writing last night’s blog while 3:10 To Yuma was finishing up. Pretty good movie, a bit slow in parts but overall enjoyable. I prefer to watch Russell Crowe to Christian Bale, though Ben Foster stole the movie from both of them as Charlie Prince. Ben Foster played Claire’s on again off again boyfriend/art partner from Six Feet Under, he was intense there and even more so in 3:10 To Yuma.

About an hour later the bell rang and I mentioned to Bill, ‘oh it must be the hot water heater.’ Bill explained it was the pizza and I explained that I was joking. Bill headed down the stairs and shouted up that the hot water heater was on it’s way up. I knew I should have said, ‘oh it must be that million dollars I hoped for’. Up the stairs came Robert with Peter the landlord, huffing and puffing after climbing four flights of stairs. They maneuvered the new heater into the kitchen and after scanning the room with his eyes, Peter made a hasty exit. I suppose it will be another two years until I see Peter again. He’s an absentee landlord if that’s possible in Hoboken. He also insisted that I call Robert next time should I need any work done in the apartment. He doesn’t want to be bothered.

Bill and I sat and watched The History Boys, not the first time for me and sort of the first time for Bill since he was so exhausted the other night. Who knows what Robert thought as he welded the copper pipes into place and made sure the brand spanking new heater was set up properly. I offered Robert some pizza and some water but he turned me down. He left a little while after that and I was relieved since Bill and I inhaled the pizza and if Robert changed his mind about a slice, he would have been out of luck. Bill enjoyed The History Boys though not like me. I mentioned that it was a smart film and then thought that Bill might be put off by that remark, thinking that the movies he likes aren’t so smart. Perhaps I think too much.

The dvd ended on time, so that we watched the news and Saturday Night Live which was funny. Amy Adam hosted and Vampire Weekend were the musical guests. I have the Vampire Weekend cd and it’s ok, a bit twee if you ask me though live it sounded a whole lot better. Bill went to sleep midway through and I stayed up reading the rest of Hotel California, which I am almost finished with. I went to bed happy to have hot water once again. It was rough to be without for those hours, he wrote tongue firmly in cheek.

Woke up and moved the hands on the clock an hour ahead for daylight savings. Lost an hour of sleep but I didn’t really have it to begin with. Ran into Mike Korman with his son Harrison as I did my morning rounds. Good kid it seemed though Mike told me he and his wife, my old friend Clara have no idea how to handle this three year old boy since he doesn’t listen to either one of them and does whatever he wants. Too much information for me with one cup of coffee in my system. I parted ways with them after wishing them a good day.

Bill had headed off to church and I had a nice quiet breakfast. Headed into the city for a quick trip to Farfetched, saw Harpy and gave him Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up which I read a few weeks ago. Very good and I thought Harpy would enjoy it. After picking up some cards and a pair of spider shaped cuff links I walked up to 33rd street where I got a seat on the Path train and read the rest of last weeks New Yorker.

Singing In The Rain

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Well it’s been an interesting day to say the least. Woke up with a headache, feeling dehydrated, drank some water, went back to sleep, but the headache wouldn’t go away so I got out of bed and had 2 gel caps. Showered and went out for the bagel and newspaper routine. Called Julio and Stine to see if they wanted anything and Julio requested bagels. Picked those up and did some grocery shopping. It rained quite a bit last night and today promised more rain, but I was relatively lucky and rain free at that moment.

Came home, had breakfast, decided to get a haircut. Mr. L’s on the corner of my block seemed empty when I walked by so I walked in. Unfortunately there were a bunch of guys waiting before me sitting below the window pane. I decided to run some errands instead of waiting and hope for the best later in the afternoon. I did go to the library and picked up the dvd of The History Boys. Bill hadn’t seen the whole thing and getting the dvd was a pretty good idea I thought. Also ran up to the produce store on Washington Street and bought a head of lettuce.

Back at the apartment I chilled out and started to do the laundry. First load was colors as usual. Seemed to go well. I surfed the net as the white started to do their thing. Midway through, I hear a clunk clunk. I don’t pay too much attention since it stopped and I thought it was the construction next door in the rain. Then I started to hear water spilling on the floor and thought the sink might be backed up. It happens. I get up and step into a puddle. There is water pouring out of the top of the hot water heater. Puddles throughout the kitchen heading into the bathroom. I recycled all the newspapers the other day so I scrambled to find something else to sop up the water with.

Found a bunch of rags and set about on my hands and knees mopping up the water after I figured out how to turn off the water. Then I called Peter the landlord who said he’d call someone. I called Julio for some advice but he was in West new York and couldn’t really help. Didn’t matter since the water was turned off anyway. I mopped for about an hour, wringing out rags and dumping the water in the toilet. Then with that done I sat and waited for the guy to show up and do something about the hot water heater. Three hours later I decided to get a haircut since I never heard from this guy. The barber shop was empty when I walked in and I was out of there in about thirty minutes, looking less shaggy but still bangin’.

Called landlord Peter again who explained that the guy named Robert was in the city and would be back soon enough. Robert called about an hour later said he’d be here in about thirty minutes. An hour later Robert appears. Robert is the building handyman, and last I saw him he was painting the fire escape last July at 10:00 at night in the dark. He came over and drained the rest of the water from the heater and he and I moved it into the hallway. He left after that, leaving his tools behind, saying that Bill and I will be getting a new hot water heater tonight.

That was about ninety minutes ago. So Bill and I here now, outside a storm rages from the southwest. No hot water, but we have The History Boys.