Tim | johnozed

Another day another what? It’s Tuesday and the weather is spectacular. It’s March and it was 72 degrees when I had lunch. It was in the upper 50 degree range when I woke up this morning and it wasn’t easy getting out of bed. Some difficulty falling asleep last night you see.

Bill was up and out as I lay in bed, I have no idea what time that was. I lay sleeping with one hand hovering above the alarm clock, ready to strike when the alarm went off. I did get out of bed eventually and got myself together. Always a hard thing to do especially after having a day off that was as nice as it was yesterday.

I played guitar last night after being inspired by young Tim. The other day I was playing Black & Blue by the Rolling Stones. I don’t think I ever played it all the way through from start to finish, it really is a good record. So I spent some time figuring out how to play Hand of Fate. I think I got it.

I also tried to figure out how to play Outlaw Blues by Bob Dylan which I heard young Tim play yesterday, but by then it was too late, Bill came home and we were watching Game Change, the HBO movie about Sarah Palin and her candidacy with John McCain.

There are moments were she does come off as sympathetic. It certainly is not a hatchet job. Julianne Moore certainly looked like her, as did Ed Harris as McCain and Woody Harrelson was excellent as Steve Schmidt, McCain’s campaign manager. Of course it was all a fiasco and though that team lost, it wasn’t a happy ending since it was the rise of Sarah Palin that lent credence to the tea bagger movement.

I had some hesitation about going to work. Not depression, no apprehension, just a weird feeling overall. The uneventful bus ride thanks to Shirley the grumpy ass bus driver. I did see my second favorite bus driver the other night and he said he will be back on the route in April so I definitely look forward to that.

At the cigar shack it was Zack, Bradley, Jerry Vale and me. A decent team. Yesterday was Zack’s birthday and he’s sliding towards 40. I wished him a happy birthday yesterday via text and today I shook his hand. Apparently I had a few customers looking for me.

One of them, a renowned broadcaster sent his regards, another was calling in from Central NJ and another was in from DC and wanted to see me. I did what I could to fulfill their cigar needs and it was a pleasure to meet the guy from DC, someone I had only communicated with via email. A handsome chap in a very nice suit.

And it was such a nice day that I was able to have my lunch on a bench near the park. A brilliant afternoon was spent smoking a cigar and reading about Johnny Cash by Sylvie Simmons and Barney Hoskyns in the latest Mojo.

The afternoon went by with Bradley feeling a bit unwell. he left at 6:00, Zack left around 7:00 leaving Jerry Vale and myself to run things. It went well, Jerry Vale filling me in with regards to a run in with Thomas last week when I was out. Zack read the blog I wrote for the cigar shack and he really liked it and encouraged me to write some more. I have to admit I was a bit worried that he wouldn’t like it. Thomas read some of it, mainly the second entry and sniffed that some things should be taken out. I left them in and I seemed to have cut the mustard.

Now I am home, Bill fast asleep in bed. I was hoping to talk to him when I got home and I figure I could still do that, only he wouldn’t be paying much attention. C’est la vie.

snoop-dogg-sensual-seduction-instrumental

Well yesterday was a Sunday and it wasn’t so bad. I worked of course. Bill was coming back from Atlantic City so there was no seeing him until last night. Work wasn’t so bad though it was a bit slow. I managed to grab the lion’s share from Thomas who basically ruled the roost the previous 2 days.

Thomas’ fiancée stopped by for a visit towards the end of the day, she’s nice and definitely makes Thomas a better man. I made it home earlier than usual since Thomas was closing. I lucked out with a train pulling into the station once I got to the platform, then a short wait for the bus.

And walking up the stairs, there was Bill waiting for me in the open doorway. He was happy to see me and I was happy to see him. He was watching Hot in Cleveland on his laptop and after the Simpsons/Bob’s Burgers (which I think is really funny) I threw Beginners in the DVD player. Beginners is the movie starring Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor and the movie that won Christopher Plummer the Academy Award.

It was a good movie, just a bit too slow for tired ol’ Bill to stay awake for. I’m glad I did though. It was an interesting film to see Plummer & McGregor interact as father and son as well as watching McGregor & Mélanie Laurent try to figure out where their relationship is headed. Both stories were compelling and show the flaws in relationships as well as the strengths. And the dog was cute.

I didn’t watch anything in particular after that, just surfed the net as the TV droned on and on. I did go to bed eventually and slept quite well, perhaps making up for the hour lost when the clocks moved an hour ahead for daylight savings. And I slept so well that I slept later than I expected to. Still, it was alright since I had nothing planned for today.

Laundry was done the other day so all I had to really do was go to the supermarket. And once again it was fairly empty and once again I had Isis as my cashier. A brief chat while checking out, she was saying how tired she was, probably from the daylight savings thing. I recommended a nap and she planned on it between getting out of work and picking up her son after school.

I came home and cleaned up a bit. It was a gorgeous day so I headed out in the afternoon. I walked down Washington Street where I ran into Rand & Lisa coming back from lunch. Lisa had a surgical pin removed from her toe. Apparently she smashed it up and it was badly broken. Bill saw the toe a few weeks ago and was grossed out. I only saw the pictures of the surgical pin being removed with needle nosed pliers.

We chatted outside of Hoboken Daily News and were joined by Mike Cecchini and his pal Ahmet. They were all walking uptown and I was headed downtown, taking a walk along the river. It was nice by the river and I figured I would see somebody I knew and there was Tim, a teenaged guitarist that played with Lily a few years ago as the Street Corner Mourners.

The Street Corner Mourners (Tim & Lily) played the party that Bill & I had at Maxwells in July 2010. Tim was singing ‘A Friend of the Devil’ and doing a good job. He mentioned he needed a pick since his hand was getting bloody from strumming. I walked over to the Guitar Bar where I saw Mr. Wonderful Jim Mastro and got some picks for myself as well as for Tim.

Tim was making some good money playing there, much better than what I did when I was busking almost every day. He does keep his guitar case open in front of him where I would keep my guitar case to the side due to an embarrassment of sorts. I sat and listened to Tim play and took some snapshots as well as shooting a video.

It was a pretty good day and I am glad I went out and saw some friends. I should really do that more often.