Friday July 15 2011

DREAM: Exploring a candy store that’s built into a hotel (what’s understood to be The Cavalier). Holding my blue baby pillow. A walkie talkie device is attached underneath the end sleeve. I hold down the button to speak. I’m connected to a man at the front desk. I start praising the fact that there’s a candy store here that sells old-fashioned candy rather than the cheap modern kind. He says thank you.

Awakening from a deep slumber. It’s 11:08 a.m.

Breakfast: Bagel with Butter and Blackberry Jam. Orange Juice. Zinc.

All day shift at China Wok…

Oh man. It’s non-stop today—as soon as I’m done with one order, another is ready and waiting for me.

Delivering an order off Shipps Corner. There’s a big hand written “Welcome Home” sign near the door…[see above photo]

I’m sure that lady is uber happy to have her man back.

Delivering an order off Norfolk Avenue in Land’s End. I open the door to the front porch. An older lady is baking in the hot sun, her skin glistening wet with perspiration. There’s a horrid stench that resembles a dirty bathroom where the urine smells like it’s been stagnating. I can’t figure out where it’s coming from. She seems to not mind at all as if she’s immune to it.

As I’m walking out she says, “You have a safe day now. Watch our for the kooks around here!” [her eyebrows raise in caution]

Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwich with Tomato. Salt n Vinegar Chips. Honey Green Tea.

Getting extremely frustrated with the traffic right now. It’s never been this bad. Finding out the hard way that the cops have First Colonial Road blocked off from Wolfsnare to Old Donation—they’re not letting anybody through—and apparently there’s a hostage situation in the Colonial Arms apartment complex, which I deliver to quite often. This forces cars to detour down Wolfsnare and turn on Great Neck. It’s bumper-to-bumper as we inch along foot by foot. It’s the most obnoxious and disgusting train wreck I’ve ever seen this side of town. Three orders take an hour and a half to deliver. I’m guaranteed to have at least one unsatisfied customer……and I do……

In Oakshire—he’s a regular but complains about the order taking over an hour, which it did. I apologize and try to explain the hostage roadblock. The order is $10.17. He hands me a $20 and wants exact change back, which is insulting to anybody who works for tips. I tell him I have no coin change and offer him $9. Then, as a solution, he demands I give him $10.

Me: “Absolutely not! I work for tips. I’m not gonna lose money for you.”

Him: “Well then you should get a new job.”

Me: “Look man, I did my best to get here quickly. I was in mad traffic. I don’t have change.”

He suggests that if I don’t give him exact change or $10 then he doesn’t want the food. This is so ridiculous. The guy orders all the time and he usually tips me a buck or two. And now he’s upset because of the wait, which I would be too. So I understand. I mean, the service was unsatisfactory in his eyes….

Me: “Okay, I guess you’re going to be an asshole about it. Let me see if I have some change.”

I pull out three quarters and a nickel. Surely he won’t have a fit over the missing three pennies. He doesn’t. But harsh words are exchanged. I try to conclude with an apology and reiterate that, “I do my best!”

XXX Vitamin Water.

Waiting at the intersection of Old Donation and First Colonial. The cops still have the road blocked. A guy in a big white truck takes a right and yells out to them, “Just shoot’em already!”

Even though Margot and I are on a break I felt the need to text her, “just fyi…i’ve been thinking about you and i love you.”

She’s a little unnerved about my interaction with Gillian last night after reading yesterday’s entry. “just fyi…you have some explaining to do.”

She rides around with me for the dinner rush…and I do the explaining.

Turns out the hostage situation wasn’t that at all, but a guy barricading himself and making threats of suicide…according to a police officer that Amanda talked to.

Dinner: Vegetable Lo Mein.

Back home—enjoying a cold Dunkelweizen beer.

Business.

The queen’s expressing to me her desire to make sweet lovin’ later. So much for this break. She comes over. But before any sensual exchange is made, we duke it out in conversation over putting “effort into the relationship”. Sometimes she feels too much, gets offended, and just wants to leave. And sometimes she says things that make me believe she’s more self-aware than I really think, like, “I haven’t been in any other relationship…I don’t know what it’s like being disconnected from you, Robert.” She keeps saying she doesn’t think people should have to work so hard in a relationship. It’s a good point because there’s only so much contrast and clashing of personalities a relationship can take. But I believe a long-lasting relationship takes work. Despite the heavy talk, it transitions into the light and fun interaction I’ve come to enjoy over the years.

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What a wonderful feeling this is…sitting comfortably underneath such impressing beauty…while she rides and moves and grooves to our intimate rhythm……and it’s all mine. Why would I want to lose this? Just relish it, Robert. Take a good look. Capture an imprint in your mind just in case. Cause everybody fears loss but we know how powerful memories can be.

Sleep 4:20 a.m.