Hello. I was thinking about going to a concert last night in Hoboken. J Mascis was playing, I bought his CD earlier in the week. It’s really good, a lot of loud/cool guitar. Here’s the thing, he was playing an acoustic show! That’s all well and good but after the gray day yesterday, I wanted to rock! So, I didn’t go. Instead, I went home, listened to his CD and cried myself to sleep, ha ha. At the end of the day yesterday I called my machine to check my messages. I was so excited because the voice that usually says, “You have no new messages” instead said, “You have one new message” This is going to be good, I said, I listened and it was a message I left to myself earlier in the day! Damn! Is this my life, I’m calling myself, leaving messages and forgetting about it?! There was one saving grace, by the time I got home, my friend, Sandi, left me a message. Thanks, Sandi! I don’t really have a lot to talk about, it being the end of the week and all. So, I’m going to do something new. I call this:

Bob vs. A 120w Light Bulb

Let’s meet the challengers:

I missed a concert to get into a fight with a light bulb. OK, that’s it. Have a great day. God Bless America.

Hello hump day! Last night as I was standing on the subway platform, It felt like everyone was looking at me. I’m not sure what you’d call that — Delusions of grandeur, paranoia, the thoughts of an idiot? Whatever it was, it wasn’t a good feeling. I guess I should cut back on the nose candy. I’M JUST KIDDING! I don’t need to cut back, Ha ha ha ha! JOKES, JUST JOKES!!!!! “Booooooooooo!”

Right after September 11th, I was feeling a lot of things, anger, fear and extreme patriotism. Patriotism led me to ordering an American flag, online, back in September. I remember placing my order around 2 am, that’s how bad I had to have it. I placed the order and knew that I’d have to wait because I’m sure I wasn’t the only person ordering flags at that time. Friday, I checked my messages and they called to tell me my credit card expired and I’d need to give them a new number before they could fill my order. That was the first time I heard from them in six months! I thought they went under or something. If I was ordering food from these people, I’d be dead by now! I’m still as patriotic as ever and when I need an old glory fix, I look at a photo my friend Pam sent to me: They’re going to keep me hanging for six months and then have the nerve to call me about my expired credit card! I don’t think so. I didn’t do much last night, listened to some music, talked on the phone and watched some TV. It’s raining in NY/NJ today. I was standing at the bus stop and the rain was just pouring over me, it was very depressing. I rode the bus two days in a row with my friend Cara. That helped the ride today, she kept my mind off how miserable it is outside. Also on the bus this morning, we were stuck just outside the station for about ten minutes because of traffic. And out of nowhere, someone pushed the button that lets the driver know you want off at this stop. It was very funny, perfectly timed. My hat goes off to that person. OK, that’s it! Have a good day. God Bless America.

I had so much to talk about yesterday I forgot a somewhat good story. I was watching Walter play blackjack and this guy walked up to the table, put $500 down and said, “Black chips please.” (Black chips are $100 each) I said to myself, damn, I’m going to see some serious blackjack now! In minutes, he was done. Lost it all. He was making some stupid moves too. He would have done better if he would have bought $500 scratch off tickets! Man, what a gloomy day yesterday! A day without sunshine is like a day without a hug. Everybody, “Awwwwwwww.” I stopped off at the old record store last night. I had some old CDs to trade in, I got $16. I picked up used CDs by Phantom Planet and J. Mascis. The price? $15.98 — How sweet is that?! I got two CDs and two cents back! I walked home and had kind of a surreal moment — some guy was on his fire escape playing the bagpipes. I think I talked about hearing him play before but last night I saw him. It felt like I was walking in a dream. I was tempted to yell, “Shut the F*** up!” but the truth is, I like it. It’s a calming sound to me. Hey, this Phantom Planet CD is really good! I love nothing more than a good CD purchase. I just received an e-mail from my friend,Mindy. In Yesterday’s diary, I wrote about Jasper White’s Summer Shack Restaurant. I believe I said something like, “I don’t know who Jasper White is but he was moving lobsters like they were going out of style!”

Mindy wrote,
“Jasper White is a rather well known fella in the food world. He is most well known for his book about Chowders and is a frequent guest on “Cooking Live With Sara Moulton” on Food TV.”

Thanks, Mindy, I couldn’t live another day knowing that I slighted Jasper White. Seriously, he needs to look into his surf and turf because it ain’t that great. I think that’s all I have for today. One-second, let me check — Yep, that’s it! Have a great day. God Bless America.

I started off last Friday’s diary by saying what a great weekend I have planned, then I said this, “OK, I don’t have anything planned but I feel like something great will happen, ever get that feeling?” Friday night, I didn’t do anything. Saturday, overcast day, looks like it could rain any second, I’m in Nutley doing my laundry, as usual. I start making calls on my cell to kill sometime between loads. I called up Walter and he was home. After talking about our evening plans, we both didn’t have any, Walter threw out an intriguing idea, Mohegan Sun. Mohegan Sun is a casino about two hours north of New York City. I told Walter I had to think about it and I’d call him when I got home. Two hours later we were on our way! We got up there and I was impressed, it’s very nice. A lot of games and floor space, not to mention stores, great restaurants and a hotel opening up in April, lol — I should do PR for this joint! Walter headed for the blackjack tables and I followed. I wasn’t ready to play because my funds were limited and because I wanted to get the feel of the room. After a few hours we left the floor to find food. We had our hearts set on the Michael Jordan Steak House but we couldn’t get a table until 11. If we can’t have the best beef, we might as well find the best lobster. There was a place there called Jasper White’s Summer Shack. Here’s a matchbook I took:

FRIDAY!!!!! I’ve got a sick weekend planned, sick! (Sick = Great) Ok, I don’t have anything planned but I feel like something great will happen, ever get that feeling? I’ve been talking about my car all week, specifically my front brakes. My whole life I’ve been taking my car to a brake shop or to the dealer. Everytime, I hear this, “That’ll be $500.” The last time I took a car into a brake shop that is exactly what happened. I swore I’d never take my car to a brake shop / dealer again! Here’s the blow by blow account of my front brake replacement this week:

1. Sunday, I looked at many different auto parts stores on the Internet. I found a site with the great combination of, affordable prices, choice, location and free shipping. I place my order with Expressautoparts.com, located in New York City.

2. Tuesday, The parts arrived at work. I carried the pads and one disc home.

3. Wednesday, I carried the second disc home.

4. Thursday, I dropped my car off at Sal’s Auto Repair in Hoboken.

5. Friday, Went into Sal’s and asked him how much do I owe? He looked at me and said, “Under Five Hundred Dollars.” My heart sank but it turns out that Sal was just pulling my leg. He only charged me $75.

Price review: 2 front discs and a brake pad set, $98. Labor — $75. Total cost = $173. I won, for the first time in my life I wasn’t a sucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you need any work done on your car in Hoboken, drop me a line, I’ll hook you up.

Last night, I had some Chinese food with Walter. After we parted ways, I headed back to Hoboken and walked to the waterfront to check out the WTC memorial. I was really moved. It just seems like the perfect way to remember the people we lost but it’s also a symbol of strength. I took a lot of photos but I’m still trying to figure out my camera. I apologize for the blurriness of the buildings but the beam of light is still in focus. Also, it’s really two beams but from my vantage point in Hoboken, It only looks like one beam. I should take my old school film camera down there. I’m going to end things on the photo today. Have a great weekend. God Bless America.

I’m eating breakfast right now. I’ve discovered the perfect breakfast sandwich: egg whites & Swiss on toast. Mmmmmmm. I think it’s the Swiss that makes it. I screwed up on another breakfast item — I picked up Orange/Pinapple Tropicana by mistake. It’s not horrible but it’s just not what I had in mind. I carried home my second disc brake last night. This morning I gave the keys to the guy with a garage and he said no problem. I love being on the same block with a garage! We didn’t talk about money but I’m guessing it will be somewhere around $150, I’m not sure — I’ll let you know tomorrow. I had a long day at work yesterday. By the time I got home and got settled, it was 9:00. I usually kick back in front of the tube but for some reason, I headed to the phone. I was making calls like a madman. It’s always good to keep in touch. Tonight, I’m going to take some photos of the 9/11 tribute lights. That’s enough for today. I didn’t take any photos last night, so here’s another Random Photo of the Day:

Hello. The last time I took my car to the shop, they told me about my pitted front disc brakes. It turns out that having a pitted surface isn’t such a good thing. I didn’t get it fixed at the time because I had other stuff done and because the pads were still good. Now it’s time to get new discs and pads. Instead of taking my car to a garage and hearing, “that will be $500” I did something different. I know the problem, I need new pads and discs. I ordered them over the Internet — free shipping, thank you very much. And I’m going to have a guy that has a small shop on my block put them on. The pads and discs were $98. I think I just saved myself a whole bunch of money. I feel like Mr. Consumer! I had the discs sent to me at work, Holy crap, discs are heavy! By the time I got home I was sweating my butt off. I said to myself, either this thing is really heavy or I’m really out of shape. I put the disc on my scale:

It’s Tuesday. I bring that up because that means that we made it through another Monday. Yesterday was a good day at work don’t get me wrong but I think everyone was on edge because of Dave’s decision. It was certainly on my mind. All the hype while we were away on vacation was just incredible. Too much. There’s a saying in the entertainment business, “It’s just a TV show.” I didn’t want to talk about 9/11 yesterday, I’m not exactly sure why. Did you see the movie 9/11Sunday night? That just blew my mind. It made me feel as helpless as I did 6 months ago. It also gave me a better time frame of what happened. I couldn’t help to retrace my steps that day. After seeing what everyone went through down there, my steps are trivial at best. CNN kept playing the explosions over and over yesterday. It still seems so surreal. I’m cutting it short today, this cold has zapped my creative energy. However, I will leave you with a Random Photo of the Day, enjoy: