1938 Packard

That makes her the exception. Most of those I met are completely out of work most of the time and when they get hired, they're only getting a token amount above minimum wage.

Just ordinary conversation while the work is getting done, over the past twenty years.

You don't have to worry until it starts coming out looking like pea soup with a texture like Jello.

That's what the world needs right now... a bunch of creatures in flying saucers to come down here and kick everybody's ass. I mean it.

The Spanish channels are almost always on down at the laundromat. That's why I bring a radio, to hear somebody speaking English instead of all "Yamala yamala yamala el con queso de bistek yamala gringos exterminados..." I hear enough of that work. I don't need it on my days off.

Seven bedroom house in Margate, another house in Boca Raton, boat, fancy assed car, put both his sons all the way through college and he's got no debts to speak of. But hey, everybody likes to point and laugh and say chiropractors are not "real" doctors. They earn as much as real doctors. It's not an easy business to get into. Gotta go to college and study up on anatomy, biology, chemistry, pharmacology, neurology, Latin, Greek... disassemble human cadavers, do internships and even turn in a doctoral dissertation. Yep, all the very same things an M.D. student has to do. I think this is how he's able to pop my neck and make the pains stop without severing a nerve and leaving me paralyzed from the neck down. If it were a job for quacks and flunkies, there would be one on every corner and they wouldn't earn any more than a hair dresser.

I'm a phone? Saxophone? Xylophone? Gramophone? All this about phone.

Who would? Maybe some guy who wants to rub out every non believer?

Nope. Can't get me into one of those. My grandmother's sister lived in one. I don't know how she could stand it. They wouldn't even let her keep an electric percolator. More fucken rules and regulations than a damned prison house and she had to share a room with somebody who snored. It must be Hell to live past eighty and have everybody treat you like you're six.

The coyotes ate it. I'm one of the ghosts that haunted his head.

I haven't seen a soap opera since Mary Hartman was a thing. And even back then, it was just filler between Monty Python and Dark Shadows. I was usually in the kitchen getting snacks when the show was on. My grandmother on the other hand... she'd go absolutely ape shit if she missed one ep of General Hospital.

I'm surprised you recognize that character, kid. He hasn't been featured in a McDonald's ad in fifteen years.

What did I see yesterday, at work, on the loading dock? Three truckers with deliveries, waiting for a manager to sign forms. All three were within a few feet of each other, but tapping away at stuff on the web. They were just oblivious to each other, while engrossed with whoever they had on line. Today? Well, I sat on the promenade, near some guy who appeared to be sleeping. But, then, he dropped his flip phone. He had some difficulty trying to bend down and pick it up. Stiff back. I picked it up for him and handed it to him. He thanked me and then a few seconds later, he asked where I was from. I told him and he said he lives in New York and has been visiting Atlantic City every month for sixty years. Then, he asked, "Do you remember the 500 Club?" I told him I'd never been there, but remember the whole town being on a big bummer the day it burned down. I also recalled Gracie's Little Belmont, Nash's, Count Bassie at the Steel Pier and the Traymore. He said, "Yeah... this town was really full of life back then. I'm just here for the black jack games now. Can't think of anything else around here that's fun." Then, a lady showed up and she asked, "Are people allowed to smoke out here?" I said, "You're probably thinking of Ocean City. They have a non smoking policy for their whole Boardwalk, but around here, they won't even hassle you for pot. Light up." The other guy turned to her and asked, "Where are you from?" She said, "Only about an hour from here, but haven't been here for six years." Then he said, "You're in school, right?" She said, "Well, yes. Second year of law at Stockton." At that point, I was just doing a lot more listening than talking. She was both brainy and pretty. Really going places. Maybe I should have worn my teeth today. It would have made a better impression on her. Look, this is just the sort of thing that used to go on all the time with people. That is, before earbuds, iPhones, game apps, etc. Now, it's like... everybody's talking to people hundreds of miles away while ignoring people in their immediate midst. Take away all the tech and people just might start talking to each other again.

I'm more of a Columbia dark roast with half and half drinker. That, or Mr. Brown coffee.

Starbucks today. Had a gift card left over from Chinese New Year.

Update: Jackpot! Really, really far out dreams in my sleep.

Ordinary friends are more fun than sex partners anyway.

Maybe just a senior moment on my part. Something wasn't in its usual spot and the first idea to cross my mind was that it was stolen. No sign of break in, so it may have been somebody with a key. But, I can't just run around all batty, pointing fingers. Only three other people have keys and they're all good folks who never crossed me before. Also, why would a burglar take that thing and leave the laptops, the home theater system, the gold and other valuables? Something else was going on. So, I did a room by room search and found the thing, just not at all where I remembered putting it. It's official now. I'm nutty like a squirrel, putting things away and not remembering where I put them.

Neither do I. Total waste of time and effort. I just toss everything in one big bag and send it out three times a week.

Product restricted in Canada. Ordered some on eBay. Waiting for delivery. Curious to see whether the substance matches its reputation.

More like a Three Stooges dance and chant.

Bet he's not doing that these days. That's life in the fast lane.

It's not how much you get, it's how much you keep.

Not my job. Talk to the guy who bid for that post.