I did not even remember ever having this seeming novelty, but it appears I could, all these years later, gain access to the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane with this ID issued in ~1975. I of course have not aged at all since then so there would be no confusion about who that is in the picture.
That’s a pretty rough signature but it is quite a bit more legible than my current efforts in the signatory realm. I remember signing up for Blockbuster Video years ago. The clerk, reading my signature, entered my name into the system as MARLA THONGUS.
There is indeed still a U.S. Embassy in Vientiane. I can imagine no reason to make the trip just to try out this ID card but it would be fun to try if only it were practical. Maybe it would get me into the Laotian Consulate here in New York? Probably not. I mean, why?
I finally said hi to a woman I’ve seen on the block for I don’t even know how many years. It was awkward and gawky as all out but if it ever comes to anything my explanation will be that she said hi to me once, maybe a few times. Few people do that, and fewer still beautiful women say much of anything to men like me. When I made this gesture of saying hello she looked amazing. But it’s not that which draws me in. She has a confidence about her.
Commute to work was a challenge today. It seems the day will routinely begin with me sauntering through a phalynx of police cars with their siren lights (not sounds) twirling in the tapering darkness. They camp out by the St. James Deli, the famous place of yore when I was a late-night barfly at a nearby pub.
There were none present today but the crowd that gathers there is of the all-night ballers and bangers and club-goers, a scene I never knew anything about. I had been a regular at an overnight/after hours place where I would go home at 10am. But that was short-lived and mostly experienced for bragging rights. Seems pretty stupid now.
The trains were delayed, despite the app assuring me all was well on all the lines. They were delayed and very crowded. The UP escalator at Fulton Street is now out of service. The DOWN one was dead for something like 4 months and created a total pain in the ass with all the fucking stairs.
I got a haircut. It feels like I lost 20 pounds. They say hair growth slows after a certain age but mine seems to grow fast as ever. Getting a haircut seems always to get complicated. Why should it be? Because the woman I go to, and who does great work, never shows up when her posted hours of operation indicate she would. She’s very sweet but flaky af, and I can barely understand a thing she says through her thick Bolivian accent. But she cuts me well, and she’s not yet charging what seems to be the new standard of $30. On the other hand she adds to the base charge if I let my hair go too far, which I think is stupid.
I thought about learning to cut my own hair. It’s now unknown. I’d probably make a mess of it.
I feel fine today, and I know not why. I slept poorly and didn’t think I’d wake up in time. Dreams were active but promptly forgotten. I’m at the workplace now, for what will likely be a very quiet holiday weekend. Working 4 days a week like this has been an interesting experiment. A couple of leave days here or there and I’m away from here for 5 days. No one cares. No one misses me. I miss a lot of things. Meetings, email chains, announcements that never get emailed or documented. I don’t care. This is just a placeholder job until I find something that pays a living wage.
