Up at 5:30 to go get the Sunbird, and not a moment too soon. I’d parked it backed against a concrete wall so nobody from the street could bother it. What I’d missed was the Cuban coffeehouse two doors away. Although it was pitch black still, there was a group of men (not teenage punks, but grown men in their 30s) already casing the car, looking into the interior, and one was just trying the hood as I pulled up. There were six of them, so I just got out of the Caddy and looked very closely at the one who had touched the hood. I could hear them saying “Inmigracion”, so if that is what they thought, good. You can’t leave a damn thing overnight even in a well-lit parking lot in this town.
[Author’s note 2018: Napoleon Dynamite got my vote for Movie of 2004.]
At work, Mikey showed up, but for what I do not know. He did not get a lot done today, but my database work has exposed some woefully bad practices at the site. It is all from inexperience – site foremen cannot be expected to understand all the required paperwork drills, much less explain the whole process to each newcomer. Mikey, alas, is a newcomer. He is not to be faulted because as far as I know, there is no school that teaches anyone how to keep site records for a construction company. Quick, what is a report? No, you are wrong, that is one type of report, but you failed to state what the elements of that report are. What you are reading now is not a report. Can you explain why?
Also, this whole system they use for the incentive workers is out of whack. It is geared for the ease of headquarters recordkeeping, with hardly a concession to what the workers need. This may sound harsh, but I have to tell you not to assume that incentive workers make so much more money than hourly people they don’t have to watch their budgets. In fact, they are no good at it from what I have seen, and desperately need some way of keeping track of their own finances. I could easily do it, but that would be a conflict of interest. Maybe I can show them how, but that takes time. Company time.
There were two calls on the car. People have interest, what they don’t have is $1,800. It will happen. This truck pulled up beside me with a trailer of swimming pool chlorine. There is the type of trailer I want, the one the other guy told me was not being made any more. Nonsense, said Bob the pool guy, just go to Northern on 37th and Palmetto. He’s right, they have a whole yard of trailers just like what I need. And for half the price. Seriously, it has taken close to three damn years to get some straight answers about trailers in Miami, and for what reasons I just do not know. Maybe only liars sell trailers in this town. Anyway, it is a tool company, and the price of $329 is so cheap I can afford a brand new model.
What’s new? For today, I bought what I thought was a can of garbanzo beans, with the intention of making work lunches. It was a can of garbanzo bean soup. As soon as I opened the can, the aroma was so tempting, I knew it was destined to become a favorite. The label says “Garbanzo Beans”, then in small letters “with rind-on bacon, chorizo and ground pork”. Chorizo is a small sausage. There is also half a medium potato and of course, there is one piece each of the meat. But it is a new treat, worthy of a try for anyone with my likes. It is more like a stew, and although the can had been on the shelf a while, it was “hearty fare”, something to remember for hurricane supplies next time around.
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