Today, I didn't even have to use my AK.... →[More:]

I gotta say today was a good day.

At first it seemed to be just another day of tiring work in a crazy week and proceeded in that direction until about 12:30, when, as I was slicing open a cardboard box, I heard a familiar Brit accent behind me chirp: 'you ever get lunchg breaks around here?'

Yes, readers, it was Miss Essexjan. A few hours later, we had lunch together. She had here first ever Quizno's sub which she seemed to enjoy (It was the Prime Rib Cheesesteak, if that helps any of you in your quest for truth). She remained mum on the subject of the Mysterious Otherfucker.

Two hours later, I was helping some mildly crazy lady unload some books from her car across 12th street, when I saw a uniformed policeman standing behind it. At first I thought he was going to ticket her and that I'd be witness to a dispute, but he just said that he had a trunkful of books to sell and needed some help. I said I'd be right back with a handtruck as soon as I was done with her. I returned and he had a big trashbag full of books plus a punch of loose ones. I sorted out a few ones that would be rejected, piled the rest up gingerly and wheeled them inside. They spilled over on me twice, and passing minivan splashed my pantleg with water, but I got 'em in. The buyers bought most of his lot for around $200, and after he collected his cash, he put his palm to mine and said 'thanks a lot.' I opened it, expecting to find a few singles (which happens a few times a week). It was 25 bucks! Cops know how to tip, yo.

Then doing my daily pre-sort of the dollar books I found a copy of Inside Pop 2, a quickie paperback that features articles on both stuff like the Cowsills and Henry Mancini and stuff like the Mothers Of Invention and the MC5 (who are also on the cover). I also got a NYC travel guide from 1964 with tourist coupons still inside, including one for Freedomland the amusement park that sat on the current site of the Bronx middle-income housing project Co-Op City, plus a cool true crime book that I had seen the TV movie adaptation of as a teen. Not a bad haul for (after employee discount) under $3.

Then Miss Brujita stopped by and we chewed the fat for awhile. After I punched out I hit Virgin Megastore down the block to pick up the new Springsteen platter, which I of course got. On a whim, I rifled through the Mitch Ryder section and found an album of his that hitherto had been out of print for decades on a Russian import label. It features the blue-eyed soul legend backed by legendary Mempians Booker T & The MG's (I've heard tracks of it before. It's badass).

Then I get home, kiss Pips hello and grab a beer, then see we got a nother DVD of M*A*S*H season 3 from Netflix.

Days like these are nice. And I don't even own an AK.