Michael Joe Armijo's Blog, page 106

Hot Kisses

"You should know...if you come any closer I'm not letting you go."
-Ashton Kutcher to Natalie Portman in the
Romantic-Comedy "NO STRINGS ATTACHED"

Twenty-five years ago today:


October 10, 1986
Friday

Okay—so I didn't go to the gym as originally planned today. Instead I took my Pac Bell Directory Account Collections Representative test. I passed with flying colors. I now have an assessment test on Thursday (of next week) for that job.

I went home and chose to lie down to some music when I decided to telephone Mark Landreth to learn what he was up to.
I asked Mark, "Are you in the mood to go into the City?"
"You know—that sounds like a good idea."
I was happy that Mark agreed to go out with me.

We were suddenly in San Francisco, taking a walk up Broadway and the North Beach vicinity. We browsed at the city scene on this Friday night. We walked in to some magazine shop and laughed at the "fat chicks" on the cover of a porn magazine. Yuck!

We got lost in San Francisco. I was driving and lost my sense of direction. We finally found our way to Haight Street per the helpful directions of some lowly man who was walking his dog.

I lured Mark to the I-BEAM, a sort of mixed clientele dance club and bar.  It's a hip place.  I like the music, too.

I met a girl named Bronwyn Duffy and her cousins from Australia and England. Bronwyn was really nice. She trains horses. She also works part-time in San Francisco at a Public Relations firm. We are to have lunch in The City one day soon (hopefully).

Bronwyn and I exchanged some "Hot Kisses", so that was pretty nice.  I think my hair was standing on end from our "Hot Kisses".   That's what happens after a few drinks and some hot dancing at the I-BEAM. 

Believe it or not Bronwyn Duffy reminded me a bit of actress Ann-Margret.  I like her "lots".  The notion of her kisses makes me remember the idea of her even more.

"Don't be swept away now in the heat of the moment!"
-as heard while watching the NYC
Broadway Play "MARY STUART"

Come On Up To Sacramento

"Time passes, as we get older things seem less important."
-Morgan Freeman as 'Joe Matheson'
in the 2010 film, RED
Twenty-five years ago today:

October 9, 1986
Thursday

I've been feeling fat lately. Maybe it was the comment Dave Vigil made recently.
"You need to do some sit-ups."
"What a creep!" I thought.
He is probably right though.  I feel like I have been letting myself go a bit.  I need to whip my abs into shape.

Work flew by once again. I like that. I had lunch with Ryan and Mary at THE PIZZA BOAT. I was invited to Ryan's place (in San Francisco) tomorrow night. I doubt that I will go though.

Judy and I shared our last break together. It was fun. We laugh a lot together. I appreciate and like her friendship.

My LUCKY CHARMS cereal is all gone. All I have left are my box of WHEATIES.
[image error]
Mike Thoennes telephoned and asked, "Why don't you come on up to Sacramento this weekend?"
I hesitated.
He jumped right in on my hesitation, "I'm having a small circle of friends' party and I really want you to come."
"Oh, I don't know," I said unwillingly.
"I want you to meet my friend, Lottie."
"Lottie?"
"Yeah, I think you'll find her cute.  Besides…she likes to bicycle and work out, too."

And so, I may go. I don't know. He's so persistent and it's hard to say no. I really want to save up the little money I have. I really don't know if I will go or not.
I have a silly clerical test to take for Pac Bell Directory. Carol McClain insists that I must take the test for my file.
Margaret Lai says, "Oh, that test is so easy."

I spoke to Kathy, Mark and Stuart briefly while at the gym tonight. I didn't stay long. I felt a need to do some aerobics at home 'for my tummy'.

Ginny Hair wrote me an apology letter, hoping we can be friends. She feels bad because she thought I knew about her engagement to Russ. Give me a break! All this time she's been flirting with me for referrals at work and 'what not'. I hope she doesn't think she's getting any more from me. I did call her back after reading the letter. She wasn't 'in' (just my luck).

I received a call from Stewart Title Company of Sacramento. I wonder if that means my $8,618.00 check will be coming to me sooner than expected!

"I want you to do whatever you want.   It's your decision, Michael, it's your life."
-Sandra Bullock
2009 film, The Blind Side

Tall and Blond

"You'd be surprised what one can find with a few nimble keystrokes."
-Veronica Mars, TV show
Twenty-five years ago today:

October 8, 1986
Wednesday

I'm pissed.  I side swiped my car into a green junkie car that wasn't parked correctly. I was so burned-up about it at first.  I decided that it adds character to my car. I refused to let it get to me. At least the car is still running. That's the important thing. I'm also fine. It's not all that bad. It's simply a bruise on my car. Cest la vie. I will just tell people someone hit it while I was parked so I don't look like a dunce. I wonder if that's a sign for the rest of my day. I do hope the day will get sharper.

Tonight is a gym visit work out 'for sure'.

I submitted my two job transfer requests to Pac Bell Directory. I am sure one of those will come through for me. It's time.

Cedric Green returned to work today. He will be assigned to my section now. This could be a good thing.

Judy Mantione was promoted to a Second Line Manager in the AIC-Account Inquiry Center. That was a surprise. Michelle Olsen was promoted to a Second Line Manager at the SDC-Sales Development Center in San Jose.  It pays to be tall and blond. People are shifting to different jobs.

Judy Geniella is trying very hard to get a job transfer to Sacramento. Her commute from Sacramento to San Francisco must be murder. Ryan wants to retreat to our SDC-Sales Development Center. Ryan and I are having lunch together today (and Mary McTiernan will join us). Ryan needs to vent his anxieties.
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I am looking forward to my new job (whatever that may be). My new Jaguar, my new house and my new BIANCHI Italian bicycle are on my wish list. All will come in due time.

I did make it over to 24 Hour Nautilus in San Leandro. Dave Pratt was there. He works at the gym and often has a sort of 'power trip'. He's a nuisance at times. I worked out and left.

DYNASTY was not on tonight. I decided to pick up my phone and call on Margaret Lai and Cedric Green. It seems that Cedric was semi-terminated. He told me the whole story.

I still haven't written to Paloma. I will have to get my rear in gear.

"If you were miserable and wanted to get happy again...where would you go?"
-What Happens In Vegas, 2008 motion picture

Computerized Robots

The music is all around us--all you have to do is listen.
-August Rush,
2007 motion-picture

Twenty-five years ago today:


October 7, 1986
Tuesday

The latest word is that there is a Directory Sales Representative position opening up in Santa Clara, California. I am determined to submit for it.

I did not go to the gym tonight. Instead I rode my bike for a good hour.

I did a bit of a babysitting routine for my niece, Ashley. She was exceptionally good.  Ashley was particularly cooperative when I positioned her in the Entertainment Wall Unit for a cute photograph. We watched part of "The Terminator" together. Maybe she'll see the future of computerized robots from it.

Rick called me. He's the one that sells condominiums in Sunnyvale.
He said, "Hey, you know---I went to the gym and I saw that guy…Mark."
"You did?"
"Yeah, Mark told me that you were getting fat."
I laughed. Then I frowned. Whatever…I know Mark was kidding.

More important than your mind is your soul.   It's your soul that touches people.
-KYLE-XY
Season II

A Fine Man

"I'll never say that LIFE doesn't imitate ART again."
-Woody Allen
"Manhattan Murder Mystery"

Twenty-five years ago today:


October 6, 1986
Monday

Here I am at my parking lot in San Francisco on a 'Blue Monday' morning. There is new, major construction taking place for another nearby building.

Work flew by. There is no word on any real job changes (or improvements). Cindy Chow will be going to Management Staff for six weeks. Rumor has it that Debbie Tom was promoted to Management Staff. I don't know how all of these little 'promotional' things sneak by me. There must be another loop of corporate politic playing that goes on behind the scenes. My day will come.

I am glad I have my box of WHEATIES and LUCKY CHARMS at my desk. The fact that I come in to work so early allows me to have my breakfast while at work. Some fellow employees find it cute (like Judy Geniella). Judy had the day off today.

Margaret Lai and I joined-up for a lunch gathering with a fellow Pac Bell pal, Emmalene, at LITTLE JOE's.

I still need to write some letters. Perhaps tonight will work out for some correspondence time.

My job really is not so bad. At least I am happy that I have one. I just need to save. I want to save for my Harbor Bay home and my Jaguar wheels.

Mark Landreth was at the gym tonight. We concurred on an opinion of this "LAM" case at our gym. "LAM" is my code for "Look at Me". This guy has a great physique and Mark and I are clearly jealous. We believe he's a "Look at Me" kind of guy. And yes, many do look at him. I simply went on with my work out.

I watched the end of a Lesley Anne Warren flick about marrying a black dude, losing custody of her daughter because of it. What a shame.

I hate to get out of my car because all of these construction workers are going to see my physique and be jealous. All of these construction workers are fat. Ha-ha…No, I could definitely use improvement. I will improve.

I wonder how Anne Alberti's adventures are going in Cancun, Mexico.   Could she have met a new, fine man?

A tall and strongly built young man, with a rubicund complexion and great black sidewhiskers, was one of those boorish fellows, loud and full of confidence, who in the provinces they call a fine man.
-Stendhal
"The Red and the Black"

Scribbling

We lived in a mist of half-shared, unreliable perception, and our sense data came warped by a prism of desire and belief, which tilted our memories, too.

-William Golding
"Lord of the Flies"

Twenty-five years ago today:

October 5, 1986
Sunday

I enjoyed a nice breakfast with mom. After the nourishment I lounged at my pad and watched the San Francisco 49ers' game.

Mark had told me to go to Coyote's Point but I didn't choose to go. I just wanted to stay home.

At 4:30PM I did break-down and go on a leisurely bike ride. There were a lot of folks from Oakland on South Shore beach on this early evening.

I remember hearing on the radio that an eighteen year old girl ran down four bicyclists in Gilroy, California.  I guess she was switching cassette tapes and swerved to the side, running over the bicyclists.  It depressed me. I ride many miles on many roads and I could have easily been one of those accidental victims.
Photo: James Brolin
I dismounted my bike and went to mom's house. I watched an action-thriller movie there called NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER, starring James Brolin.  His role was as a dad who had a daughter that was kidnapped.

Johnny Schaefer telephoned.
"You know, I may fly up to Oakland this morning or next," Johnny announced.
I think he wanted to get my reaction.  I was supportive of his visit.
Johnny continued by saying, "I want to go to the beach."
I only wished I could go. The beaches in Southern California are so much better.

I'm happy to say the Bay Area weather has been pretty spectacular. I am glad I am off from work during the first week of November.

I spend my life scribbling.
-Stendhal
"The Red and the Black"

Inner Workings of One's Heart

All at once an idea lit up within her: I have the happiness of being in love, she said, to herself one day, with an incredible thrill of delight. I'm in love, I'm in love, it's obvious! A beautiful and lively young woman my age, where else should she experience strong feelings if it is not by being in love?

-Stendhal
"The Red and the Black"

Twenty-five years ago today:

October 4, 1986
Saturday

When I returned Mark Landreth's call we made definitive plans to go to TOMMY T's in Concord to meet Ginny Haire and her group of friends. It was fun. Ginny was with Russ (a geek). They're supposedly engaged to be married. Is she really 'in love'?

Mark and I followed the TOMMY T's visit with three more destinations: El Torito, Gallagher's at Jack London Square and Johnny B Goode's on Webster Street. We made the rounds. It was actually pretty fun because we didn't settle on any 'one place'.

I went bicycling today, too. The beach was overly crowded. I saw a number of QBL (Questionable guys) as I was lying out (next to my bike). Earlier today I was alone, observing.

Might I ask for your friendship? This may be very difficult for you, but ask I must. I am trying, by this request, to learn to content myself with what cannot be changed, to draw sustenance from the small comforts. Perhaps it is enough to have one person to whom nothing is a secret, to whom one can lay open the inner workings of one's heart. Possibly, at the end of life, to have said that would be enough.
-Shyan Selvadurai
CINNAMON GARDENS, a novel

One Step Beyond

I saw myself utterly alone in the world, a gleaming wasp inside a bright orange hive, alone with my anguish and raging hot need, and who'd be there to still me?
-Paul Lisicky
"The Lawnboy"
Twenty-five years ago today:

October 3, 1986
Friday

Mike Thoennes telephoned me while I was at work today. He came by my house at approximately six o'clock. We had dinner together at the Catalina Restaurant at Harbor Bay Landing. He filled me in on the latest with him. He's still focused to finish school and get his computer programming skills up to par.
Mike asked, "Hey, do you want to go down to Milpitas and San Jose?"
I hesitated, "I don't know."
"Oh come on, it'll be fun."

And so, we drove down to Milpitas and San Jose. I met a good friend of his named Valerie. I only later learned (from Mike) that she had a slight drug problem (coke).

The three of us went to a place called ONE STEP BEYOND. The music was great at this place. I actually had a pretty good time.  The club was located at an industrial warehouse area of Santa Clara. Some of the people looked rather insane.  Nevertheless, it was fun observing and dancing.

Anne Alberti left me a "goodbye" message on my recorder. I'm sure she'll have fun in Cancun.

Mark Landreth phoned me as well. I didn't get a chance to call him back until Saturday morning.

As someone had said, all you had to do was to keep your insanity under control.  You could cry, get worried or angry like any other normal human being as long as you remembered that, up above, your spirit was laughing out loud at all those thorny situations.
-Paulo Coelho
"Veronika Decides To Die"

An Officer and a Gentleman

A pity money had such power, yet of course it had.
-Patricia Highsmith
"The Boy Who Followed Ripley"

Twenty-five years ago today:


October 2, 1986
Thursday

I'm not really bummed out anymore. I have had so many let downs already with regard to my hopes of getting a transfer to Pac Bell Directory-Yellow Pages. It is clear that time will tell.

I was down and out because my check was only $549.00. This meant I was 'in the hole' again so-to-speak. I will take things slowly and realize that when I examine the whole picture I am not really as broke as I make myself out to be. I have a lot to show for my money…and then some.

Anne Alberti came over to my place. We talked. We even kissed a bit. She's leaving for Cancun on Saturday though.

I went to the gym. Much to my surprise I saw Jeannette there.
Jeannette said, "I'm leaving Sunday to head back to school in San Diego."
We had a nice talk.
She asked, "You should give me a call."
"I will," I replied, realizing that there's probably no point.
Jeannette will be so focused on her girlfriends and family that she'll always be spending time with them. I guess I was surprised when she came up behind me at the gym. She placed her hands over my eyes.
"Guess who?" Jeannette asked.
I seriously had no clue. Perhaps I should have known.

There wasn't much of anyone else at the gym to speak of. I merely did my work out.

Once home I evaluated my situation and then took a drive to my Great Western Automated Teller Machine to make a $300 deposit and $60 withdrawal.

I stopped at Johnny B Goodes on Webster Street. It was kind of a joke as I observed a lot of Naval Supply folk at the bar. I felt a lot of them to be of a 'lower life'. I just sat there and drank two Corona beers. Then I drove home.

While I was out I had phone calls on my answering machine from Nici Maurino, Jim Koran, Birda and Stephanie. I didn't return any of the calls. I will have to make it up to them somehow. I should make a list of who I need to write as well (Bill Helbush, Paloma Sanchez-Guerra).

I enjoyed the little outing I had. Maybe the going out alone to have a couple of beers is necessary at times. It was an experience.

I had a long chat with Carol McClain about Pac Bell Directory. On one note she makes it sound promising and then it all seems so downright depressing. I was actually having fantasies of quitting and joining the Air Force Officer Training School while I was at the bar. I did receive a direct mail package with regard to this sort of an opportunity not too long ago. I really need to sit and have a talk with my boss, Steph, and my career path. I know I still don't want the ASR-Account Service Representative path. Maybe I will consider the Officer Training School idea more seriously with the Navy, Marines or Army.

"Small world, isn't it?" we exclaim, every time it happens--but in fact life contains a far greater number of missed meetings, near encounters, not quite-coincidences. 
As on the day when he told her about the mark of an angel, he takes her head on his lap and traces her features with his blunt yet agile fingertips.
-Nancy Huston
The Mark of the Angel, a novel

A Soothing Experience

Look, it's everyone for themselves in this world, and I don't want to be burnt by thunder.
-Stendhal
"The Red and the Black"

Twenty-five years ago today:


October 1, 1986
Wednesday

Today is Helen Wong-Armijo's birthday. I went to Emporium in San Francisco and purchased some Estee Lauder WHITE LINEN lotion as a gift for her.  She deserves a soothing experience.

I spoke to Carol McClain at the Pac Bell Directory Placement Center again.
Carol advised, "Don't lose hope yet on the Los Angeles Directory Sales spots."
I thought quietly to myself, "I already have lost hope."
Carol did inform me of a little secret of a new Pac Bell Directory Department that is in the works, focusing on Collections right here in San Francisco.
Carol mentioned in a whisper, "There will be a number of Account Collection Representative Openings soon."
I thought, "I just may submit for one of those. I need a change and anything will do. In addition, the move would umbrella me as an employee under the subsidiary of Pac Bell Directory."

I went to the gym.  Dave was there along with another guy named Mark who has a military dude haircut.  There are these guys at the gym and I sometimes wonder what 'future plans' they have for themselves. 

I did speak to Anne briefly before she left.

I arrived at the gym early, so I left early.

I was in bed by ten o'clock this evening (right after the DYNASTY episode).

Johnny called me for the latest scoop on the Los Angeles job. There were no positive reports to my going there—just yet.

It's time to be patient. I plan to take things slowly.  We shall see what happens next.

"I realized that the future is just an illusion.  You talk about your plans, but the fact of the matter is that you can only live right now, this very minute.   I always think there's your plan, and there's GOD's plan, and your plan doesn't matter."
-David Geffen
From the book by Tom King, "The Operator"