I didn't want to talk about it......

But Nick mentioned it in the comments. An old friend and classmate of mine killed himself Tuesday. He ran a cherry factory in Red Hook. The cops came in on a fake warrant and scoped out that he was running a pot growing operation in his factory. So he went into the bathroom and killed himself.

We went to grammar school together at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary grammar school on Hicks Street. He was one of the kids who would play fistball and Skelly that you saw described in "Joey Gallo's Lament." Just a neighborhood knock around guy I used to run around with and run into at the discos in Bay Ridge or at Cousins on Court St to listen to a little jazz. I heard he got divorced a few years ago and hooked up with a Russian chick.

I was talking about it with Georgie from the Pork Store today when I was getting lunch. We both agreed that pot bust was not what sent him over the edge. Don't get me wrong. The civil forfeiture might have taken away his business. But I bet he was pretty depressed. As a fifty year old guy running his own business it is no surprise that he killed himself. It is a wonder that any of us don't kill ourselves.

He is laid out at Raccuglia's tonight so I will go over to pay my respects. If you have a chance remember him in your prayers.

God bless big guy.

Reason 10691 why I am not allowed to have a gun.

So there is a new move in Carroll Gardens to ban gates in front of your store. They feel that since it is so much "safer" that we don't need to have gates in front of our stores. It is bad enough that the city council mandated lattice work instead of solid gates but now the move is a foot to ban them altogether. So anybody who touches my window can set off the alarm. Or just smash and grab whatever they want while the dirty hippies are asleep in a legalized pot induced haze.

They want to tell me how to run my business. How to protect my business.

It is a good thing I am not allowed to have a gun.

Reason 10690 why I should not have a gun

We had to stop by the store yesterday even though we were off. We went in the morning to pick up the furniture we were taking to the factory to be spray pained. When we left everything was fine. We got back about six o'clock and this had happened:

Somebody had gratified the side wall between the two stores. He had bombed up and down Court St and tagged my store, the UPS box and the condo across the street.

The last time this happened was about six years ago. Then I was able to have a film of the perp that I handed over to city wide graffiti but nothing ever came of it. I wasn't able to tape it this time because my camera is out and I am repositioning it for the new store so I didn't get it fixed yet. So this asshole had free reign.

I took all of the appropriate steps. I called 311 to report it. I called the precient. But nothing is going to happen. This is just another quality of life crime that is going to go unpunished.

The mayor won't give a shit. The bad times are back and it is only going to get worse. Of course the perp probably looked like his son. It actually probably was his son.

I need to get out of Brooklyn. I am tired of cleaning this shit up.

Reason 10689 why I shouldn't have a gun

Hipster douchebag helicopter parents in Park Slope want to ban the ice cream man from the park because they don't want to have to tell their children no when they cry for ice cream.

Hipster cunt Dorothy Scanlan was quoted as saying: “I should not have to fight with my children every warm day on the playground just so someone can make a living!"

Let alone that maybe other people want to have a fucking ice cream on a hot summer day.

You know who hates the ice cream man?

COMMIES I TELL YOU FUCKING COMMIE CUNTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reason 19,875 why I have to get out of Brooklyn

The New York City Council is taking up a bill that will make it illegal for employers to ask prospective employees if they have a criminal record. You will not be able to include a box to check off if you have ever been convicted of a crime. You can only enquire if you offer the job. Then you have to prove it is a good enough reason to not hire them if they disclose that they had served time.

So for example if you run a trucking company you can not ask if they have DUI. If you run a day care you can not ask if they are a registered sex offender. If you run a boutique you can not ask if they were arrested or convicted of shop lifting. Burglary. Embezzlement. Murder. There is a $1,000 fine for every time you ask that question before you hire someone.

Take the example of the dude who applied for one of my positions at the store. I was seriously considering him. He filled out his application and of course he had never been arrested or convicted of anything. But under the new law I couldn't ask that question.  I could have offered him the job and then asked the question. He could have said he spent ten years upstate for murder. Then I would have to prove why it would be disqualifying to hire a murderer to work in my store. If I didn't give him the job because of that fact  he could sue me. And win with a typical "Brooklyn jury."

Why would I ever want to consider anyone who ever possibly been arrested? Why take that risk? Why open up the job to that person?

Why does the government want to destroy small businessmen?

What will they think of next to force me to sell my lease and leave?

Reason 895 why I should move out of Brooklyn

We had to go to the store today on our day off because we were getting big deliveries. I have the UPS guy trained to call me when this happens. If I miss the delivery it goes back in the system and gets tossed around and half the time it gets fucked up. It is easier all around to just go to the store and get it and give the guy a tip so I can my stuff before it gets squashed in the sorter.

Anyway we get the stuff and start to walk home and who do we meet in front of the coffee shop? Agent Van Allen. You will remember when he stopped by the store to buy a scarf a couple of months ago. Well he has updated his look since then.

That day he looked like a homeless person. Sweatpants under shorts with a hoodie in freezing cold weather. If anything it is even colder today. He was wearing a flimsy coat with no buttons and Chuck Taylor All Stars with no laces. Oh and he had a huge motorcycle chain around his neck. You the ones that you use to stop people from stealing your motorcycle. Oh and he dyed his hair Marilyn Monroe blond.

Now you know me. I am a friendly guy. So I go "How you doing Mike?"  He replied "grunting something undecipherable." "Yeah Dude I bet I am going to see you on the Oscars next year." "More muttering nonsense that I can't hear." Under my breath "In the "In Memoriam" Section with Betty White and Jared Leto." "WHAT?" "Good luck buddy see you around."

I gotta get out of here. I can't keep running into crazy famous people. I would rather run into run of the mill crazy people like Sixty Grit or Icepick. Crazy famous people just have too much of a sense of entitlement.