Actually, things haven't been so bad lately, when a fan is blowing on you, there's a can of ice-cold beer on your left, and the new KoYAn album is playing from the speakers. Before that, everything was a bit more dreary. Let's start with the fact that I found a job. An awesome job. If only they paid money for it... The gist: a computer repair shop is looking for a laptop repair specialist, and actually not just for repairs. All you need to do is reinstall Windows, scan hard drives, clean them, and install the necessary software. Is this a job? This is a pleasure! And he writes to me: "I have seven such-and-such laptops, they need to be polished and blah-blah-blah." Their payment system is much more interesting: first, they send me a check for the amount I requested + extra cash that I have to send via Western Union somewhere to California (or somewhere in that direction). Like, this is money for shipping the laptops to me and back. Several questions arise immediately: 1. Why the hell are they sending money before I've done the work? 2. Do I need to do the work if the money has already arrived? Well, God knows, you can encounter anything in America. Maybe if I cash the money and don't do the work, they'll dig me out from under the ground (and the Yanks can do that), I'm cashing the money at a bank, and the bank has all my coordinates. Okay. A month has passed since they sent me the check. Honestly, I've already given up. Meanwhile, my favorite Bank of America (may JPMorgan Chase curse it), sent me normal cards twice or three times, without which I can't apply for an ID. The whole satire is that both of them had my old address on Manhattan Beach, while I was already living in Staten Island. Although Captain Ravshan would have let me know if any mail had arrived for me. In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and called the old landlord. But he doesn't know anything, he's hanging out in another state with his wife and daughter, and of course, there's no one to check the mail. Damn the day he finally arrived and left all my mail with the guys. First of all, I had to rush to Brooklyn at 9 am. Two hours later, when I arrived, it started to rain. I know Ravshan has been at work for a long time, I call Dan. I call, call, call again, profit. And it's raining. He only woke up when I started knocking mercilessly on the window. He himself barely understood what was happening because he had come home at 7 am from a killer party in Manhattan. I thought I would go in, take the package with my mail, and go about my business. I spent an hour and a half searching the whole house. Can't reach Ravshan, Dan doesn't understand anything. Further, when I finally reached Ravshan (who, by the way, was also sleeping at work), he said there should be a black package hanging on the door, of course, there were no packages on any doors. I wake up Dan, he doesn't know anything about any packages. Out of desperation, I woke up Aziz and asked him. He says he saw something like that, but yesterday the guys were taking out the trash and could have thrown my package away too. AND IT'S TRUE! I ran outside and look: next to the trash can, in the rain, lies my package. And just as I brought it home, I hear the garbage trucks arrived. What did I get? I got a check from these repairmen. Even though I requested $500 for the work, the check was written for $1500. A couple of days before that, I read on the internet about these scammers – they need a person to cash fake checks and send the remainder of the requested amount to the scammers themselves. The laptops don't exist. Two bank cards arrived, and damn it, my name is spelled incorrectly on both! 3 packs of coffee arrived, which I was promised to be sent a month and a half ago for participating in an online survey. Okay. Went to the bank, asked about the check, it's indeed fake. Didn't bother asking about the cards, it's useless anyway. Went to the DMV, thought maybe it would work, it didn't, my name must be the same on all documents. Whatever, decided to go home. 4 buses didn't deign to stop and heed my need to leave Brighton. And the cards still need to be changed, I think, let me go to a normal bank in Staten Island, there are probably normal people there. I arrived, I say change the name, change the address finally, and take a photo for the card. They changed the name, changed the address, sent it, forgot to insert the photo – may JPMorgan Chase curse them. I got home, I think, let me try the new coffee – there's not a single hint of a Turkish coffee pot or anything to brew coffee in. In short, a symbolic end to the day would be running into a wall, but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep. Now about more positive things. The day before all this, there was a free rock festival on Coney Island. Two stages, about 14 bands. I listened to about 3 of them, really liked it. Real American rock, you won't hear that in Russia. Siren Festival 2010 LINE-UP MAIN STAGE * DOM * Screaming Females * Surfer Blood * Night Marchers * The Pains of Being Pure At Heart * Ted Leo and the Pharmacists * Matt and Kim STILLWELL STAGE * Apache Beat * Wye Oak * Ponytail * Earl Greyhound * Harlem * Cymbals Eat Guitars * Holy F*ck There were a hell of a lot of people, and what's characteristic, every second person in this crowd was smoking. Not just smoking, but smoking... well, you know)))) By the end, everyone was drunk and high. Real rock and roll. And I stood there, then got tired, went to drink beer on the 20th floor, in the house where we lived when we first arrived, then stood there a bit more, and that's it. This was my first concert this season, three more await me: August 1st: Faceless, All Shall Perish, Veil Of Maya, Cephalic Carnage, Decrepit Birth, Carnifex, Animals As Leaders, Vital Remains and Decapitated; @ Irving Plaza August 24th: Apocalyptica, Evaline and Dir En Grey; @ Nokia Theater September 24th - Alice in Chains, Mastadon and Deftones; @ MADISON SQUARE GARDEN! Yes, I was at a museum here, of modern art. But my brain wasn't mentally ready for it, so I doubt I can describe everything I saw there right now. Well, we're working slowly. The camera is kicking the bucket, so I won't be able to delight you with new photos for now.