He'll gladly pay me Tuesday...

 Wednesday night, and Ken came by, an hour later than the "usual" time. His car's been sounding bad and now it sounds awful. He said his main job seems to not be able to pay for their air conditioning which sounds strange but then that's high tech for you. 

I served him  up his diet Sprite and he'd brought me a double burger so I ate the burger patties and that was nice. I got my check but he doesn't want me to deposit it until next Tuesday so he dated it for then. 

He's got an appraiser coming out to look at his house next Tuesday, so he can get the reverse mortgage going.  Then, at least in theory, his finances will improve and thus, his ability to pay me. 

He also brought a bill for me from the IRS, that his wife had opened by mistake. I need to send them $137 because I didn't do monthly payments last year or something. That's really weird for a small fish like me, when Ken's paying once a year and he makes 10X what I do.

 

Dealing with the heat.

 Keep in mind, at its coolest, at about 58 degrees outside at around 5AM, it's still 78 degrees in here. This doesn't really happen in Hawaii because in Hawaii ventilation is a thing. Traditional houses don't have A/C because it's not needed.

I'd packed all the things that had to go last night, then got involved moving things around, putting things away, and taking some things off of a pile/stack because the layer below them was Tektronix things, and the layer below that, HP things. So, not so valuable to more valuable to most valuable in terms of taking them apart to sell the parts. 

I then set about taking one of the Tektronix things apart and that took the rest of the night. I went to bed and slept until 5 in the afternoon. At least I had all the things packed, except I packed two small things that had sold overnight and got out of here. I dropped the post office things off and made the mistake of putting the one FedEx thing, which wasn't that large, inside the plastic tub I generally carry on the bike trailer. 

The result of this was, I didn't notice it until I was halfway back here, and putting some things into the tub. Oops! I rode back over to FedEx and dropped it off, and got some chicken at H Mart which I ate sitting in front. I really stuffed myself on chicken which was a good thing because while I didn't realize it, I had a ton more to do this night. 

I rode back here and put things away,  and decided I'd be a good guy and get rid of this really large box full of yard waste that's been a feature around here for a while. So yeah, I was asking for trouble. I got it, too. I took the box of yard waste over by the bridge and when I lifted it off of the bike trailer the bottom fell out, leaving a big pile of rotten leaves on the trailer. So that needs washing off. 

Then, since traffic is so heavy I knew I'd have to ride up to the traffic light on Commercial, cross the street there, and then ride back, I had a loose dog, some kind of large pit bull mix, get interested in me. The dog started to follow me so I sped up, a lot, and seemed to lose the damned thing. But I wasn't going to ride back home that way so I had to make a big loop, Commercial to 4th to Gish to 1st to Brokaw to Zanker and back in here. 

I dropped off the trailer and re-configured to go out again, and rode back out to H Mart and locked the bike, and walked over to Sprouts for some vitamins and got a bunch of stuff at Ross. A pack of socks, a pack of two T-shirts and another T-shirt, an outer shirt, and I treated myself to a new wallet. 

By the time I was done in Ross (and of course there's always the extra bit of drama because the check-out lady didn't remove the security tag from the wallet and the security guy had to have the lady at the jewelry counter remove it) and had walked back over to H Mart, it was a few minutes to 10. Keep in mind that in San Jose, 10PM is the equivalent of 1AM anywhere else. 

The ride home was *very* quiet, because in this town, every night's a school night. 

At least now that big box of yard waste is gone, and what's nicer is the bums not only scrounged up the aluminum but the plastic case parts etc. from the big thing I'd taken apart, and dumped the scraps outside the door here. The plastic parts had brass inserts for screws so I guess it all goes into buying the day's crack. 

I need to lose weight and have been far too casual about eating sugar and carbs. So when I got back I took everything sugary and carb-y in the place and put it all in a Sprouts bag, and put that (heavy) bag into the seat of a wheelchair that for some reason someone had left by the dumpster, and wheeled it out to the other side of Old Bayshore and now someone else can eat all the sugar and carbs and use the wheelchair when their feet fall off haha. 

I've done this before; the really doctrinaire low-carb thing and even treating myself to sashimi pretty often, it's always turned out to be a quite affordable way to eat. 

 

Still no Swan Lake

 Dammit. In the USSR, which went through a quick succession of leaders as they kept dying of old age and decrepitude, when one would kick the bucket the people would turn on the TV or radio and they'd be playing Swan Lake. 

I keep waiting for Swan Lake here haha.

Meanwhile a very prominent female politician has screeched out online, "Death to all pedos" which means she's saying death to the President, who has been proven in a court of law to be a pedo. She's prominent enough that hers is a familiar name, so famous that I can't even think of her name now, that's how famous. I tried to find it on Reddit again and can't, but the threat is out there. 

I was able to pack one large order which I swear takes as long as if each thing in the order was packed individually. 

Ken has no idea of the hours I put in around here and if I were paid fairly I'd make $40k or $50k a year, huge, huge money for Silicon Valley where the vast majority of the population makes less than $20k a year and where I've been making just over $20k a year with no raises or adjustments for inflation, for 10+ years now. 

It's going to feel pretty damn good to, after keeping Ken convinced that I'm staying here, jump on a plane and get outta here in mid-September of next year. The call from the airport - ideally the Honolulu airport - will be fun. "Oh hey Ken, I won't be in. Ever again," haha. 

The last couple of nights have been quiet, since apparently the cops are really after someone or someones around here. There have been cars posted up, and taking off after anyone - probably pimps, ho's or johns - coming in here and seeing the cops cars and making quick exits. 

My dad bought 8 Datsun 240Z's

 I've been doing some thinking lately, and doing the math. One theory, that my older sister has, is that a friend of my father's, a John Bethune, somehow "took all his money". I don't know how that could have possibly happen and never heard even the slightest allusion to it from Dad. 

No, what ruined the family finances and threw the four youngest of us into deep poverty was my father's insistence on sending my older sister to Punahou School, the tuition to which cost about the same as if he's bought a couple of Datsun 240Z's a year. 

As it was, he did buy one Datsun 240Z, and man we had fun with that car. We'd jam 5 of us in there, and my father counted quite a few dips in Pupukea Homestead Road, the dippiest being "Dip Number 9" which we were sure to hit just right. 

That damn Punahou tuition cost at least as much as the house mortgage and probably more, and Dad got his wish. My older sis, who I ought to refer to as Hyacinth (anyone who's watched the British TV show "Keeping Up Appearances" will get the reference) went on to marry someone else who went to Punahou, and settled in to be a fat hausfrau who feeds feral cats. She was given absolutely everything, had a governess when she was little, went to the national spelling bee finals expenses be damned, and out of this, society has benefited by there being one more fat hausfrau who feeds feral cats. She was going to be a Great Writer and hasn't written a damned thing. 

Eric Blair ("George Orwell") knew he was going to be a writer also, the difference is, he actually wrote. 

I have no quarrel with Punahou School, as I'm convinced far more nice people come out of it than examples like Hyacinth. The carnival was always great fun, and I had tons of fun with the microscope I got at the "White Elephant" sale one year. 

What a stupid way to do things, though. We lost a very nice house on Portlock Road, where we knew tons of neighbors and were in the one good public school district on Oahu. We could have had one hell of a garden in the very large backyard, too, and I wish I'd known how to set one up, but I was just a kid. 

And example of how to do things right is, when I lived in Colorado, I rented a room from a Mrs. Sorensen, a widow whose husband had been an officer in the Air Force, and who had been a nurse. When I was sick I even passed the time by reading her old pre-antibiotics textbooks. Grim! But anyway she rented out rooms, and downstairs had one large room with a bunch of beds, so her sons could always come by and stay. They were all engineers or something. She and her husband had made sure they got good starts in life and even as adults they'd never be turned away. 

Ken's family, Polish Catholics, are the same way. None of 'em would leave any other of 'em in the lurch. So white people *can* do things right. 

I rant about this because I grew up in a Universe where most places would not hire me because of being white. And there's no rescue over the horizon, you're on your own. The best thing is to have some skill you can take anywhere. I was scared to try waiting tables because I was afraid I'd spill someone's food or screw up somehow, didn't have the money for barber college, and thought high tech was the way to go. 

High tech being the way to go has been partially true. Knowing how to buy and sell things is a very good skill, and knowing high tech things is good because there are tons of people out there who know antiques or books but few who know about high tech gadgets.  

I might have become a sign painter, and have done a few signs that are out there in the world. But, it requires having a lot of STUFF and a space to work in. Music, using an instrument that doesn't require amplification, so, one that predates electronics, is the way to go. Back in Hawaii you can hustle handicrafts in Waikiki but only if you're not white. Or Korean because the ruling group, Japanese, do *not* like Koreans. Music is OK though, for some reason. Nothing physical changes hands. And I guess a white person playing music has a certain novelty factor. 

Speaking of which, I got going earlier and didn't get to the Sunnyvale Whole Foods before 6, but I did start playing at 6:30. Again there were no problems playing in the underground parking structure, which I did again as the sidewalk was out in the wind and it was very windy. 

Again the Whole Foods employees buzzing around didn't seem to mind my music, I got compliments and smiles from the public, and besides getting the Whole Foods gift card which was in its own little tiny paper bag which is a cute gimmick they do, I had a couple of other interesting interactions. 

One was a very fat guy, who kind of hovered around, then told me the piece I'd been playing before the last couple reminded me of his dad. I said it was "El Solo Toro" by Herb Alpert and that my father liked him too. My father, I went on, had every Herb Alpert album that came out, and Alpert was the A in A&M Records, and had retired pretty much when A&M Records got into financial trouble so he came out of retirement and released a new piece, "Rise", that did so well it rescued A&M Records, and my dad bought that album too. 

The other was a couple of high school age kids, real sit-a-the-back-of-the-classroom types, who came up and asked me if I knew any "Stockton Rap". I said I know Stockton, and I know rap, but I don't know what Stockton Rap is, sorry. "Just play something" they said, by which they meant play something cool, if I could manage to. I played "Funkytown" which I'd not practiced but it came out pretty well and they were happy. That's a good, fun, song to be able to play so I need to work on it more.  

I played until 8:00 so it was an hour and a half, and felt a bit slow compared to yesterday but I made $31 and a $50 Whole Foods gift card so, $81. My only spending was bus fare, a bit under $5 for two Whole Foods brand beef sticks, and a bit under $4 for a yogurt drink from Baraka Market on the way to the bus stop. 

When I got back to "my" Whole Foods I picked out a bunch of things that I buy anyway or was planning to buy, and spent up the gift card plus had to put in a dollar and change of my own, in other words it worked out perfectly.  

I rode home the shorter way along Hedding, because the street was all blocked off by the police going the other way, and when I got back I had a look at Reddit and yep, a couple of people had been shot around San Pedro Square. I'm surprised it took this long for the bullets to start flying. It's not an event in the US if no one gets shot. 

 

Interesting last couple of days

 Wednesday night, after Ken left, the police found some reason to come in with about 4 cars and stage some kind of bust in or next door to the illegal night club. 

Thursday night, no cops came around and the illegal night club had a bangin' night. I called the cops of course, but they never came. There was even a pretty serious fight in the parking lot on my side, and I was hoping it would get serious as in knives or guns would come out and solve the problem but no such luck. 

Last night, being Friday night, there was a cop stationed at the entrance and no problems, except one kind of humorous thing. A small van came in my side, realized the fence was closed so turned around, but the cop at the entrance used his search light to check them out, and as the van turned around and hurried out, another cop came in and blocked him and they were talked to/checked out for a while. Other than that no problems. 

I have the numbers for Zonging, Vice, and the number to report illegal casinos all written down, but I keep being too busy during the day to call them and spend, I figure, a half hour or more on the phone. Maybe I should write letters. But then, the cops seem to  be pretty interested in the nest of crime that the building the illegal night club is in, is. 

Yesterday being Friday, I deposited my pay check and the one before hadn't bounce, yay. I had to do a quick out and back to do that and then came back here to load up FedEx packages and take them to FedEx. 

Today I was up around 3 in the afternoon, had some breakfast and did some things, and didn't feel too enthusiastic about busking but that was the plan. I left here at a quarter to 6. 

I went to Whole Foods the shorter way, along Hedding, and parked the bike. No Feet was there, doing his thing (begging) and the lovely (???) Stella was just leaving after apparently hanging out with him, now off on bum business. 

No Feet kind of said Hi, and I said he hadn't recognized me the other day. He said his eyesight isn't great, and I understood (the guy *does* have a carefully cultivated case of advanced diabetes, after all). I said my own eyesight isn't great and I'm planning to just get a state ID because I haven't driven a car since 2012 and haven't had or wanted to. 

I went in and got two store brand beef sticks and then waited at the bus stop and not for long because a bus came in a minute or so. Then it was just the bumpy ride to Sunnyvale. I got off at the Sunnyvale Road stop and went into Walgreens and got some standard notebook filler paper which I'm using a quite a lot of these days.  So that's another thing taken care of, because Walmart only has the college ruled kind. 

I walked up to Whole Foods and ugh, there was some kind of street festival going on and not over on Murphy Street but much nearer, in the new park it seemed. Well, I decided, I'd taken all the trouble to get here, I'll set up and play a bit. 

I set up at the Whole Foods doorway that faces the parking structure, and started in. And, it seemed pretty decent. The loud band and announcer did their thing but because I was around the corner people could hear me also. I'd started playing at 7:20 so I figured I'd play until 8:20. 

At around 8:00 a nice Whole Foods employee guy came up and told me I can't play where I am, because it's private, but I *can* play on the sidewalk (which means moving maybe 10 feet but where the loud band would be much more competition) or, surprisingly to me, that I could play in the parking structure itself, which is public. I said I'll try that, that I'm only going to play until 8:20 anyway, and I'll try it, and thanks. 

I went down there and set up next to someone's sport bike in the motorcycle parking area and wow is it ever different. It puts the Resonating Tunnel in Mountain View to shame. I have to play much more softly, so much so that it was actually harder at first until I adjusted to it. It's like a damn concert hall in there. 

And, the public seems to like it quite a bit. The tips started coming in much more frequently. A lovely Indian lady asked if I have Zelle, and I said I didn't, but that they do cash-back inside. So she went off, coming back several minutes later and informing me that cash-back doesn't work with a credit card. Hm! I said. I only use debit, good to know. She asked if I'll be there tomorrow and I said that I'm planning to, because it's been really windy and this is a place I can play out of the wind. So I need to try to be there around 6 tomorrow, the time she mentioned. 

It was now 8:20 so I played my sign-off and packed up. I did a quick count up and I'd made $67. Haha 6-7 as the kids say for some reason. 

Now, if I'm going to be consistent with the simulation, that I'm really broke, I can't take the train back because it costs much more than the bus. So I walked back to the bus stop, waited a bit, and a #522 came along which, being a Limited, made for a quicker ride. 

Pretty soon I was back at my "home" Whole Foods, and bought some macadamia nuts, using up the $7 in dollar coins I'd been given in Walgreens, and some $1's. It was now 9:30 and the place was closing up. In this town, every night's a school night. So I didn't buy anything else, and ended up riding back here. 

This new location, in the motorcycle parking area inside the parking structure, really has me intrigued. It's out of the wind of course, also I don't have to worry about the sun being in my eyes. Also even if it's raining I'd be dry, and the tips might be even better if it's raining. The people at Whole Foods seem fine with it, as the young guy who told me undoubtedly checked with a manager before telling me about it, or it may have been a manger who told him what to say. And the public seems like like my playing pretty well. The acoustics of the place are such that I have to make sure not to play too loudly, perhaps like a soloist in a concert hall does, not having to be heard over an open, noisy, space. This means I can work on more pieces that I might not be able to pull off while trying to be loud also. 

I want to play inside that parking structure all I can, so see how it sits with everyone. In the same way that Leroy always played at Johnny Rockets, I might make something like a career out of playing there. I've recently done the math and taxes, well, not taxes, most of it, but the money I have to send to the IRS amounts to about $70 a week. So my sort-of-goal of making $100 a weekend by busking is a sensible one. 

If/when I have to bail from here, having a place like that to play and make really decent money is a nice thing to have up my sleeve. If for some reason I can't, or decide not to, move back to Hawaii it's a really nice thing to have up my sleeve. That would have to be a case of Can't though, because this area is so much more expensive, so backward, and so indifferent to music compared to back home. 

 

Wednesday got paid

 I took my usual load to the post office, got a couple of things in H Mart, picked up some packing stuff, the usual routine. 

At least I did some practice before going to bed last night. 

Ken actually came by his usual time and I got my check, dated for Friday. So on Friday I can deposit it and then take the bus over to Sunnyvale and get some busking in. It's supposed to be really windy this weekend and the Sunnyvale Whole Foods has one entrance that's protected from the wind. 

Some of the stuff I'd put out last night ... the bum who takes scrap metal actually took some of the stuff *back* so after coming back and unloading the packing stuff I'd gathered, I loaded the stuff up and, the load being very heavy, did this sort of slow-motion ride to the bridge, where I left it for other scroungers I guess. And the double rack I'd pushed out near the street was finally gone, too. 

 

The good shop towels

 I was up at 3:30, not so good if I wanted to be out of here at 4. I washed my hair and cleaned up, and got going. I had things all packed etc., so it wasn't too hard. 

I dropped off things at the post office, then deposited my check in the bank and their math and my math agreed to the penny, yay. 

Then I took the one FedEx package to the FedEx down the street from Whole Foods and dropped it off, and doubled back to Whole Foods where I got chicken wings and broccoli, and a near-beer upstairs. 

The World Cup seems to be a continuous thing, and there were vendors just outside San Pedro Square, and a huge crowd in there. I saw they had what looked like vuvuzuelas, but they seem to have an electronic noisemaker built into the end you'd blow into, boo. I was going to get one as long as it was a traditional one. 

I rode down to Walmart and got fizzy lemon-lime for Ken, and other odds and ends. But I guess the highlight of the day was that I went to the hardware store just down from Whole Foods and they have the real "shop towels", the light blue ones that I can use one of, for drying my hands and face, all week and then use it to clean the toilet on Ken-Coming-Over night, and toss it. So one lasts a week. The ones I got last were from O'Reilley Auto Parts and a darker blue and really lousy. I'd been putting far too much thought into how and where to get the original ones and whether they're still made, and it turns out to be as simple as just going to the hardware store. 

It was nice having all my packages dropped off so I didn't have the hurry at Walmart, or on the ride home. 

Back here, I relaxed a bit and then got going getting rid of some stuff, the main thing being to take a big double equipment rack I'd even put a "FREE" sign on, and put onto Craig's List, and pushing it out onto the side of Old Bayshore so people driving past will see it. Some metal scrounger will likely take it. 

I also got a lot of other things out and this one bum who I think is camped nearby, took a lot of the things and I got out some sturdy boxes for him to put them in, and hopefully in the morning all the stuff will be gone as it's all small stuff, easy to take the the metal recycling place. 

So that's done. I've been pushing whatever may be the limits as far as getting rid of things around here and so far I haven't been criticized for it. That double rack was just in the way, it's not made by a well known company, and it had been modified. So, difficult to sell and actually, apparently, not that easy to give away. At least it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be to push it out to the main road. 

I also practiced before going to bed last night, so that's good.