$49 Saturday

 I got out of here a bit later today. 4:30 instead of 4. 

But, if I took the shortest route, by way of Hedding, cut across a tiny part of the Bellermine campus, then right over to Whole Foods, that might help. And it did. I got over there, bought my two beef sticks and did a visit to the loo, and walked over to the bus stop by the SAP Center. The #22 and the #522 came at the same time, and a bum at the stop went for the #22 and I hopped on the #522. 

There's a difference; bums go for the longest ride while some of us are actually trying to get somewhere. And I did, in fact, I was at the Sunnyvale Whole Foods 15 minutes earlier than I was yesterday. Insight No. 1: Get the #522 bus when possible, it makes a real difference. 

Since I had a bit of time I checked their olive situation and it's the same as at my home Whole Foods so I didn't get any there. 

I set up down in the parking garage and it was really meh. It was not very busy, and I started to feel kind of abandoned down there. 

So I went up onto the sidewalk and while there was wind, and a lot of people just walking on by, I got more tips and more interactions, and all in all it was better. I may have done well in the parking structure, but Insight No. 2 is that I might well have done even better out on the sidewalk. 

Although the parking structure is good to know about in case of rain, excessive wind or noise, or if someone else is already set up on the sidewalk. 

When I was done I went to Baraka Market for my yogurt drink and a package of olives, and the guy greeted me, so I'm a regular now.  I'd made $49 and was glad to spend some of the many $1's I always end up with. 

The bus back was the regular old #22 so it was slower but still got me back to my home Whole Foods pretty fast, and I spent a whole $2, the $2 bill someone had given me, on some broccoli. 

 

$82 Friday

 I listed 20 things on Ebay last night, and when I was finally done I practiced, and it went really well. There's nothing like regular practice. 

I finally got to sleep and woke up at 3 in the afternoon thanks to my alarm clock. I got my stuff together and took off, dropping off trash and then some packages at the downtown post office. 

I was going to get my usual beef sticks at Whole Foods to eat on the bus, but hey, here was some beef jerky on sale that adds up to the same price, let's try that. 

On the bus I read the label and saw that the whole package (rather small; it wasn't a huge one so normally a person would eat the whole package) has 24 grams of carbs because here in the Land Of The Free, everything but everything has sugar in it to help us keep our trademark American physiques. 

Well, I ate it anyway, but I'll have to be more careful. 

I played at the Sunnyvale Whole Foods from 6:30 to 8:00 and although it felt slow-ish, I had some nice interactions with people. One guy wanted to film me and I said that's fine, as there are cameras all over the place here anyway, what's one more. He wanted to know my name and my back story and basically was one of these people who will donate a dollar (or nothing at all) and want to be talked to an entertained for half an hour, keeping everyone else from donating because you're busy talking to the pest. So I remembered I "had to" practice my pedal tones, which sound awful. A bit of that and he was off. 

And a delightful family, father, mother, and two kids, the kids and mom staying out by me while the father shopped, and wanted to know about my instrument, and about music stores, and I told them about West Valley Music for winds and Heaney Strings for violins, and even though as far as I can tell they only put in a dollar or two, it was nice. 

I even worked out that "Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door" song which has some weird lyrics but is a nice tune. I worked a bit on "Sunny Side Of The Street" too, but it turns out to have a ton of range, and will take more practice to sound good. 

In the end I counted up and had made $82, which is pretty nice for an hour and a half. 

It seemed to be getting dark earlier than I'd gotten used to as I walked to Baraka Market for my yogurt drink, and over to the bus stop. The next bus was a #522 so the ride back to my "home" Whole Foods was quick. It was still a bit past 9 and the employees were moving plant displays in and in other ways getting ready to close at 10 on the dot. 

I had a can of black coffee and some seltzer water since I'd been starting to fall asleep on the bus, and it was pretty dead there. And slightly cold, and windy.  

Here it is Thursday

 When I got up yesterday I tried something; I made my coffee with some Guittard cocoa powder but left out the Frima creamer. I thought this would make it tongue-curlingly bitter, but it turns out that the taste isn't much different at all. 

This means the Frima's outta here because while it's the best powdered creamer I've found, it's a weird processed substance that I'm not sure is actually food. 

I did my post office and FedEx thing, blah blah. Sales are very slow so there was not much to ship. 

I got back here and had the place all cleaned up when Ken came over. We talked as usual and I got my check, to cash on Friday which is tomorrow. 

Somehow Ken's got the money to go gallivanting off to England and Scotland for the next couple weeks. Worried about expenses and then this, it doesn't compute. 

But then, his wife is the opposite of him about money and she got at something close to half a mil when her sister died, and she was a travel agent at one point. She might be financing these trips they take. So off they go and I hope they have a great time.  

When Ken was gone, it was time to strike. And by strike I mean, drag out a huge piece of fiberglass, something like 4X8 feet and super heavy, out of here. It's something one of the homeless scumbags had given him when we were barely moved in, and all it's been good for is blocking the way to things. I put it out and some old centrifuges we can't give away and some other junk. 

Then I picked out an HP unit to take apart that I hoped had plenty of circuit boards with gold plated traces and I made a good choice. The one I grabbed had the paint flaking off of the front for some reason, and tons of gold plated boards. So that was overnight; taking that thing apart. 

Then I did a pretty productive practice session. If I can get to play the same range I had on a 3C trumpet mouthpiece, with my deep-V cornet mouthpiece, then if I pick up a trumpet again with a 3C, I might just be a real barn-burner. And once I'm back home, I might well pick up a trumpet or three, since my moves will be all done with and I'll be where I'll be. My life's dream back there will be if the Royal Hawaiian Band needs a 4th trumpet. 

I've realized that there's no need to feel guilty about skipping out on Ken in mid-September next year, because the guys on both sides of us will take over the lease in a heartbeat. 

I got out of here with various donations to drop off, a bag of clothes and household stuff I left in front of Goodwill, and a bag of foodstuffs I left at the base of the Little Free Library in Japantown. I also got a couple of hard-boiled eggs and a bottle of tea at Nijiya, and ate out front, as I had a big Walmart shopping trip planned. 

I went to the Amazon place and got a nice load of bubble mailers which is nice, and then realized I didn't pack the bike lock; the bike bags still had bungee cords from my last shipping trip. Which means I could not go much of anywhere, other than perhaps to Nijiya again,  so that's where I went, where I got some cold grilled mackerel and some eggs, and came back here. 

I've forgotten the bike lock before, so this is not a new thing. But I've used the one chance I have to go to Walmart that I have per week or so, and I'll have to be more careful for my one shot at it next week. This is why I keep stocked up on things. 

 

Tuesday because Monday isn't even worth mentioning.

 It's the usual, listing things on Ebay, packing and shipping Ebay things ..

I'm still thinking about the idea of being very aware of how exactly my lips are placed on the mouthpiece and how they tend to drift out of position, especially with my cheap greasy Blistex lip balm. I've looked all over and can't find the "Chop Saver" Craig at West Valley Music swears by. 

This means I'll have to go back there and buy another tube of it, so the first one, which he gave me, will re-appear. It might be worth it though. 

I went by H Mart to buy broccoli and ground beef and stuff, and the homeless guy was there with his huge bags on the bench. He got and and walked toward me, but sort of walking/looking past me like a zombie. I called out, "You still want the charger?" and he said something like, "No; already got one!" and that was that. No thanks for making the effort etc. 

The other day he'd given back some goodies (free samples from H Mart which are often pretty good things and these were) I'd given him. 

So ... OK. I left the charger on top of one of his bags as I passed, and went on with my day. 

 

 

Some progress

 Not in weight loss, as I'm still where I was last week. At least I didn't gain. 

Money-wise, yeah it's great I went out and busked. I bought a bunch of stuff so I'm left with $77 or so in my wallet, but all I need for the week is "cilantro money" in other words, money for small daily things. 

But in the trumpet playing itself, I feel like I've learned something new. I believe that for a long time, I'd just play and wasn't paying that much attention to the position of my lips on the mouthpiece or how that position would drift. Hence eventually sounding a bit like a duck near the end of a busking session. 

Now I'm suddenly aware of how the position is drifting, and re-positioning is a huge help. Maybe this is why Craig at West Valley Music is so fond of "Chop Saver" as opposed to the cheap lip balm I use. 

 Unfortunately, I can't find the tube of "Chop Saver" he gave me, and will have to go back there to West Valley Music to buy another, to be able to find the first one.  

$25 Sunday

 I played at the Alameda Whole Foods from 7:30 to 9:00 and made $25. It makes sense given we're in a Depression. 

I came home and started to use my super sharp veggie peeler to peel a piece of daikon radish and nailed my right index finger which makes it hard to type. The peeler and the radish went right into the trash. 

I'll eat something else for dinner.  Cheese and olives.

I think I should have started at 6, because once it was 9, things got dead and the workers started putting things away. 9 in this town is like midnight anywhere else.  

A slightly more decent busking Saturday

 I was up early enough but didn't get out of here until almost 4:30. I went over to the Alameda Whole Foods by the quickest route, over the hill on Hedding and cutting through part of the Bellermine campus. I bought my two beef sticks and got right over to the bus stop, and waited while two #522 buses went by, with plenty of time before the first one for me to have walked up to the other bus stop where the #522 stops. 

I still got to  the Sunnyvale Whole Foods in time to get started at just a bit after 6:30 so I took that as my starting time and played until just before 8. 

It felt slower than yesterday, but when all was said and done, I'd made $94, $10 of it in the form of a Whole Foods gift card. 

I also got to talk to the guy whose motorcycle is there, and he's not irritated with me or anything, and I think I set his mind at ease about any worries that I might even actually touch his bike. So that's cool. One he had left  with his bike, I was able to set up where the bike was, essentially, instead of some distance in front of it and in an odd position because of this.  

Someone had lost a little bag with a bunch of cheapo earrings inside, probably something for a craft project, and it was lying on the parking lot there and I didn't remember it being there when I'd started so when I was done I turned it into the customer service desk there in Whole Foods. 

Then I walked out to Baraka Market where I got my yogurt drink and then to the bus stop where I drank it and pretty soon a #522 bus came so the ride home was surprisingly quick. I still didn't get back here until almost 10:30