Friday before the 4th and it might as well be the 13th

 I was up around the usual time, 3:30 in the afternoon. I got things packed, and took off the usual time, but FedEx had closed early so I had to take that box back home. I didn't find much for packing materials, and just got back quick because I'd bought a lobster at 99 Ranch and was looking forward to making a lobster soup. 

I set about getting the meat out of the lobster and it was weird, the whole tail was just mush! The claws were the only part that had some actual meat. I looked online for why a lobster might be like this, and the answer is that it would have been left dead before cooking for an extended length of time, or frozen and thawed repeated times. And the sell-by date seemed to indicate that this was a fresh one, as it said it could be sold until the 8th. Yikes! 

I re-configured the bike to go back out for two reasons. First, the Quiksilver shorts I got at Ross are a pure win, and while I can find them online I can't be sure they're the exact ones, plus they're about double the price even on sale. The rule as Ross is, if you see something and want more of that thing, better get right on top of it. So I went back over to Ross and did indeed find another pair of the shorts, but in a 40 waist! I'll have to look in Ross in Sunnyvale... 

I settled for getting some socks pretty much like the ones I didn't buy last night. 

I went back over to H Mart and looked around and finally decided to just get some chicken that's 2 for 1 after 7PM. And some celery. I was going to use up some change doing this, but the guy said, "No cash, we're closing" so I used my card. 

I came home and ate the chicken and celery, and put the bones along with the lobster meat which I didn't feel like taking a chance on my health with, out for the birds. 

I did my usual thing, got 20 things ready to list, took the photos, and was going to list 10 of them anyway, tonight, and my photos started showing up just as black boxes. I got out a brand new memory card for my camera, took all the photos again, and still - just black boxes. 

So I guess I can continue listing and hope the customers understand that they're not allowed to actually see what the things look like, maybe link them to a blog page and they can go look *there* like it's 1996, or I can get Ken to set me up with a computer that works, or I can get out my newer laptop that uses the (blecch!!!) Microsoft browser and try to get Firefox installed on it or just get used to the Microsoft browser which will make me hate computers even more, if that's possible. 

This is why I hate Ebay and computers with every fiber of my being. 

I think my plan's a solid one; to hang in here until mid-September of 2027 because then I'll turn 65 and all kinds of magical things will happen. Like half-price bus fare, I can "audit" college classes for nearly free, and most importantly I'll start getting Medicare. 

The question is whether this business of Ken's, or Ken himself, will fall apart first. When Ken was over on Wednesday night his car sounded even more like an old jalopy and made a weird sound when he pulled up like something was dragging when he turned. And Ken was wearing some kind of belt plus back brace setup, so that when it came time for him to inject his two full syringes of insulin, he injected in his leg instead of his stomach as usual because "it's so much hassle to take all this stuff off". 

The thing is, I may have to "skedaddle" really quickly. This area being heinously expensive compared to Hawaii, and my having one "nest egg", one shot, to move on, I need to make that move count. 

Living here, working non-stop, never having any friends, never seeing the ocean again, just does not appeal to me. Paying at least a third more than I'd pay to live back home in Hawaii makes the prospect even worse.  

If I have to move out of here fast and I take the cop-out of finding a place here, I'll end up stuck here. 

I'd really like to put more busking in this blog. There are maybe 3 busking blogs on the entire planet and this awful thing is 1/3 of them. There's "Street Musician Daniel" which you can find by doing *just* the right Google search, then knowing to click on the title of the page because Google will feed you a post that's over 2 years old. Clicking on the title will get you the latest post. 

There's Marvin Naylor's blog, which takes being even more obsessive. First you have to search Google for "Marvin Naylor Busking Blog" then click on "Start Here" which will get you to his first post, well over a decade ago and maybe closer to two. From there you have to really snoop around, the Archives are most useful because you can at least read things from this year. 

Marvin's blog is the best, though, because not having a job or a crack pipe to distract him, he's out busking really often and even gets gigs occasionally, playing at weddings and things. He talks about the characters he runs into, or who run into him, in his busking sessions and there's where he's a real stand-out, I think because of being in the UK. The UK has this "walking culture" that the US doesn't have, and he actually has "regulars" who know him by name. I've never experienced this in the US, not even before the pandemic and at times I was out busking 3-4 days a week. 

I mean, I guess I can think of two "regulars" one, who I think of as "The Paperclip Bandit" is an old, I think Irani or Indian guy, who's never said a word, and drops off a couple of dollars held together by a paper clip. I think he gives his little gift to whoever is around, so it's not that I'm playing music but rather that I'm merely there. And one of the checkers in Whole Foods, Kenny, is always curious how I've done when I come inside Whole Foods after a busking session.  

I could busk for 200 years and I'd never have "regulars" like Marvin Naylor does, because that's not how US culture works. You're not here to make friends. 

 

Planning for the weekend coming up

 I think tomorrow might be a day off for the post office? And banks? I'll have to ask at the post office today. 

In any case, I've got about $14 in change (and I don't save pennies any more) so zero money worries. 

I packed things and took off the usual time, took things to the post office and FedEx, found a bunch of other the counter medications and stuff at the EMT training place to donate and things like off-brand Bactine that keeps me from having to buy the real stuff at Walmart. 

I got back here, offloaded, and took my receipt and the socks I'd bought last night, which were too large, and returned them. I found some other socks I liked but they're marked "one size" and I decided I'll hold off until next week and maybe the next re-stock will have the ones I really want. 

What I *did* find was a couple of pairs of shorts and I know those are good because I got to try them on. That was simple; the dressing rooms in back have a sign saying they're closed, and that there are dressing rooms up front. The ones up front have a sign saying they're closed, and to try the ones in the back. Everyone just ignores the signs and uses the ones in front. 

I put the shorts on my card because good ones are worth it I think, and came back and cooked up a "low carb" dinner. It was tasty, too. Just greens and some roast pork on top. 

 

 

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.