Making up my mind

 Last night I made my mind up about the flutes; I'm keeping the Yamaha in its Yamaha case, which fits in my Fjallraven backpack just fine. In the time I've had the backpack sitting upstairs in the loft, it's collected a nice patina of dust, making it look suitably "humble". 

Fjallravens are not waterproof, and one is supposed to apply special Fjallraven wax to it and hit it with a heat gun, but I can just genuine 3M waterproofing stuff at Lowe's, or if needed I can just carry a large plastic bag with me to put over the backpack if I'm caught in rain. This is much more of a concern back in Hawaii where it rains a lot, but unless I end up homeless, I don't plan to carry the thing around. 

Last night I got 20 things camera-ready, because the Ebay business must go on. I also tossed some things out and each day I'm going to de-list and discard one thing that's a real loser. 

Today I went out to dispose of trash and buy things and the usual futzing around. On my way back (I hadn't realized how late it was; it was 8:00 by then) I stopped to check out a new shawarma truck that's set up across the street from here.

I'd checked them out online some days ago, so I had a general idea of the food and the prices. I decided to go with a beef shawarma salad, and the gal said they were out of rice. I said that's OK, just substitute in a pita. OK! I paid, and it was something like $18, so I handed her a $20 and she didn't have change so I said don't worry about it (I was going to say to keep the change anyway). 

While waiting, I ended up talking with a couple of Turkish guys, about various things. One useful thing that came up was, one of the guys, an engineer, wants to try an Apple computer. I said to go to Fix Laptop or just about any computer repair place, and if they get a desktop instead of a laptop, they'll get a lot more capability for a lot less money. 

We also got talking about where we're from, and they're both Turkish, although the darker guy joked about the lighter guy being Bosnian or something and I said Yeah, he could be Bosnian. Then the "Bosnian" joked about the darker guy being Indian and that was a big laugh. But no, they're both Turkish... I said OK what am I? They said I look "Baltic" and I said that's funny because on my mother's side they were all Lithuanian, but actually Lithuanian Tatars. That got me fist bumps because for some reason Tatars are considered "Turkic" as much as Central Asian, maybe more so, although being Turkic has more to do with language groups then genetics. The warm weather has me tanned up a bit early this year. 

So of course some joking Judenhass happened, and that was a good time also. Eventually my order was done, which was odd because the guys were there first. But the gal insisted it was for me, and handed me a heavy bag. OK then, See you guys, have a good weekend! And rode off with the bag hanging off the handlebar and back to here, and I seemed to have gotten a full dinner. A huge portion of beef, on ... rice! And hummus, 2 pitas, parsley salad. 

I ate the good parts and one of the pitas, and now the birds will have rice and pita bread in the morning when they discover the plate left out here. And I have to wonder, did the gal screw up and then have straighten things out when one of the guys got the salad I'd ordered, or did she hear our Judenhass joking and decide this deserves a full meal, and cook one up for me instead of the salad? In any case the food was really good. 

But getting back to the computer advice I gave the engineer guy. I, too, could just get an Apple desktop if I want to go to the Apple ecosystem, or a PC desktop, instead of a laptop because honestly the only reason I use a laptop now is that originally I had to pack up my 'puter and take it to and from Ken's house once a week, and when I list things on Ebay I have to set this laptop aside to clear the desktop to put the things on to photograph them. But once I'm back in Hawaii I either won't be selling on Ebay or if I am, I can arrange some other place to photograph things since I'll be dealing in very small things like seashells, jewelry, trinkets of various types. Nothing big. And that means I can just go to a used computer place and get a desktop. 

 

 

"Oh, shit"

 I woke up around 2 or 2;30. I decided to get out of here quickly and get over to the music store to look for a flute case. 

I have two flutes; a Yamaha that's not great, kind of rattly compared to new, but plays, and also had a ding on the lip plate that doesn't affect playing but would make any flutist cringe. And a Bundy that's got a wonderful glow to it, looks playable (haven't tested it) no dings, but comes with an horrible big clunky case. The Yamaha has a nice sleep Yamaha case. 

I want to keep one flute and one case. If the Bundy plays OK I frankly prefer it to the Yamaha because it looks so nice, and is perfect to be "my old high school flute". So ideally I want another case, keep the Yamaha with the Yamaha case, the new/used case would be for the Bundy, and the ugly Bundy case would go in the trash. 

The music store closes at 4:30 so I really wanted to get a move on. I left here around 3 I think, got over to the bank and deposited my pay check; the IRS has cashed my check so this, with my pay check deposited, puts me at just about exactly 5 grand. 

Then I rode over to the music store. This all sounds easy but in fact there were tons of detours and road work and stuff, so it was all a bit of an ordeal. 

I got to the music store and the guy has two types of flute cases, a generic case for $50 which he swears is new but the latches are corroded, and a "French style" which is probably about $100 and is sleeker, having no handle. 

My phone rang and it was Ken. Did I deposit my check, he wanted to know. I said sure, just did a half-hour ago. "Oh shit!" said Ken. I said that the words Oh and Shit are not words I like to hear in connection with banking. His work hasn't paid him, and he thinks he can move some money around so my check will clear but also the landlord isn't being paid their $1000.49 which is becoming the hill Ken, or this business anyway, is heading to die on. 

I decided to wait on the case; It'll always be here the music store guy said, and I rode off, back towards downtown. It was about 4:00 now and I thought, I still have time to go over to the bank but is un-depositing a check even a thing? And I should not have to. 

I went over to Whole Foods and got some meatloaf, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a beer. I hung out and talked with some guys some, and ate my food, and tried to think a bit less. 

Pretty soon I was done, went downstairs and bought more stuff, and as I did with the food, got cash back so that my total withdrawal from my bank was $200. That's my allowance for the week. It's a pretty good idea; spend half and save half. On an income of $20k, it means saving $10k, except for the $3k going to the IRS so call it $7k. Still a pretty good savings rate, about a third of my income. 

But now I don't know. Ken's got all the good intentions in the world. I could sell some stuff around here that's too big or awkward to ship on Craig's List and count that towards my pay and can limp along that way for a while. 

From what Ken told me, he's got too much credit card debt and he's trying to get that consolidated. The guy at my bank told me, again, that they can offer a credit card with somewhere around a year interest free, to Ken or for that matter, to me. It appears everything's not done by mail any more, and payment is done online, somehow. There's even auto-pay. 

But it makes no sense to get a credit card with a bank I won't be with much longer. I like to think I've got a 4 months here left at least because our present lease runs out on August 31, I might not even have that much time. 

 I need to sell off a lot of things. I plan to travel as lightly as possible going back home. There are no winter and summer clothes back home, just ... clothes. I have a Fjallraven backpack that I guess will do for a carry-on bag holding the flute, important papers, phone and charger, a good book for the plane ride, etc., and then I need to get a larger thing for a checked bag that will hold the cornet in its case, the cornet gig bag, clothes, etc. 

I plan Moving Day as, taking everything that's mine that I don't want to leave to Ken to deal with so pretty much everything, put in the parking lot and putting a free ad on Craig's List, Come And Get It. Stick my bags on the bike trailer and ride to the #60 Airport Flyer bus stop, leave the bike trailer etc., there with a big FREE sign on it, hop on the bus, and off to good old Alaska Airlines' terminal. 

 

Genetically delicious

 Ken came by last night and I remembered to clean the office and not just the bathroom. We talked about a bunch of stuff, and I got my check, dated for yesterday but due to his dodgy finances he wants me to deposit it on Friday, tomorrow. Will do. 

After he was gone I dunno, I did stuff, took an ancient and rather huge laptop apart that I'd found, complete with a huge leather bag and a bunch of accessories. It had been in the rain so I just parted it out. It took hours but hey, I got some parts to sell. 

Ken had also brought a lot of vintage-ish computer stuff mainly still in the boxes so I have that stuff to list, plus all the parts from the last big thing I took apart. 

Even though it was Wednesday night, the illegal night club tried making a big night of it. At least that fence being closed does keep most of the noise away from here. 

I went to sleep I dunno when, and woke up around 2 in the afternoon. I found all the things that had to go out except for one little circuit board with gold "fingers" on it ao, since I think the buyer's buying a lot of this stuff for the gold, I put 1 oz. of gold scrap in a little bag and substituted that - plus if the little board shows up I'll toss it in that buyer's next order. 

I took off maybe 15 minutes earlier than usual, dropped the things off at FedEx and the post office, and rode up to Dai Thanh, looked around and didn't buy anything, then got a 6-pack of Lagunitas IPA in bottles from Clyde's Liquors next door. Their prices aren't bad, about on a par with U-Save. 

I got T.P. at 99 Ranch and I don't think I'll be doing that any more because for a while there they had a really good price on it and now it's about the same price as it is in H Mart, which is to say wayy too high. I'll just get it from Walmart from here on out. 

I found some nice packing boxes, and stopped by Tom's to say hi because I saw him outside. I wish I could get him into busking. For one thing he might be a much better trumpet player than I've become at least so far. He was in Wind Band and everything. Secondly he works too hard for his side money, selling lumber and tile that he scrounges up which sounds fine but on a per-hour basis it's lousy and he's always getting scratched up. Tom gave me one of those huge candy bars they sell in places like Whole Foods and Sprouts, I guess in return for all the stuff I'm always giving him. 

I got back in here and put things away and since the welding place put out their trash can and there was plenty of room, put the huge leather laptop case in (the scavengers had taken everything else) and some stuff the neighbors left, and in general did my bit toward neatening things up around here. 

Then I made a dish I'd been thinking of trying, it's making MAMA green curry ramen with a whole bundle of cilantro in it. There's actually a web page called IHateCilantro.com and it turns out that depending which geme you have, cilantro either tastes OK or is awful, like soap. So I can't recommend this dish to just anyone but to me, it was delicious. One of the best bowls of ramen I've ever made. Yum! 

I haven't been practicing because I haven't felt like it. But I'm thinking that when I feel like it again and get back out there, I might try coming up with a list of songs I've never played before. 

 

 

Zingers!

 Last night I took a large thing apart to have more neat parts to sell on Ebay. The thing's big and shipping would be a killer. But now people can just buy the parts they need to fix theirs... 

Naturally while taking the big beastie apart, I listened to podcasts, and I forget the YouTube channel, but one was really good. It made it pretty obvious that "Israel" is betting on the US being stupid enough to put troops on the ground in Lebanon to conquer it for the small hats. That would be insanely stupid, but we as a country voted in Our Most Zionist President(tm) twice, so it's a pretty good bet.  

I woke up around 2:30 and on the radio they were talking about how a British ambassador came over to visit and was talking with some British students, mentioning that the only "special relationship" (that the US claims to have with the UK) is between the US and Israel, and why are the Epstein class not being investigated, prosecuted, lose their jobs, etc. 

It's because we're under a ZOG, or Zionist Occupation Government, and we're just barely starting to develop the concept of an immune response, Mr. British Sir and meanwhile thanks for the zingers! 

 

 

Friendly fire

 This is such a clown show ... it appears that this latest false-flag operation by Mango Mussolini wasn't even pulled off that well, as in, the supposed perp was running in a mad dash, running too fast really to bring any kind of a weapon, if he actually had any, to bear, and the Secret Service agent who was shot, was shot by one of their own. 

The picture the guy's going to be known by, is him shirtless on the floor. But they're saying he was, or the Secret Service guys made him, naked? How do you hide any sort of gun naked?  

People are looking at these things. People are looking for all the details. People are Noticing. 

I woke up around 2:30 or so. There was really only one little thing that had to go out today, so I packed it and cleaned up and fielded a lot of Ebay offers and so on, and got out of here at the usual time. I headed downtown and stopped at Nijiya for a can of coffee and a package of two Hokkaido boiled eggs which I ate at a bench in the shade on the sidewalk there. A guy buzzed up on an electric bike so we talked electric bikes for a bit. 

I dropped the package off at the post office then headed down to the Wal. I got a bunch of things, got bubble mailers from the Amazon place, and even remembered to stop at the O'Reilley's near here for some shop towels which I was just about out of. 

Today's freebee: A Canadian quarter out of the CoinStar, which turned out to be nickel-plated steel, yep, it's magnetic. It'll be a cool thing to show Ken when he's over. 

I'll also have to talk with him about that pesky $1004.95. At this point I'd offer to pay it if he pays me back, but I also don't know if he's capable of paying me back. 

I'd really better be ready to jet out of here at the end of August. Even today I looked at the water filter cartridges at Walmart and thought, "Wait, if I'm leaving in 4 months I don't need another water filter cartridge". 

 

 

Working like a menehune

 Last night, something like 11PM, I got my lazy ass out there and using Goof-Off which is really strong solvent, scrubbed the over-spray off of my parking lot painting job. Finally. 

Everything had to line up right. A time when it's not raining or too cold, when there's no one else around, and when the light's decent. So, it wasn't happening because good light = daytime, and that's when there are people around. 

So I got out this headlamp we have here, and did my work using that. Some guy was working on or in his car some distance away, and I did my thing, and we both got our tasks done. I do my best work when there's no one around. 

This is how the menehune worked back in Hawaii. If you needed a wall built (they were master stone workers) you set out a feast and the materials, and left them the hell alone. Come morning, the feast would be eaten and the wall built. 

I think it's going to be scientifically proven that the menehune were real people, and that they were the first humans in Hawaii. The waves of colonization went like this: Menehune - Marquesans - Tahitians (the Alii) - haoles ("those who have iron", Caucasians) - then everyone else, come one, come all. Right now it's a mix of whites and Asians who run the place, with Asians at least even with the whites if not ascendant. The final wave, the way world events are going, will be the Chinese owning and running things. If they bring back Yick Lung it'll be worth it. 

Yesterday, while foraging for shipping supplies, I found a pristine white "cloth" ABC Stores bag. Yep I took that buggah! And on my ride home, I saw a mango seed in the gutter. How strange to see that here on the mainland; it's a common sight in Hawaii at least on the leeward side. Ahh, Yick Lung pickled mango seed ... 

I was up last night finding two hard-to-find circuit boards to complete a big order, and taking a couple of things apart to have parts to list. So I was up until 7AM again.  I threw the scrap out front for the scavengers, and went to bed.

I woke up at 2:30. The landlord is still bugging us for the $1004.95 we owe them. I don't blame them if they're miffed. I don't get it, I'm keeping the numbers good and we're doing as well as we ever have. 

I'm tired of this grind and keep telling myself I need to just do it one more year and a third. I haven't been practicing due to worrying whether I'll have to clear out in three months. 

What'll it be like, being back home? I suppose hotel life will be nice, a good hot shower every day and all that. Money will go fast, so I'll probably get a storage unit, a small one, in case I end up "urban camping". But I'm going to try to round up a place to stay ahead of time, if I can. 

At least I have music! This is the one thing; I see this over and over on r/homeless on Reddit, that people end up homeless and they have nothing special that they do. No skills, no interests even. I think I've mentioned that it's about $400 to join the American Federation of Musicians, and after that about $160 a year I think. I'm wondering if I should join up because then upon moving to Hawaii I'd just change to the "local" that's there; from the San Francisco "local". 

At least I finally don't give a shit what my older sister, who will never let anyone not know she went to Punahou (elite prep school Obama went to), thinks. She ... is a very tiring person. She comes up with the most inane shit to say, and thinks she's smart when we says idiotic things like "We're not a democracy, we're a republic". Anyone can Google for 5 minutes and find out the truth on that, that a democracy is one type of a republic, and get a decent idea of how our governance works, but that's too much work for someone who went to Punahou and thus never need to think again. 

Her care about me follows a 1:1 pattern with how much money I have, appear to have, or looks like I might have. Thus, when I was out on my own as a young adult and very poor, I pretty much didn't exist. I only started to exist when I was taking college classes and on the electrical engineering track. Electrical engineering was considered the sure track to big money in the 80s. Her interest in me has gone up and down according to my finances, and since losing everything in the crash of '08 there's been no interest at all. 

She's lonely and needy and very tiring to be around. For more on this see r/BoomersBeingFools or r/RaisedByNarcissists haha. If I had to sit through another lunch at the Nordstrom's cafe listening to her agonize over whether to buy this or that $400 purse or ponder over how it'd go if she divorced her husband, I'd scream. She ought to be (of course she is!) proud of herself, she's the pure distilled essence of Boomer. 

It's not like we'll cross paths anyway. She hates beaches, and anything working-class. I took her to a sandwich shop that might have been a bit working-class and she was terrified. I won't run into her out picking shells, or fishing on a reef, or busking in Waikiki. 

I took my daily load to the post office and FedEx, and the day's freebee was a package of special "Year Of The Horse" grapes which I gave to Tom, who gave me a bunch of bubble wrap. 

I got back in here and photo'd 20 things, listed 10, and called it a night.  

Peaceful weekends?

 The gate between the halves of the parking lot, dividing our building from the problem building where the illegal night club and who knows what else is going on, remains closed. The result is a few confused pimps and ho's and the odd john, driving in, in the case of the ho's not wanting to walk around the end of the fence because mud and high heels don't go well together, and leaving. 

Plus, last night and the night before, there have been one or more police cars stationing themselves at the Rogers Avenue entrance, and on Friday night they did the standard roust 'em out routine. 

I can't think of what's changed. Persistence on my part, plus I'd started to mention that although the two buildings look alike, they're owned by two different entities. Our landlord is a good one, the other building being owned by an absentee landlord who allows all kinds of things to go on. Plus the unit on the Rogers Avenue end is hinky as hell as I've mentioned. 

So I've not had to call to complain once the gate has been closed, but the police are on top of things anyway. So they seem to be on a "clean up Rogers Avenue" regime, since a while back they'd mentioned they were cleaning out an illegal casino up the street. 

I packed a ton of things last night and got more together to pack.  

Oh yeah, and Our Most Zionist President(tm) did another one of his annoying false-flag things yesterday. Which means more of his wheedling voice on the radio. Funniest part was where they were rushing him to safety (after they'd rushed Fat Face out of there first) and he fell down because walking is hard. 

Anything to distract from the Epstein files, anything. That and the 2nd holocaust the small hats are doing with glee. 

Up until far too recently I really wondered why everyone over here, on the other side of the planet, was talking about "Israel" all the time. Finally "the penny dropped" as the Brits say. Everyone's talking about "Israel" all the time because the Zionists have an overwhelming influence on our lives. Everything from whether we have universal health care like they do (obviously we don't) to whether our fighting-age people will be sent off to die for the Zios, etc. 

Another thing that happened last night was The Squilla Incident. I'd seen frozen mantis shrimp/squilla in H Mart forever, and last night they had a package that was only about $12 (it's by weight) and decided to go for it. 

Big mistake. I tried shelling them raw, and that was a no-go. Plus there's a big dirty vein in them. So I boiled the tails and tried, again no go. There's hardly any meat in there and it's all pretty firmly attached to the shell. 

I ended up throwing them away and cooking something else for dinner. 

I think the people buying squilla are buying them for bait, or maybe some insane nostalgia thing. 

Anyway I packed this big order of a ton of circuit boards, did all the refunds, and took that and a CRT I'd packed that I felt very fortunate to have found a good box for, and took them to FedEx, went into H Mart for a few things and to use the loo, then tried the popcorn chicken at the new Ube boba and snacks place.

It was a bit of a wait to use the kiosk, then a bit of a wait for the food, but those nuggets were REALLY good. More like a meal than a snack. And who knew fresh basil is just what chicken nuggets need? I think I'll try the fried baby octopus next. 

Around back of H Mart I got today's freebee, which was 14 little packets of "Chocolate Pie" cookies, two per pack, some Year Of The Horse 2026 special grapes, and a bag of Chinese dates. I dropped off the grapes and dates at Tom's place. 

But first I went to Sprouts and got, or tried to find, my 6-pack of sour little bottles of Guinness because their price is about the best. I also wanted a 6-pack of Lagunitas in cans, which they didn't have, so I tried out "Fort Point" which is pretty good it turns out. I also talked a bit with the manager, who was stocking the beer section. 

As I headed to the checkout, I realized I had the wrong Guinness. It wasn't the original kind, it was this other newer kind. I went back and put it back, and got talking with the manager again; he's a friendly guy. I explained how the stuff I'd got is the same in the tall cans, and what I hoped to find is what I call the "sour little bottles", the original extra stout. He said he can check in back and see if he has it, "It won't be cold...." "Hey, this is British* beer we're talking about here" I said, and he went in back and came out with the right stuff. I was very thankful, and he said he felt good to make someone happy.  

(*Actually Irish beer, but the joke doesn't work that way.) 

I did my extra diligent search for packing stuff and came back with a good load of boxes and some filler. I even checked the dumpster at a new place, Jazz Imaging, and got some good stuff there and neatened their trash enclosure up a bit.