Observatories

 I'm gonna write this down first. On reddit there's a post about "Fremont Peak Observatories" which I suppose is an observatory complex on .... Fremont Peak. 

Or ... one observatory at least  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Peak_Observatory

And about the programs to, you know, go up there and see the stars and stuff. Cool. 

Except there's pretty much a 0.000000000000000001% chance of my EVER being able to do something like that. According to quantum "tunneling" theory, there's a chance I could run at a brick wall and pass through unharmed. It's on that order. 

But back home in Hawaii, well, ya wanna see stars? Tell a moke you like beef hahah OK joking aside, just take DaBus out to anywhere good and dark, Hawaii Kai is nice, and just look up at 'em. Plus the University of Hawaii has at least some sort of observatory on campus, plus there will be local hobby astronomers holding "star parties" which, Hawaii being how it is, won't require you to own a car to get to, for good viewing. 

All kinds of things work this way back home as opposed to here. Wanna take a college class? Just walk over to the damn college and sign up. Everything's a walk or what would be a very short bus ride here.  

I can't even imagine how much money + time + vehicular support it would take to go collecting seashells or snorkeling or *gasp* surfing here. 

OK rant over. Yesterday and last night I was so tired I didn't feel like doing much of anything. So I engaged in a good "put brain in neutral" activity, taking stuff apart while listening to videos on YouTube. Now have have tons more parts to sell, and 3 annoying plain-Jane bulky gadgets off the shelves. 

I *did* watch a video by a Japanese guy who plays and teaches trumpet, "4 octaves easy" or something, and according to him, it's not a matter of tightening the "corners" of the mouth almost like a smile, but concentrating on the air coming out of the little hole you make in the center of the lips, and with no more or less pressure, just making the hole larger or smaller, you can make lower or higher notes. He did several demonstrations and it's pretty impressive, given he said his age was 76. 

This, if it works, would be in line with Allen Vizzutti and his premium on relaxation, and Claude Gordon's on "it's just air flow, don't pay attention to the lip". 

I woke up around 1 this afternoon because the guys next door parked one of their trucks right outside my door but at least they were noisy about it. So I made up two "DON'T PARK HERE" signs to put under the windshield wipers and made sure they saw me writing down the license number, and it was moved pretty quick. I don't get it; they have the whole parking lot and yeah it was about half full but that's it, it was half full. 

Since I was up I got to work packing 15 things for one buyer in one box, and of course 3-4 of the things had disappeared into thin air, so refunds were in order. But I got the package sent off and at least in theory Ken made a bit of money on this. 

 

Taking the weekend off

 Last night I was up all night not only packing a 20-item order, but finding a few other things, plus I put the boxes of stuff I'd listed but not put away yet, away. I was far too tired to practice. Especially since I also gave myself a haircut and got all cleaned up so when I woke up I'd not have to worry about that. 

I woke up and it was kind of nice, just having to worry about breakfast and packing a couple more things, then I was outta here. 

I dropped off the 4-5 small things I had packed at the post office downtown, deposited my check at the bank and their numbers and my numbers agree so that's great. 

I went over to Whole Foods and bought some nuts and got $100 cash back since I'm not busking this weekend. Then I rode down to Walmart and spent about $50, on useful things. 

Then I headed back to Nijiya and got some salmon sashimi because I was feeling pretty hungry, and at that at the one table they have out front. Next was just riding home, dropping things off and loading up the trailer with the big box, and the plastic tub I use, which on this trip carried a bag of trash. I dropped both off at FedEx (the trash in the can out front, of course). 

Due to having had the sashimi, I just got some routine things inside H Mart, although  I did get one of their $3 iced coffees and a $5 "dubai" chocolate er, "chocolate" bar. Sometimes I just feel like some waxy chocolate sort of stuff.

So that was $8 on those two treats alone, but money's worth so little now it doesn't even seem like much. Back in the silver money era, that might have been 35c, although at present silver prices that would be almost twice as much, $15. 

The lady at the checkout had handed me a package of some kind of milk dinner or breakfast buns, "I give to you!" which was nice, and I took them along, but I had no plant to eat them. I tried giving them to a homeless guy who was relaxing in front of Dave's Chicken but he didn't want 'em. 

After finding packing stuff along my usual route,  I passed a bus stop on Brokaw that seems to have an older Black person permanently camped there. I'd left stuff there the other night and that stuff was gone now, so I just leaned the buns against the bus stop sign and took off. 

I got back here and am all done, whew! Also, last night I'd found a sort of climbing harness that I thought I might put on Ebay but it looked like one of the rivets holding it together had been repaired and I wasn't sure about selling it in that condition, so I'd left it out front here. And now it's gone so that's convenient. 

 

I may not busk this weekend

 All that packing and working with those heavy parts and the 4 bike rides hauling them up to FedEx trying to make good time getting them there, really wore me out. 

Ken came by last night, we talked, he brought me a burger because a good American will always make sure a fellow American never goes without eating beef daily, etc. I got my pay check, dated for Friday. 

I went to bed pretty soon (about 2 hours) after Ken left. I slept a good bit, woke up about noon, then went back to sleep and had a weird dream about setting up another shop in Texas of all places, not some "hip" place like Austin, but some small town that's a part of Houston? Asking someone in the dream, it was part of the Houston complex. There were two big used book stores on the same street, a classical guitar studio, some nondescript businesses on either side of the building I was to make my new "home" etc. 

I think the point of the dream was that just about anywhere else would have more "culture" than San Jose, California.

The dream was quite realistic, I went to pee and could not (thank goodness!) and I thought about the $500 or so I was spending on the hotel I was at while  I was spending all my time at the new place, and I was going to explore the neighborhood for restaurants as I was getting hungry and regardless of it being dark, I was hungry for some breakfast. Then I woke up, haha. 

Wow I'm really sore and have to pack some multi-item packages. 

Oh, and the small-hats are up to their usual tricks, this latest being a faked attempted airplane hijacking or downing, funny how it's timed to theoretically boost support for "Trumpstein". 

The thing is, I woke up really sore and want to stay caught up on shipping, and I have not only not practiced the last couple of days but even I'm getting tired of the stuff I've been playing and want to work on some new pieces. So I dunno if I'll get out busking at all this weekend. 

It's funny, Ken makes a bunch of money (I see the Ebay messages and he just got a bit under 4 grand into his bank account) and I get sore, miss out on a weekend's busking so that's $150-$200 loss. 

And when I told Ken about this big deal that made him so much money and how it might solve some money problems for him, he just said "It will" and really didn't show much enthusiasm, forget about appreciation for my work. 

Lighting out of here on my birthday next year is going to feel SO good!  

I took one large box (a $200 sale) with 4 transformer cores in it to FedEx, and the rest of the stuff to the post office. I didn't need anything at 99 Ranch so I just went back to H Mart. I'm still really tired and was open to something easy to digest for dinner. I checked on the sushi situation since after 7, according to a sign that was up, it's 1/2 price. If there was another "Alaska roll" I was going to get it. There wasn't, and the sign was gone. 

I just got some coffee they have on sale, and was going to get a can of sugar-free Red Bull, one of the large cans, thinking I'll drink half and maybe save half for later. As I passed the milk, the can leapt out of my hand, rolled along the floor ahead of me, and wedged itself under the cooler. I cussed good and loud of course, and went back but that was the last large can of sugar-free Red Bull. They have a dedicated Red Bull cooler with a bunch of different flavors, but that the large cans of sugar-free were down to one, tells me that's the best deal and least obnoxious flavor. So I just got the coffee. 

I found a good load of packing stuff on the way back, and got the 2nd of the large Akro-Bin type bins from the dumpster outside Trackonomy. I'm getting to like them, not least because unlike the other hot rod shops, they apparently keep it on the track, hence their name. There are no screeching tires, revving engines, and such nonsense around their place. 

Oh, and it's funny, Ken called on the phone because he tried to log into Ebay but couldn't because Ebay can't handle the concept that a company might consist of more than one person, and that more than one person might be checking the account. He was wondering where this big amount of money was... 

I said I'd gotten the message that he has about $3800 coming to his bank, and said that when Ebay pitches a fit, I often just go away for a while and then come back and everything's fine. 

So a bit afterward he called back and said he'd been able to get in, and has $3700 coming, but it may take 1-3 days. I said he might have to wait over the weekend. The more you need it, the longer you have to wait for your $3600 dolls but the $3500 is sure to show up on Monday, or certainly by Tuesday the $3400 will land in his bank account .... it's just simple Ebay finances! 

Ebay - you'll never work harder for $3. 

 

 

 

 

Biggest order ever

 I was up all night, into 8AM, packing 8 boxes that were all one order. Ken was making about 5 grand, after shipping, shipping overage refund, taxes, Ebay fees, etc., on it. It's the biggest order I've ever handled and it might be Ken's biggest too. 

So after a very arduous night packing the things, I considered taking them to FedEx - it would take 4 trips - in the morning because once the early commuter rush is over, it's pretty relaxed. But that seemed to me like the thinking of a pilot with "get there itis" and decided I needed some sleep. 

My headache was kicking my ass and I could not sleep, and eventually got up and swallowed some aspirin with some coffee and once that kicked in, was able to sleep. 

I woke up at 4 and got out of here at 5. That was a real workout, as if getting the things out of the warehouse area and cleaning them, testing them, packing them, etc. hadn't been. 

On the last trip I was able to relax a bit as I found myself ahead of schedule by a comfortable amount. I delivered the last two boxes to FedEx, then went to H Mart where I got some "Alaska Roll" sushi for half price since it was after 7, and a cucumber. I had cold coffee with me. 

I sat in front and had my sushi and coffee, then followed my usual route to look for packing stuff and other goodies. I found a bit of each. I'm too tired right now to sort through the goodies, haha. 

I might go right to bed and get more sleep as soon as Ken's gone this evening, assuming he shows up, which he's been pretty good about lately. 

Practice? What's that? This is why I'm looking forward so much to getting the hell out of here. 

I *did* watch some videos last night about "lip trills" which are like lip slurs but ... faster. Like when you want to show off and go from a low note, "breeeet!" up to a high one. For extra points just as fast back down. It turns out those are a good practice tool, so I will have to work on them. 

 

 

Practicing practice, practically speaking

 After doing stuff (packing) last night I got a practice session in. 

I remember years ago when I started a practice session, when I was fresh I could play high notes and then once I got a little tired, they were gone and not coming back. 

Now, yes I can often play mad high notes when I'm fresh but often I'm having trouble with high notes and keep at it and I get better at them as the practice session continues. I think this is a sign of increasing endurance, built up over years, of muscles that are not normally consciously controlled or coordinated in the ways they are in trumpet playing. 

And often I'll have a practice session that kind of goes like shit, but I keep it up and get a good session in, and then the next one I'm playing well. 

It's going to be very different when I'm home and trumpet playing, along with receiving my Social Security check, will be my main job. 

I packed the small things that had sold overnight, because I have 16 big things, all alike, all to send to one buyer, and I wanted all the small stuff out of the way. Tonight will be spent getting 16 of the things together, testing and cleaning them, then determining if I'm going to ship them two or three to a box, and packing them to go to FedEx tomorrow. It will take at least 3 trips to get them all over there to FedEx I think. 

I took off with my small things, and on Zanker Road got passed by a velomobile! It was really cool. There's no way I could have caught up with it to get a closer look, but I hope the guy's having a great time and stays safe because needless to say, it's very low to the ground and while he has a couple of blinking red lights on the back on the tallest part, some of the drivers of those big stupid trucks can't even see normal sedans. The velomobile headed North to what I call "Dilbertville", the part of this town with actual tech companies, manicured lawns, etc. 

Basically, in San Jose, North of Brokaw Road is where the tech companies are, and South of it is where most of the city is, and where "innovation" means having a bar next door to a metal recycling place so the bums can drink up the money they worked hard for all night, right away. 

When I got to FedEx, I saw, in the way of strange vehicles, one of those new Tesla cabs. It looks just as dumb as the photos show, all gold and I'm surprised the tires aren't painted gold too. I didn't see if anyone got out or got in, as I was intent on my FedEx business and also on helping a guy who had a wide load of packages and it took me and another guy to hold both doors open for him. When I came out the thing was gone. 

 

 

"The kind of cars Americans want to buy"

 I woke up at 3 and first mistake: turning on the radio. It turns out Pedonald is dictating that care mileage standards go back a decade or three, to theoretically lower the price of "the kind of cars Americans want to buy". 

Well, Americans want to buy the biggest, ugliest, street tanks they can get their hands on and damn the mileage. On the radio they talked through how the theoretical $1300 cheaper price will be offset by the cost of fuel over the lifetime of the car, but since Americans think short-term only, that won't matter. 

Plus, it's not just the kind of cars Americans want to buy, but the kind of cars the manufacturers want to sell, and that means adding a shit-ton of idiotic features almost no one wants, that are non-negotiable. They'll plump up the price and the actually useful ones will be by subscription anyway. 

It also shifts the balance toward gasoline-powered cars as opposed to electric cars. So the pedo-in-chief's best butt buddy, fElon Muskrat, is getting the same treatment anyone gets who thinks the old pedo is their friend.

The $7500 tax rebate for buying an electric car, almost always a Tesla, goes away. As I'm out riding around, surrounded by Teslas, I've been reasoning to myself that they're a rational decision and that I'd probably drive one too if I were a tech worker for a company that lets me charge up for free, and who got paid $7500 to buy the thing. 

This all makes sense looking through the lens of Conservative idiocy. Global warming, becoming more and more evident, is considered a belief system or myth. Private industry is considered to be the ultimate guardian of truth. 

The real truth is, the free world, the non-American world, is putting in more public transit, electric bikes from China are taking more cars off the road than anything these days, and civilized countries like China are working on getting away from gasoline vehicles altogether.  

I got 10 small things packed so, no need for the trailer. I'll sure need it tomorrow. I got over to the post office, did some shopping in 99 Ranch, then headed over to H Mart where I had some boiled peanuts and iced coffee  I brought from home. 

Then I started on my "finding stuff" route on the way back here. I found a few neat little boxes behind the gym, and at one point a guy pulled up in a Tesla.  I thought maybe it was to hassle me for some busybody reason or another, but it turned out the guy was throwing something into the big dumpsters in the enclosure (that I never mess with). I was curious what he was throwing out, and as conversation, I said, "What're you throwing out? Bodies?. 

The guy came back with "I wish!". 

I laughed it off but wow. You have to be at least a little bit of a psychopath to buy a Tesla and still drive it these days. But really? He wishes he was tossing away bodies? Like, maybe he's always aspired to be a serial killer but just never got up the guts to go through with it? 

 

$70 Sunday

 I got to the Sunnyvale Whole Foods a little bit earlier this time, and it not only felt slow, it was slow. Maybe it's the time of the month vs. when people get paid, or the cooler weather or something. 

I played a bit out on the sidewalk, then moved down into the parking garage for about 1/2 hour, then went back up onto the sidewalk when Whole Foods turned on their outdoor lights. I think people were having trouble seeing me. 

I'm also thinking that I might change to playing on Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday. I think it will pay better, plus that will leave Sunday to pack the orders that come in over the weekend and be ready to ship them out on Monday. 

I really tried my best and tried to "mean" each song, and in the end I only made $1 less than yesterday which I'm taking as a victory because it's still above the $40 an hour that seems to be kind of normal.