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. 

 

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 

 

 

A decent busking Friday

 Last night besides photo'ing and listing stuff, I gave myself a haircut and got things ready for an early (for me) day. 

I woke up at 3 in the afternoon because I'd set my alarm clock for that time. I had time to have breakfast and clean up and put on fresh clothes, and left here a few minutes after 4. 

I dropped off donations and packages, and got over to the bank and deposited my pay check. The numbers agree and it's looking like it won't be long before I'm back up to 10 grand which is nice. Hopefully when I leave here I'll have twice that. 

I went over to the Amazon place and got a whopping one bubble mailer, then went over to Whole Foods where I got a few more. I also got two beef sticks and a can of fizzy water I ended up not drinking. 

I put $10 on my clipper card and went out to wait for the bus, which came in about 15 minutes. The whole point here is that I didn't dilly dally around, yet after leaving here at 4, I was at Whole Foods in Sunnyvale ready to start busking at 6:30 so it's really an hour and half each way. 

This is like living in Kahuku, and only being able to busk at the Koko Kai Center in Hawaii Kai. Or living in Hawaii Kai and only being able to busk at the Kahuku Sugar Mill shops. You can't go further on the island of Oahu without hopping on a plane. 

Whereas, walking from anywhere I plan to rent a room, to Waikiki to busk is about the same distance as walking from my shop here to the nearest light rail station.  

I started in, and it seemed to go slowly but this is for practice as much as anything else, so I did my best and entertained some little kids a lot which the parents appreciated (but none of them tipped) and got through it. 

It turns out I made $65 which is pretty decent for an hour and half. Most of that was made in the first hour. It would seem to be better to start there at 6, but I'm not sure how easy it will be. 

When I was done and had counted up, I walked right over to Baraka Market and got a yogurt drink and drank that at the bus stop. A collection of characters gradually built up and then the bus came and the characters gradually decreased. I got off right across from my home Whole Foods and it was 9:30. I got some things there and rode right back here and it's almost 11 as I write. So again it's a bit of a commute. 

I could not exactly settle in and just busk at my home Whole Foods as there was a booth there with some scam, with the usual kids in vests calling out to everyone passing by, plus a methed-out "lady" with a wheelchair and a huge collection of junk in bags and boxes and just piled around here, and the standard sign, "HUNGRY HOMELESS ANYTHING HELPS GOD BLESS". Plus it was quite windy.  

The underground parking there in Sunnyvale could become a lifetime gig, kind of like how Leroy kind of owned the spot in front of Johnny Rockets, when Johnny Rockets was a thing. 

And from here it's only 5 hours a day commuting.  Let's say I can busk for 2 hours a day, that makes 7 hours a day of work, for let's say $50 a day. That would put me at a penny under the federal minimum wage of $7.15 an hour. In other words, I'd be living on what most people make in this area. 

Pedonald is ruining gold for me

 "TSA Gold Plus" wtf is that going to be? The guy just spray-paints gold on everything, uses it in every name for a thing his syphilis-addled brain can come up with. 

I mean, I always liked the color of silver more, and for instance the ancient Vikings preferred silver, but I can abide the warm color of gold given how valuable the stuff is, it's being corrosion-proof, etc. But  I swear Pedonald has just made it piss-colored for me haha. 

I practiced last night, determined, even though I'd stayed up right to 7AM, to get my practice in. And I'm glad I did because I played markedly better than the practice session before. Regular practice is the only way. 

I was up in time to pack three large things, two just plain large and one an order of 10 things all in one box. And got going to FedEx just before 7. 

There's a homeless guy who's kind of parked at this one bench in front of H Mart. It's not right in front, but kind of between H Mart and FedEx and the guy's clean-cut and surprisingly, Asian. So today I got talking with him and ... apparently in every aspect of his life, he's been foiled by "criminals" who have caused him to lose his job, cause the food bank people to hate him, caused him to lose his place to live, and for all I know if his balls are itchy, that's them too. 

He didn't want anything from inside the store although I offered. He went on about not being able to charge his phone, so I had him go with me to where my bike is parked, where I showed him two of those things with a spring-loaded door, each one containing 2 outlets. 

Then it's a matter of a cable, and he showed me his phone and yep it's got a USB-C connector so I said I'll look through my cables and see what I can find for him, no problem because I keep an assortment of them around. 

All I'd bought in H Mart was a bundle of cilantro and an iced black coffee, so my daily spend for this day was pretty low. I headed back here, put things away, and headed back out with the trailer. 

The trash can I'd put the "FREE" sign on, that was out in front of the exotic food place, was still there. In fact as I rode up, a guy/gal couple was just finished looking at the trash that was in it. It was time to be responsible and get it out of there.  I rigged up a sort of hobo bike trailer + trash can thing by leaning it way over, and zip tying it to the back end of my trailer. Then I pedaled this cumbersome setup to the bridge, and left the can there. With the "FREE" sign still on it. 

When I got back in here, I looked through my cables and stuff and found one of those little cube-shaped chargers with a  USB-C cable on it that I can give to the homeless guy so he can charge his phone. And another genuine Apple one for me. 

I might decide to go back to the "Apple ecosystem" once I'm back home.  

I packed what has to go out tomorrow, and had just made dinner and was on the toilet when I thought I heard a knock on the door. I took a peek through the mail slot and it was Ken. He had several more boxes of stuff to sort out and list, and a package that had bounced back from a buyer in Miami ($100 for some little O-rings) and I tried sending it back to him and Ebay won't let me edit the address. And Ebay showed it as delivered. So I just refunded the guy and re-listed the things and told the guy it might be best if someone he knows and trusts can buy them for him, and make sure they have a good address. 

In 13 months Ken's going to find out how much work this business is!