I felt like hell yesterday while packing a ton of packages, but interestingly, once it was late at night, I seemed to calm down. Ebay sales are good and there were about 25 packages to pack, which is quite a lot as it's not just small things but some larger ones too. I want to maintain a M-W-F shipping schedule.
I didn't sleep that well last night (lots of weird dreams) but it was better than last night. I'd had 125ml at bedtime and a very little, like a capful, a couple of times during the day when I felt too shaky.
I was up at about 3, and decided, after coffee etc. to do my grocery run first because being earlier means a better chance of getting eggs, and doing the package run later means more chance of there being a box of goodies left behind the lab commerce place.
I was right, too. There were eggs at H Mart, and they had the beef I like to buy, albeit in a 5-1/2 lb package. It was only $6-something a lb, so even if I toss half of it out in the form of gristle and bones, it'll be the same price as Nijiya's beef, but have far better flavor. And this was here, now, to be bought. The eggs I got are "happy eggs" which have a really dark yolk and are supposed to be all kinds of healthy, but to me what mattered was they're not too small and the package was the most durable. That gives the best chance of not losing any on the trip home. I got a bunch of other things too, coming to $67-odd and I had $60 in cash so of course there was the big pain in the ass of going to their customer service register to pay because it's the only one that works with my card. And I'd cleaned it before leaving too.
It was seriously hot outside, so I'd worn a short-sleeved shirt and put on some sunscreen so I'd not get a burn before my skin tans. I'd not used that sunscreen for something like 5 years, maybe longer, but I was glad I had it stored away. I also picked up some house slippers, Korean style, for $4 to paddle around on in the shop here. Maybe the Crocs I ordered won't fit, and they're another week off I think. These are less than 3 oz. each; I'd weighed one because I was amazed how light they are.
I got right back to the shop and put things away and had a sort of Israeli-style meal of a can of black olives, cucumber slices, and pickles. They're seriously into veggies, which cost about 1/3 what they do here. It's a nice way to eat when it's hot, and to be properly Israeli there'd be some boiled eggs, and maybe a bit of hummus.
Now it was 5, and time to take off with the packages. I got up to the P.O. fine and there was far less traffic at 5PM than at 3PM, where in a normal economy it's more crazy at 5. People must be shortening their hours.
On the ride up to the P.O., I pondered something. While in line at H Mart to pay, I'd noticed they had these big food service type cans of corned beef hash. Maybe not Mary Kitchen quality, but the kind you get when you go to a mom-n-pop breakfast place of the old style where the waitress calls you "Hun".
It was $8-odd for a 3-kg can. I decided I wanted the four I'd seen. So did I risk losing the bike, trailer, or both by leaving my rig unlocked outside, or do I make a special trip? After dropping off my packages I asked if the security guard would watch my bike and he said he sure would. He likes me. It's a matter of how the tribes work. The security guy's an old Hispanic dude, and we'd talked about this 'n' that from time to time. I'm not Hispanic but being tan, can pass as a very Americanized Hispanic but a Hispanic all the same. And I know a little Spanish, and have a real soft spot for old guys like this, so hell yeah he'll watch my bike.
I went in and got my 4 cans, paid cash, and they fit fine in the "Banker's Box" I had sitting in the bike trailer. H Mart has 3 more which I may get, or someone else may get. That's why I wanted to get 'em today. I came back by my usual route, picking up a few boxes and things for packing, but no goodies left behind the lab place today - it is Monday after all.
And no bum contact - yay. There was one chance of it, where I was going to come into the complex off of Old Bayshore, and saw bum activity by the side of the building so I turned quickly, went down Queen's Lane, and in by the front. There was a bum in front working on the wheels of one of their shitty bum-minivans but he was intent on his grinding and sparks and I was able to ride by.
I got in, cooked up some beef and eggs, did a bit of Ebay stuff, and got a good practice session in. So I guess I am feeling better. Crazy Chrissie and her latest boyfriend were outside yelling at each other but it's probably no secret I'm in here these days, after all, where's the metal scrap I put out coming from? I'm pretty sure there's a guy living in in the Mr. Softee place and one living in the unit on the end which is/was some kind of machine shop.
Trumpet teacher Claude Gordon is right in that "it's no harder than deep breathing" in reality it seems to be a coordinated use of muscles you're not used to using in coordination along with some you're not used to using at all. And it can't be forced. There are great similarities with target shooting. That can't be forced either, and the only way to get good at it is to do it a lot.
After trumpet practice I listed some things on Ebay, watched some stuff on YouTube, and "played with my food" by which I mean, sliced a package of bacon into 8 servings, a package of hot dogs into 4, and the big package of beef ribs I'd bought into 9-1/2 servings. The beef still worked out to costing more than the ready-to-go stuff from Nijiya and it was a lot of work. All of these servings went into the freezer and I'm considering getting the laboratory freezer Ken got some somewhere, out of the warehouse part of the shop and set it up so my little fridge/freezer sits on top of it, and then I can get some of these really good deals on things like lamb shank from Whole Foods, but you have to buy the whole shank at one time. Costco is like that too - great deals on meat but you have to buy quite a bit at one time. Of course using the lab freezer would make the electric bill higher, but I'd tell Ken he could store stuff in it too since his freezer at his house is always full.
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