I woke up at 3. Sure enough, I'd gotten a phone call that despite my phone both making a (not very loud admittedly) ring and vibrating, and being under my pillow, I'd slept right through. It was FedEx, apparently, wanting to schedule a pickup.
The holiday having kind of messed up my "class" schedule, this being a packing day and not a shipping day, but that package to China had to go out, and also I decided to pack an oscilloscope made in Tektronix's glory days when they built things by the pound. The box was 36 inches long and weighed 50 lbs.
I put these things on the bike trailer and took off at 4:45. Traffic's back to some extent, and the ride up to FedEx was uneventful. I dropped the boxes off and decided that since I have an empty bike trailer, need paper towels, and had seen those really big packs of them at Lowe's, I'd try taking my bike + trailer right in, toss one of those big packs on the trailer, boogie on back to the contractor's checkout which I always use, and be out of there with my prize before anyone has a chance to say boo about a bike and trailer being in there.
And it went fine, except the contractor's checkout closes at 2:30, another weird "wartime" early-bird thing. I got in line at a checkout that's not self-checkout, was told I'd cut the line, apologized profusely, and got into the back of the line. It was next to where the towels were stacked so I put another pack on the trailer. The place was very busy, I think because over the holiday people had come up with all sorts of lawn and garden plans, and were there to get the stuff they needed.
So I've spent all but about $9 of my pay check this week.
I didn't find much for packing materials on the way home, nor dumpster veggies. I did find two slices of pizza,that if I were a pizza-eater I could re-head and eat with no harm, but I avoid pizza so I put them out for the crows, who were starting to zero in as I left. I found a couple of neat bright yellow microfiber cloths too. It looked like a place had used two to wipe something down then two to get the final dust off before shooting some paint, and had tossed the final-dusting ones out along with the first-pass one.
I actually have 40 things to pack, and I feel far less stressed about it than before, because this is a packing day, and all I am allowed to think about is packing. I will not allow myself to think about listing, because that's tomorrow, as it's one of my M-W-F "classes".
I rolled up the roll-up door to cool the place down, and was putting things away when I bum I see around here zooming through on his bike, zoomed by, close. I didn't think much of it, but he circled around and was asking me for 50c, or a bike seat, or "something that will only take 30 seconds". I didn't say a thing, just rolled down the roll-up door really quickly (I'm glad I've experimented with how fast I can move the thing) and closed the latch on the side I was on, then rushed to the office and shut the office door and put my metal shelf up against the mail slot which I do so random bums can't see in.
The bum was yelling about how I'd better "watch my step" and that he was going to be looking for me in the morning (joke's on him, I'm never out in the morning) and then poured the contents of his piss-bottle into the mail slot. That was .... disgusting but it's the threats that are the most worrisome.
I called 911 and while I was waiting for the cops wrote an email to the landlord so he knows there are bums around here pouring piss into mail slots, then the cops came by and we had a good long talk, and then they went off to see if they could find the guy, and I wrote an email to Ken telling him the scoop.
Cleaning up bum piss is disgusting, but it sure beats not cleaning up bum piss... I got that all cleaned up, then relaxed a bit and then realized I really only had until the ice cream trucks stop making noise, to practice. So I got part of a practice in, but really, I played a lot yesterday. The Taps, jamming with my guitar playing friend, the hour and a half in the park... so a little part of a practice is OK.
But all this time I had time to think. When I'd first moved to this area, to the old building, I'd had a few run-ins with a bum who matches this one as far as race, build, appearance, and behavior (banging on building walls, threats). Those times I'd called the cops too. There have been no run-ins for at least five years, but it looks like he's at large again. In a way it's a relief, because he's a known quantity. I kept a gun handy to shoot him then, and I've got one handy to shoot him with now. I think the guy's just crazy, and I actually thought he'd been bumped off by now or put in prison or the rubber room.
The cops and I had a good talk about this, that a normal person, if they end up homeless, some friend or relative or someone will help them out and they'll use the help. "Hey, I've got my summer cottage and it needs a paint job and some work, you can live there and work on it while you get back on your feet" etc. And the person will do just that - work. But a "career" homeless person will trash the place and then probably burn it down. "That's all they do is take, take, take" - one of the cops.
I got part of a practice in but then the ice cream trucks stopped making noise and when they stop, I need to stop. I'd done a lot of playing yesterday, what with Taps, jamming with my guitar friend, then playing for an hour and a half in the park.
I cooked up the best mackerel miso soup I've made so far, and then started in packing Ebay things. It was 30 things not 40, but very frustratingly I can't find the biggest item. How can something that big get lost? Still, I feel a lot less stressed because although I did do a FedEx run earlier, this is a packing day and all I'm to think of is packing.
Unfortunately the packing kept me up until 6. I also needed more clean clothes so I did a "load" of laundry which is 6 socks, 2 t-shirts, a pair of shorts and a pair of undershorts, and another thing or two. It seemed even easier this time though, and using my big cheapo Korean pot I was able to boil enough water to get the wash water up to warm rather than tepid.
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