'Bye, Kyle

I woke up at 3, made an iced coffee with instant coffee (I really need to brew a cup the night before) and had my vitamins, etc. With this hot weather just the coffee is fine, considering I put heavy cream in it.

I needed to get out of here by 5, and was out the door at 4:45. Crazy Chrissie was out there, washing her many-shades-of-primer POS car. I thought she was masking the windows off to paint it, but to her, apparently, it's not about the painting; it's about the prep.

I was relieved to not find bum "dooks" or anything like that in front of the shop, and because Mr. Bum had promised he's laying for me, I bought my "getter stick". I'd been wondering about doing this anyway, since I'm not going into stores when I've got the bike trailer, and the stick would probably be safe leaned against my bike in any case, as afraid of germs as most people are.

Uneventful ride to the P.O., uneventful drop-off at FedEx, found some packing materials, and made a 2nd trip to a dumpster by Grill-'Em for more packing stuff, a couple pieces of interesting metal grating, and a varnished wooden box that says "HEADPHONES". Someone on Ebay will want that.

I'd noticed Kyle's car over in the Smithfield parking lot, so on my way back with the headphone box, I stopped for a chat. We talked about all sorts of things, and it turns out he's part Japanese, those relatives all in good old Honolulu. I told him about the bum-piss incident, and he told me that in a few days Smithfield will be done closing up shop, and he won't be guarding there any more. It was to be our last contact. I said I was really glad I'd gotten to know him and he said likewise. Maybe I should have tried to get a business card from him, now that I think about it. Great guy.

But a nice thing that happened is, when I'd dropped off the first load of packing stuff and was heading out with an empty trailer, there were a bunch of the Serv-Pro guys out, working on the one guy's beloved Saturn wagon. I got talking with them, by laughing and pointing to my bike and saying "Es me truca!" (This is my truck). One guy decided it was "Ford F-150" and then it was "Ford Two-Pedal and we all had a laugh. I used what Spanish I know, "Un poquito" (A little) and the short squat guy I mostly talked with (he has the best English I think) is a co-owner with the tall thin guy. He was impressed that I'd bothered to learn at least some Spanish, and I told him about my being an English teacher/apologist on the side when I worked with Viet Namese and Cambodian work-mates.

I told him about the bum-piss incident also, and he said it's a dangerous area, and he'll watch out. Also I asked about Nazi Boy, and it seems the flashy truck belongs to "A Mexican" so I'd been mixed up. Nazi Boy's still driving his little shitty car I guess, and has not been around. As with Kyle, we expressed our utter distaste with white supremacists. So now I've got some new friends. The guy also said he'd seen when I had the door open, "How neat and organized it is" and I got bashful and said, "Well, I try!". He said I ought to learn Spanish, and maybe I should. I may not get anywhere and live what's left of my life right here in California, and Spanish is an easy to learn language. I doubt it would be much work at all.

I cooked up some bacon and eggs - this bacon I got most recently is some kind of off brand and it cooks and even tastes like Canadian bacon. It doesn't leave any grease in the pan at all.  So I cooked a double serving to use it up.

I got all geared up for a practice, and played some really great "We'll Meet Again" to warm up I guess, then got into my Irons exercises. I did the first set of 'em and was partway through the next set of them when Ken showed up.

Ken brought a bunch of stuff to list, some Amazon items I'd ordered, and a big box of packing tape. We looked around for that one thing I can't find and eventually just had to give up. I refunded the customer and said if it turns up we'll re-list it and notify him. Then I made Ken some water with lime juice in it and lots of ice cubes, had the same, and we just sat and talked for a while. Rocket fuels, how the homeless ought to be treated, various planes and things seen in the movie Strategic Air Command, and the histories of various surplus places, and lots more. We agreed that this work here is very close to being in college, with some things M-W-F and some T-Th and how there's no real time clock. We like to talk things out.

I saw one guy right through fast on a bike but no sign of Mr. Bum. He normally zooms by fast so it's easy to miss him, but at least he didn't hang around.

I've put two things in my Amazon cart: Another bike bag set like I've got because mine is getting pretty tired, and a Ka-Bar knife. The Ka-Bar knife is because sometimes you just need a big scary knife, and also nostalgia: I had one when I was 12 and loved the thing.