Again, as always, I'm glad I went downtown and put my check into the bank, etc. on Thursday rather than today, Friday. Because there are demonstrations downtown and according to Reddit they're smashing cars etc.
I was up until 7AM again. I had a huge software update to do that took forever, and more time now to finish it up. I packed the last 10 packages and just wrote on them what they are, thinking I'd print the labels and put them on in the morning, and then realized I could print labels while the update was downloading, and did that.
I actually did a ton last night, re-arranging some stuff in the warehouse, and at one point with the work and the heat, I went into the office and felt like my visual field was greying out a little so I cooked up some beef with vegetables and ate that. I swear my own cooking is getting better all the time.
Oh, and I didn't practice last night, waiting too late to get started and then realizing that in this hinky neighborhood, it doesn't pay to literally trumpet that I'm in here.
I was up around 3, had time to pack a thing the buyer and me had gone back and forth over so I wanted to make sure they were taken care of, and headed out at about 4:45. It was windy as all fuck out there. The winds was in the opposite direction of what it usually is, so the ride down to the post office was a joy, but coming back was awful. Wind and tons of stuff from trees and tons of it got into my eyes. I wore my mask all the way home too because that stuff tears me up when I breathe it in.
I found some neat stuff, "hunting" with my bike trailer and getter stick. Before heading out I'd taken that white lettering vinyl and covered the bottom 1/3 with it, so when I'm carrying it drivers can see it more easily. Today's finds to slap onto Ebay: A set of Jeep wheel center cover thingies, and an interesting press, like imagine a Badge-A-Minit press but for some industrial purpose. And about the biggest potato I've ever seen. Potatoes are not on my normal diet so I'm not sure what to do with really.
I got back and put things away, and got a pair of real-deal shop safety glasses out of my tool box and cleaned the dust off, and set out w/o the trailer, wearing my mask and the goggles. It was great; like a holiday for my eyes. I think I might get into the habit of keeping them in the bike bag to use whenever needed.
I also took a long threaded rod, used to hold wire reels together, 22 inches long and 5/8 thick, with a nut kind of glued onto the threads on one end. A handy tool for picking bubble wrap out of dumpsters, pushing "Push To Walk" buttons it turns out, and also a handy weapon if I run into bum problems. So when I'm out with the trailer I'll have my getter stick, and when I'm riding without the trailer, I'll have this.
I'd also gotten out a $100 bill and cleaned my debit card with electronics cleaner. I rode up to H Mart and decided I was going to shop the hell out of the place. I got a smaller cheap Korean pot than the large cheap Korean pot I got for boiling water, this next size down will be for boiling other things like eggs. The only package of beef of the kind/price I like was almost 6 lbs so I got that, to the tune of about $35. I got three bottles of booze and what's funny is, when I got back and checked the receipt, I only got charged for two. And a fair amount of other shit. Of course my card didn't work there; it hardly ever does. The total being $98-odd, it was nice to pull out that crispy $100.
I loaded it all on the bike and rode for home. The safety glasses+mask set up is pure win. But the wind! I had to walk the bike partway along Brokaw and I can't remember the last time I've had to walk the bike up a hill. It was nuts. I was OK going up Junction, but once I got to that little bit of road from the cement plant to Rogers, I had to walk it again and at the corner I had to actually push it hard into the wind. Crazy.
I got back here, and saw a guy at the ice cream place who looked approachable. I got talking with him and he's had endless trouble with the homeless around here. Typical Hispanic, he's had a hard time refusing them use of his water and some free ice cream, and I told him about the piss incident, and how I handle the bums, explaining the concept of the "Teflon wall". Don't interact, at all, period. Don't even acknowledge that they exist. If they're acting up, call the cops. I said they keep bugging him because he keeps giving them stuff, just like you'll keep having raccoons around if you leave food out. I told him when they ask for free ice cream, to tell them "his boss says no" just say "It's the new policy" and so on. Just make up some imaginary orders from above. I told him how they'd broken the faucet off in front of our shop, and I'd simply capped it off and then painted it to look like it's been that way all along. I hope I've taught him a little good old Anglo-Saxon meanness, because that's what it takes to deal with bums. I told him about my practicing trumpet (Hispanics love the trumpet) and hope it doesn't bother him etc., and he said it's fine. And so now I have another friend and ally.
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