I woke up after having gone to sleep on 100ml of liquor, and looked at the time - about 1:20 or so. Ken was supposed to come by at 1. I decided I'd wait until 2 or so, and if he didn't show I'd just go downtown on my own. It actually worked out right, because there were some cables I couldn't find last night and I had exactly enough time to find them and pack them.
Ken and I loaded up just like the old days when we did this post office run every Thursday. Ken showed me how he learned to use the loading dock in back - you go 'way in, further than I'd have dared on my bike, and at dock #10 you can just put your stuff there. Great to know.
We did the FedEx drop off and then Ken dropped me off across from the Airport/Metro light rail stop, and it was about 10 minutes until a train came. The trains are really empty today. Masks are required and signs saying "No mask, no ride" are around.
I rode down to the Santa Clara station and walked to my bank. There was a lady waiting out front, for her appointment. The ATM was "Not Available At This Time" and when the guy opened the door to let the lady in, I asked about the ATM. It was just being repaired, is all.
I decided to walk down to the Ace Hardware to avoid a bus, and there was a guy begging with a sign, and a guy in a flashy Mustang type car called him over with a loud whistle. "He'd better give that guy at least a $20", I thought to myself. I saw the beggar settle back down with .... two small bottles of water. "He gave me water" the guy said to my inquiring glance. "He should have at least given you a $20!" I said, and said "I don't have much but here's a couple bucks" and handed him a couple bucks.
On my way to Ace I had to walk in the bike lane twice to avoid shirtless raving crazies, and one crazy I was worried enough about to move my pepper spray to an easier to access pocket and outpace him without it looking like I'm trying to outpace him.
Ace was open and they seemed to have ONE tube the size I need, and the only brand they had was ... Slime brand, the very kind that had just failed on me. I got their one tube and a couple of hose clamps to secure the book shelf, which came all to $17. I groused a bit the guy about that same tube, that I'd bought there, had failed before here and I am buying another one. "There's a bike shop down the road", he said, and I said they're all closed on Mondays. "This is the only tube in town".
After all the walking and the crazies, I decided to just walk over to Diridon and take the light rail there, and got off at Japantown. I'd not eaten all day, plus wanted to get eggs and veggies. That actually went well; I was able to get eggs, veggies, a Doutor canned black coffee, a nice sashimi on rice thing, and a can of Echigo ale, which I decided to get because it was only $2-something and had a dragon on the can.
I found a place to sit and eat across from the Weslayan church, and the sushi and rice and beer and a bit of the black coffee really set me right. I really wanted some food before the long walk ahead.
Japantown is having to adjust ... a lot. The Arsenel, an art studio and supply place, will move to having a store front right on Jackson street. And some business had a "free" table outside, literally a restaurant type condiment station and a box of books. Lightweight stuff that I don't read, but one book, "The 7 Per Cent Solution" that I remember being a big thing when I was a kid, looked interesting enough to pick up.
I walked back out to the light rail station and again, the train was really empty. People are being very good about asking, as the VTA signs say, "Is this trip necessary?" I got off at the Airport/Metro station and walked in.
I've been curious about a plant that's all over, malva or the common mallow, which apparently is used in middle-Eastern cuisine in the way you'd use kale or spinach. So I planned on gathering some if I saw some. It turns out the only usable malva I saw was next to the construction site, and I cut some nice tips and also some nice wild radish tips. I know the radish tips are good. The thing is to get the tips that will flower, before they've flowered. The plant is sending good stuff up the stems to make the flowers, and then once they've flowered they're past their prime. This is the rule for all of this stuff, like wild mustard. I saw what looks like some amaranth, too, but didn't bother it because two kinds of plant are enough at one time, plus there were bums nearby and I didn't want them to see me messing around with a plant. In fact I kind of walked in pace with these bums quite a bit of my travel along Old Bayshore. The bums, a male and a female, had a sort of pooped-out electric scooter that could carry the guy but not both of them.
I got to the Smithfield ham factory which now is shut down, and saw the same car I always see there, and there was the same guy sitting in it, watching the place. I thought about how boring that must be and walked up and asked the guy if he'd like a book - "The 7 Per Cent Solution". He certainly would, and we ended up talking about stuff. So now I've got a new friend, Kyle The Security Guard. I'm sure he'd fix me up with a job if I wanted to be a security guard.
I got back here, put the veggies away, handed out positive feedbacks on Ebay, and thought about what I want to do, if I want to do. Fix the tire, I decided. I checked the tire and rim again for hidden bits of glass or whatever, put the new tube in, pumped it all up, and it looked like the bike was "go".
I took a few bags of trash and headed out. I had time to do a bit of shopping at H Mart. I got as far as my 2nd favorite dumpster, put the trash in, and looked through a tub of wire and AC adapters and stuff someone had left there. I picked out one wire with an audio connector on one end to give to my guitar-playing friend, put that in the bike bag, and .... where's my mask? I'd left it at the shop.
I raced back to the shop, got the mask, took the package of cheapie Japanese masks I'd been keeping around here and put that in the bike bag too, and pretended I was Eddy Merckx doing a time trial heading for H Mart. And it was a good time trial too, as I got there in time before it closed.
I got more shallots, more "white lightning", two more #10 cans of corned beef hash, some of the "ecological" TP they have now instead of my beloved Scott, and miraculously my card worked, which it rarely does, in their machine.
All loaded up, it was just a matter of getting home but a problem: Before leaving I'd thought my front tire was a bit low and had pumped it up a bit. The bike felt sluggish as I was leaving H Mart and the front tire was getting very low. So I stopped, got out my little pump, and pumped it up. So now the front tire's acting up.
I stopped across from Fry's where I'd put the wire and stuff out by the curb for someone to find, and picked out some things to list on Ebay if they're worth anything. Probably $20-$30 in what I picked up. And the front tire was low again so I pumped it up again.
I got back here and put things away and checked out the box Ken had dropped off for me. It didn't seem heavy enough for the bottle of Dettol I'd ordered, so I was really curious. It was the Kelly Kettle I'd ordered, complete with the pot stand, and a little pot kit I didn't know I was getting as part of the "kit" I'd ordered. I guess for $140 I should get some extra little pots. I'll have to demonstrate it for Ken, because I think he'll want to buy one for Christmas or birthday or something for his daughter, who likes camping.
Camping is a funny thing to like if you're been really poor. When you've lived by kerosene lamp, fished for your dinner, and slept in such strange places as a beached Navy launch, to get up and cook your meager breakfast over a camp fire you're so practiced at setting up that you no longer even think about it, camping's not that alluring or exotic. And then you join the Army and of course they're big on camping. I just didn't grow up soft enough to find it an adventure. But Ken's daughter likes it, and it's different enough from suburban life that it must be refreshing.
I was so tired out I felt too tired to eat, but thought I should eat, so I cooked up some sliced up hot dogs, with the radish tips which were good. I decided to try the malva, and it was good too, in a different way. I could tell it's a very soothing to the stomach plant.
I was awake enough then to pack some packages to go out but then got really tired again. The plan is to get up, see if I can find the leak and patch the tube in the front tire, and if I can make that work OK then ride the bike downtown. If not it's the light rail again.
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