Up around 9. Last night Ken had left at midnight and I thought I'd need an hour to wind down, but in the end I didn't go to bed until almost three. I dawdled around and had my natto and nuts and tea, and got out of here with my load of packages at about 11:30.
The traffic wasn't too bad and the delivery run was nice and routine. It's just plain nice being out in the midday sun, in the wind (even if it was a cold wind) and just in general out in the light and bright daytime world.
A funny thing happened at the post office. A blonde lady had gone in through the first, self-opening door, but was baffled by the 2nd doorway which is just one half open and one half closed all the time. She said to me, "I don't know how to go in here". So I said, "It's easy, just go in through here (walking through the open side) this side's open". "Oh! I must be blind!" she exclaimed. To make her feel better I told her a really pared-down version of something that happened to me as a kid.
My youngest sister and I were over at Mike Hertz's house. The Hertz's lived on the corner a nearest us on Portlock Road. It was a big place with a pool in the yard and a tree house and Mike had tons of toys. So we were playing in Mike's room and suddenly my sister and Mike and maybe Mike's little sister too, decided to dash outside to do something, maybe ride bikes or play a little "German football" as we called it. I stayed behind to put away the toys and looked over this sea of toys thinking, I don't know where they all go, and then realized they're not my toys and I don't have to worry about it. So I ran out quickly to catch up, and ran smack into the closed sliding glass door between the Hertz's kitchen and their patio. It must have looked hilarious my smacking into that thing, and it's only because I was small and light (and may have spread my arms out at the last moment) that I didn't break the damn thing. I just remember finding myself splayed out on my back on the floor and I think Mrs. Hertz helped me get up and I probably just walked woozily home. The next time I was over at the Hertz's, that door was covered with decals of birds and flowers and all kinds of stuff.
The ride back was nice as I had the (cold) wind going my way and I looked for lunch trucks. I had $5 in quarters in my pocket in case I came across one but they all seemed to be taking the day off. I got back here at about 12:20.
I headed for downtown at about 12:30 and debated with myself whether to go to Lee's or Da Kao, and decided on Da Kao where I got a package of spring rolls and two pork egg rolls, to make sure I got that essential fried food group in my diet. It was sunny but that cold wind was pretty annoying so I rode around the San Jose State campus until I found a place to sit and eat that was in the sun and somewhat sheltered from the wind. The rosemary growing there was full of bees but I checked and it was just bees, not yellowjackets with whom I'd have to share to keep them off my case.
There was a gal skating on "quad" skates, badly. In fact I thought at her level of skill she really ought to have knee pads and gloves. Eventually she sat down to commune with her phone, and I heard zombie groaning sounds. Enter a black guy, pretty zombified, that I could smell at quite a distance. He cast his gaze about looking for weaknesses, and I kept mean-mugging him which seemed to keep him away from the gal, too. He eventually, in that meandering, slow, zombie way, wandered off.
I had to use the bathroom. I told myself to be sure to ask at the bank to use their bathroom. But when I went in there, I was intent on getting my deposit done and buying a roll of quarters which the tellers keep right there at their positions apparently, and when I went out to unlock the bike and remembered, I didn't feel like going back in just to use their loo. I'll use it at Whole Foods, I decided.
I rode over to Whole Foods, and the line was super long. Screw it. I rode over to TAP Plastics because I wanted to pick up some little recloseable bags, but it seems it's a real production to buy stuff there now and my intended purchase seemed so trivial compared to people with real plastic concerns like maybe store displays or something really important, I can just get them on Amazon.
I went over to the Amazon Hub and picked up a load of bubble mailers. It was now about 3, and because these days everything feels 3 hours later than it is, it's the functional equivalent of 6PM. Time to get going.
The line was long-ish at Nijiya but not like it was when I rode by earlier, when it went around the corner. I ended up behind a guy in a mobility scooter who's from Kalihi and retired here to San Jose (maybe has family here) and we joked back and forth in line and also in the store. He picked up what I call a "school lunch bento". "Oh, that's a 'school lunch bento'" I said, and he handed it to me "You can have it!" I pointed out that there are soba with tempura sets and he said, "I already bought two!" .
At the door, though, the tallish white guy who knows some Japanese was there doing his usual "doorman" duties, and I asked him how he got to learn some Japanese. "62 business trips to Tokyo", he said. I'm not sure how much my mask hid my jaw dropping. He'd had "clients" like Intel and other big companies. "And here's how well tech pays, now you're working the door at Nijiya" I observed. But really I want to get to know the guy better. He's just about perfect for the job in that he's pretty tall and not out of shape, bi-lingual, has a kind personality but I get the impression knows how to put his foot down when needed, plus he gets token points for being a white guy working at Nijiya.
He may be doing the job as a way to get out of the house. He may have a Japanese wife who tells him he can't just sit around, he's got to do something. He may be helping family members and needs every penny he can bring in. The city has a million stories ...
By the time I got back here it was almost 4, and time to be in.
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