16th day sober. I went to sleep around 6AM and woke up around 2. I saw one of the security cars lurking around here last night so I guess they're still going to be around for the time being. The Smithfield complex is pretty much just a few piles of rubble now. I guess if someone starts building something there, there will be security for that so we'll continue to benefit.
The other day I looked around for a suitable gig bag to carry a shakuhachi around in for busking, and it turns out the Protec Pro Pac is "the" one, just like it is for trumpet. The others are either shoddy or overpriced or high-priced and higher quality than I need. I mean, of course, soprano sax cases. But I'm not trying to protect a $5k Yanagisawa here. A soprano sax case is a pretty decent fit for a standard 1.8 shakuhachi and would probably work for a 2.0 also.
But I've not even been practicing. I was drinking so heavily I just kind of sluffed off practicing, and then it was the domoic acid poisoning, getting "dry", then that 2nd covid shot, whew! I've just been learning to live sober.
Most of the time I've been on the mainland, I've been a drinker. It may have been a half bottle of wine, or a pine of Guinness Stout in the evening, but I remember morning beers and mid-day beers and all sorts of things. Drinking is just part of mainland culture - no one's here to make friends, family means nothing, it's just work-work-work and alienation. Not wonder alcohol is pushed everywhere and almost everyone drinks.
I muddled through my taxes, it seems they want to see schedules 1, 2, 3 and good old C is back although I didn't use it. Schedule SE has become a lot more complicated. I did my best but came up with my only owing $1085 which is just weird. I packaged up all the forms and my check and called it done. At least it's before it's overdue, and I'll just expect a letter with a bill for about $1700 more from the IRS which I'll just pay. I'll have to give myself more time next year, as I really thought I could just crib off of my 2019's but they changed things quite a bit.
After the post office, which was quite busy, I stopped a H Mart for some grocery shopping.
On the way back I stopped by the old shop to see if the kitchen cabinet place next door had left behind any good packing material and they had. Tom was out in front of his place, taking some wooden tile display structures apart. I said I'll be back in a few, rode back to the shop and put the groceries away, hitched up the bike trailer, and headed back up to Tom's, dropping of some trash on the way.
I loaded the trailer up with packing stuff, then hung out with Tom for a bit. I'd also grabbed my cornet and figured I'd see if he even remembered my urging him to do some practice on his trumpet. He had. I played bits of things, sounding terrible mostly, and eventually got him to get his trumpet out, and he blew a bit and has a good sound. In fact, he's pretty enthusiastic about busking. I told him about all the time I'd put in, making utter shit money, but I'd kept on going. That I'd put in so much time, and would like to pass on what I know.
So Monday evenings are going to be a trumpet get-together and practice a bit, to get Tom up to speed and then, in a few months when this virus has settled down, we'll go out busking.
Tom's really enthusiastic about this. He told me about how he felt such a "link" with people when he was out hustling these little animal figurines he was hustling on Fisherman's Wharf but to me what he was doing was a turn-off. He'd zero in on little kids and then guilt their parents into paying for the little figurines. It really was not ethical at all. Even the "I know where you got your shoes" guys in New Orleans don't pull their scam on kids, expecting their parents to tip, that I know of.
I told him how busking is even better because you get a wide variety of people, and I've had kids running around in a frantic circle around me while I played, had people get in tears, had people of all ages and backgrounds give me tips, at times large ones. It's just a lot better.
He was tearing down these tile display things because he says he gets about $10 for the 3X4's in them so he had $40 worth there but it takes hours and hours to take one apart. "That's an hour playing outside Whole Foods" I remarked.
Finally it was almost 8:30 so I left. I got back here and fixed up a bowl of udon with shrimp and that was dinner. I packaged some pork I'd bought and put that in the freezer.
By this time it was pretty late so I rounded up 10 things to put on Ebay.
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