155th day sober. Although I went to bed at 7AM, so after 8 hours would have gotten up at 3, I got up at almost 4. I had coffee etc., and got out of here at 5:45, found a bunch of manuals and stuff being thrown out nearby and went back for the bike trailer and got those, and then got out of here again at 6.
First I went to Lee's where I got a little plate of sticky rice with meat on top, and since it was late enough for things to be 2 for 1 and the guy'd motioned over the whole assortment of things on the counter, I picked out a plate of spring rolls and got those too, all for $3.50.
I went over to the college and ate the spring rolls, saving the sticky rice for later. Then I rode over to the book store and picked up a copy of the Maia Bang Violin Method Part II 2, for $5 because it had a few torn pages. I'd looked at Part I carefully online and decided it's probably worth it to get part I and then get this one. Again, all these books are cheap and just like with math or physics, they all explain the same thing a bit differently and between all of them there will be lots of neat little exercises to play.
The author's name kind of makes me laugh because in the old Toonerville Trolley cartoons, there's always this one rider on the trolley, a Mr. Bang, who has a bad temper. He's always just a bit late for the trolley and has to run after it etc., and in the one where the trolley takes everyone to the seaside, of course it's Mr. Bang who gets in a fight with an octopus etc. But the author, Maia Bang, was probably really nice and never hit students on the head with her bow or had a terrible temper. She learned directly from the legendary Leopold Auer (who taught Heifetz).
I got in what these days is quite a conversation with the bookstore owner, and I told him about my theory that the lack of cars for sale isn't because of a lack of microchips but is in reality because people are broke and are not buying cars. I said my little conspiracy theory matches what I'd seen on Reddit, where someone showed a shot of a huge lot full of "unfinished" cars, and yes indeed there were a lot of them. But, I said, what backs up my theory is, when cars are made, the body panels are all painted individually; it's not like the whole car goes through a spray booth. The panels are painted, and then some protective material, like big white stickers, are put on the panels to help protect against scratches. These are peeled off after the cars arrive at dealerships. Hence, I concluded, what's shown is a lot of cars that were at dealerships but there's no room for them because the dealerships aren't moving cars. This can't be said out loud in the media because it'll create a panic, so it's blamed on lack of microchips, which is hard for the layman to verify.
Then a couple of customers wanted to pay for their books, and talk a bit too. So I went into the stacks to look around a bit, and looked at their Wall Of DVDs(tm) which is great because it's harder and harder to get to watch movies and there are a few I'd like to see, instead of just seeing references to them online. Then a customer wanted to look at them too so I moved over to the science fiction shelf and found a copy of Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut for $3.75, used. Used ones are rare since it's a big seller these days. That was a lucky find and I went back up front to pay for it, also, and talked some more. It turns out the owner had played some trumpet too. Like me, he'd topped out at the G on top of the staff. I talked about my busking which had gone really well until, I guessed, the students were back in school then it was like a switch had been flipped. I said I had, in effect, two months to do something else if I like and I'll give violin a try. Then I can always pick up the trumpet again and play amongst the Christmas trees for the month of December.
After the book store I went to CVS for a few things, then just rode home. I rode around downtown a bit and it was dead, and San Pedro Square, except for some fenced-in outdoor diners, was a ghost town. I saw one beggar set up and I doubt he was making much of anything.
Back here I ate the sticky rice and ordered the Maia Bang Part I book, so I'll have the first two books in the series.
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