282nd day sober. I woke up at 4.
I had 20 things all photo'd and ready to list when I had to do a bunch of software updates and then the internet itself slowed down so much I decided to call it a night.
I know the internet won't be around forever, and I know it's much more likely to degrade and keep degrading until no one wants to bother with it any more, rather than suddenly like in a Carrington event. So it's not like this slowing down is a surprise.
According to the USPS, my Shakuhachi Yuu is coming to Ken's house today, which means he'll bring it tomorrow. According to Amazon, my Jim Johnson shakuhachi has been found and will get to the Amazon hub place tonight. Which means I can pick it up on Thursday.
It was nice of Monty Levinson to offer to do the modifications to my Yuu that affect sound for a couple hundred bucks more, but I want a bone-stock one and then once I get somewhere, *then* get an "enhanced" one. Then I can test them against each other, as well as testing the Jim Johnson one against the two.
If it sounds like I'm collecting shakuhachi, I guess I am. But so far it's a lot cheaper than collecting trumpets. And a lot easier to transport back to Hawaii.
On Reddit/r/sanjose I just read that Cafe Stritch is being bought by their bartender and is going to come back again as a jazz bar, yeah, right. Cafe Stritch was Cafe Eulipia for years but hardly anyone knew about them, and I and a lot of other people noticed it when it became Cafe Stritch. They even used to hang one of Roland Rasaan Kirk's stritches up on the wall when it was open, until I guess they realized how much the thing is worth.
It was a great place. "The Burger" was outstanding, they had lots of good beers and drinks, if you didn't want much you could get a cup'O'fries and there was always plenty of mayonnaise to dip them in. They had established acts, an open mic night, visiting artists, etc. When the music got swinging, 20-somethings would start dancing in front of the stage, I think old 1940s dances they learned somewhere. And they absolutely loved it when a trumpet player showed up. There was an abundance of saxes.
It was a really neat place to get into a conversation at the outdoor tables, and I even saw a chess player with one of those roll-up boards and non-toy pieces show up. I don't know why but chess is pretty much forbidden just about everywhere in this puritanical country. Sure there are chess clubs but they are few and very far between. Out in flyover country, bringing out a chess set is a sure way to get banned for life from a coffee shop. So is bringing a guitar. People used to play chess under the trees in Waikiki but that's long gone too. So sighting an actual chess player really means you're in an oasis.
It's all gone now. Since restaurants and clubs are based on wringing out all the money possible, however possible, the replacement place will end up with loud canned music, strong drinks, and bartenders who will continue to serve patrons until they're utterly shitfaced. All they'll have to do is stay open past 10 in the evening and they'll be a success because it will be there or Denny's.
I got stuff finished off that I'd "pre-packed" last night and rode out to do my drop-offs. It was warm, 65 or 67 degrees which was weird. Traffic's a lot heavier too. Everything went without a hitch, though.
Freebies: A box of 12 boxes of 100 bags each of black tea, "Red Label" brand to donate at the little free libraries.
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