F.A.N.

 337th day sober. Yesterday I left at about the usual time and took one large manual to the post office and then a couple of other large things to FedEx, then thought about getting something to eat. I'd realized at the post office I didn't have a mask with me and had just dashed in and put the book in the chute and went right back out, but where to get something to eat? FedEx hadn't been a big problem as, like the post office, it was almost empty and it was easy to dash in and drop off the packages. But I couldn't go mask-less into Five Guys... 

The falafel place was the best choice as they're kind of friends and pretty casual. I got my usual gyro and while it was being made, the owner and I talked a bit. I mentioned playing music as a side-gig, and how it pays better than electronics which hardly pays at all. He said he'd had some friend or family member or something advise him, maybe when he was younger, to join up and form a band that could play at weddings and so on. We both agreed music is a pretty good thing.

After eating I went by the storage unit and found some things to list and loaded those up, and then stopped by Tom's. I told him how I'd finally checked out the Sunnyvale Whole Foods since he'd told me to do so, and he was like, "I told you that?". I think a lot of the time when I'm talking with him, he's shitfaced and just doesn't show it well. Hell he might not remember talking to me the next day. In fact the reason he's always saying "Well, I think I'm gonna hit the sack", going to bed, apparently, around 8:30 or 9 in the evening, is really he wants to get back to soaking up the sauce so he can pass out. 

I got back here and put things away and put some of the stuff I'd listed away and cleaned the place up a bit, and Ken came by right on time. He was very tired, he said, because he'd driven down to Merced to pick up a safe for his daughter. "Didn't we sell a safe that would have been perfect?" I asked. Of course we had, I'd sold it to a guy who looked like a tall skinny Spike Lee. But Ken said, "That's just how things work out sometimes" because he had no idea, a few years ago, that his daughter would buy a house and want a safe. 

So Ken was very tired and just wrote out my check and handed over a box I'd been expecting, and didn't want tea or food or anything and it was all I could go to get him to take a can of club soda, which, because it's cold and fizzy, might help him stay awake a bit. And he took off. 

Now it was past 11PM and my own turn to be really tired, and I wound down, watched some stuff on YouTube, got in maybe 45 minutes on the flute headjoint, and went to bed. 

I woke up at 11:30 or so. "So much for the lunch hour" I thought. My plan was to get out there busking as early as possible, ideally to try playing for the lunch-hour crowd. I decided to rest a little bit and next thing I knew I was waking up from a bizarre dream and it was 2:30 or so. 

I cleaned up a bit, the Navy calls it F.A.N. for feet, ass, nuts. I'd round it out to include arm pits and head, but yeah clean up those areas.... I left here at 3 with my "new" trumpet in the new gig bag, both mouthpieces, etc. I'd had my usual breakfast and coffee, and my idea was to get to Whole Foods and hopefully claim the spot, and stick to it like a limpet. 

I went to the bank first, of course, then to Whole Foods there on the Alameda. If the petition guy was there, I told myself, I'd take the train up to Sunnyvale and play there. But he was not. It was sunny, and breezy enough that I put some things from my bike bag into my tip box so it would not blow away. The breeze was refreshing, though, as it was quite warm. 

It was exactly 4 as I started playing. I got a flurry of tips as if I'd just gotten the tail-end of a mid-day surge of customers. Then it was really slow for a long time. I played on the 3C mouthpiece for a bit over the first hour and then was tiring out and my tone was getting a little rough. I switched to the Schilke 14A4A and that was a real help. Tips started coming in again, as more customers started showing up. Pretty soon the sun had gone behind the building and I didn't have to squint any more, but it was also 6, so my time was up. I played the Lawrence Welk "Goodnight" song and packed up. I'd made $28.

I was worried about conflict with the petition guy. I know he's there in the evenings right up to when Whole Foods is closing. If he were to get there at noon, that'd be some super long hours. Plus, he's really pale. He might prefer the evening to being out in the sun. So I'm thinking if I can play around the middle of the day, I can avoid him, other hucksters, bums, beggars, etc. all of whom are not noted for being early risers. 

After packing up I went into Whole Foods and spent about $50 on groceries, of course. Then I rode over to Nijiya and got some things, mostly treats like a chashu don bowl, small cucumbers, some cold cooked salmon. It seemed silly to buy chashu don to only eat the stuff on top of the rice, but it was 4 slices of chashu plus a little green onion and pickled ginger and quite satisfying. I used to like pickled ginger as a kid so there's a bit of nostalgia involved too. 

I put $259 in the bank for this week, have the $28 I made busking for "mad money" and will have more "mad money" this weekend when I busk some more. It's a pretty good feeling. 

Last night I did a ton of reading about mouthpieces, and while a lot of people think the Vizzutti mouthpiece is great, a lot also think it's a bit too extreme and that most would be happier with a Bobby Shew Lead. Honestly, I could get a Shew Lead and a Shew Jazz and be pretty happy with those. The Jazz felt halfway between a Bach 3C and a 3D. The Lead might be like the Schilke 14A4A I'm coming to like now, but then, I've already got the Schilke ... 

In fact, with Park Avenue Music selling new pieces, getting some returns they can't sell as new and selling them for half or more off, it might be more fun to just see what shows up on their sale table.