I got 10 things listed last night. So that's 50 for the week, which should be the standard.
The guys next door had put a lot of dishwashers out in the parking lot and after everyone was gone for the night, a bum came along and because bums aren't smart enough to use hand tools (to take things apart that are designed to be easy to take apart, generally only needing a flat-bladed screwdriver) or to think logically (take the washing machines back to one's lair to work on at leisure) the bum spent hours smashing them up, apparently picking them up and slamming them onto the asphalt.
On the street level, just about the most sophisticated hominid tool might be a rock, or a stick. The old fashioned latchkey, where to lock your door after you're in for the night you simply pull in a string, is as fancy a lock as is ever needed. And if you're got something "technical" made of metal and hence of scrap that can be sold for crack, of course it makes sense to just smash it up.
Eventually the bum loaded a lot of the stuff onto his bike trailer and rode off into the night, coming back a time or two for more. I don't know what happened because I didn't want to reveal my presence by practicing, and went to bed.
Since I didn't have to be anywhere, I slept in until about 5. I got up, had coffee, and got going about 6. I dropped off some books and some green tea I was not going to use up before it went stale, in the little free library in Japantown and went into Nijiya for some shopping.
This last errand was pretty funny. Because "Blondie" checked me out and questioned me at length about making kim chi and I kept saying to just follow recipes online, and he was saying he needed to mail-order certain ingredients because you can't get 'em locally, and I told him about H Mart, and said they'd have everything and he guy didn't even know about H Mart. While being astonished that anyone around here could not know about H Mart, I told him they'll have the shrimp paste and all that, plus big jars of kim chi. And I told him about Dai Thanh downtown. "I know all the Asian markets", I said. "Are they cheap?" he asked, and I said they certainly are.
In all of this, I not only forgot to pick up my customary stick of Black Black gum, but pushed the wrong button and didn't get cash back. Screw it, I thought, and loaded up the bike. Then went up to the little free library to put the books and stuff in, looked at the time, and realized Nijiya would still be open for 15 minutes so I went in for my gum and cash back, and thank goodness it was another checker this time. Ol' Blondie, man. I've got to learn his actual name, and draw him a little map showing how to get to H Mart by bike.
I stopped by TAK Market for near-beer and beefs sticks, and rode back here. On my way back, on 10th, I swung a bit wide to avoid a bum walking along there, who said as I passed, "Give ya $20 for the bike". I said "Can't do that" or something like that and thought as I rode on, that any crackhead would gladly exchange a bike they'd have stolen and thus gotten for free, for $20 which no doubt buys a nice "rock" these days.
I got back in here and had my near-beer, peanuts, and beef sticks, and wondered at how, officially, it's about 70 degrees outside but it sure doesn't feel like it. It feels a bit autumn-y. Pretty soon I'll dig out the sweat pants and long-sleeved shirts and the new "Bear Paw" booties I got months ago.
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