Things pinching down

 I didn't go to bed until 5AM last night. I listed 30 things on Ebay because I'd listed 20 earlier in the week, and the "gold standard" had been 50 things, two sets of 25, unless I was listing large things then a batch was 11 or 12. 

I woke up around 10, turned on the heater and the light, had a wee, went back to bed ready to read a bit more of "Angry White Pyjamas" and rested my eyes a bit first and warmed up, and woke up again at noon. 

Fooey. I had coffee and a couple of croissants one stuffed with butter and the other with butter and some Marmite. Marmite turns out to be nowhere near as good as good old nutritional yeast, which I have a can of. I didn't even finish the 2nd one. 

I headed out at 2 in the afternoon. The plan was to ride down Capitol to Reid-Hillview airport, checking out what's along Capitol for future reference, and to pick up a free calendar with pictures of "nairyplanes" for each month, from Tradewinds Aviation. 

The ride down there was long. What looks small on a map isn't so small in real life. I found Tradewinds, and they weren't giving out calendars yet to members, and thought they might in a few weeks, but were not sure, as they couldn't/didn't get very many this year. OK, I said, after having used their loo and grabbing every free magazine and brochure in sight. I'll see you then! 

I checked out the actual air terminal building - which it turns out has bathrooms - and picked up a few more brochures for things. Like a "spy shop" up in the city. I didn't think any of those were still around. 

I rode further down Capitol to Tully and started making my way back. I came across a couple of things in quick succession. First a black zombie lady parked on the sidewalk with her bags 'O' shit, who called out a long and complicated utterance as ape utterances go, that I decoded to mean she wanted a lighter, if she had one. I actually did, as I keep finding them on the street. I rooted around in my bike bag and pulled out a yellow Bic, and handed it to her. "I keep finding them on the street," I explained. She took it without a word. Do you expect a duck in the park to thank you for giving it bread? Or the office ficus plant, for watering it? 

Right along there there was a Big-5 sporting goods store and I went in. It was very large and very well-stocked. I wanted to see about getting a new sleeping bag because online they appear to sell the one I like. But they didn't have one, even "in back". I said to the lady, "It seems you're getting away from stocking Coleman" and she said, "It all comes down to what they can send us". I complimented her on the store, how big and well-stocked it is, and went on my way. Again it's a case of the most mundane things that you just can't get anymore. This is talked about on r/collapse frequently; a gradual pinching-down. 

I rode back downtown, and stopped in at Dai Thanh. I got two cans of coffee (theirs is the best price) some green onions, and the last "Chinese Donut" that was there, probably the last one I'll ever have, too. They're closing that market down just before Christmas and besides the things, I wanted to check in on where they're moving. I'd actually seen one of the new locations, on Keyes. The other one turns out to be where a big market, Filipino I think, was on Capitol and Brokaw. It's not that far from me. I told the lady there I knew where the new location is and it's not only not far from me but it's really big. I'll still be able to go there. 

This makes downtown one little bit more dead, though. 

I decided to ride up and down Paseo de San Antonio and look for Wendell, the flute player who comes out from New Orleans each year. He was not there and there were not any buskers there at all. Now I know for sure Rabbit Trumpet Guy is gone. There were actually tons of people walking up and down, and the new development this year is tons of "danger dog" sellers. These are people with little carts selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs they grill right there. They smell wonderful. But there were no buskers at all and there were several good "slots" for them that I could see. 

I came back and checking the little free libraries, actually found 16 books - 14 of them from the one in Japantown that was over-stuffed. I went through that one carefully, picking out what I like and organizing the rest so it's easy for people to see what's there. 

I went to Nijiya to get some things, and wanted to pay with cash since I'd taken some out and was at my self-imposed limit. So I waited at the register that was set up to take cash, and this meant being in line with two people and a large dog. They were there for-ev-er, while the dog got bored and made little movements like he was considering "leaving his mark", and one person,  I think mentally disabled somehow, was getting a long and painstaking lesson in how to buy something. I finally just went to the other one and used my card, so I'm only saving about $80 this week instead of $100 in the bank. I'll survive. 

Why do people have to bring their damn dogs everywhere anyway? This is a recent thing, and frankly it's disgusting. The gal with the dog and I got in a nice conversation about the dog, and she probably thinks I'm all for it but I'm really not. 

I got back here a bit before 6 - that's late for around here, lately.