A Bit Of A Contraction

 A lady on the radio is saying tech is going through "A bit of a contraction" right now but assures us that it's not really a worry about the skills gained in tech will carry over to other types of work. And indeed, I can say this is true because my skill as an electronics tech carried over well to working with fiddly little things like making handicrafts to hustle to people. 

I practiced last night, shinobue learning a new song (a Japanese one that's in my shinobue book) and on shakuhachi I can play through Golden Chain now. It's helped me a ton being able to listen to the choir sing it on YouTube, putting me on an even footing with people who've probably been singing it since they were little. 

Ken forgot his check book so he didn't come by last night. I got $1000 worth of big microwave stuff packed up in two boxes and a small box with a bearing in it too. I took off at a quarter to six, then noticed the HVAC place had put another furnace out. I doubled back to the shop to get my tools and got the "brain board", capacitor, pressure switch, two Klixon switches, etc. out of it. I put the bucket with tools and parts back in the shop and took off again, at 6. 

I only had to go to FedEx, so I was not worried about time. I stopped at H Mart and went in for a can of coffee, then went to FexEd to drop off the two big boxes, then leave and come back to drop off the small box with the bearing in it. 

I rode back, and stopped at Tom's. He's got one of his pet bums, a guy named Colin, just about living at his place. Not inside his place, as Colin has the requisite shitty van he actually sleeps in. But when I knocked of course I had to go through Colin to get to Tom. I handed off the boxes of cans of food and many jars of peanut butter, and Tom (and Colin) were very happy. In fact, Tom opened a can of cut corn right away and emptied it into a bowl, microwaved it, tosses on some salt and pepper, and ate it, juice and all. 

Tom said they're going through a half a jar of peanut butter a day. He was really happy to see the cans of things like "Lite" fruit salad too. 

I'm beginning to wonder how tight Tom's finances really are. His building only costs him a few thousand a year in property tax, utilities, and whatever he feels like spending on it. But he's keeping an apartment up in the north bay for his son. His son having been 14 for about 10 years now, Tom won't be obligated to pay child support but he might choose to. And I know Tom's not cracked the $100k level so he might actually be running pretty lean. 

To me it's just a fun game. Get the donated food out of the parking lot here so this area doesn't become attractive to zombies. I get a few things, Tom gets a bunch of things, and there are still things like black beans to leave out for working folks who will take them home and prepare them. 

I'm fielding emails from my Oahu friend daily, and in the latest I explained to him that when I go back to Hawaii, I will have a choice: I can be a so-so shakuhachi player and a so-so seller on Ebay, or I can live as cheaply as possible and perhaps become a good shakuhachi player. And still be able to go out and collect seashells and just save them up, and if needed put them on Ebay or Etsy for thousands. Just because collecting shells is fun. 

Prioritizing shakuhachi playing is the winning route, I'm certain. Eventually I will be too old to go out hustling, finding things to sell, dealing with storing and shipping things. But people play the shakuhachi into advanced ages. Also it's by getting good at the shakuhachi that I will develop and maintain a network of fellow players and admirers that will make for a very good safety net. 

This last I've done before. I was lucky enough to have done this before the internet was a  popular thing, and I did a sport that was obscure and certainly no road to riches but at least an Olympic sport with an ardent, if small following. My being a very quickly rising star got me enough of a safety net to be able to just do that sport for a number of years. So I know how it works. 

And the shakuhachi is much less expensive (even for a very good one) and more popular, as niche an instrument as it is. I can't really even say the sport I did was all that healthy, but the shakuhachi certainly is.