Saturday, April 15, 2023

Toxoplasmosis gondii has entered the chat

 I got 15 things ready to list last night but they took a lot of preparation and pretty soon it was 6AM and I called it quits. I'd done well, though, pulling at least a couple hundred dollars in RAM and small 1-terabyte hard drives out of the computer place dumpster. 

There were Apple laptop lids and all kinds of stuff in there and I got some nice foam envelopes and anti-static bags and stuff out of there too. Frankly I was surprised to see that dumpster enclosure unlocked on a Friday night. 

I practiced on the shakuhachi, long tones and Shinran Sama and Golden Chain. If it's nice for busking in another month, I'm going to need some repertoire and also I'll need to get out the stain I'd bought and some cordage and stain my plastic Shakuhachi Yuu to look more like bamboo and ought to put some bindings on it too. I might even try using some red paint to paint inside the bore and finger holes which could either make the sound clearer and better or could mess up the sound. This is why I want to do these mods to my "cheaper" $200 Yuu than the fancy $700 one. 

I woke up at 4 and had packed two things, and packed a third thing, a transformer, so I had three packages for FedEx that I could carry without needing the bike trailer. I left here at 5 and rode up to FedEx and dropped off the packages. 

Then I went to the computer place to check their dumpster again - at the very least I wanted to see if it was locked up again or what. It was unlocked and someone had really gone through it, taking the (aluminum) Apple laptop lids and a ton of stuff, actually leaving the level of junk in there much lower. I took a little look around but only found a CPU they'd left somehow. 

I went over to the Sanmina parking lot to check on this big thing those bums had been taking parts off of. I got a thing that's some kind of contacter I think, and two industrial buttons. 

I came back by way of the complex where Grill-'Em is, and the veggie dumpster there had a ton of red bell peppers, oldish green onions, lettuce, some OK zucchinis, and some broccoli. I took some peppers and broccoli. 

I also checked the medical place and got one little trinket that might be worth something. 

I got back here and unloaded and checked the time - it was only 6. I took off again for Nijiya to pick up some eggs, I figured, and maybe some chives. That's exactly what I got, costing me just under $5. The End Times wind was nice and strong, so that coming back, I was only going a little bit faster than a couple of zombies walking along the other side of 10th, and the zombies were not walking especially fast. 

I got in at 7, the equivalent of being out until 10 in the before times. 

OK so the "toxo" ... My Big Island friend, Pat, sent me this random email about the antics of his cats, how this one can climb here and that one almost can, blah blah blah. I was a bit puzzled then noticed he sent it to Dave, my Oahu friend also. 

I replied with something, as I must, about How many cats does he have, and how I - hope they're not eating too many native Hawaiian birds. 

Pat replied by sending me some article by someone in the Midwest who purports to be a scientist and knows cats eat birds but is letting his cats out anyway. Hello, the Midwest doesn't have the kind of birds that are wiped out by cats. And the Midwest is blessed with hawks, falcons, owls, and even eagles, all of which will happily snack on cats. 

I sent back an article about how much damage cats are doing in Hawaii, this one as it turned out complete with gory photos. Pat did not seem to appreciate this. 

So Pat's a crazy cat guy. And I thought, Wait a minute, let's read up on toxo. It turns out that it kills more people - roughly twice as many - in the US than salmonella. And it can cause, yes, muscle aches and all the things Pat complains of and thinks is a mystery disease doctors can't cure. 

Guess which nation has a ton of toxo in the human population? The US. Guess which one has a very small incidence of it? Japan. Trailer-park trash US vs. at least somewhat sane, normal, Japan. 

Pat is not replying to my digs about his cats with logic but with "feels before reals". And this sharing of inane cat details makes me wonder if Dave's place is teeming with cats also. Two crazy cat guys. 

Oh, and Pat, the vegetarian with such tender feelings that he's rebuked me for talking about fishing once I'm back in Hawaii, is supporting at least 4 cats, who are obligate carnivores. And frankly you can feed one human on what it costs for 4 cats. And Pat complains about not having money! 

This is the time I have to admit fully that both of these guys are useless and are not going to be any help when I move back to Hawaii. 

I am not a pet person. If I were 100% utterly convinced I was going to stay at the rural place for the next 15 or so years, I was considering getting a good dog, an Australian shepherd, that I would raise from young, would live closely with me, sleep next to my bed, etc. because in the rurals a good dog is a very good thing. Because in the rurals a good dog is a tool. 

I have no need of a dog here, even a little yappy one to be an intelligent alarm, because this place is pretty secure, I've got good neighbors, etc. Plus an industrial area is not really good for a dog. I've never had the desire to have a cat as I'm able to keep the rodents and roaches down just fine without one, and cats always make the place hairy and cat-smelling. 

When I was first out on my own I was astounded at how, with just myself living in a space, how clean the space stayed. In the Army we had a lot of people in relatively small spaces and things stayed super clean because Hello, humans can do things like shower and wash their clothes, don't shed tons of hair, don't piss and shit in the corner, etc. 

I've always been much more in favor of, if not befriending, at least observing and offering little kindnesses to animals that are wild and are living on their own terms. 

I've kept chickens and am proud to say I can keep a healthy, happy flock. But that requires doing things that someone who thinks of them as pets won't do. 

I'm freaked out about taxes because as could be predicted, Ken's still not feeling well and didn't come by last night. So I won't be paid until next week, unless he drops by Monday, not until after my check to the IRS has been mailed. My buying the half-dozen eggs and a sprig of chives was about all I dare to spend until I do my taxes and write out the check and see how much "room" I have. 

This is an interesting place to be because I'm sure I can take care of my taxes (pretty sure anyway) but if, say, my bike gets stolen it means I'll be walking everywhere for a month or two while I save for a new one. And I can't breathe a word to Ken because I'm the one who's supposed to be a good saver. 

At least I noticed that in Japantown, other than the cold wind, there were a lot of people out and it felt to me like, if I had some songs under my belt and could belt them out against the wind, I might have earned a few bucks if I were out busking. Certainly in another month when I can consider busking season to have started (making a 5-month busking season) I can start getting out there and seeing how it goes. 

I may have been making a lot of money at times busking here on the mainland with trumpet but as I've mentioned I assume that I won't make that much in Hawaii. A $10 or $20 session would be perfectly fine. But my change of instrument means I can try places that are unthinkable with the trumpet, like the big Vietnamese mall south of downtown and in front of the little Chinese bakery in Mountain View as well as in front of any 99 Ranch.

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