Friday, June 30, 2023

Reason 348759247945729423 why I want to go home

 This is the menu of a lunch truck taken just a few hours ago in Ewa Beach: 


Credit: u/olagon on Reddit

Look at those prices! The cheapest food truck prices here on the mainland are 3X-4X these. "Pork hash" is basically Chinese shumai. 

Of course the Oreos and "Fruit By The Foot" and stuff will be closer to mainland prices, but the local-made stuff is at local prices. Many's the time as a very broke kid, I had a lovely Chinese flaky cake with candied squash inside or one of the oily, squatter ones with black bean filling because it was a far better deal than a candy bar - and a lot tastier too. 

OK so yesterday I got to the bank in plenty of time, my balance was within a few dollars of my calculations, and it was with relief that I settled down in Whole Foods for a slice of their pizza and a near-beer. 

Then I walked up to the book store as that trade credit I had wasn't going to spend itself. I found Empire Of The Sun by J. G. Ballard and one by a guy whose family has/had been in Japan for 3-4 generations. 

I then went over to the Amazon place for bubble mailers, picking up a good amount, and being questioned by the lady working there. She was worried that they had people's names on them, and I said Yes, but the rest of the label is just this address here, and besides I remove them. I then elaborated by sharing my tip of heating the label a bit with a hair dryer to make them peel off much more easily and that seemed to satisfy her. 

I went over to Japantown and got a bag of Kasugai peanuts and beans and a Coke Zero and relaxed over at the old hospital building and started reading The Empire Of The Sun. $7 for an almost 40 year old paperback seems a bit much but it's really good. 

When it was time I went over to the temple gym for the 4th and final Obon practice. It went well, with my learning a few more nuances here and there, and showing someone how I'd worked out one tricky bit that gave me trouble and gives other people some trouble too. At one point I confided to a lady near me, "Well, we're not the Rockettes" and that got a laugh. 

I got back here and checked the jury duty thing and it said I'm not needed and moreover, had "fulfilled" my jury duty obligation for the next 12 months so that was a big relief. 

I celebrated by staying up all night reading Empire Of The Sun. The movie is such a masterpiece, it was good to see that it was pretty true to the book. It's a case where for the full experience you really need to see the movie and read the book too. 

I woke up with enough time to pack all the things and get up to the post office and then to FedEx. One box had to be mailed "on their FedEx number" and the poor gal at FedEx had to use her own phone to Google the address to get the zip code. 


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