Saturday, June 10, 2023

What a disappointment

 Tonight was the night I was to go to a meeting for a hobby group. I'd gone to a meeting of this same group last month and it had been kind of fun. They'd wanted me to join that night, and I said I wasn't sure about it but I'd take the form with me... 

I eventually filled it out and sent in my dues. And at least this time around Stevens Creek would be all finished being re-paved and this time around I know not to take detours which only make the ride longer. 

I did some looking around last night and went through some boxes of stuff and rounded up not just one but two batches of 20 things to list on Ebay which is good. I also did a load of laundry and hung that up, set up a fan to blow gently on it, up in the loft. 

I'd also put a ton of stuff out for the bums, a lot of it heavy so I really did do a fair amount of work in the middle of the night/early morning. Then I didn't even practice but just went to bed. 

So today was the day. I woke up with about half an hour to get ready, clean up a bit, put on clean just-washed clothes, etc. I took off a bit late, got over to the downtown post office to put a few small packages in, then went to the bank - money's correct right down to the penny this week - and went over to Whole Foods for a small snack and coffee and to take some money out as I do each week. 

I left there at 5. I took my old route which was open now, down to Moorpark and on that straight to Mitsuwa Marketplace. I should have gotten a sushi bento as I normally did but decided I was going to be more "keto" and got a package of chashu and a gobo salad. Heavy, but it didn't take long to eat and I'd not want to eat again for several hours. I left there at 6:30. 

The ride to the place, from Mitsuwa Marketplace, was actually pretty far so by the time I got to the place it was 7. This is great, I thought, because the actual meeting is 7:30 and the "swap meet" part of it is before that. But, where is everyone? 

I sat around waiting, reading this AARP Bulletin magazine I'd found at the post office, until it was about 7:30. I was thinking I was there on the wrong day. A lady had pulled up in her car about the same time I'd showed up, and I went over and talked to her - she was there for the meeting too, and she'd tried calling people, etc., and there was nothing about a different day or location. 

It finally turned out that the meeting was well underway, in a different building. No one had put a note on the other building, or even gone around to see if anyone was waiting around. So the lady and I went on in, as by now it was close to 8 and the meeting was well underway. 

Now, the last meeting had been kind of fun. For some reason the whole atmosphere of this one was different. There was an auction of things but it was really "blah". Half the people with stuff to sell didn't show up, including the guy I wanted to buy something from. Everyone who shows up gets a raffle ticket and the lady I'd been waiting with won something so that was cool (I'd actually won something the last meeting) and some of the short little presentations were kind of neat. But overall it was very blah. 

Even that wasn't a deal breaker but jeez, that ride home. Firstly, I had indigestion from that heavy meal I'd eaten. Should have just gotten my usual sushi or a bowl of ramen. Second, the ride home seemed very long, partially because part of Stevens Creek wasn't finished being re-paved yet and I stuck to the sidewalk which made for slow going. 

I stopped at a Safeway (they're open until crazy late hours) but nothing made sense to buy there without a Safeway card and I don't have mine any more. So I went back out without buying anything and sure enough, there was someone yelling in the parking lot so I got outta there. 

Then, as I passed a BevMo, I decided I'd hop in and get some non-alcoholic Guinness. So I turned around at the light and was going in there when I discovered I'd found the only parking lot I've seen that has those lighter-colored cement "bumpers" at each parking space but then also has a continuous barrier running along there, redundantly. I went to ride between two of the "bumpers" and ended up hitting the continuous thing and ended up nearly flipping and "eating shit" on the parking lot there with the bike on top of me. At least someone asked if I was OK and I kept saying I was fine as I slowly extricated myself from the tangle that was me and my bike. 

At least I wasn't hurt that I could tell, and it was pretty easy to get the handlebars and front wheel aligned again and then with some fiddling and cussing get the chain back where it was supposed to be. Plus, BevMo had closed at 10 and it was after that time now, and the only customers there were people waiting around while the poor sales staff had to get the things they'd ordered online and pass them through the door. So now the workers there have to deal with that instead of being able to just close up.

I rode home, wondering at how many things were closed, it being Friday night and just a bit after 10. Real hoppin' town, yeah. I decided I'd check to see if this one nearly hidden convenience store on Taylor is open, and if so I'd buy some near-beer. Then as I got closer to the general area I decided to swing by TAK Market first and they were open so I got some O'Douls and got back here. 

All told, I'd ridden two hours each way for a two-hour meeting that wasn't very fun, and the ride back, due to it being dark and myself perhaps tired, probably isn't very safe. Like Craig's List, it's just another of a lengthening list of things that are not worth it.  I kind of thought the meetings might be justifiable in that they'd get me out along Stevens Creek which has a lot of neat stores along it that I feel like I don't visit enough, but in reality I'm dashing by, trying to make good time out to where I'm going. 

I came back here at something like 11:30, and due to the warmer weather there were zombies all over - another reason to not do things that have me out late at night. I guess the shakuhachi club - which meets next week - is the only hobby I need right now. 


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