I got about an hour's practice last night and I am getting stronger. I guess every demanding instrument is like this. In most cases the student starts out playing trumpet or violin or classical guitar or something when they're about 10 years old so the part where they don't sound great is done with by the time they're in high school.
I woke up time for coffee etc. and took off at 4. I had a big bag of books hanging off of each handlebar, and made my way to the Recycle Book Store to cash 'em in. I had high hopes for this batch, as it included books that I thought were pretty nice. But I got a mere $10 cash.
I took the slightly-lighter bags back with me to Whole Foods where I got some sausages and asparagus and a bottle of water. Kenny was at the till, and I told him about how I'd checked out dd's discounts and found it to be Meh but that Crossroads Trading Company is amazing. He's really into knowing the best stores to bargain-shop at. He had trouble understanding the odd name of Crossoads though, and where it was, so I said next time I'm by I'll pick up a business card from them for him.
I ate my sausage and asparagus at one of the picnic tables with a guy sitting at the end, who was drinking Grolsch beers and diddling around on his phone. When I finished, I made some friendly comment about the weather or something, and off we went, talking.
It turns out he's Dave who works for The Metro - or the overall company that publishes The Metro, I'm not sure. I told him how I'm actually old "Poison Pen Carter" who's written a few of the "I Saw You" things, which the editor told me they loved. We both raved over Gary Singh's articles, my favorite being "Where The Signs Spin".
Dave, who was finishing off the 4th beer in the 4-pack, was there to enjoy the day, riding over on his old cruiser bike, and had to meet a guy he was giving San Jose Jazz tickets to. He had to go back to his house, which was right by where I was going, "Antiques Row" on San Carlos. So this guy was not only buddy-buddy, but stuck to me like glue as we rode out, heading for the Burbank district.
I intended to turn left at Sunol but we went right past it. No problem, though, as I could turn left at Race. Dave was dead-set on going down this angled street which I'd tried once and gotten kind of lost, so I insisted on going down Race and he went off down that street to go to his house, where he was to meet the recipient of the tickets.
I rode to the Teen Challenge thrift store to drop the books off. I was told by the Black guy running things there to take the bike inside because "There are cats around here who are really quick...!" but I was just dropping 'em off so that's all I had to do.
Crossroads was just up the street so I locked the bike there, went in and got a business card and a couple of their little flyers, then actually walked back to Teen Challenge to see what kind of stuff they had - it's meh. The 99c store there was interesting though, I got 3 cans of "lower salt" corned beef with an expiry date in 2027 for $3 each. I figured it's a good use for the book money.
Then I went up the road for the other goal of the trip, to visit Fjallraven again. I parked at Big-5, went in to find they don't have Scotch Guard, then walked over. Santana Row was super busy. It kind of reminds me of Ala Moana Center back in the day, when it was the only game in town if you wanted to do some serious shopping. It also reminded me that I really didn't like the crowded old Ala Moana Center when I was a kid.
I picked out a small bag from Fjallraven that I can keep flute parts and important smaller things in and got that. I checked out H&M which is rather horrible. I thought I might get some T-shirts there but after that I think I'll just pick out my nicest three Muji shirts to take to Hawaii.
I checked out the Japanese pens and paper store - whoo-eee, Fjallraven prices for some cheapo pencil cases etc. - and Tommy Bahamas was closed early for some reason. I'm still on the fence about buying some Olukai slippers and was deciding against it but it turns out Olukai is donating sales from their web site to Maui fire relief so at least I want to get a handle on what size/style I want.
I rode back to Whole Foods and got some eggs and cheese and Kenny was there so I gave him the business card etc from Crossroads. He was really happy to get the stuff and it's only fair, as when I'd gotten the sausage etc. he'd only charged me for the bottle of water so I'd eaten for free.
I rode home, picking up several books on the way, and by now it was dark so I'm glad I'd put new batteries in my bike headlight. I didn't think I'd be out until dark but there I was.
I should add that I rode through San Pedro Square and didn't see any buskers or beggars or anything like that. The only buskers I saw were the lady singer on one corner by Santana Row and some hollering Christian loon on the opposite corner. There wasn't anyone doing anything at Whole Foods, either.
I'm not gonna say buskers are extinct in this valley but they've become very very rare.
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