Ken came by last night, I got my check, did more Ebay stuff, and practiced on the shakuhachi, mainly long tones. I also worked out how to play Edelweiss but in the key I was playing it in, I could not get the second to lowest note to sound.
I got "some" sleep and woke up in time to, in a mad rush, clean up and shave and get out of here with my shakuhachi stuff.
I went to the bank first, then to Whole Foods where I had some sausages and mushrooms. I was going to read the Metro weekly but they don't have it any more. What they *do* have is a new thingie that looks out over the parking lot with blinking red and blue lights and a PA system. I heard it playing a message about the parking lot being private etc. I also found it unusual that there were no charity people set up by the bike racks like they usually are.
A mistake a lot of these charity people were making, though, was they were not staying on the public sidewalk. They were setting up on Whole Foods property and right next to, or even in, the bike racks. Who knows what kind of drama, threats, etc. have gone and the manager of the Whole Foods has decided, Enough of the nonsense.
After eating I went to the Amazon place for about 15 bubble mailers, then over to Japantown for a few things from Nijiya. There were some old people in front of Hukilau who'd been there when I went in, and as I walked the bike on the sidewalk there, one of the ladies asked me about the parking meters which they were really perplexed about. So I had a look at the (hard to read) screen and verified that they don't have to pay after 6PM (it was something like 5:55) and which side of each meter goes to which space. The lady was incredibly grateful and explained that the other old couple (who'd walked across the street) were visiting from Los Angeles. She said it like it was some distant country, but then that's how things are becoming - as the economy gets worse, distances get longer.
I kept saying it was no problem, no problem at all, to her profuse thanks. Really routine, it's nothing. Do people not enjoy being helpful these days?
I set at the long bench at one side of the temple and practiced for almost an hour, then heard the door shut so I knew the people were there, and went in. Rinban Sakamoto was there and said, "Hi Alex!" and we got to talk for a bit. I talked about my plans to return to Hawaii and he said he'd been considering it himself.
Pretty soon the rest of the people came in - the two old ladies who are always there, one of the guys from the choir, and a new guy, I think one of the old regulars at the adult Buddhism classes.
I got 3-4 new pieces of sheet music, and the class went pretty well. We actually started working on "Rainbow Connection" which is not an easy song, one called "Beach Song" and we went over Nori No Miyama and worked on Golden Chain quite a bit. I'd have to say it was the best class session yet.
When I got out of there, I gave Ken a call. I'd gotten a call when I was in the class, from Suzy. Some alarm was going off in her house and she was trying to call Ken but could not get him at any of the numbers she had. She didn't know how to turn the alarm off. "You could always unplug it," I suggested and said I'll try to call Ken.
I got him right away and told him about Suzy calling and not getting him. "I don't see anything on my phone...." he said. I said she was kind of panicked and he should call her, so he said he would.
I rode around Japantown a bit but it being past 8PM most things were closed. So I just rode back here.
One thing I've noticed is there's a lot more traffic out there, and the drivers seem a lot more angry. Everyone's being called back to the office I guess. The thing is, the pandemic seems to have kicked off some pretty wild inflation. Workers were able to demand higher pay, and to be able to work at home.
All well and fine, but then the powers that be, probably wisely, have clamped down on inflation to some degree by doubling interest rates. Also calling in student loans or at least resuming payments. The dampening effect on the economy has removed the leverage workers have and there have been lots of layoffs in tech and for a lot of workers, it's come back to the office (with all that entails like a dress code, a commute, having to eat lunch at the right kind of restaurant or be ostracized, etc.) or say Goodbye to their jobs. And they're not happy so they're in a mood to get in their car and kill someone.
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