Last night all I did was pack things - about 17 of them - and when I got up just have coffee etc. and get out of here and take the things to the post office and Fedex.
I found a few packing things on the way back, pretty routine, then got back here and cleaned up and headed for downtown. First I stopped in at Nijiya for some sugar-free Lipovitan because I like having one as soon as I wake up, some peppers for cooking, a can of black coffee and a small tray of chicken karaage - I had the chicken and some of my own coffee that I'd brought sitting at a table out front.
Then I rode over to Whole Foods to lock the bike up, use the loo, and I actually complained to the manager (because the web site says to do so) about a guy who was camped out in the bike racks and hassling people about collecting signatures and some shit about magic mushrooms. Of course to the guy I said, good-humoredly, that we'd looked for those when I was a kid in Hawaii.
Then I went to a meeting, which I thought might yield a crumb or two of information useful to me in getting my papers in order and other things. It went OK and indeed I got my crumb or two of information and they didn't even hit everyone up for a donation at the end of the meeting. I had a $10, a couple of $1's and some change and was going to give the $10.
When the meeting was done I was surprised to find the $10 still there in my wallet ... Oh yeah they hadn't done the donation thing. Maybe they don't do that any more.
As I'd checked my bike after walking back, there was a different (Black in both cases) guy, this one in a wheelchair and asking people for money. I'd gone to the bike to get my change bag out and was transferring the change to my pocket. First the guy had asked for $2 and when I said I didn't have $2 he said "A $5, a $20, a $100" and wasn't completely joking. Then he asked for the change. I said I needed the change for myself.
Since I didn't want to spend the $10, I had about $4.30 for some eggs and got some that were $3.15. That's all I'd wanted to do. Just buy some eggs so I don't have to worry about it later in the week. I had about $.50 left over and was considering giving it to the guy, but when I went out he was gone. All these pesterers make me want to get a trumpet again ....
The ride home was very calm, of course there were zombies out but not very many, and there was so little traffic at the Bayshore/10th intersection that I was able to ride through the red light to avoid a zombie that was almost completely hidden in the dark, shuffling toward me. I think it's my hearing that saves my ass a lot and this is why I've never been a fan of headphones.
Today's freebee: A couple of daikon radishes out of this one dumpster that always has green beans and often other things, I skipped on the beans though.
As part of cleaning up for the meeting, I'd put on one of the new "Puma" T-shirts I'd bought at Ross, and does it ever feel good. My Muji shirts seem to have become all stretched out of shape, so new shirts it is. When I leave for Hawaii I'm only planning to have 2-3 sets of underclothes, 2 each shorts and shirts, etc. Very pared-down. And preferably all new although I've learned how futile it is to try to buy an aloha shirt here on the mainland. I'll just have two shirts that are OK if not actual aloha shirts and take care of that once I'm back home.
Practice last night had been my long tones routine on the shakuhachi. At least I'm doing 20 in a row now. I'd also looked at the San Jose Ukulele Club songbook which has a lot of songs with the chord diagrams which is pretty much how it's done at the ukulele playing sessions I've been to. The actual San Jose Ukulele Club meets in the "deepest darkest" suburbs of South San Jose, where public transportation and I supposed, non-pale people do not venture. But, long ago, I had found some at the Mountain View public library. I only looked over some of the songs but it looks like a good place to find stuff to practice, print out the one I want to practice and find someone on YouTube who's playing it to play along with.
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