Saturday night havdala

 Yesterday I was up in time to: List 15 things bringing me up to 50 for the week, pack all the things that needed packing, track down one order where Ebay decided to re-sell something we'd sold months ago (this is an occasional, ongoing problem doing back decades; I think Ebay's using this as a way to "float" interest-free loans, in effect) and get all cleaned up for Friday night. 

I left here at about 2:30, dropped off the packages at the downtown post office, then did the bank. Everyone was cheerful as always. There's a new employee, an African guy whose name I think I can pronounce and will try the next time I go to him, but he was with a customer so I went to the Hispanic guy I regularly go to. I told him that "that guy" (meaning the new guy) had clued me in that I don't need to hand over the little card with my account number on it every time, as it's written right on the back of my checks and I write pretty neatly too. In other words, he's a smart guy, probably smarter than either of us. 

Next was Whole Foods where I missed somehow that they had "Cheech & Chong Chicken" and got some Korean barbecue chicken wings. And broccoli. I chowed down and people-watched for a bit and then I was off again. 

To the used book store. Yep, earlier in the day I'd had time to go through my latest finds and felt I had a load, so I went over there for my trade credit. They didn't take very many, and I got $5.25. I got a nice collection of Sholom Aleichem stores called "Some Laughter, Some Tears". 

I've found out the so-called Peace & Justice Center is pro-Hamas so I can't have anything to do with them. However, the Teen Challenge thrift store loves to get books so I took the books the book store didn't buy, over there. They were like, "Oh boy! Books! Thank you!!" 

I looked in the antique store where I'd gotten my wonderful silver Kiddush cup, and sure enough, the She-Wolf of the SS had another one there, but smaller and well, a lot chintzier. I'd really gotten the masterpiece. So I walked out of there feeling pretty good. 

Since I was down by Crossroads Trading, I might as well take a look, so I locked the bike up there and had a look. I want newer Doc Martins but low-quarters and they have a lot of the boots, but I didn't see any low-quarters this time. But - I found a pair of Uggs, actual Uggs, that fit me. Sure they're sky-blue, but only $22 and I've been paying Big-5 $40-$60 every other year for new Bear Paws. Uggs last a long time. They're actually a bit small, so I might wear them sockless which I think is how it's supposed to be done anyway. It'll mean less wear on my socks and I'll clean my feet more regularly. So I count that as a real score. 

Out in the parking lot was an overweight black lady going on and on into her phone about people following here and trying to frame her as a thief in stores and so on. I kind of wanted to get a word in, to tell her that's being white in Hawaii so I know how she feels, but I think she's actually doing some kind of thing where you livestream whatever it is you're doing and people give money through Venmo or something. Jimi The Hobo does this on YouTube and he's a lot more boring than her. 

I rode back towards Whole Foods but a strange route I may have taken before, and ended up going by the bike shop. So I went in and told them how I was thinking, instead of paying $1200 for a Brompton, I'm of a size that I could just get a 20-inch bike as a backup/travel bike. The 20-inchers they had in there were light as feathers. And we talked about other things and had a good old time. They had a table of free things, including a lot of La Dolce Velo reflective pants bands. I was allowed to take a wad of those. I'll sell 'em on Ebay, I thought. 

I rode back over to Whole Foods and bought a few more things and a kefir, and since it was kind of a zoo in there, I rode to the temple and sat on the low wall in front with my new book, kefir, etc. Tot Shabbat was ongoing and the kids who'd gotten disruptive inside, were outside, being allowed to run around and let off steam. They were pretty funny to listen to. 

At the service,  I sat up close to the front in an attempt to see the monitors better. It kinds of worked but  I really need those new glasses. I sat near some pretty nice people though. A kid whose Bar Mitzvah was today was doing some things, read a bit of Torah, and sounded pretty good. We sang our cowboy songs and did the usual things. This time I'm happy to say we sang Hakitvah also. I'm learning the songs by osmosis, as it were, and need to work on Haktivah a lot because the version I've been playing isn't exactly correct. Also it's helpful to know the words.

At the oneg, which is food and schmoozing after the service, the lady who'd sat next to me, beautiful singer by the way, said she was happy to have me near them. I didn't show much reaction to this, something like a smile and a quiet, "Oh, thanks". But that just bowls me over. In Hawaii no one was happy to have me near them. Too white for the locals, although a local myself, too brown or too poor for the white folks, and so on .

Hell we've got one guy at the temple, I'm not sure what's up with him, but I strongly suspect he's homeless. He might not be, could even be quite wealthy and just not good at taking care of himself, but people know him and like him. He's not just tolerated, but welcome. 

The trumpet player's kind of an oddball and on top of that, very "cheap" but he's liked. He has the distinction of being one of the tall people. Unlike, say, groups of Mormons I've seen who are a bunch of stilts, we're a short bunch. 

Then there's the photographer guy. He's a real character. I've found myself that being a character doesn't hurt, but this guy is like me only quite a bit more so. He was talking with a circle of the young guys - 20-somethings maybe, who I befriended last week or the week before. They were all talking about Hebrew school which, like Japanese school for so many classmates when I was a kid, they'd all had to go through years of. I couldn't talk about that, so I told them a funny story: 

"When I was a kid in Hawaii, before we became poor, we lived in a big house with big yards and an pond, and coconut leaves, you know they're in these long strips, right? And the way they're structured, when they rot, they get patterns of lines and square dots ... so  I found some like this, and I thought, 'Is this Hebrew? Are these Hebrew messages?'" 

That got a big laugh, and it's 100% true. We didn't do any religion but we had among our many books, a book about the world's religions so I knew what Hebrew looks like. About the thing I did when I was 5 or so, that looking back looks an awful lot like putting on tefillin, I have no answer for that. 

I had a chance to mention to the rabbi that that drink, the "Malt", was so delicious I had a second glass, and he said, "That makes one of us". Some people just don't like some things... I make fun because he seems a little over-invested in his hatred of kvass so a bit later I put in that it's a Russian drink so it might be natural to dislike it. We also got into a talk about which hospital in Los Angeles we were born in, because I wanted to see if he was born in the same one as myself, which he was not. So discussions of various places in L.A. went on, and neighborhoods, and the rabbi said that he never wants to go to L.A. again, that it's awful. Overcrowded, dirty, etc. Since it's 21 years since I've been through there, I can't comment but I believe it. 

The photographer guy used to be in bands and play the sax, and a guess at least some of the young guys have a "reed" background and it's becoming generally known that I play music of some sort, perhaps on a trumpet, so that's another commonality. We're all musicians in some way shape or form. The trumpet player was not there, maybe staying home to practice on the shofar I'd given him. 

That same cop was on duty and I had a good talk with him too - about the hybrid SUVs they have that when you gas it, it actually almost stalls. He's sure he's gonna get rear-ended because of that. And about survivalism and such things. Also, the kids wanted stickers and he was all out of them. So, I got out the reflective leg bands and gave them to him to give to the kids. 

The ride home was nice and calm. I just ride home on Hedding, so I'm not passing any place where I might be tempted to buy anything. I got back here, laid out a nice dinner and opened the bottle of Josh Cellars wine, and watched Jewish stuff like Art Spiegelman documentaries on YouTube and eventually hit the sack. 

But not so fast - it was not so simple. I had the wine opened and the bottle there, and my silver Kiddush cup, and the candles all ready to light, and there as a knock on the door - Ken! He'd come by to drop off some mail, nothing important, and I'd had to say "Wait a minute!" and ended up rushing up to the loft to stick the wine up there, and hid the cup somewhere, and by that time Ken had shoved the letters into the mail slot and was taking off, and I went out and yelled at him through the car window but he had his right-wing radio turned up so hard, he was really startled and jumped in the most hilarious way when I knocked on the car window. He'd just wanted to drop off the mail, that's all, and I said thanks, and have a good time on your trip etc. 

Now I'll have to invent a cock-and-bull story about how I was stripped down for a bath, and that's why I hadn't come right out at 10PM on that Friday night. And also, if I need to hide a bottle of wine, the bike bag is the answer. It's right there, will hold it fine and it won't spill. And Ken never looks in there. I could toss the cup and the candlesticks with candles right in there too, no problem. 

So ... that Josh Cellars wine is really good, and I ate and drank and watched YouTube and went to bed. 

Waking up was easy especially given the my neighbors, having worn out their old power washer, have gotten a new one and as everyone knows, the best time to use a power washer is about 7:30AM. 

I got up and read the whole Sholom Aleichem book. The story I most relate to is "Mr Green Has A Job "https://keesvanhage.wordpress.com/4-8/ naturally. But the best is probably "The Red-Headed Jews". Sholom Aleichem died in 1916. That must be kept in mind when reading that story. 

Then I read more of "Voyage Of The Damned" and am up to the part where they have to sail *out* of Cuba. It's one of those can't-put-it-down books. 

Now it was 9PM. I turned on the computer and caught up on Ebay things, verified that H-Mart closes at 10, and left here at about 20 after to go there, for some shopping. Mainly I wanted eggs, but all kinds of things. Surprisingly, it only cost me $27 and here I was thinking about what I'd put back if the $54 or so I had on me wasn't enough.