I moved a bunch of heavy stuff around and found a place for some of the capacitors, and am working on places for all of them. Since I'd practiced, I didn't feel this heavy weight of "I need to practice" and then not getting it done because I'd be too tired at the end of the day.
In yesterday's practice I could see that the free buzzing has been very helpful but I need to put in time on the horn every day too.
I am just more worried about how sustainable this business I'm working for with Ken is. We'll have a $300 or $400 day and then 2-3 days where where we make like $20 or $30 each day. It's just not sustainable.
In my experience, when things fail, they fail unexpectedly fast. As I'm too old for a regular company to hire, don't have the eyesight to be a commercial driver, and don't have a fit enough back to do construction, it's the trumpet for me. With the trumpet I can keep a storage unit and by taking Social Security I can pay for a room so that would be the plan.
Ken has a lease to fulfill on this place so there will be some warning. But it will still be unexpectedly fast.
I noticed people really ate up the song "Those Were The Day" no, not the hilarious theme song to the old TV show All In The Family but the sad Russian song by the same name. That's what got me out playing that 3rd hour last week. I wanted to try it out. I'm also going to work on one called "Dark Eyes" which was a bit hard to find considering I tried looking under "Brown Eyes" and then I thought it can't be "Black Eyes" and that's what reminded me it's "Dark Eyes".
People seem to like this kinda sad sounding stuff and it's fun to play so I might be on to something. I like klezmer-ish things and if the public does too, it's a win.
I signed up for this shofar picnic thing at the Addison Penzak Center in Los Gatos. In our system, people of my social class aren't supposed to have friends or do much of anything but work. I'm defying the system by doing the things like this that I'm doing. Then eventually I'll ultimately defy the system by escaping it to retire in Israel.
I got out of here a bit after 12, got to Whole Foods and locked the bike and used the loo, and followed my plan of going to the Whole Foods on Hamilton in, I guess, the city of Campbell.
After the train ride and a walk, I was there and set up. I had a guy, neatly dressed, athletic build, kind of a male Karen type, come up and ask me if I wanted anything from inside. I said that I'd eaten and had ice water and cleaned my mouth and was all set, so there really wasn't anything I wanted, the money's the thing. He went off, and a few minutes later a Karen came up, a Karen who worked for Whole Foods there, and said I can't be closer than 50 feet from the doorway and if I perform I'll have to set up at one of the "islands" in the parking lot.
I said OK, I'll try it out. I found an "island" with a thin bit of shade due to the palm tree there, and set up and played. This might be better, I thought, because more people can actually see and hear me. This Whole Foods has 3 entrances so the people going in and out of all three would know I'm there.
I played for a while, and realized that I'm not playing for people here, I'm playing for cars. And cars don't tip. One actual person, an older Asian man, walked over and put $2 in the box, but that was it. I packed up to go but first I went into the Whole Foods and found out which Karen it was, a Karen named something like Courtney, and she said it's the rule for that building to be 50 feet or more from the entrance.
I said that was interesting because that complex there was actually the subject of a lawsuit as to whether a private place that's a filled with the public is actually a public place. She said that they don't allow anyone, profit, non-profit, the Girl Scouts, etc. Karen probably thinks the Girl Scouts are Communists. I The first thing I'd asked Karen is if a guy, giving the guy's description, had complained to her about me. She said that No, it was all on her own.
I have a feeling about two things. First I think Karen's lying. Not only about the 50 feet from the building thing but also about the guy never talking to her. And secondly, Karens are everywhere and they come in the male model too. I've always turned down offers of "something, maybe a bottle of water" but I think I'm going to accept these needless bottles of water from here on out. It gives the Karen something to do.
I walked back to the train station and rode back to Diridon and went back to my "home", non-Karen-y Whole Foods and set up. I'd played maybe 20 minutes at the Karen-y Whole Foods and made $2. I played a bit over an hour at "my" Whole Foods and made $25.50. After the bit over an hour the wind had become pretty bad and I'd stopped getting tips and I was tired.
So I went in and got some food and a seltzer water and ate and relaxed, then I went back out there. It was not good, another $2 in another 20 minutes maybe a bit more. There comes a point there the wind is bad enough that people aren't "strolling" by, they're hurrying to avoid being in that wind any more than they have to.
Maybe I'll try the Old Spaghetti, I decided. I rode by there and there were hardly any people. The same goes for around downtown, except for the $2 hamburger place that's owned by a Trump supporter - I figure that place will go along OK until a bunch of people get food poisoning haha. I'm not sure about busking by there. It's mainly students, who tend to be broke.
It was the same everywhere else. It's like we're halfway to the End Times - windy, desolate, depopulated - this last because people are swallowed up in cars. And in the end, it's a Monday and it being Labor Day just means there's probably something on TV everyone's at home watching. Some CBS Movie Special or something.
So in the end it's $29.50 more than I had when the day started, and in Silicon Valley, that's a respectable daily income.
And playing-wise, I didn't have too much in the way of high-note troubles, and I worked out "Dark Eyes" pretty well. And played lots of Those Were The Days. That last tune went over super well last time, but this time I think it's just that the wind had people tense and non-tippy, and it being a holiday they wanted to rush home with their groceries and not miss that ABC TV Special.
But I'm glad I played lots of Those Were The Days because a couple of older people really got a kick out of it (last week it was a couple of young guys on solowheels who were entranced) and I had some nice little talks with people.
I want to work on "Sweet Caroline" next for some good old corny fun.
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