Sunday blahs

 I guess it's the Sunday/weekend blahs. 

Bend, Oregon mother gets her 15 minutes of fame; book deal pending

 I'm sure she's proud. Her son, who she bought the gun for and taught to shoot it, has killed some kids and a teacher I think. It's made the news which takes more than 1-2 deaths in the US. It will all be forgotten about in a week anyway but might as well write about it now. 

This happens over and over. Parent or parents find themselves at 40-something, not having accomplished as much as they thought they ought to have, so they have one final chance at some fame, which to Americans is life itself. Teach their kid to shoot and point them towards a school! 

Then when the dust has settled, there are book deals, made-for-TV movies, etc.  Not to mention the morning talk show circuit with types like Regis Philbin. 

I got up today, did a quick run to the bank and to Whole Foods, and got back here in time to take the packages I'd packed to the post office and FedEx. 

The run to/from the bank was interesting in that the zombies are out, and in force, due I guess to the warm weather. Makes 'em more hungry for brainnnnnnnns I guess. I even had one on a bike start to follow me I think, I *think* the thing trying to ask me for money. I just don't understand the scumbag dialect and I guess they're intelligible to each other but they're sure not to me. I started to get my pepper spray out, and increased my pace a bit, and when I next checked the thing was no where in sight. 

Even on the shipping run, the damn things were around, and it gets dark early now so the rule applies that one generally hears a zombie before they see it. 

 

Looking forward to homework

 By which I mean, filling out my ballot so I can mail it in. 

Ken came by last night, I got my pay check (dated for *last* Friday but he means this one) and while Ken still hasn't signed the new lease,  I got him as far as sending the landlord a text and an email, and he looked up their new office address so he can go in person. 

It seems his laptop, still running Windows 10, was used by hackers somehow to send spam emails to the other workers at his job. So he turned it into their IT guy, who's "working on it". The trouble is, Ken says, the guy hates him and he hates the guy. I said that should not interfere with getting the problem taken care of, but it might be time to see about getting a newer laptop. One of his sons works for a company where he can obtain laptops and Ken says he'll get one from him. 

(Meanwhile I have a Windows 11 laptop waiting in reserve, but I may have to pay a place to install my preferred browser on it). 

So Ken's been essentially experimenting which how much he can piss off the landlord, to hopefully(?) be put on the month-to-month rent rate, which will be at least $1000 a month more. 

If that happens I think things can hold together here until mid-September next year, probably. But not certainly, and I need to be ready to move out sooner. 

After Ken had gone and I'd recovered a bit, I realized I was very tired so I just practiced and then went to bed. The practice went very well. The practice before, the night before, had gone so-so, but this one went quite well so this shows that regular practice is a very good thing.  

A Generalized Theory Of Boomers

 Yes, the generation of psychopaths. 

To keep it short and quick, the theory is this: Starting with the "Progressive Era" there was a great push to educate the general populace in the US. Along with this and improving technology, there were tons of "how to" or "self help" books published, and a big market for them. Around this time, there were "modern" theories of child-raising, advocating things like, "If a baby's crying, ignore it and let the little fella 'cry himself out'". 

Mothers and babies were separated right at childbirth, only meeting a day or two (or three) afterward. And so on. It was a sort of "be cruel to be kind" theory, that children would be "spoiled" if they were treated like humans. 

Naturally this theory would have been strongest among the most educated, the most "striving", the working and lower-middle and middle class striving upward. 

This would mean not only Boomers but my grandparents, raising my 1930s era, "Silent Generation" parents. 1930s - 1950s. 

Enter Harry Harlow and his experiments with infant monkeys. By the late 1950s to early 1960s, his theories, developed from work from the 1930s, showed that babies need love, full stop. That you end up with some psycho monkeys if they're not raised with love. And this extends to humans. 

Harlow's work, starting in the 1930s, published  in the 1950s, and not getting through to the same public who read those "be cold to your kids or you'll spoil 'em" books, until the 1960s, would explain why most (but not the later ones) boomers and also Silent Generation people like my parents would be, basically, psychopaths. 

While boomers are considered to be those born 1945-1965, I'm going to say there was a real change after 1960s. The real deciding factor is, ask yourself, was Woodstock a thing you went to or were of the age to go to, or a thing you saw ads for T-shirts for in the back of comic books as a pre-teen in the 1970s and wondered what the hell it was? A lot of the "hippies' who went on to be "me-first!" yuppies were actually Silent Generation, not boomers. 

And I'm not saying leaded gasoline, the Cold War, Ayn Rand, and all those awful "Cowboys 'n' Indians" movies weren't factors. But I think this "Be tough on 'em from the day of birth on" child-raising philosophy, widely popularized, is also one of the major factors. 

Gen-X and later are properly horrified at the standard American boomer practice of kicking their kids out by age 18, being determined and loud about not leaving them any inheritance, and even in some cases charging them rent and for their food etc. from when they start working in their early teens. People in normal countries are horrified at this also. 

And we can't discount the influence and control of the small-hats. An atomized mass of goyim are easier to control and exploit then a unified goyim with a sense of Folks. The USA is Exhibit A on this subject.  

Anyway, I think this (as far as I know) undocumented drastic change in what was considered the best way to raise children might account for "the generation of psychopaths" and could be worth doing a fully researched article or even book (does anyone read actual books any more?) about.  

The Great Clean-Up

 I was up overnight packing something like 25 things. Since I'd taken that big thing to FedEx earlier in the day, all the things I packed actually fit in two cloth Whole Foods bags. 

Then I did a practice session and it went well. There are underlying things that just practicing, period, trains. Breath control and "support" etc. 

I was up at 3, out the door at 4, and took my 25 or so packages to the downtown post office. Then I went over to Sakura Market for some coffee, stopped at Nijiya on the way back for some cilantro, and got back here. 

On my way back, I checked where I'd "harvested" all those boxes from. It was probably my best packing materials "harvest" ever, since they're just the right size and in fact I'd used three of them last night. The area was completely clean. Not only the five or six boxes of random junk but the old tires and even the bed headboard that had been there for a months. Plus the long box I'd left on this side that once held some kind of big probes, was gone too. Absolutely great. 

 

Did I ever sleep pt. II

 Up at 4PM today. At almost 5, I get a call from Ken. "Why was I supposed to come to the shop today?" 

The new lease still hasn't been signed, and I called Ken at 1:30AM because I knew he'd be home, to remind him of it. He was watching some TV show, LOUD and I had to ask him to mute it so I could hear him. The landlord's secretary had sent him something called Adobe Sign, but he's been having problems with his laptop so as he put it, "I haven't been doing computer stuff" lately. 

OK ... So first he decided he ought to come here and use my computer, but then we decided the best thing to do is to go the the landlord's office and take care of it it there, tomorrow since today's a federal holiday. 

So just now I got this call, since Ken only remembered that he needed to come here to the shop, or something. I got him back on the right sheet of music and hopefully he takes care of it. 

I think I really need to be ready to jet out of here sooner than mid-September 2007, if it comes to that. Ken seems determined to fuck up the lease signing and get us onto the month-to-month rate which will be at least a thousand dollars a month more and will wreck the already delicate finances of this operation - and Ken's household. 

Thus, I'm glad I got all the sensitive papers I'm discarding - "popcorn" - all burned up and will keep up with that stuff from here on out. I need to get my "Real ID" but now have the papers I'll need easily at hand. 

Last night I got rid of another bulky hunk-O-junk that I was tired of moving out of the way in the shop - this big X-Y table. I ended up taking it apart because there was one neat motor on it plus a couple of worm drives, couple of sensors, some bearings, etc. Neat stuff. 

I also practiced and I simply need to practice daily, at least an hour each session. It's not possible to progress in technique if I don't have the basic practice in. And Christmas season, and Christmas songs, are coming up. 

The post office is closed today but I called FedEx and they were open regular hours, so I packed up a test instrument for a guy, that's one of HP's final hurrahs in their age of building test equipment by the pound. I think we only got $50 for it, too. I'd have some out ahead taking it apart. The guy bought it and a circuit board so I packed both in a big box and a few cables for another guy who'd "rather get them sooner than later" that I could send by FedEx. 

After dropping off the packages at FedEx (which involved helping a lady put a big box into her car, so I could use the FedEx cart which she'd used) I went to H Mart and had KFC - Korean Fried Chicken. And a can of coffee. 

I wanted to get the calories in because I had a feeling I'd be pretty busy and I was right. On my way out I'd spotted what looked like some nice boxes, brand new, behind Galli Produce. So on my way in I checked them out again and they're really nice. And really heavy since they're flat and there were three big boxes of them, so I want to say 150 of the things. They're sturdy, a handy small size, and only say "QMedic" on them, and that's easy to put the shipping label on top of. 

Plus there was a bunch of junk left out here that was a combination of my stuff and my neighbors' stuff. So I did something like 5 trips back and forth, getting rid of stuff and getting those boxes moved back here. And I had to get rid of the tons of little very flat boxes I'd gathered a while back and never used. So I was busy! 

 

 

Did I ever sleep

 Yesterday was kind of productive. I cleared stuff off of a rolling equipment rack and got it into the office, cleaned it up, then put it in an area of the warehouse just on the other side of the office/warehouse door where it's easy to access, and to show to anyone who wants to buy it. 

To do this, I had to move this huge dewar, basically a giant Thermos, that's really heavy. I had to do what's basically a sumo training exercise, to "ninch" it millimeter by millimeter into a space by the breaker box which, surprisingly, it first into fine. Sure it will take some monkey-crawling to get to the breakers, but I can' do that and once I'm gone it's someone else's problem. Not really hard for any fit person to get to. 

I also dragged a big motor I'd wanted to get out of here, out for the scrappers, and took apart the high voltage power supply that had been in the rack (and already had the good parts poached) and took apart another thing, and put those scraps out too. 

Then I photo'd 30 things and listed 17 of them. I'll list the rest today and credit those to yesterday, and for today, plan to photo and list 30 more. 

So the result of all of this is I slept until almost 5 in the afternoon here. And woke up and weighed myself and I'm 3 lbs down from last week. 

One thing I've fallen into lately is watching, of all things, metal detecting videos. It started with watching Robert Ferguson, and I've been following Monterey Magnet Man and Seek And Detect. Just guys who detect on the beaches of Orange County, California, my old home area for many years off and on. 

I had old neighbors (Greatest Generation) who were into metal detecting and for the longest time I thought they were making a fortune out there. It finally came out that, as they put it, they were making enough for their (greatly discounted due to being local residents) parking fees, lunch, and new detectors every few years. 

I know they had a big hoard of gold jewelry because they went off on vacation once for a month or so, and had hidden their gold. When they got back they couldn't find it, and were convinced I had taken it. I insisted I hadn't of course, and after a while they found where they'd hidden it from themselves and I was off the hook. "I told you I didn't want your old gold", I said. So they were saving up the occasional really valuable find, as it seems many detectorists do.  

But the reality is, nowadays as well as back in those days in the late 80s, that metal detecting has as its advantages that it gets a person out getting some exercise, because it pays a little is far more affordable than tennis or golf, and there's the fun of finding weird stuff. My neighbors were very proud of their collection of Mac Tonite toys. 

The present-day detectorists seem to share some characteristics. First, it's very important to live with, and live off of, your parents. Robert Ferguson and Monterey Magnet Man both do this and I'm sure in both cases their parents just sigh and say to themselves, "Well, at least he's not on drugs". Seek And Detect hasn't mentioned living off "the folks" yet but eventually he will, or there will turn out to be a trust fund or disability settlement or something  in the background, funding his realities of life. 

I won't lie to myself, detecting looks like fun. But it's a lot of hours digging up pennies and bottle caps and bits of foil. What I think is underplayed is the natural resentment of the general public who see someone detecting on the beach and Hey, their grandmother lost her ring there a month ago, bet this guy's got it. 

Plus the general equipment is expensive. A person can get started with about $500 worth of stuff but these guys are out there with a couple grand worth of detector, scoop, etc. Said equipment has to endure hours on end being used, and electronics equipment has a way of eventually breaking. 

I *do* have the idea of, once I'm back home, obtaining a "pin pointer" and using it to find coins, fishing weights, and hopefully jewelry in the little bowls and channels created in the rock on certain beaches that I know of. The "pin pointer" wouldn't even be 100% necessary as it sure wasn't necessary for me to dig tons of coins out in the past, but it can make the difference between finding those last dozen pieces of split shot or that gold earring. But that's a simple, $200 a most, piece of kit that is easy to carry to the beaches, by my planned method, the bus. 

If any of these guys I've been following had any musical skill at all they might be out busking, at least in the case of Robert Ferguson who seems to be living on next to nothing. But having musical skill and being inclined to go out busking is a very, very rare skill. 

To give an idea, back when I thought I'd learn to draw people's ugly noses well and be a caricature artist, I estimated that there are probably only about 300 caricature artists making a living doing it in the entire country. That makes that skill/occupation genuinely one in a million. I'd say the same applies to "professional" buskers. Especially after the great acceleration of the killing off of culture that was facilitated by the Covid epidemic.  

 

October 10, 2026

 I didn't get on here soon enough to get the date right. 

OK so I burned the last of the "sensitive papers" last night so that's a big chore taken care of. I still need to organize the papers I'm keeping into the little slots in the notebook thing, but that's going to be trivial. 

I packed two large packages last night and took them to the post office today and wow, today was, relatively speaking, cold. And windy. 

The guys next door have got a lot of file cabinets and things put out into the parking lot and two guys with trucks piled up a lot of metal etc., and took off with it. Not to be outdone, I put out a very long box that originally held some kind of probes but holds nothing, a large-ish motor with some pulleys and stuff, and a bunch of scrap metal from taking a couple of things apart. 

 

Sitzkrieg

 I think we're in what the Germans once called the "Sitzkrieg" or literally sitting war. Where a world war has started but most haven't noticed it yet. 

It's the neo-medievalists in Russia vs. the Jewish octopus in Ukraine, the present consolidation of the media by ZOG in the US, Our Most Zionist President introducing IDF tactics on our streets where people are abducted or even killed carte blanche with no repercussions. It's the US/ZOG committing piracy on the high seas, which is barely being covered in our Jewish-owned media. Yep fishing boats are suddenly major drug shipments, better shoot everyone! Same as in "israel" the Jews have done to fishermen there. 

The whole thing's a powder keg just waiting for the right spark and meanwhile, we sit. Sit and wait. 

I was so tired last night I went to bed around 4AM and still managed to sleep until 3 in the afternoon. I got out of here at 4 and took my pay check to the bank, and the numbers agree so that's good. 

Needless to say downtown has tons of zombies, with the weather just right, not too hot and not too cold. Honestly we need Zombie Control just like we have Animal Control. Go out and catch 'em with a big net, stuff 'em in a truck and put 'em in a kennel with some water and kibble haha. 

I packed one heavy box and took it up to FedEx. The weather's really pleasant out there and that seems to mean the zombies are all out enjoying it. I had to dodge zombs right and left even just making a normal little trip up to FedEx and H Mart. 

I got the stuff done and took a nice circuitous route back here, haha, this because there's a big land-yacht RV full of bums that's set up behind Galli Produce so it behooves me to keep it a bit on the QT that I'm living in here and not just passing through. 

I helped a customer wade through all the Ebay shit and complication, and the result is just under 2 grand in sales today. BUT .... the last big order of capacitors, that came to over 6 grand with the shipping, was educational. After the shipping, it still came out that Ebay's various fees and the sales tax took almost half. 

So Ken thinks he's making 6 grand and he's actually making 3. 

This is why I've long believed that holding a sign by the freeway on-ramp is a more viable career than Ebay. The problem with Ebay is, you need a big place to store stuff, you need a car, you need to spend a few hours a day driving said car around finding things and shipping things. You're not making big money out of a rented room or a pup tent.

That's how I see things these days. Can an occupation be done out of a pup tent? There's scamming, grifting, pickpocketing, begging, burglary (although this last means you'd better only steal small things like jewelry) murder-for-hire, all sorts of occupations. Keeping the heat of the Law off of oneself makes it a bit more restrictive, because you're restricted to legal things, but there's still begging, street performing, working a job if you can hide the fact that you're living out of a pup tent, etc. All of which pay more than Ebay. 

Ebay *can* work if you do it like I used to, 1-week auctions only, if a thing doesn't sell out of 2 tries it's scrapped. It still requires an apartment or if in a rented room, a storage unit. And a car. By the time the dust has settled, begging (non-coercive panhandling is actually legal) or street performing still pay better with far less worries. 

Having a job used to be the ideal, but there's no progression that way. I make the same in absolute dollars that I did in 1986, 40 years ago. Except 40 years ago I had a medical and a dental (and I think a vision) plan, and a 401k which didn't appreciate at all but while it didn't grow, it still at least existed. So a job is just another way to just survive, along with begging, street performing, etc. 

The only "progress" for at least 90% of us is to get better over time at living on less and less, and any savings have to be kept off of the grid. Burying a coffee can full of silver dimes under the old oak tree etc. 

I remember an old (literally, he was Silent Generation) friend of mine complaining that for a while after the crash of 2008, only being able to find work as a painter's helper for $60 a day. That's 18 years ago and I don't make that much now. 

And I'm in that strange area between being the youngest of the Boomers or the oldest of GenX. I'd say myself, my older brother and my two younger sisters are GenX and my older sister is about as pure Boomer as they come. 

I remember her complaining about how tough she had it, that when she was first out on her own, she "could only afford a small car". I didn't have a car at all until I was about 30. I remember our being out together around Waikiki and we saw a young Asian girl selling T-shirts on the sidewalk, and my older sis staying that young girl "should be put in jail". She's utterly forgotten that she sold stuff on the side of the road back in the 1970s. 

She's petty, spiteful, extremely thin-skinned, and very, very insecure which is why any conversation with her includes her constantly reminding me that she went to Punahou* (the expensive private prep school my father utterly torpedoed the family finances to send her to) and/or what expensive purse or whatever other ostensibly high-class trapping she's agonizing over buying from (name-drop) store. Like, who fucking cares? I got sick of her obsessing over some dumpy-looking purse and I finally said she ought to just buy the thing and live with it for a few days and then take it back if she doesn't like it. 

*No shade intended on Punahou which is a great school. I just wish all schools could manage to educate all kids in the state as well, and it makes all the sense in the word to send one of your kids there if you're not shafting the rest of the family by sending them there. 

But as bleak as it was for me, I've had it better than younger generations do now. This is why I, and a lot of people, think we're in a powder keg; that WWIII in earnest or civil war are just waiting to pop off. 

At least the younger people are Noticing. They're not brainwashed by all the Jewish propaganda we olders were. 

Even  in the 80s and 90s, sure I'd make jokes etc., but I could not honestly, in my heart of hearts, believe the Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov and all these Jewish scientists and writers would be anything but angelic. In the US it was always Jewish scientists and SF writers who got promoted and publicized. 

Now I know  that Asimov probably left every penny to "israel" and Sagan would gladly have worked on rockets not to explore other planets but to bomb the neighbors of "israel" and all these lovely characters who have been lionized, are good at putting on, or having put on, a good face while they hate the goyim and any benefit they've done for the goyim is incidental. 

And this is all becoming really obvious lately, on an accelerated timeline, and the younger people are Noticing.  

OK Boomer

 I got "OK Boomer"'d but good. 

I'm not sure if I mentioned it here but a few months back Ken bragged to me about a sterling silver dish he'd bought for something like $5 at the Goodwill on Coleman. He showed it to me, it had a bunch of hallmarks, etc. 

So from time to time I'd thought about that dish, I guess because I'd been kind of jealous. 

So last night after I got my check and we talked and the usual, he asked if I knew someplace that would buy the dish. He had it in his car. I said "I've got a guy" so he handed it over and after he'd gone I weighed it and did some math. Ken wanted at least $300 for it and I figured, since my match seemed to show a melt value of $540, that there was a fair chance I could skim off a bit after selling it and then give ken his something-more-than-$300 and he'd flake off a bit more to me, for my time. 

So as usual I didn't go to bed as early as I should have, and since I set my alarm clock for 1PM I didn't get much sleep. I packed a few packages and basically was up at the time I'd set, cleaned up a bit, and headed out at 2. I dropped off the packages and went to Whole Foods where I got a couple of beef sticks and $40 cash back. I put $20 of that on my clipper card to be sure to have train fare, and got on the train. 

My place was up in Menlo Park so the train's really the only practical way to get there. I got there and after watching the guy fork over a few thousand dollars to a guy for a coin collection, I handed over the tray and he got out the XRF "gun" and tested it and said, "I'm gonna pass on this". 

The thing was plated! Sure it has a bunch of little hallmark-looking marks on it, but for the first time, I looked closely and one is "SP" in a circle which even I know is "Silver Plate" and the others didn't look like anything, and it was also stamped, "Made In US America" like who stamps that on something? "US America"? So all in all it was a bit of a laugh, and the guy, who I think gets them for free, gave me a still-warm cheese steak sandwich which I tried once I got to a bench to sit down outside and, well, I'd have had to be a lot hungrier and have a lot of hot sauce .... But  I digress. 

It was a kind of fun trip in that the new electric trains are always nice to ride, and I got to look at the pretty coins and bars and stuff in the display cases at the shop, and the guy was in a nice mood. The mood in there changes with how silver's doing and it's kind of "meh" right now. So the mood was nice. 

I went to the Starbucks to use the loo and get a drink and I called Ken and told him how things had gone, and about the XRF gun and Ken was like, "Oh, those are nice, they cost thousands though". So he's pretty lah-de-dah about the whole thing, and I told him we might be selling some big capacitors that might bring in a few thousand, so it's all good. He, in turn, said my ballot has come in the mail so I'll get it next week. 

So I'm out an afternoon and the train fare but I think the whole thing is kind of hilarious. Ken thought he had one over on the Salvation Army folks and in the end, he only fooled himself. And he's the one who has his life set up so he's always chasing after money like a junkie. 

I got back downtown and went down to Walmart for TP and paper towels, and got back here and that's that. 

I probably will not busk this weekend since I want to work on this new technique and I haven't been practicing. It's not like guitar where you can just bang away and blargle out some nonsense "lyrics"  and get tipped if you play until the wee hours of the morning for the drunks and if one of 'em gives you guff, you've got your guitar and they get the "KA-BONGGG!" just like Quick Draw McGraw. 

Happy Birthday, Herr Himmler

 I looked to see if he was in fact a descendant of Heinrich The Fowler but sadly, no. Although he considered himself an avatar of, or spiritual successor of, The Fowler and that's good enough for me. 

"We fought the wrong side" - general Patton. 

I can't think of anything else notable about this day. If the USS Liberty can be forgotten about, then I can't think of anything else of any note. I guess if I'd planned ahead I might have gone to Teske's downtown and celebrated Herr Himmler with some Schweinshaxe and a good bier. 

Last night I had hamburger on top of asparagus, and also cooked more, courtesy of 5 bundles of it that had fresher tips than I often see in the supermarket, for free. So I had delicious chilled asparagus today. Plus I got two large packages of blueberries and with all the warnings lately, plus there's a reason they got tossed, I put some time into picking out the good ones by hand, rinsing those, and cooked them along with one of those little boxes of coconut milk. I also added salt, I think a bit too much, but hey  a lot of "sweet" things are also salty. Lookin' at you, instant cocoa. 

So today after dropping off packages I bought a can of whipped cream at H Mart, which should be perfect with the not too sweet and somewhat salty cooked and now chilled blueberry ... soup? 

Plus I got a bunch of hothouse cucumbers, small ones but fresh. So I got a good batch of freebees last night. 

Today's the day the EMT training place throws out stuff but when I got there there wasn't anything, but there was an old Asian guy collecting bottles and cans. I dug out a couple for him. That's a hard way to make money, since they're only worth 5c-10c each. 

I got back here and the guys hadn't taken the box of scrap I left out, but had put some heavy greasy car part in, haha. So once I was back and had put things away I put in another old car part that had been living under the bench in front of their door for a while, and took the box of stuff up alongside Old Bayshore where someone will pick it up. It's kind of funny how sometimes, in fact most of the the time, the stuff will be picked up and not a trace left, and other times the stuff will be untouched and there will be *more* stuff. It all works out in the end. 

Also, last night, I got a good practice session in. I felt rusty as hell having not practiced for over a week. I really wanted to work on this "aperture" idea that one Japanese guy I watched on YouTube went on about. And I think I'm on a very productive track. I was actually able to do high notes easily, when I could get away from using too much pressure (both breath and mouthpiece against lips) and I've found I can play some super crazy high notes and yes they're actual notes not just squeaks, it's just a matter now of filling in the notes between those and the ones in the staff and slightly above the staff. 

Dennis Hasters and Jim Bakker, GONE NOWWWWWWW.....

 The "GONE NOWWWWWW" in the voice of "Metal LEO" on YouTube, who loves saying that about closed businesses, of which there are so many, he sees in his walks around US cities and towns. Haha! 

I burned up some of the "popcorn", crumpled up sensitive papers, last night and was doing various things when I found out the water was off. I called Ken to ask if he paid the bill and he said he'd check, then I got the bright idea to just get some water from next door, where they have a hose set up. But theirs was off too so I called Ken back and said it's not just us so don't panic. 

I set out to go buy some water, and remembered that there had been work trucks around this place at the front of the complex where it's always wet. I'd even smirked and said, "Welcome to the perma-puddle" as I'd rode by earlier. They were really working on it now. 

I decided I'd go to the 7-11 on 1st, because being a franchise store, for some reason this would mean water would be reasonable. Well, it wasn't. I got some, but the main thing about that place was the BUMS. There were bums on the corner and one bum in front of the store, and when I went out with my water, there were about 5 bums hanging around my bike. The bums were, as bums do, quarreling among themselves and muttering and jibbering etc., under their various drug and mental illnesses. There were bums inside too, also arguing among themselves, and acting crazy in various ways. The Indian guys inside have to put up with this shit every night. I can't begrudge them their high prices because of this. It's a war zone. 

I got out front with my 2 liters of water, put 'em in the bag and unlocked the bike as quickly as I could manage smoothly, hopped on and got out of there without even bothering with the lights, just get me out of here! 

I decided to swing by the place on 1st and Brokaw, just to see what their prices are. There was one bum-ass / zombess with a cart of some sort loaded with crap, holding quite the lively conversation with herself, out in the parking lot but at least I didn't have to go through a screen of bums to go in, and there weren't bums inside. Their water prices were a bit less, and they had pork rinds. So I got a bag of pork rinds and a liter of water there, too. 

I had a bit of a conversation with the Indian guy there, who said they call the police but they never do anything. I said Yeah, unless the bum is being violent or trying to break in, they can't do anything. I said unfortunately you can't just take a stick and whack 'em and chase 'em off.  It's not like the old days, we agreed. 

As an elaboration on this, I said that back where I grew up, when I was a kid, there were very few stray dogs and cats, and no stray chickens. Now there are tons. The difference being, in the old days, people ate 'em! Even the dogs and cats, I didn't care and don't now. But now there are tons of stray animals, chickens all over the place. 

(Likewise there were very few homeless. People didn't eat 'em, it's just that your family took care of you or the state mental hospital did, or you just plain fucking straightened up and flew right. Not taking drugs was a major factor, I'm sure.) 

So I got back and got through my night using up almost all of the water, and although the water was still off when I went to bed around 7-8AM, it was on when I woke up at 4PM. 

 

Papers conquered

 I spent the night doing what I'd taken the weekend off to get done. I had the packing out of the way, and got out the 5, not 3, banker's boxes of papers and sorted out the things I really want to keep, the latest 3 mailings with my home address on them to take to the DMV along with my expired license and passport to get my "Real ID", and had a huge mass of stuff to throw away or burn. 

That was what took up most of the time, making "popcorn", crumpled up balls of papers with sensitive information on them, to burn. 

I also found application papers for Medi-Cal which I'd been sent over the years, but never filled them in haha. I still have Medi-Cal and I'm sure it's pretty easy for the powers that be to find my income and such information. 

I also saw, on one of them, that I can, and am encouraged to, apply for Medicare when I am 64 years and 9 months of age. I'll need to look into that. I've heard there are some kind of penalties for applying if I'm much over 65, so I need to research all of this. 

Two bags of non-sensitive papers went out in the Post Office trash, and burning up the "popcorn" may take a week or two, doing it bit by bit. 

There's a lot of personal stuff that mattered once but just doesn't any more. The copy of my high school newspaper with my picture in it, sure. Stuff about the sport I did, doesn't matter and no one cares. Even shit like my amateur radio license; I'm just not interested. I find listening in on strange radio stuff to be interesting, I'm not that interested in transmitting. 

It was kind of fun looking at some of the old stuff though. Apparently it was the Outrigger Hotel snack bar that I worked for, long ago, serving up hot dogs. It's apparently been gentrified away now. 

I've been watching a lot of fishing videos from people in Hawaii and those are fun. I'm also currently into watching videos from three different guys who metal detect around my old stomping grounds in Orange County, California. I've got some metal detecting ideas of my own back in Hawaii which should only require one of those "pin pointers" that people who dig for coins in parks use. 

But fishing is something I really look forward to doing again. 

I'm also looking at prices for things, and fools on Reddit keep nattering on about how "food is 3X as much" in Hawaii and it's just not true. It's about 30% less, if one eats a normal, local, cuisine. Even a lot of fancy imported stuff like Swiss cheese from Switzerland at Whole Foods, is probably no more expensive than it is here and I'd not be surprised to see it 10% - 20% less because they base their prices on what the market will bear more than on their cost. 

It *is* expensive to live what I call an Orthodox Suburbian lifestyle in Hawaii. To do so, you must only eat foods that are standard "suburban" foods on the mainland, tons of "diet" or "healthy" foods that are 99% sugar and carbs, etc.

It's a lot more expensive than my diet, to follow the Orthodox Suburbian diet here on the mainland, too, in all fairness. It's kind of required to be at least pre-diabetic if not full-on diabetic, and Ken recently told me his doctor says he's going from Type 2 to something close to Type 1. That's an achievement and it takes a lot of work (and insulin). You have to hog down a burger and two bags of fries as your "snack" before you go home to dinner, waffles or pancakes or a mixing bowl full of sugary cereal for breakfast, and so on. Fast food, sugary cereals, prepared frozen "hash browns", etc are expensive here, or there. 

My point being, I yawn at the supposedly expensive prices I see, looking at the online "sale flyer" from Foodland, Hawaii's answer to Safeway. I actually worked for them for a bit. It was ... not great. But I'll sure shop there, seeing that they have things I'll buy that are 1/2 the price they are here. 

Speaking of old times, on Friday night I rode through San Pedro Square and there I saw Ron, the guy who used to play a recorder (he had about three of them, including one I'd given him) and this little bippity-boppity wooden box drum. I'd seen him off and on for at least a decade now, I think a bit longer, so I was interested to hear how he was doing. 

He was no longer playing any music of any type, and was dirty, dirtier than I've ever seen him and that's saying something. He's still living in a friend's (probably friend's mom's) kitchen for $420 (tee hee) a month. But he's lost his job washing dishes for The Old Spaghetti Factory. 

This last, Gee I wonder why? If he seemed to have some shred of self-respect, playing music, before, he's fallen far below that now and has gone full bum. He even had a bum-specification sign, barely readable. He said he's just "doing this" (begging) now. 

He said they'd cut his hours down and down, finally scheduling him none, at The Old Spaghetti Factory and it's obvious why: The guy's filthy and not anything you'd want anywhere near any place where people eat food. If he's living in a guy's kitchen at least in theory he's got access to a shower, maybe even laundry facilities. Worst-case the kitchen is a place to sleep and he could use a laundromat for laundry and join a gym or something for a shower.  

I have a sneaking suspicion the guy's smoked a ton of pot and that's why he is the way he is now. Pot was considered harmless then I was a kid/teen but it's obviously not and I'm glad I simply didn't care for it. 

 https://www.reddit.com/r/lostgeneration/comments/1wy96m4/the_son_ate_5_meals_a_day_to_save_his_dad/ Wow this worked! OK it's about an 11-year-old kid in China who was a bone marrow match for his father, but could not do it because he was too small. So he ate 5 meals a day, gained 33 lbs, and was then big enough and was able to save his dad. Hero kid. But also, fantastically wealthy kid compared to 11-year-old me, growing up here in the US. 

When I was 11 there was simply not enough food around to gain 5 lbs much less 33. My dad would have just plain fucking died and that would have been it. I dare anyone to try telling me China is some kind of loserville and the US this great, wonderful, nation. 

I want to live a long life for a number of reasons, not least of which is to see China take its rightful place as leader of the world. 

 

Uncle Adolf's One-Pot Dinners

 The Nazi regime was horrible, Oh so horrible, that they had a sort of program where, one weekend a month, people were encouraged to have "one pot" dinners, vegetarian or largely so, instead of the end-of-the-week roast or ham etc. The money saved on that dinner was to be donated to aid for the poor. 

Hitler was such a cruel, cruel, creep that he instituted early on, something called "Winterhilfe" or "Winter Help" and vowed that no longer would elderly poor die of cold and hunger in the winter. 

I'm sorry but I can't imagine Americans cooperating in this way. It's just not a thing in the JewSA. I hear from time to time, of parents going hungry so their kids can eat, but honestly I've never seen it in real life. That's not how American parents operate. The rules in America are, if you're bigger and stronger, you get first pick of everything, and the smaller and weaker have to just try to stay out of the way and get by on what's left. 

When my oldest sister, the first born, first encountered rivalry in the form of a sibling, my older brother, she had a 4-year head start so obviously, in American logic, this is why she had a governess, and private schools and pretty much everything. My parents, being bigger and stronger than us kids, never missed a meal while we kids missed quite a few. And my mother, although she always got the best of what we had, didn't eat as well as my father, being biggest, strongest, and the best earner when he could find work. 

And one still wonders why Uncle Adolf is being looked at more squarely and honestly by the kids now? This dog-eat-dog American way of doing things makes no sense, and by the time I was in my teens we kids looked out for each other more than our parents ever looked out for us. At least we kids had some of our Folkish instincts intact! 

I mainly packed things last night, to get and hopefully stay caught up. 

But the main reason for taking the weekend off of busking is I want to get all of my important papers consolidated into this one file folder thing I got at FedEx (they sell a good assortment of office supplies) so all the papers can fit in that, in a backpack along with other important things. Right now the papers are in three Bankers Boxes and most of them need to be disposed of. 

I need to be ready to get out of here with a minimum of fuss. Since I no longer drink, there's no longer the chance that I might get really drunk and blurt out my plans, but there's always the chance that Ken might sense something. Or, and this is a bigger worry, that he might bring in some friend to work also and juice up sales, and then I'll have some idiot in here with access to all of my stuff, probably thinking they can boss me around. That would be reason enough to clear out and I mean immediately, to a hotel room, while I round up airline tickets and get rid of things etc. 

So the idea is not only to pare down papers, but to pare down personal belongings as much as possible without it being obvious, and have plans in place to dispose of what's left when I fly the coop. 

For instance, my bike and trailer will be used to get me with my backpack and suitcase to the Airport Flyer bus stop, where I'll leave the bike + trailer with a "FREE" sign. By that time all over bike stuff will be gone. Before that I'll be using the bike and trailer to run loads of stuff to the sidewalk in front of the Goodwill on 7th street, or maybe just the space by the bridge where I often dump things. Or just run a free ad on Craig's List and tell people a bunch of stuff will be in the parking lot by Watersavers Irrigation. 

The suitcase is an interesting subject on its own. I have about 3 of them that I've picked up, and the one I like most is this bright orange plastic American Tourister one that I don't have a key for, but I think the lock on it is a "TSA" lock which means I only need to obtain or make a "TSA" key. I have another that I like fairly well, but it's missing a wheel so I need to either replace the wheel, or set it up with two bumpers so it will have two wheels. It's big and really light. The suitcase will hold my cornet, in its case, and the cornet gig bag, and then whatever space is left can be clothes and stuff. 

 

Observatories

 I'm gonna write this down first. On reddit there's a post about "Fremont Peak Observatories" which I suppose is an observatory complex on .... Fremont Peak. 

Or ... one observatory at least  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Peak_Observatory

And about the programs to, you know, go up there and see the stars and stuff. Cool. 

Except there's pretty much a 0.000000000000000001% chance of my EVER being able to do something like that. According to quantum "tunneling" theory, there's a chance I could run at a brick wall and pass through unharmed. It's on that order. 

But back home in Hawaii, well, ya wanna see stars? Tell a moke you like beef hahah OK joking aside, just take DaBus out to anywhere good and dark, Hawaii Kai is nice, and just look up at 'em. Plus the University of Hawaii has at least some sort of observatory on campus, plus there will be local hobby astronomers holding "star parties" which, Hawaii being how it is, won't require you to own a car to get to, for good viewing. 

All kinds of things work this way back home as opposed to here. Wanna take a college class? Just walk over to the damn college and sign up. Everything's a walk or what would be a very short bus ride here.  

I can't even imagine how much money + time + vehicular support it would take to go collecting seashells or snorkeling or *gasp* surfing here. 

OK rant over. Yesterday and last night I was so tired I didn't feel like doing much of anything. So I engaged in a good "put brain in neutral" activity, taking stuff apart while listening to videos on YouTube. Now have have tons more parts to sell, and 3 annoying plain-Jane bulky gadgets off the shelves. 

I *did* watch a video by a Japanese guy who plays and teaches trumpet, "4 octaves easy" or something, and according to him, it's not a matter of tightening the "corners" of the mouth almost like a smile, but concentrating on the air coming out of the little hole you make in the center of the lips, and with no more or less pressure, just making the hole larger or smaller, you can make lower or higher notes. He did several demonstrations and it's pretty impressive, given he said his age was 76. 

This, if it works, would be in line with Allen Vizzutti and his premium on relaxation, and Claude Gordon's on "it's just air flow, don't pay attention to the lip". 

I woke up around 1 this afternoon because the guys next door parked one of their trucks right outside my door but at least they were noisy about it. So I made up two "DON'T PARK HERE" signs to put under the windshield wipers and made sure they saw me writing down the license number, and it was moved pretty quick. I don't get it; they have the whole parking lot and yeah it was about half full but that's it, it was half full. 

Since I was up I got to work packing 15 things for one buyer in one box, and of course 3-4 of the things had disappeared into thin air, so refunds were in order. But I got the package sent off and at least in theory Ken made a bit of money on this. 

 

Taking the weekend off

 Last night I was up all night not only packing a 20-item order, but finding a few other things, plus I put the boxes of stuff I'd listed but not put away yet, away. I was far too tired to practice. Especially since I also gave myself a haircut and got all cleaned up so when I woke up I'd not have to worry about that. 

I woke up and it was kind of nice, just having to worry about breakfast and packing a couple more things, then I was outta here. 

I dropped off the 4-5 small things I had packed at the post office downtown, deposited my check at the bank and their numbers and my numbers agree so that's great. 

I went over to Whole Foods and bought some nuts and got $100 cash back since I'm not busking this weekend. Then I rode down to Walmart and spent about $50, on useful things. 

Then I headed back to Nijiya and got some salmon sashimi because I was feeling pretty hungry, and at that at the one table they have out front. Next was just riding home, dropping things off and loading up the trailer with the big box, and the plastic tub I use, which on this trip carried a bag of trash. I dropped both off at FedEx (the trash in the can out front, of course). 

Due to having had the sashimi, I just got some routine things inside H Mart, although  I did get one of their $3 iced coffees and a $5 "dubai" chocolate er, "chocolate" bar. Sometimes I just feel like some waxy chocolate sort of stuff.

So that was $8 on those two treats alone, but money's worth so little now it doesn't even seem like much. Back in the silver money era, that might have been 35c, although at present silver prices that would be almost twice as much, $15. 

The lady at the checkout had handed me a package of some kind of milk dinner or breakfast buns, "I give to you!" which was nice, and I took them along, but I had no plant to eat them. I tried giving them to a homeless guy who was relaxing in front of Dave's Chicken but he didn't want 'em. 

After finding packing stuff along my usual route,  I passed a bus stop on Brokaw that seems to have an older Black person permanently camped there. I'd left stuff there the other night and that stuff was gone now, so I just leaned the buns against the bus stop sign and took off. 

I got back here and am all done, whew! Also, last night I'd found a sort of climbing harness that I thought I might put on Ebay but it looked like one of the rivets holding it together had been repaired and I wasn't sure about selling it in that condition, so I'd left it out front here. And now it's gone so that's convenient. 

 

I may not busk this weekend

 All that packing and working with those heavy parts and the 4 bike rides hauling them up to FedEx trying to make good time getting them there, really wore me out. 

Ken came by last night, we talked, he brought me a burger because a good American will always make sure a fellow American never goes without eating beef daily, etc. I got my pay check, dated for Friday. 

I went to bed pretty soon (about 2 hours) after Ken left. I slept a good bit, woke up about noon, then went back to sleep and had a weird dream about setting up another shop in Texas of all places, not some "hip" place like Austin, but some small town that's a part of Houston? Asking someone in the dream, it was part of the Houston complex. There were two big used book stores on the same street, a classical guitar studio, some nondescript businesses on either side of the building I was to make my new "home" etc. 

I think the point of the dream was that just about anywhere else would have more "culture" than San Jose, California.

The dream was quite realistic, I went to pee and could not (thank goodness!) and I thought about the $500 or so I was spending on the hotel I was at while  I was spending all my time at the new place, and I was going to explore the neighborhood for restaurants as I was getting hungry and regardless of it being dark, I was hungry for some breakfast. Then I woke up, haha. 

Wow I'm really sore and have to pack some multi-item packages. 

Oh, and the small-hats are up to their usual tricks, this latest being a faked attempted airplane hijacking or downing, funny how it's timed to theoretically boost support for "Trumpstein". 

The thing is, I woke up really sore and want to stay caught up on shipping, and I have not only not practiced the last couple of days but even I'm getting tired of the stuff I've been playing and want to work on some new pieces. So I dunno if I'll get out busking at all this weekend. 

It's funny, Ken makes a bunch of money (I see the Ebay messages and he just got a bit under 4 grand into his bank account) and I get sore, miss out on a weekend's busking so that's $150-$200 loss. 

And when I told Ken about this big deal that made him so much money and how it might solve some money problems for him, he just said "It will" and really didn't show much enthusiasm, forget about appreciation for my work. 

Lighting out of here on my birthday next year is going to feel SO good!  

I took one large box (a $200 sale) with 4 transformer cores in it to FedEx, and the rest of the stuff to the post office. I didn't need anything at 99 Ranch so I just went back to H Mart. I'm still really tired and was open to something easy to digest for dinner. I checked on the sushi situation since after 7, according to a sign that was up, it's 1/2 price. If there was another "Alaska roll" I was going to get it. There wasn't, and the sign was gone. 

I just got some coffee they have on sale, and was going to get a can of sugar-free Red Bull, one of the large cans, thinking I'll drink half and maybe save half for later. As I passed the milk, the can leapt out of my hand, rolled along the floor ahead of me, and wedged itself under the cooler. I cussed good and loud of course, and went back but that was the last large can of sugar-free Red Bull. They have a dedicated Red Bull cooler with a bunch of different flavors, but that the large cans of sugar-free were down to one, tells me that's the best deal and least obnoxious flavor. So I just got the coffee. 

I found a good load of packing stuff on the way back, and got the 2nd of the large Akro-Bin type bins from the dumpster outside Trackonomy. I'm getting to like them, not least because unlike the other hot rod shops, they apparently keep it on the track, hence their name. There are no screeching tires, revving engines, and such nonsense around their place. 

Oh, and it's funny, Ken called on the phone because he tried to log into Ebay but couldn't because Ebay can't handle the concept that a company might consist of more than one person, and that more than one person might be checking the account. He was wondering where this big amount of money was... 

I said I'd gotten the message that he has about $3800 coming to his bank, and said that when Ebay pitches a fit, I often just go away for a while and then come back and everything's fine. 

So a bit afterward he called back and said he'd been able to get in, and has $3700 coming, but it may take 1-3 days. I said he might have to wait over the weekend. The more you need it, the longer you have to wait for your $3600 dolls but the $3500 is sure to show up on Monday, or certainly by Tuesday the $3400 will land in his bank account .... it's just simple Ebay finances! 

Ebay - you'll never work harder for $3. 

 

 

 

 

Biggest order ever

 I was up all night, into 8AM, packing 8 boxes that were all one order. Ken was making about 5 grand, after shipping, shipping overage refund, taxes, Ebay fees, etc., on it. It's the biggest order I've ever handled and it might be Ken's biggest too. 

So after a very arduous night packing the things, I considered taking them to FedEx - it would take 4 trips - in the morning because once the early commuter rush is over, it's pretty relaxed. But that seemed to me like the thinking of a pilot with "get there itis" and decided I needed some sleep. 

My headache was kicking my ass and I could not sleep, and eventually got up and swallowed some aspirin with some coffee and once that kicked in, was able to sleep. 

I woke up at 4 and got out of here at 5. That was a real workout, as if getting the things out of the warehouse area and cleaning them, testing them, packing them, etc. hadn't been. 

On the last trip I was able to relax a bit as I found myself ahead of schedule by a comfortable amount. I delivered the last two boxes to FedEx, then went to H Mart where I got some "Alaska Roll" sushi for half price since it was after 7, and a cucumber. I had cold coffee with me. 

I sat in front and had my sushi and coffee, then followed my usual route to look for packing stuff and other goodies. I found a bit of each. I'm too tired right now to sort through the goodies, haha. 

I might go right to bed and get more sleep as soon as Ken's gone this evening, assuming he shows up, which he's been pretty good about lately. 

Practice? What's that? This is why I'm looking forward so much to getting the hell out of here. 

I *did* watch some videos last night about "lip trills" which are like lip slurs but ... faster. Like when you want to show off and go from a low note, "breeeet!" up to a high one. For extra points just as fast back down. It turns out those are a good practice tool, so I will have to work on them. 

 

 

Practicing practice, practically speaking

 After doing stuff (packing) last night I got a practice session in. 

I remember years ago when I started a practice session, when I was fresh I could play high notes and then once I got a little tired, they were gone and not coming back. 

Now, yes I can often play mad high notes when I'm fresh but often I'm having trouble with high notes and keep at it and I get better at them as the practice session continues. I think this is a sign of increasing endurance, built up over years, of muscles that are not normally consciously controlled or coordinated in the ways they are in trumpet playing. 

And often I'll have a practice session that kind of goes like shit, but I keep it up and get a good session in, and then the next one I'm playing well. 

It's going to be very different when I'm home and trumpet playing, along with receiving my Social Security check, will be my main job. 

I packed the small things that had sold overnight, because I have 16 big things, all alike, all to send to one buyer, and I wanted all the small stuff out of the way. Tonight will be spent getting 16 of the things together, testing and cleaning them, then determining if I'm going to ship them two or three to a box, and packing them to go to FedEx tomorrow. It will take at least 3 trips to get them all over there to FedEx I think. 

I took off with my small things, and on Zanker Road got passed by a velomobile! It was really cool. There's no way I could have caught up with it to get a closer look, but I hope the guy's having a great time and stays safe because needless to say, it's very low to the ground and while he has a couple of blinking red lights on the back on the tallest part, some of the drivers of those big stupid trucks can't even see normal sedans. The velomobile headed North to what I call "Dilbertville", the part of this town with actual tech companies, manicured lawns, etc. 

Basically, in San Jose, North of Brokaw Road is where the tech companies are, and South of it is where most of the city is, and where "innovation" means having a bar next door to a metal recycling place so the bums can drink up the money they worked hard for all night, right away. 

When I got to FedEx, I saw, in the way of strange vehicles, one of those new Tesla cabs. It looks just as dumb as the photos show, all gold and I'm surprised the tires aren't painted gold too. I didn't see if anyone got out or got in, as I was intent on my FedEx business and also on helping a guy who had a wide load of packages and it took me and another guy to hold both doors open for him. When I came out the thing was gone. 

 

 

"The kind of cars Americans want to buy"

 I woke up at 3 and first mistake: turning on the radio. It turns out Pedonald is dictating that care mileage standards go back a decade or three, to theoretically lower the price of "the kind of cars Americans want to buy". 

Well, Americans want to buy the biggest, ugliest, street tanks they can get their hands on and damn the mileage. On the radio they talked through how the theoretical $1300 cheaper price will be offset by the cost of fuel over the lifetime of the car, but since Americans think short-term only, that won't matter. 

Plus, it's not just the kind of cars Americans want to buy, but the kind of cars the manufacturers want to sell, and that means adding a shit-ton of idiotic features almost no one wants, that are non-negotiable. They'll plump up the price and the actually useful ones will be by subscription anyway. 

It also shifts the balance toward gasoline-powered cars as opposed to electric cars. So the pedo-in-chief's best butt buddy, fElon Muskrat, is getting the same treatment anyone gets who thinks the old pedo is their friend.

The $7500 tax rebate for buying an electric car, almost always a Tesla, goes away. As I'm out riding around, surrounded by Teslas, I've been reasoning to myself that they're a rational decision and that I'd probably drive one too if I were a tech worker for a company that lets me charge up for free, and who got paid $7500 to buy the thing. 

This all makes sense looking through the lens of Conservative idiocy. Global warming, becoming more and more evident, is considered a belief system or myth. Private industry is considered to be the ultimate guardian of truth. 

The real truth is, the free world, the non-American world, is putting in more public transit, electric bikes from China are taking more cars off the road than anything these days, and civilized countries like China are working on getting away from gasoline vehicles altogether.  

I got 10 small things packed so, no need for the trailer. I'll sure need it tomorrow. I got over to the post office, did some shopping in 99 Ranch, then headed over to H Mart where I had some boiled peanuts and iced coffee  I brought from home. 

Then I started on my "finding stuff" route on the way back here. I found a few neat little boxes behind the gym, and at one point a guy pulled up in a Tesla.  I thought maybe it was to hassle me for some busybody reason or another, but it turned out the guy was throwing something into the big dumpsters in the enclosure (that I never mess with). I was curious what he was throwing out, and as conversation, I said, "What're you throwing out? Bodies?. 

The guy came back with "I wish!". 

I laughed it off but wow. You have to be at least a little bit of a psychopath to buy a Tesla and still drive it these days. But really? He wishes he was tossing away bodies? Like, maybe he's always aspired to be a serial killer but just never got up the guts to go through with it? 

 

$70 Sunday

 I got to the Sunnyvale Whole Foods a little bit earlier this time, and it not only felt slow, it was slow. Maybe it's the time of the month vs. when people get paid, or the cooler weather or something. 

I played a bit out on the sidewalk, then moved down into the parking garage for about 1/2 hour, then went back up onto the sidewalk when Whole Foods turned on their outdoor lights. I think people were having trouble seeing me. 

I'm also thinking that I might change to playing on Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday. I think it will pay better, plus that will leave Sunday to pack the orders that come in over the weekend and be ready to ship them out on Monday. 

I really tried my best and tried to "mean" each song, and in the end I only made $1 less than yesterday which I'm taking as a victory because it's still above the $40 an hour that seems to be kind of normal. 

 

$71 Saturday

 I'd prepared and listed 30 things, and got 15 of them listed last night, and got some practice in. I really need to practice every day. 

I left here at 4:30 which means I got to the Sunnyvale Whole Foods at 6:30. It felt slow because it was kind of slow. It's getting dark earlier, and the crowd was different. There were gaggles of families coming through periodically, probably going to/from a movie at the theater. And lots of Asians going in and out; last night had been a moon/harvest festival and maybe they were getting regular stuff now that the festival was done. 

I got a ton of $1 bills, 36 of them to be exact. And three $5's and one lone $20. There was a skinny kid who kept sort of circulating around, and when he saw I was watching him, would go away and then a bit later, come back. So at one point I stopped to stack up the money and stash it away. I'll have to watch out for him tomorrow too, I guess. 

And at one point a weird Indian guy came up and kept looking right at me and smiling, while doing this weird stuff with some bills, a $1 a $5 and a $20, like maybe he was trying to get them into a roll with the $1 on the outside or something. I was in the middle of a song and kept playing, and when he left I looked and he hadn't dropped a thing. So I'll have to watch out for him too. If he comes back I'll just stop playing and get out the pepper spray. And I'll have to get into the habit of putting not just $20s but $10s etc. anything larger than a $5, away. 

I also, at one point, had a young Chinese couple with a cute little kid, get into my rendition of "Eentsy Weentsy Spider", so much so that they, as far as I could tell, went inside to shop and left the kid with me. Great. So now I'm a babysitting service. I contemplated packing up real quick and disappearing, but after several minutes the kid's mom re-appeared and collected him.  

Because of the long pause while I stashed my money to protect it from the kid, I stayed and played past 8, until 8:20. That 20 minutes got me an extra $9.  I'd made $71 in total. 

 

Bums will steal anything, part 4534534759572935

 In short, they stole an old B.O. smelling shirt from me. 

I got up at 3 thanks to my alarm clock, had one thing packed that had to go, some stuff to donate like the coffee on sale that turns out to taste like dishwater, and I brought a long-sleeved sort of waffle-weave shirt I've had for something like 10 years now, and in need of a wash, frankly. That was for when it cooled down later in the day. 

I went to the bank and deposited my pay check, all the numbers agreed, all good.

I rode back downtown and picked up 3-4 bubble mailers at the Amazon place, then rode along the Paseo De San Antonio and realized that walking along side me was Leroy, the sax player. So we had a good old hang-out time, catching up on things, while we walked to the long-closed Johnny Rockets and he set up. 

I told him about my two Whole Foods locations, and that honestly, people like the *tone* one is playing with, and generally have no idea what the song is. I've quizzed 'em, after getting a tip and gushing praise, asked, "OK what was I just playing?" and they have no idea.  It's all about the tone. 

 Then I went to Sakura Market and got a package of coffee, a single sugar-free Lipovitan,  and since I'd bought one of their small T-shirts which might be a bit too small after it gets washed, got a Medium one. I'd have a nice new T-shirt to wear over the weekend, out busking. 

I rode down to Walmart and locked the bike up at Big-5 as usual. I had one old Whole Foods bag with the bubble mailers in it, tied to one handlebar, and took one in with me. I had $34 on me and another $8 in change in my change bag, which I forget to take in with me and realized this once I was inside. So, no extras. 

I got T.P. paper towels, some pepitas, some Farmer John sausages, just normal stuff and it came to $30 so that was perfect. I got that all bagged up and walked back to the bike. 

The first thing I noticed was that the Whole Foods bag I'd had tied to the handlebars was now lying on the sidewalk, handles still tied in a knot, though. The bubble mailers were still in it. In the bags, my new T-shirt and my old long-sleeve waffle weave thing, complete with a lil' B.O., were gone. And in the other pannier, there was a goofy little bike cable with combination lock thing. Like a bum had taken the shirts, and left this near-toy thing as a sort of payment. I tossed that on the sidewalk, packed things away, and assessed the damage. 

They hadn't taken the change bag with $8 in change in it, and bums love change! They hadn't taken the really nice flashlight that was in there either. They hadn't taken the package of coffee because using that would mean having hot water, and a regular cup, etc., things a bum, which exists by hand-to-mouth, sort of like a dog but with hands. Maybe the best comparison is a squirrel. They've got little hands but can't cook or prepare things, or open cans, or really do anything in the way of food preparation. 

Well shit, I thought, it could have been worse. I rode back downtown, right back to Sakura and bought another one of the same T-shirt because I had wanted one. 

I checked in with Leroy again who was making tips,  and we talked about the crazy things we've seen bums do. It's good to see he's making tips because downtown is so dead. What's funny is, he never heard about the real reason the Walgreens got closed, about the security guard shooting and killing a guy, or was it the other way around? In any case, there was a death and that was it for Walgreens downtown. 'You can look it up!" I said. 

On my way home I stopped at Nijiya and got a package of shrimp that was $7.50 or so and used the change to pay for that. I had shrimp soup for dinner and it was good. 

 

Sorry no janitor job here

 I spent the night taking some ugly stuff part and as usual, put the scrap metal out front. I did a practice session too, only because I need all the practice I can get for my weekend sessions. 

I really only had a few things to ship, that could go to the post office so I packed those, and headed out. I had $6 in bills and $5.75 in change with me and I told myself maybe I'd just use my card if I saw something good. 99 Ranch had some coffee on sale that looked worth trying; it was 2 boxes for $5 so I got a couple and some other things, spending about $14. 

I folded up the receipt and put it in the other side of my wallet from where I usually put my money, so I could pull it out when I got back and write down what I'd spent out of my bank account, because I used my card. When I went in there to put it away, what's this? There were two $20's in there. 

On the ride over I'd been thinking, How was I so low on money? I'd made something like $225 on the weekend. I guessed I'd just spent it. I'd also wondered, earlier in the week, what had happened to one $20 bill that had a couple of little tears in it. Spent it, I guessed. 

Well here was the distinctly torn $20 bill, with another one. So that's neat, as I have a trip to Walmart planned for tomorrow. 

I treated myself to boiled peanuts and rode over to H Mart, got my iced coffee, and ate the peanuts sitting in front. No Karen encounters or zombie incidents, just a nice boring day. 

Some time in the morning I'd been awakened by a knock on the door, and it was some Hispanic gal asking about a janitor job? I said no jobs here, try next door. She just got in her car and left so maybe she'd already asked there haha. 

I wonder if people could get used to just using GPS coordinates at their addresses? As I understand it they're just latitude and longitude, but with very high resolution so degrees, minutes, seconds, and whatever they're using for fractions of the angle-seconds. Kind of like how, at Burning Man, everything's set up like a big clock, so you know intuitively where you are or how to get someplace from where you are. I think the city of London uses a system kind of like that too. It might require more numeracy than the average person can handle though. 

 

Psychology Today is still in print?

 I was up packing things, to get caught up. Lots of medium and large-ish things with one large thing to pack today left. 

I went to bed around 6-7AM, OK all well and fine. Then I was awakened by a knock on the door and had to yell for them to wait a minute, while I moved the boxes and stuff I'd packed. It was a guy from the water company saying he has to work on the water and wanted to get an idea of what hours it's in use here. I said I'm generally here until 6 but "Hey, if you have to work on the water, you have to work on the water, don't worry about it". 

I started my coffee routine, when I looked at the clock again and realized it was only 11:30. I thought it was a quarter to 3. So I turned the kettle off and spread my bedding out again and went back to sleep. 

Then I was awakened, this time actually at a quarter to 3, by a phone call. It was some lady who's Doctor so-and-so from Psychology Today asking if I'd called them. "No.........." was my reply. She said something like Oops she'd gotten the digits wrong (that's easy to do with my phone number) and that was that. I wish I'd kept her on the line a bit. Psychology Today is still in print?? I know Boomers read the thing but, like, older Boomers who are Trump-old, like Ken's age. 

Are magazine racks still even a thing in airports?  Fry's Electronics had a glorious magazine rack for a while. It was great; all kinds of niche hobbyist magazines like High Power Rocketry, needless to say magazines about knitting and stuff, the sailing mags, all the computer/tech mags, plus lots of porn, all mixed together. If that was too erudite, there was the same organization in the DVD racks. I picked up a cop of "Restrepo" in the part with the Barney The Dinosaur stuff. 

I'll have to look for magazines in the airport when I get outta here, just to see if they're still a thing. 

Since it was now time to actually get up, thanks Psychology Today! - I re-started the kettle etc. and got going. The big thing I was dreading turned out to be a lot smaller than the photo made it look haha. 

I got going to FedEx to drop off all the big/medium boxes, then the post office for the post office stuff, then went to H Mart for my iced coffee and hang out time on the curb in front with that and some spicy peanuts I'd brought from home. 

I'd parked my bike + trailer how I always do, alongside the "curb" on the side of the building, lined up with the bike rack, which at this time had an adult bike and a kid's bike. I heard a mom say to her kid, something about "Thank our Lord Jesus Christ for yadda yadda...." and pretty soon they came. The kid's bike was blocked in by my bike and the mom's bike but all the mom had to do was move hers, which a normal person would first, then get the kid's bike. Her poor little son had to hear her bitch at me for parking my bike where I did, and I pretty much ignored her. Eventually she just unlocked her bike, then went to get her son's bike but he insisted on doing it himself - I'm sure he's already tired of her. They left, probably with her bitching at the kid all the way home. 

H Mart is on the other side of  Brokaw from some kind of church that has signs out, shows free movies etc. so it's kind of surprising there aren't more psychos from there wandering around, frankly. 

I found some great packing stuff on the way home and got back here, had Korean "Gouda" cheese (which is every bit as awful as that sounds) and olives and a large cucumber for dinner, and got the place cleaned up for Ken. who showed up a bit late but better that than never. 

The property owner's secretary had sent an email saying Ken needs to sign the new lease or we'll just go onto the month-to-month rent which is more, and I'd printed it out for Ken and also told her I'd get on him about it. So that's one of the things we talked about. 

He'll either (a) sign the new, 4-year lease, or (b) won't, and he'll have to pay probably $500-$1000 more in rent than otherwise. In the case of (a) I just need to keep working, keep saving, and get ready to light out of here in one year minus about one week now. Or (b) keep working etc., and try to sit back and enjoy the show as Ken won't be able to pay the new rent probably, we'll fall behind, etc. I don't have to move back to Hawaii right when I reach age 65, I just think it's a neat and orderly time to do so. I can leave earlier... 

 

 

 

This time next year...

 I'll be back home. No more work for Ken. Where will I be, in particular? I'll still be in a hotel room, looking for a room to rent. But I don't plan to hurry, and I'll have probably found something fun to do like visiting the beach I used to surf at all the time (the windward side one) or wandering around "in town" to place I knew growing up, maybe visit the Pacific Trade Center building where my father had an office. 

Repamarations!

 On the radio today is a piece all about the "reparations" being paid to black people. Race-based, of course. And if you're black and a multi-millionaire, you still get the money I guess. 

The right way to do something like this would be to give the "reparation" sum to everyone whose family was here in the US in the year 1900, or pre-WWII, and have an income below the median. That would automatically pay black Americans but not recent immigrants from Africa who tend to be well-to-do, and it would included non-black people who have been put upon for more than a century also. Even if they're white, Oh, the horror. 

This is more Jewish divide-and-conquer policy of course. 

I packed what things I could before I had to go, went up to the post office to drop them off, then over to 99 Ranch and H Mart. I also wanted to buy paper at FedEx but ... every place was super busy! 99 Ranch was pretty busy, OK par for that course. The post office had been super busy, with lots of people who had lots of small packages like I did. 

Fedex was the busiest I've seen it so after using their bathroom I decided to get paper later. And H Mart was really busy, so much so that they were out of hamburger so that's another thing put off. I'm not sure why places were so busy. The 15th payday would have been last week, and I can't think of any holidays coming up.  

I rode back here, not finding any packing stuff but I did find an (I think) almost-new pillow behind the gym. A bunch of stuff was put out there, women's shoes and a bunch of small-kid clothes and carrying bags and things. I'm about due for a new pillow, and while it seems yucky to pick up a used pillow, people don't mind the used pillows in hotels, do they? 

So I rode back here but first went over to the exotic foods place dumpster. There wasn't anything there except a couple dozen liter bottles of some kind of sugary drink, hibiscus and mango flavors I think. I hate to see things go to waste, so I took them out of the dumpster (they were pretty well hidden) and them outside the dumpster where they were easy to see. 

Then I came back here, offloaded stuff and loaded up my old pillow, and on the way back out, gathered up an office chair that's been in the parking lot for a while, and the big bag of trash someone had put on it. Those went with me, with the office chair placed out by the street where it's easy to see, and my old pillow and the bag 'o' trash going into the exotic foods dumpster. The bottles of juice were already gone. 

 

 

$96 Sunday

 I got back last night and after eating dinner and relaxing a bit, was so tired that while I tried to get enthusiastic about listing the 30 things I had ready, I just could not stay with it and went to bed around 4AM

I set my alarm clock for 3 anyway and good thing, since I woke up around noon and then went back to sleep until it woke me up. Fortunately I had everything ready to go as far as the trumpet, tip box, beef sticks, fleece jacket, etc. 

So all I had to do was have my coffee and nuts and head out. I actually got to the bus stop at 5, which meant I was starting out busking at the Sunnyvale Whole Foods at 6. I'd play until 7:30, I decided. 

It was overcast, a bit cold, and a bit windy. But not too bad. I did my "paid practice" and got my compliments and tips. This session's "I want to play trumpet" guy was a guy who was here I think connected with work, because he said he's staying "At Moffett" and is from Wyoming. He played trombone "Don't hold it against me!" and I said trombones are awesome. It sounded like he'd messed around with trumpet and even French horn, and was still in the process of learning what I have, which is to just buy an instrument new and keep it forever. Don't mess with used stuff because you're just buying someone else's problems. 

We talked a bit too long, really, but I was being lazy today haha, and thus I got $86 and a gift card. Still pretty nice! And many, many little kids got to see a live musician, which is a very rare thing these days. 

I considered staying until 8 but by 7:30 I was pretty tired and it had also gotten pretty slow, so I packed up. I got my yogurt drink at Baraka Market and went over the stop and got on the first bus which was a #22. 

This matters because the #22 stops at Maria which the #522 does not, and that's the stop to go to Mega Mart, which is the one Korean market  I didn't go to on Friday. So I got off at Maria and went to Mega Mart to check out their tape situation: Their clear tape is 50c a roll more, and they were out. But, there was a display with odor-free Raid in the red can, the kind that's for roaches. I didn't even know they made an odor-free version. I mean, the perfume is nice, but I don't need to be reminded for 3 days that I'd sprayed a roach, and I don't need that interfering with my meals. So that was an instant sale. 

Other than that, Mega Mart isn't any better than Han Kook, so I'm not missing out on much of anything. And I got the desire to go there out of my system. 

I got on the next #22 bus and at the Santa Clara Transit Station the driver had us get off because there was something wrong with the brakes. So a ton of us got on the next #522 which was there in a couple of minutes. All good! 

I got "home" to "my" Whole Foods a bit after 9, and it was dead, dead, dead there. Good thing I wasn't busking there I guess. I got nuts and stuff and found out that the gift card was for $10 which is a very nice tip. So that brought the earnings up to $96. 

I rode around downtown and it was dead all over. It's Sunday night so it makes sense, it's just sad that Sunday night used to be jam night at Cafe Stritch, and I could have stopped in, bought some food, and enjoyed some live jazz. San Jose didn't deserve that place. 

 

$136 Saturday

 I was up all night getting 30 things ready to list, but got a practice session done, too. 

Thanks to my alarm clock I was up at 3, and out the door at 4:30. Because of the 2-hour rule, I found myself at the Sunnyvale Whole Foods exactly 2 hours later and started busking at 6:30. I played until 8. 

It was windy, but I decided unless it go so strong that the money starts flying around in the tip box, I'm going to stick it out. And commenced a session of paid practice. 

I had one guy put a tip in and then ask me how I learned trumpet, and I told him I'd taught myself pretty much, there are books and YouTube etc. He tried piano, maybe as a kid, and it hadn't worked out. I encouraged him to try different instruments and see what he likes, and besides YouTube there's West Valley Music nearby. 

It was cool if not cold, and the wind didn't kick up too much. Whole Foods has a bunch of boxes of pumpkins and squash set up, in those big boxes called "Gaylords" (for the Gaylord company that makes some of them) and wooden boxes etc., and rather than this create a barrier, it's actually kind of helpful because people stop to look at the pumpkins etc., and now that it's been there a week or two people have learned to go smoothly around it. 

As always I was tempted to think it was slow, but it was most certainly not. There were a lot of people around, and the tips were coming in pretty regularly. My plan was to play until 8, and by a quarter to 8 it has gotten really slow. I kept on, until 8 proper which is good because that meant another tip or two, and in the end I'd made $136. 

As I was counting up a bum came up who I thought was asking for money, but really he wanted to know if I had a cigarette I'd sell him. Sorry, I told him, I don't smoke. But, I said, on Murphy Street there's a head shop and they might well sell loosies. And I gave him a couple of bucks anyway. He wasn't sure where Murphy Street was so I gave him directions, and he was insure about there being a smoke shop there. But I said it's weird, in this total "white bread" area, there's a smoke shop right in the middle of it. 

I walked back toward the bus stop, stopping at Baraka Market for my yogurt drink and some celery, waited maybe 15 minutes for the bus, and had a nice uneventful ride back to my "home" Whole Foods. I got some cheese there and a couple of beef sticks for tomorrow. The cashier said something like, "There you go with your beef sticks again" or something like that, not quite so unkind sounding, and I said it's because I can eat them on the bus, going to Sunnyvale. 

This is true. I'd brought some peanuts but didn't eat them because on the bus it means chancing dropping some and making a mess, getting salt and oil on my hands, etc. So it's beef sticks if I'm going to eat anything on the bus. 

I'd gotten back to the "home" Whole Foods at maybe a quarter after 9, and it *was* a Saturday night but it was really dead. Of course a quarter after 9 in San Jose is the equivalent of a quarter after midnight anywhere else. 

I had a nice boring ride home. 

 

 

Zombiful but productive evening

 I got up at the usual time. I'd been up all night listing things, and was finally so tired I went to bed. 

I actually woke up a bit before 3, due to an ice cream cart going by with the person ringing their little bell so loudly it actually woke me up. I fell back asleep then my alarm clock woke me up. 

I had breakfast and cleaned up a bit and I was out of here at 4. 

I went to the bank and deposited my pay check and my numbers and their numbers agree, so that's good. Then I went to Whole Foods to park the bike, use the loo, and buy a couple of beef sticks. 

If I'd been busking today, I'd have some competition. First there was one of the same zombesses from last week, a gal who has a regulation nearly unreadable sign, and sit her bony ass on the bike racks themselves, and looks down at the ground a lot. I guess it's an act that pays. 

And, although this is on the other side of where I'd be, out by the bus stop, there was another act on. An older, fat, gal sleeping on one of the benches except not really sleeping but squirming around and groaning theatrically. 

Today's mission was to, after depositing my check which I'd done, go to the 99 Ranch market in Mountain View, then on the way back visit Mega Mart and Han Kook, both Korean markets and the last one where I get clear packing tape from. 

While on the bus, I thought a bit and realized I could go one stop more and go to West Valley Music and buy some "Chop Saver" since the tube of it the manager there gave me has utterly disappeared. Now that I've bought another, there's a small chance the first one might re-appear. I've decided I like good old cheap Blistex I can get for a bit more than a dollar a tube at Walmart or Walgreens or a number of places. It's easy to obtain and easy to replace. But maybe "Chop Saver" is really really good for some reason. 

Then I walked back from West Valley Music to 99 Ranch. I walked through the In-N-Out Burger parking lot because that's how you get there, and it was amazing how busy the place was. I used to go there all the time. And they have an armed guard at the door now. I even exclaimed my surprise out loud, and the guy just smiled. A bit further on I saw the reason for the guard: a zombie staggering around, clad in a blanket, headed toward the In-N-Out. 

I hoped this 99 Ranch carried Ibumie brand "Penand White Curry Mee" which I really love, and can't replicate using red curry paste and my own seasonings plus I always get it too salty when I try to make my own seasoning combination for a bowl of soup. And, they had it! I got bags of 4 packages each and some spicy peanuts. 

Now to do something about the bulk, because I sure don't eat the noodles these days. I sat at a convenient table with a chair by the front of 99 Ranch and opened each package, taking out the curry paste, seasoning, and creamer. I put those in a bag I'd taken from the veggie dept. 

Now I had a 99 Ranch paper bag full of 12 packages of noodles without seasoning. I saw a 99 Ranch worker digging through the nearby trash can with more enthusiasm than a worker usually shows, and figured he was digging on his own behalf. So I handed over the paper bag, and instead of taking it, he dumped it all out into the trash, crumpled up the bag, and tossed that on top! 

Well, then. What I should have done, as the worker had then hurried off, would have been to have retrieved the bag, put the noodle packs back in it, and taken it with me to give to someone, but I didn't, As I walked toward the In-N-Out again, there was the zombie again, that had seemed to be headed in a definite direction before, but was actually just meandering around. Maybe getting handed a bag full of noodles to munch on would have had it doing that, and then settling down to whatever sleep zombies get, instead of wandering around. 

I got to the bus stop and saw a rail-thin old guy on a bike meandering through and called out to him. He came over and I described where the noodles are, but in the end he didn't want them, but "I hate to see food wasted!" I agreed, and we talked a bit. He's from Tennessee, and we talked about various places that toss things out and he told me about how, back in Tennessee, he and his "old lady" lived near a small shopping mall and "We ate like kings". I'm guessing the guy probably came out here in the 1960s or 70s for one of the electronics jobs there used to be, then the jobs ended and here he remains. 

The bus I got onto had all kinds of characters on it, and a fair amount of weird shit going on, and I was glad to get off at Lawrence. I didn't even say "Thank you" when I got off, which is the custom here. 

I walked over to Han Kook market and they had 8 rolls of tape so that's what I got. And a can of "Boss" coffee. The lady at the checkout wanted to see what was in the Whole Foods cloth bad I had in the cart, tied closed, so I said, "Sure, sure, no problem!" and got out the Chop Saver, with reciept, and the peanuts, with receipt, and ... and that was enough for her. 

I got back to the Lawrence stop just as the #522 was pulling out, Oh well. There was a guy at the stop hanging out with his bike and a Gatorade bottle in his hand with something in it. He was a laugh-y joke-y guy. So we laughed and joked and I said I was going to be disappointed if he didn't have vodka or tequila in that bottle. The #22 bus came and he stayed behind so maybe he was waiting for someone. 

I had my can of coffee on the bus since I was getting tired, and got off across from Whole Foods and other than using the bathroom, just passed on through to my bike and got going. It was about 8:30 and the Amazon place closes at 9, so I figured I'd go by and see if I can find any bubble mailers. 

I did, obtaining 3. Then I just rode home.  

Forgetting things

 Ken came by last night an hour earlier than usual  That's OK though, I had the place in pretty good shape and didn't have things piled all over. We talked about things and he'd brought pizza (a small one that he said had cost him about $20, ouch) and I had a few slices, ate the toppings only of course. 

I got my check so that's good, and could have taken it to the bank today but didn't. Instead when I got up I packed things and got them to the post office and FedEx. 

I also had taken the bunch of Payday candy bars I had, put 'em in a bag, and left them by the door of the small office sort of space that the local lunch truck operators have set up as an eating area. Those guys, and their clientele, always have scads of kids and kids like candy bars so ... 

Except I mentioned this to Ken and he said, "I like payday bars" and I said I could go get them and he said not all of them, but "some" so I said "give me a minute" and hopped on the bike and went over and got 24 of the candy bars and brought them back. 

Although he'd come by at 9:30 instead of his usual 10:30, he managed to stay here until midnight. Highlights include his getting involved doing updates on his phone, and for a good long while not really being "here" since he was so intent on his phone. Finally I started to wonder, and he showed me the games he'd been playing on X (X as in Twitter? X.com?) so that was weird. 

After a bit more talking etc left, and I was  picking up his used cup from the soda I'd given him etc., and there was his phone. He wasn't gone for long, and soon I heard his truck pulling in. I took it out to him and said, "I didn't thing you'd take long". 

Once Ken had left the 2nd time I spent the rest of the night taking things apart that I wanted to get out of here. I left a lot of scrap metal and parts and stuff out front, and Lo and behold, when I left for the post office everything was gone. 

So when I came back, I noted that the box of circuit boards and aluminum pieces I'd left out by the main road was still there, so I actually took that back to put out in front here since it's the same kind of stuff they just took. Plus I put about 12 boxes of heavy-ass drawer slides that are not worth that much and a pain to ship, out and those went quick. 

 

 

San Jose or Basel? Decisions, decisions...

 u/michaelmoby on Reddit (too bad I can't post links on this) put up a pretty good post, having experience in both places, for Basel, Switzerland, being easier and cheaper to live than San Jose. Yes, including supermarket prices for food. 

This does not surprise me. The cheapest place I've lived has been Hawaii, followed by Colorado, Arizona, and then finally Southern California and taking the top, most expensive slot, here where I am in the Bay Area. 

I was up all night packing things to get caught up and then getting 20 things ready to list. There's a hell of a lot of stuff here that just won't sell, or will sell after a few years for a super low price. But open the things up and take them apart and there will be IC's, other components, gold-plated parts, etc. 

It means more work for me, taking things apart, but that's actually kind of fun and it's easier to ship small things than large ones, and it especially stings packing a medium or large thing knowing it's only for $5 or $10 profit if that. 

I got the stuff to FedEx and the post office, got stuff at 99 Ranch and H Mart, relaxed with a can of coffee and some nuts brought from home, and looked for my homeless pal. He wasn't there. Oh well I'll have another chance to find him tomorrow as I'll be on the same route, delivering packages. 

 

Working the system

 I was up doing stuff, then went to bed, then woke up and ... did more stuff. Ho, hum. I was up around 3, packed some things, and got going at my usual time around 6. I just had post office things so I went there, dropped the packages off, then headed to 99 Ranch. 

I got a big package of boiled peanuts (having those available is almost like being back in Hawaii although of course the ones in Hawaii are better) and some cilantro. 

I went to H Mart next for a can of coffee, and settled down to eat my peanuts and drink my coffee. And people-watch of course haha. 

When I was done I started to leave, and then as  I was riding past, realized my homeless Asian guy acquaintance kind of "lives" in front of the bagel shop now. I had 5 Payday candy bars with me because with so many on hand, I'd decided I'd try to give away 5 a day. 

We talked about things... he's tried applying for work at H Mart and McDonald's as well as other places I'd guess. I said the economy is terrible right now and he might consider going into business for himself. I went through what it would take to get started on Ebay and as I was telling the guy about that, I realized that even for people with homes, it's too hard for most. 

Then I started to think of other things, like being a handyman. I said all these little shops have people working there who will pay a few bucks for someone to do a job they hate, like taking out the trash cans and cleaning them, picking up trash in the parking lot, cleaning the windows and the fingerprints off of the door, etc. 

He doesn't have a smart phone right now (writing this, what happened to the one he had, that I gave him a charger for?) and I said I have some old tablets in the shop that aren't selling, so I'll try to dig them out and see if they're any good and if so, take them off of Ebay and give them to him. And I said I'll see what kind of resources there are around here and print the information out. 

So here I am back here, and I've already got a very strong impression that if you've got the skills and gumption to get out of homelessness, you're probably not going to be homeless in the first place. The place I've chosen to tell this guy about has a neat web page but it can't really be printed out. I wrote out some information about it on an index card, and fortunately it's got an easy to find address, just xxx N. First St. just north of the college. 

I mean, it's hard to just be a regular person. Being at work on time, budgeting, handling all the bills, in most cases owning and operating a car because in the US you're not a person without a car, keeping your place maintained and clothing and appearance in general, and having a "good personality" so your neighbors don't hate you, etc. 

Well, being homeless is harder than this. Unless you're willing to shift 100% to a "vagabond" or "hobo" lifestyle, you'll be in a hole you can't get out of. 

Going vagabond or "hobo" means being in a different hole, but at least it's generally considered a more fun hole. Panhandling shamelessly, giving much less of a damn about looks and perhaps hygiene, getting by on an iffy diet, perhaps being a drunk, etc. It's not a game for the old or even middle-aged. You're going back to the "dead by 40" life humans lived a couple thousand years ago. 

Anyway, I'll give the guy the index card and probably some more candy bars, tomorrow.