I woke up around 2 or 2;30. I decided to get out of here quickly and get over to the music store to look for a flute case.
I have two flutes; a Yamaha that's not great, kind of rattly compared to new, but plays, and also had a ding on the lip plate that doesn't affect playing but would make any flutist cringe. And a Bundy that's got a wonderful glow to it, looks playable (haven't tested it) no dings, but comes with an horrible big clunky case. The Yamaha has a nice sleep Yamaha case.
I want to keep one flute and one case. If the Bundy plays OK I frankly prefer it to the Yamaha because it looks so nice, and is perfect to be "my old high school flute". So ideally I want another case, keep the Yamaha with the Yamaha case, the new/used case would be for the Bundy, and the ugly Bundy case would go in the trash.
The music store closes at 4:30 so I really wanted to get a move on. I left here around 3 I think, got over to the bank and deposited my pay check; the IRS has cashed my check so this, with my pay check deposited, puts me at just about exactly 5 grand.
Then I rode over to the music store. This all sounds easy but in fact there were tons of detours and road work and stuff, so it was all a bit of an ordeal.
I got to the music store and the guy has two types of flute cases, a generic case for $50 which he swears is new but the latches are corroded, and a "French style" which is probably about $100 and is sleeker, having no handle.
My phone rang and it was Ken. Did I deposit my check, he wanted to know. I said sure, just did a half-hour ago. "Oh shit!" said Ken. I said that the words Oh and Shit are not words I like to hear in connection with banking. His work hasn't paid him, and he thinks he can move some money around so my check will clear but also the landlord isn't being paid their $1000.49 which is becoming the hill Ken, or this business anyway, is heading to die on.
I decided to wait on the case; It'll always be here the music store guy said, and I rode off, back towards downtown. It was about 4:00 now and I thought, I still have time to go over to the bank but is un-depositing a check even a thing? And I should not have to.
I went over to Whole Foods and got some meatloaf, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a beer. I hung out and talked with some guys some, and ate my food, and tried to think a bit less.
Pretty soon I was done, went downstairs and bought more stuff, and as I did with the food, got cash back so that my total withdrawal from my bank was $200. That's my allowance for the week. It's a pretty good idea; spend half and save half. On an income of $20k, it means saving $10k, except for the $3k going to the IRS so call it $7k. Still a pretty good savings rate, about a third of my income.
But now I don't know. Ken's got all the good intentions in the world. I could sell some stuff around here that's too big or awkward to ship on Craig's List and count that towards my pay and can limp along that way for a while.
From what Ken told me, he's got too much credit card debt and he's trying to get that consolidated. The guy at my bank told me, again, that they can offer a credit card with somewhere around a year interest free, to Ken or for that matter, to me. It appears everything's not done by mail any more, and payment is done online, somehow. There's even auto-pay.
But it makes no sense to get a credit card with a bank I won't be with much longer. I like to think I've got a 4 months here left at least because our present lease runs out on August 31, I might not even have that much time.
I need to sell off a lot of things. I plan to travel as lightly as possible going back home. There are no winter and summer clothes back home, just ... clothes. I have a Fjallraven backpack that I guess will do for a carry-on bag holding the flute, important papers, phone and charger, a good book for the plane ride, etc., and then I need to get a larger thing for a checked bag that will hold the cornet in its case, the cornet gig bag, clothes, etc.
I plan Moving Day as, taking everything that's mine that I don't want to leave to Ken to deal with so pretty much everything, put in the parking lot and putting a free ad on Craig's List, Come And Get It. Stick my bags on the bike trailer and ride to the #60 Airport Flyer bus stop, leave the bike trailer etc., there with a big FREE sign on it, hop on the bus, and off to good old Alaska Airlines' terminal.
