Ray-B called early enough for me to get over to the beach for a session. That guy must have eclectic sources of music, since the audience kept saying they had not heard some of the tunes for years. Better, than me, I had not heard around 20% of the songs ever at all. It was a successful gig although I didn’t know Ray-B’s equipment was shy in the bass range and I didn’t bring an amp. The club was the Walkabout and my goodness there was some decent scenery on the beach.
Here’s today’s trivia from a book I glanced at full of rules of thumb. If you are going to date younger women, there is a formula for the compatibility of age differences. Take the man’s age, divide by two, and to the result add seven. Thus, the best odds of a successful match for a 50 year old man is a 32 year old woman. Same book says if you are not getting two Xmas cards back for every three you mail, you are sending cards to the wrong people.
Inflation is really hitting prices at street level, which is doubleplusungood around here since that is where most people live. If you want to get a coffee and a donut, take a five dollar bill along. Pancakes at McDonald’s will run you close to the same five. I was on my way to the library and found out the places along Federal are no longer giving discounts for coffee to anybody.
I’m adapting as best I can and sport what is it, six years “experience” at living on a retirement budget? This equips me to notice when others only think they have a budget or can live within their means. It doesn’t escape me who has to buy a hotdog with their credit card. I still have to continually find ways to economize. For example, I told you about the conversion stem for the Coleman lantern so it could burn regular fuel. To do this, I have to break the existing mantles (dis-mantle?) which aren’t cheap. To make the right decision, one has to consider the entire cost of the changeover. I do it tomorrow.
The library had the usual ten o’clock lineups but this time with live entertainment. Some whiskey-voiced lady was yelling at her son for stealing her jewelry. The son looked like a total goof hipster wannabe. She had thrown him out of the house, now he wanted back in to get his cell phone and prescription. Except, she would not let him in without the return of $530 worth of earrings and necklaces. On they went, washing the linen in public.
I have some of it on video. Like I told Ray-B, what happens in Florida stays on youTube. The two put on an embarrassing spectacle for a good twenty minutes. He kept saying he’d die without his pills, she kept saying go to the hospital because she was not letting him in the house. She said he was selling his prescriptions to get narcotics. I don’t take sides, since I don’t hang out with stupid old ladies, I don’t have any stupid old lady problems although recently I’ve come close. I have no use for women who can’t curb their brood.
The scooter is making a profound difference. It is a matter of time and money like so: it wasn’t the $21 per month in bus passes, but that it took half a day to do anything. America was designed for the motor vehicle and if you don’t have one, good luck. The same $21 (there has been no increase or decrease of the rate of spending) now gets me around six times further and three times as fast. Curiously, the scooter is slightly faster than a car because it is far easier to zip down a side road shortcut and there is always a parking spot near the door.
I’ve also discovered a bored 7-11 employee will let you park on their lot all day for a buck or two. I’m getting reacquainted with stop signs and parking meters. Cheap parking is significant, as the city has raised the beach parking rates on weekends to $2 per hour. It really keeps the locals away and that is hardly popular with the business crowd.
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