- $54.00 Friday
- $22.50 Saturday
- Cheap Music
I have had a brainstorm, and an idea has come up, and it is this:
I will go to a Wal-Mart type store, or maybe even scour the dollar stores, and buy blank CD's that can have music burned onto them, and then I will insert them into these computers in the computer room at Sacred Heart Apartments, and, hopefully be able to burn hours and hours of music onto them from stuff I can download.
The program that is installed on this computer (right) seems to have the capability to even take just the audio off of video clips and burn them onto CD's.
I don't know why I hadn't thought of this sooner, or at least as soon as I had bought the radio slash CD player.
Voodoo Fest
Friday night, I went out and played on my 3rd night of not smoking weed.
Voodoo Fest is going on. I'm not really sure what Voodoo Fest is, exactly.
There were a lot of people from Seattle, which is where the team that is coming in to square off against the Saints in the Superdome, is from.
I had some good listeners, and was thrown a 20 dollar tip Friday night, and a 10 dollar one on Saturday night.
It was easy to play for 3 hours before taking a break. I was using both of my harmonicas, and found that the changing of the keys is enough of a change of pace to keep me interested for, probably twice as long.
It is Sunday, and I kind of want to watch football.
VCR Reclaimed By Ed And Rose
Wednesday night, after I had taken 3 nights off, feeling listless, probably from having ingested a lot of sugar, I got a call from Rose, who wanted to borrow money for cigarettes.
I had hardly any cash laying around, and told her so.
About an hour later, Ed knocked on my door, asking for the VCR back, which I was borrowing to go along with the TV that I bought from them. Ed said that he had found someone who would pay 20 bucks for it. Rose really needed cigarettes, he added.
I will have to think about whether or not I want to get another VCR. The movies are only 57 cents each at the Goodwill, but, I imagine the selection in the type of movies I like will get a little thin.
If I were to get a DVD player instead, I might not have to pay much more for it than for a VCR, and I would imagine the selection of movies to be much more extensive, and of course much more recent, than the stuff on the VHS rack. There must have come a year when they just plain stopped putting new releases in the VHS format; maybe around 2004 A.D.
Then, of course, if I alternatively invest in the 30 dollar "digital converter box," then future movies and, in fact, 22 or so channels, in all, of mostly garbage, would become available to me for free. I wouldn't have the luxury of choosing the programming, but, if a movie sucks, I can just change the channel and I haven't wasted 57 cents.
A lot of economics seem to involve spending a lump sum in order to save money over the long run. Rechargeable batteries and a charger for 20 dollars, rather than $1.75 for batteries every 3 or 4 days comes to mind in that category.
I am pretty excited about the idea of burning music onto CD's to listen to in my room; and I think I might go now to check the dollar store for blank discs.
 |
| ...light bulbs, socks, underwear, bath salts...blank CD's... |
I need light bulbs, and could use some underwear and socks and bath salts.
I got confirmation that I will be getting food money in less than 6 days. There had been some doubt, as I had to go to the "Job1" place and tell them that I busked for at least 30 hours per week, and that, by virtue of such, I am "employed," and do not need to register for assistance in finding employment and actively look for it and meticulously document my job search in order to continue receiving food stamp money.
The last time I was prompted to register with them, I had had to get a notarized letter stating that I busked for at least 30 hours per week.
This time, the young black lady working behind the computer recognized me from the Lilly Pad, saying that she has seen me there more than once; and this saved me a 10 dollar notarization fee. Hallelujah.
Burning music onto blank CDs is a good idea; one you had a few years ago except I think at that time it was borrowing CDs from the library and copying them. Illegal as hell, but these days I don't think anyone cares.
ReplyDeleteAs I keep saying, busking is a game of sheer hours, and the more hours you can be out there, the better. More hours = more people who see you; who cares about what you're playing, they see you and a certain percentage will feel like tossing you a buck.
4-hour nights at $20 an hour would make you $80 a day, simple math, and a bit over 2X what I make now in "silicon valley". Oh, and you have a flush toilet and running water and all sorts of things probably 25% of the population out here don't have, because 10% are literally living on the street and the remaining are living in cars, garages, sheds, storage buildings, etc. I think the high percentage of poverty out here is because there's more tech out here, and I think I have finally figured out that tech has one primary purpose: to vacuum money out of people's pockets.
Normally I'd consider your portraits of Rose and Ed to be amateur and thus uglier than they really look, but from what you've said about them, I'd wager that's exactly how they look!
If I were you I'd just swear I busked 30 hours a week, to keep on food stamps. Only problem is, if you work at all, they like to cut you down to about $10 a month, but it may still be worth it if it means you've got your free apartment.