- 49 Degrees
- 2 Dollar Thursday
- Out Friday Night For Fun And Cat Food
When I left, there were tourists walking past at the rate of about one every 5 minutes.
It was about 49 degrees out.
Busking being, to a degree, a numbers game i.e. if 200 people* walk past, it is likely that the-guy-that-throws-a-20-dollar-bill will be among them, I knocked off, choosing not to gamble upon catching lightning in a bottle (someone throwing a large tip in order to compensate me for the very absence of others) and to save my strings and spotlight batteries for a night when the traffic rate is more like one tourist every 20 seconds.
*The 200 tourist figure is based upon the music that I actually play. Other musician's odds may vary.
It is Friday evening and 49 degrees outside, forecast to drop another 5 degrees or so overnight. This would be in a range of from 5 to 10 degrees above the lowest temperature that I have discovered that I can play at, which is 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
I was inebriated when I played under that condition, which deadened some of the stinging in the fingertips caused by the cold strings, and I was enduring the remaining pain in the name of getting more drunk. I can remember having to wear gloves on my hands to ride my bike to the playing spot.
Thursday night, I had ridden into the Quarter with the mantra: "something is better than nothing" in my head.
Tonight, I might go with: "You're not going to make a dime sitting in your living room; that's for damned sure."
Now, I need to go find my gloves...
It's been in the 30's overnight here, and honestly I dunno what the buskers, pimps and ho's, drug pushers, beggars, and various hustlers that comprise probably 30% of the city of San Jose's economy do during cold times like this.
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