I had forgotten to think: "Yeah, I need 35 bucks" on my way out Thursday (last) night, after having had the $33.25 Wednesday, which is just as much notable for the tip of one quarter that a particular person had given me, which the total reminds me of, as anything else.
Thursday went just about like Wednesday had, minus the 3 tips that totaled 30 dollars that had gotten to make Wednesday night special. It was about a 15 dollar night and covered energy drinks, cat food, 6 bucks worth of kratom -the expenses of the day.
I had gotten "Baby I Love Your Way," in my head, after hearing the reggae (and not the Peter Frampton) version of it somewhere. I was thinking that I could do it using the D major harmonica, and maybe even do it reggae style. After about a minute of trying, though, I abandoned ship.
Friday Night
It is now Friday night and a Jazzfest Friday night to boot. I think my old calendars that I used to note my busking intakes upon show drastic upticks each year during the days of Jazzfest, but I'm trying not to let that put any stress or pressure on me, as I sit outside the Uxi Duxi just past 8 PM.
I woke up at 6:30 PM.
I knew when I finally felt sleepy this morning, that I wouldn't have 8 hours of sleep in me until about 5 PM, but still tried to cheat, by staying up upon waking a few times in the afternoon. I should have just set an alarm for 5 PM, because I wound up sleeping an hour and a half "too much."
Off And Running
I threw my laptop in my bag, and headed for the dollar stores, inside of the first of which I wasted time checking to see if they had one dollar bags of kitty litter.
Inside the second one, I bought a one dollar bag of kitty litter.
I then noticed that it was 7:40 PM, and my chances of making "last call" at the Uxi Duxi were nil.
So, I called a person who turned out to be Dom, and told him that I could be there before 8 PM on my bike and asked him if he would grind me a double shot of Yellow Borneo kratom upon hanging up the phone. Then he could rinse out the kratom grinder and wipe it down as part of his closing procedure -the ones that precipitate the "need" for a last call in the first place.
Exodus-itis
Like so many places that I have worked at, the Uxi Duxi has been infected with the disease (that needs a sniglett to describe it) which makes employees compulsively driven to leave their job site at the earliest possible second.
I worked with a manager at a Dominoes Pizza who, an hour before closing time, would break down the entire "make line," putting all the food ingredients in small containers in the walk-in cooler, so that he could wipe down all the stainless steel, sweep and mop the floor, etc.
If someone ordered a pizza right before closing time, he would make it in the cramped confines of the cooler, freezing his ass in the process, using a make-shift setup of crates and boxes. A pain in the ass, but a hell of a lot better than leaving work at 10:23 PM instead of 20 seconds after 10 o' clock, right?
Dom would just have to ring up my purchase and take my money. Then, he could still get out at the earliest possible second and get right to being a gay man in his free time.
"Umm, this is bordering upon ridiculous!," crackled Dom's voice over the phone that I'm replacing with a smart phone at earliest possible second, as I stood outside the Dollar General, its employees inside, crouching in sprinters blocks facing the door and watching the clock...
I actually had to explain to Dom that what I was doing was going to make it easier on him. He sounded like he thought it would be easier on him if he didn't even have to grind the double shot at all. I forgot to mention that it had been the suggestion of one of the other baristas, Lane, I think, that: "You can always call ahead, tell us you're on your way, that way we can make your shot before last call..." -smart man, that Lane, or whomever...
"If you're not here by eight, I can't make it," said Dom, making me feel like he perhaps was only amenable to doing it if he could retain some sense of "control" in the situation.
"Well, you would be grinding it right after we hang up, then you could have the grinder cleaned before I even show up...The worst thing that can happen is I never make it there, I get hit by a car or something, and then the double shot would go to waste...and I would be dead.
"Ok, but you'll have to be here by eight!" -the control issue again.
I then realized, after having talked to Dom for almost 2 minutes, that I could have been pedaling my way towards him while talking. I arrived there at 7:54 PM.
I tipped Dom 50 cents.
His tip jar for the day appeared to have maybe 40 bucks in it.
A New Way
I had jumped on Bienville Street, right across from the Dollar General and put the Specialized bike in high gear.
I learned that that particular street is a much better ride on a bike than Canal Street would have been. (All of the bikes that have been spray-painted white and propped up on display along Canal Street, surrounded by flowers and next to signs that say "Check twice for bicycles" could have told me that).
I'm sure I shaved a few seconds off my trip by going that way (and taking it like it was a leg of the Tour de France). It even had the "bike trail" bikes painted in the right lane and was one of the smoothest, most pothole free stretches I have encountered anywhere in NOLA -no white bikes on display at the intersections, either.
It was a great discovery, and if I ever have to race from the vicinity of the Dollar General to the vicinity of the Uxi Duxi then I'll take Bienville Street again...
As I sit here with 9 PM upon me, the GNC will be closing shortly, so I will miss out on a creatine monohydrate energy drink tonight.
This is the time for me to flip a switch and become an ambitious and motivated, happy, peaceful and content busker for at least the next 6 hours or so.
I need to do it out of love and not be fixated upon my tip jar -so I can make as much money as possible, of course...
I am off to pick up a 2 dollar box of Harold's favorite blend of dry cat food, to go with the 2 cans of wet that I snagged at Dollar General while getting the litter.
Then, I guess I'll pluck my first note at the Lilly Pad after having put new strings on the Epiphone; hopefully by 11 PM. It is 10:08 PM right now...
 |
| "Micha," who agreed to be in my "Hey, I'm outside the Uxi Duxi" photo is the same Micha who played her violin along with me at the Lilly Pad about a week ago, before she and a few other traveling kid types and her dog, Panda (shown) flopped down and used the spot to sleep. She didn't immediately recognize me such. |
Thursday went just about like Wednesday had, minus the 3 tips that totaled 30 dollars that had gotten to make Wednesday night special. It was about a 15 dollar night and covered energy drinks, cat food, 6 bucks worth of kratom -the expenses of the day.
I had gotten "Baby I Love Your Way," in my head, after hearing the reggae (and not the Peter Frampton) version of it somewhere. I was thinking that I could do it using the D major harmonica, and maybe even do it reggae style. After about a minute of trying, though, I abandoned ship.
Friday Night
It is now Friday night and a Jazzfest Friday night to boot. I think my old calendars that I used to note my busking intakes upon show drastic upticks each year during the days of Jazzfest, but I'm trying not to let that put any stress or pressure on me, as I sit outside the Uxi Duxi just past 8 PM.
I woke up at 6:30 PM.
I knew when I finally felt sleepy this morning, that I wouldn't have 8 hours of sleep in me until about 5 PM, but still tried to cheat, by staying up upon waking a few times in the afternoon. I should have just set an alarm for 5 PM, because I wound up sleeping an hour and a half "too much."
Off And Running
I threw my laptop in my bag, and headed for the dollar stores, inside of the first of which I wasted time checking to see if they had one dollar bags of kitty litter.
Inside the second one, I bought a one dollar bag of kitty litter.
I then noticed that it was 7:40 PM, and my chances of making "last call" at the Uxi Duxi were nil.
So, I called a person who turned out to be Dom, and told him that I could be there before 8 PM on my bike and asked him if he would grind me a double shot of Yellow Borneo kratom upon hanging up the phone. Then he could rinse out the kratom grinder and wipe it down as part of his closing procedure -the ones that precipitate the "need" for a last call in the first place.
Exodus-itis
Like so many places that I have worked at, the Uxi Duxi has been infected with the disease (that needs a sniglett to describe it) which makes employees compulsively driven to leave their job site at the earliest possible second.
I worked with a manager at a Dominoes Pizza who, an hour before closing time, would break down the entire "make line," putting all the food ingredients in small containers in the walk-in cooler, so that he could wipe down all the stainless steel, sweep and mop the floor, etc.
If someone ordered a pizza right before closing time, he would make it in the cramped confines of the cooler, freezing his ass in the process, using a make-shift setup of crates and boxes. A pain in the ass, but a hell of a lot better than leaving work at 10:23 PM instead of 20 seconds after 10 o' clock, right?
Dom would just have to ring up my purchase and take my money. Then, he could still get out at the earliest possible second and get right to being a gay man in his free time.
"Umm, this is bordering upon ridiculous!," crackled Dom's voice over the phone that I'm replacing with a smart phone at earliest possible second, as I stood outside the Dollar General, its employees inside, crouching in sprinters blocks facing the door and watching the clock...
I actually had to explain to Dom that what I was doing was going to make it easier on him. He sounded like he thought it would be easier on him if he didn't even have to grind the double shot at all. I forgot to mention that it had been the suggestion of one of the other baristas, Lane, I think, that: "You can always call ahead, tell us you're on your way, that way we can make your shot before last call..." -smart man, that Lane, or whomever...
"If you're not here by eight, I can't make it," said Dom, making me feel like he perhaps was only amenable to doing it if he could retain some sense of "control" in the situation.
"Well, you would be grinding it right after we hang up, then you could have the grinder cleaned before I even show up...The worst thing that can happen is I never make it there, I get hit by a car or something, and then the double shot would go to waste...and I would be dead.
"Ok, but you'll have to be here by eight!" -the control issue again.
I then realized, after having talked to Dom for almost 2 minutes, that I could have been pedaling my way towards him while talking. I arrived there at 7:54 PM.
I tipped Dom 50 cents.
His tip jar for the day appeared to have maybe 40 bucks in it.
A New Way
I had jumped on Bienville Street, right across from the Dollar General and put the Specialized bike in high gear.
I learned that that particular street is a much better ride on a bike than Canal Street would have been. (All of the bikes that have been spray-painted white and propped up on display along Canal Street, surrounded by flowers and next to signs that say "Check twice for bicycles" could have told me that).
I'm sure I shaved a few seconds off my trip by going that way (and taking it like it was a leg of the Tour de France). It even had the "bike trail" bikes painted in the right lane and was one of the smoothest, most pothole free stretches I have encountered anywhere in NOLA -no white bikes on display at the intersections, either.
It was a great discovery, and if I ever have to race from the vicinity of the Dollar General to the vicinity of the Uxi Duxi then I'll take Bienville Street again...
As I sit here with 9 PM upon me, the GNC will be closing shortly, so I will miss out on a creatine monohydrate energy drink tonight.
This is the time for me to flip a switch and become an ambitious and motivated, happy, peaceful and content busker for at least the next 6 hours or so.
I need to do it out of love and not be fixated upon my tip jar -so I can make as much money as possible, of course...
I am off to pick up a 2 dollar box of Harold's favorite blend of dry cat food, to go with the 2 cans of wet that I snagged at Dollar General while getting the litter.
Then, I guess I'll pluck my first note at the Lilly Pad after having put new strings on the Epiphone; hopefully by 11 PM. It is 10:08 PM right now...
If you're putting in 6-hour busking sessions, you should be averaging $50 or $60 a session, that's $9 or $10 an hour.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the things that bug me about trumpet, I'm really only good for 2 hours.
I mean, you're making what, $5 an hour in the city in the US the most busker-friendly and the most famous for buskers?