First, found my old blog.
Since last post, I wrote two unfinished drafts (both about the A's), never published em. You didn't miss nothin'.
Instead, 2016 has basically turned life upside-down.
My family was evicted unceremoniously by our landlords, using the "moving a family relative' into the house as an excuse. We were great tenants, or so we thought, up until this 60-day-notice letter was slipped into our mailbox. They kicked us out in the middle of our son's school year too, right at Christmas. That isn't legal in Berkeley or SF, but I digress. We lived in that house, with them upstairs, for a dozen years - when we first moved in they were tenants too. But then they orchestrated the purchase of the house, whereby our old landlord co-signed their loan, and the house never hit the market. An ideal circumstance in the crazy Bay Area housing market. Well, they didn't just weasel the house from her, they kicked us out, didn't give us our deposit back due to "wear and tear" to the downstairs.
I could go on and on about the things I asked LL to fix that he never did. I could mention the fact that when they moved in LL's sister into the basement, how our electrical bill went up despite the fact that I specifically asked to make sure her elec/gas wasn't associated with ours. I could talk about the cockroaches that LL wouldn't hire an exterminator for. Or how she begged us to sell her one of our cars, only to really have LL buy it, then trade it in for a newer car when we were under the assumption that LL's sister's old car needed to be replaced; not a new car for the LL.
Weasels.
Anyway, I'm not naming names. But if you've ever had a really shitty experience at a store called Baby World, its because they also own that business chain. I really, really, really, recommend not shopping there. Their Yelp reviews will essentially back up what I'm saying here: that they are money-grubbing, inhuman, cheapskate people. Try returning something you bought there, you'll see what I mean. Also I think they hire family-members illegally from Chile. Not to mention all the permit-less work they did on the house.
Anyway, that was the end of 2015.
2016 began with my Dad having a stroke that put him in the hospital two days before our move was to begin. I can't begin to describe that event, as I was picking up my kid from their house the day he had it. He had been having dizzy spells that he had been going to the hospital before throughout 2015, but was never diagnosed as something (blood clot) that could cause a stroke. Long story short, if you suspect someone has had a stroke, call the ambulance immediately. The immediate hours after a stroke are the critical moments, don't waste any time.
He returned home March 1, after being in the hospital for over a month. He needs round-the-clock care and my sister is helming those duties with my mom and some paid help. He is progressing well, but wasn't in great shape before it happened, so it will be a long recovery process. But he is definitely motivated and we're hoping he'll walk again soon.
Our new house is further from the Rockridge/Temescal area than any other house I've ever lived. Still in Oakland (to keep the kid in his school), our house is bigger and more beautiful than previous. It's lighter, bigger, no upstairs or downstairs tenants, big basement/mancave, and yard has lemon, fig trees, ripe for planting more too.
Our rent has almost doubled. We are looking for a house to buy, but the market is brutal. We're trying our best to help my Dad as best we can. If there is a theme, now two full months plus into 2016, it is CHANGE. Gotta steel myself some more.
On the positive side, gigging regularly with my jazz trio and East Bay Brass Band. EBBB every 3rd Saturday at Woods Bar & Brewery, Telegraph and 17th in downtown Oakland. The trio (name may be changing) every 4th Wednesday at Cato's Ale House on Piedmont Ave in Oakland. More random shows happening with Musashi Trio, Reverse Gravity, old band !Tang, and who knows who else.
Just got my electronic set up working and am excited to add pieces, but still figuring out what I need vs what is OUT THERE... looking for vintage or analog or similarly styled types of pieces.
Also my turntables are set up and my CDs are boxed; most of my crate digging will be through my own collection this year. I realized I have more records than I have heard, so I will make it a point to listen to some albums I have that I've never heard all the way through. Last night I listened to Paul Butterfield Blues Band and a Taj Mahal record that I inherited from my aunt. She had killer soul-jazz, soul-blues, and 70s smooth jazz (before they called it that). Excellent addition to what I have, given that I didn't have any of that kinda stuff.
ANYway. Trying my best to not let the evildoings of others affect me, at home (specifically, our old home), at work (hi boss), or people on the road. Especially the pedestrians. Goddamn stupid-ass pedestrians.
