Reflections on Internet Stuff

“God is my shepherd.”

Why someone that would write that should cross my internet path is a little beyond me. Does that mean the writer is a sheep? Does it mean the Lord wants us smelly, stupid, hairy and compliant (and we should proclaim it proudly)?!...Oh, wait!...does three out of four win any prizes? I think I’d rather be a goat. You’d get to head-butt the shepherd from time to time.

I’m going to Hell, aren’t I....

I'm playing a version of Scrabble online with my brother. Getting my butt kicked in a game of Scrabble is nothing that unusual...the fact that it's happening online over a period of more than a week makes me feel old just by thinking about it. Time itself is out of hand! My grandfather would talk about "When I was young...". I'm like, "Five years ago....".

I'm listening to a very funny and cool, live version of Leonard Cohen singing "I'm Your Man" streaming from a commercial-free internet radio station (192k MP3) while typing this. That alone says a lot about the internet (...and thank the shepherd for good speakers and ADSL).

I remember not getting software I really wanted because it would take forever (or at least the better part of a night) to download. Now I get pissed off when the streaming music kicks out more than once an hour.

"Multi-tasking" was not even a word when I was at university (not sure it is one now)...but I now have the uncanny ability to start ten or twenty things and kind of do all of them at once while not finishing a single one of them.

Focus used to be something you need for your life...now you need that (and some kind of caffeine/sugar combination) to finish whatever you are working on at that moment.

The Daily Show on demand.

Mac used to be something the Beatles pretended was a hat (yes, I realize some of you might be British).

I love finishing, "...who was that guy in...?" with "...wait a minute...' and coming back from the computer with, "Oh yeah. It was...".

Being wrong about something is almost as fast as being right about something these days.

The internet proves beyond any doubt that there are weirder, stranger people than you...pretty much everywhere.

Life has gone from a need to be face-to-face for conversation to Facebook. From the need for holding something to your ear, to a keyboard and "WB. LOL. Wassup?" (I can provide translations for some of that if necessary).

Random freaks can spend hours writing down, then revising stuff that nobody really wants to read anyway...uh...Strike that.

Chatting is most closely associated with typing on a keyboard these days.

By the time I finish this, technology may make the whole thing archaic (I've used that word twice in a week. I should win some kind of geek prize).

People never seem to really end anything anymore because they can always

snow

It's been snowing for the better part of ten hours. It's the first real snow in a couple of years.

I really don't know why, but I've been like a little kid.

Tomorrow I'll probably be sick of it (unless it REALLY snows), but today was fun. A mountain bike with bald tires in the snow. I had a blast!

If there was some break with reality and yesterday I saw myself today, I'd probably shake my head and mutter to myself (about how the planet is filled with...you get the idea).

I was sideways and still moving forward a couple of times. Didn't even suffer any bodily harm.

Today was a good day.

Transitions

The transition from the old year into the new was not as easy as I would have hoped.

Christmas day all the way through dinner was great. From that night till the day I left for Kochi I had the flu. I can't remember the last time I had a fever so high for so long.
Dinner was pretty great though:



I was weaker than I thought for the first few days of the trip. I shocked a few people by drinking nothing but tea for the first few days.

I was majorly stressed by the fact that I only had two books with me (one, half finished) for a week in a place where I had no other options, entertainment-wise. I got one of the best surprises of the trip when I found out that a large part of the books I thought were destroyed in a flood at Taka's sister's house were actually stored at her grandmother's. I not only had plenty to read, but brought a few books home as well.

There is a glassed-in sun room at Taka's grandmother's (now Taka's mother's) house. I spent hours, toasty warm and reading books I didn't know I had. It wouldn't have been possible with her Grandmother still around. She used to expect I'd be right there next to her the whole time I was awake. I really loved and miss the crazy old lady, but the quiet time to read and recover from the flu was an unexpected pleasure.

This is about the fifth day in. We were at Momma and Poppa's house. This is them, Taka and Kyoka (the girl they look after the same way they used to look after Taka and her sister:



The end of the trip was better than the start. I felt better, got a few days at an onsen, and the food (from my point of view) got better as the osechiryori (traditional new year's food) ran out

The last day of the trip I spent working in a farm field. It was my idea and I just did what I thought needed to be done. Seven hours of non-stop work burning stuff, pulling and gathering more stuff to be burned, and clearing miles of ivy. Strangely enough, it was the most satisfying part of the trip. Even the dinner tasted better after a day of honest work. I wouldn't mind a trip back in a few months for the main purpose of planting or planting prep.

I hope all reading this had excellent holidays! Time to look to the new year.

Living Food

I suck at this!!!!

July was my last post??!!

Alright. I'm treating this post as an e-mail that I won't have to send to each and every member of my family and all of my friends (amounting to at least a dozen people or so...). Since I've talked to most of you recently, I'll just treat this as an update. Real letters will follow soon (for most of you)...really! Have I ever been wrong when I said that? Save the ridiculing hate mail please...and accept my apologies for any of you that choked on your drink as you read that last line.

Taka and I went to a living food restaurant last weekend. Living foods are a step beyond even our usual diet. They are foods that are either raw or fermented naturally without cooking by heat. Pretty extreme. They use fermentation, natural enzymes and dehydrators. As out-there as I can be with food, this is pretty out there even for me. This place shocked me with how very good it was. I'd go so far as to say that pretty much everyone reading this (Joan gets a pass) would have liked what we had. The downside was that the whole lunch set was like an appetizer and we left straight for another restaurant as soon as we finished "lunch". This is pretty much the whole lunch (which also came with a thimble of uncooked mushroom soup and enzyme-cooked brown rice:


Taka got motivated to try a little more living food, and ordered a book. Last night started the first effort (easiest, and supposedly most healthy). Raw cabbage and water in a food processor left to sit at room temperature for three days before filtering. Then 100 ml before each meal. I was actually scared when I tried it. Surprisingly, it wasn't horrible. Kind of like a very mild sauerkraut juice. It's supposed to dramatically aid digestion. I'll keep you posted (unless, of course, it kills me...safe so far).

I was going to post a picture of a place in the neighborhood with Christmas decorations. The guy must be a decorations salesman or something. A pretty amazing job...but every one of ten pictures on 4 different settings looked like I was jumping up and down when shooting (and 7 were with the camera braced against a rail). Basically that means no picture of that this time around. Christmas decorations aren't the norm, but they are around. There's another near one of the supermarkets I shop at. I can't imagine what these people pay a month on their electric bills (save the Scrooge comments please!).

This year we are visiting Taka's family for New Years. We'll be in Kochi for six days. It's going to be a bit strange. Her Grandmother passed away a few months ago, which means some things will be different. For one thing, Taka had to send out a lot of postcards telling people that she won't be sending or receiving New Year's postcards. I knew about the 49 days thing and the 3, 7 and 13 year things (all ceremonies), but this was the first I had heard that you can't even receive New Year's cards. I don't know if this is a Japan thing, a Kochi thing or a Taka's family thing, but at Taka's (real) family's house there can't be any osechiryori (traditional New Year's food) this year. That one's no skin off my back though...I've never been a big fan (esp. Kochi style).

We'll also be visiting Taka's Momma and Papa (her other family). Momma is the best cook I've had the pleasure to visit in this country. Not fancy, just wonderful. Papa uses me as an excuse to drink way more than usual, so I have fun while Taka's translating skills get pushed to (and occasionally beyond) her comfort zone. A zone that shrinking year by year (I REALLY need more than a week or two of a time studying this language!). For the record...even if my Japanese was good (which it's not), Tosa-ben (Kochi's dialect) would be beyond me. Momma and Papa live next to an onsen, so I get a couple of visits there as well. Taka's mother lives near there as well, but has been occupying Taka's grandmother's place since she passed (the 1st 49 days someone has to be there).

More soon.

Really!

Man!

Was that last post negative, or what?! I guess extended periods of pain and lack of sleep will do that to you...

Just got back from the States last week. It was a very good trip (Detroit, TSA excepted). Pictures can be found at:

http://web.mac.com/steveninshibamat/iWeb/


I'm slowly trying to get back to something close to "normal". The wrist is a lot better (though worse for the hearty American hand-shaking I got during the trip). I'd put it at about 80%. I've been doing rehab on my own. Next will be a bit of serious exercise to combat the time spent on the sofa.

I came back to a sizzle and pop that was the end of my computer. I miss it. Couldn't afford another one...and yet here I type. The old one is on the floor next to me. Thank god I backed up all my important stuff to an external hard drive before I left.

The new computer is... :-)

More soon

Gout

After months of no posts...


Gout in the wrist is soo unlikely, that a broken bone is the obvious choice.

I’ve had broken bones, and I can’t decide (the picture just dosen't give it justice). The pain is deep, and intense. After four days of looking like a bright red balloon, the swelling is mostly gone. It still hurts. It’s a deep-down, broken-bone kind of pain. It sounds like a break, huh?

Every time I get gout, I wonder “Is it gout?” “Did I break it?” There’s always some memory of that first twinge of future pain that causes doubt. It’s unusual enough in the ankle (that’s where I usually get it)...but...

The wrist.

I’ve been pacing the floor and debating (internally, since no one else listens anyway) on whether or not a trip to the hospital is in line.

The price of an unneeded x-ray might be worth it for a painkiller scrip...until I think of the other horrible obtsrosoties it’d take for the doctors to assure themselves of what I’m pretty sure of. It’s probably gout.

(SIDE NOTE: 90% of the treatment for gout, I’d just ignore anyway. I’m not a big fan of pharmaceuticals)

In the wrist.

God hates me.

More Randomness

- I have had three running days of intense headaches. They seem to come on in late afternoon or early evenings...which sucks because I hate mornings anyway.

- I passed this little clock and watch shop today. It was around 6:45. Every clock in the place was at 10:12...I hope humor was involved.

- Pulled over by the cops the night before last. It was kind of a random thing, they were pulling over cars too. It took 45 minutes to explain why I didn't have that little piece of paper that explains that I'm under application for my otherwise expired ID card....they seemed to have passed on the four people I saw riding bikes with no lights while text messaging on their cellphones though. You can believe that I keep that piece of paper with me now...except, I can pick up the new ID from tomorrow.

There's flower called chinchoge in Japanese...I have no idea of it's English name. It smells a little like Jasmine. It's very strange looking and has the most intense and wonderful aroma. You can smell them from a block away. They're in bloom now. I think I'm gonna get me one of those plants (kind of a bush actually). It looks like it's from another plantet and smells like Heaven...how cool is THAT?!

In a moment of serious irritation I started what might be the beginnings of Spring cleaning today. If I keep at it, I could be done by August.

Our next door neighbors moved out. That makes something like five or six since we moved in...maybe I need focus on keeping the TV and stereo volume a little lower...or tone down the woofer. I'm half kidding. There seems to be some kind of recurring water problem over there. Not to be mean, but glad it's not an issue with this place.

Tomorrow is supossed to be 19C (66F). Man, I might have to skip the cleaning and get out on the bike.

Stayed up to an ungodly time last night (this morning) hoping to see the lunar eclipse. To cloudy...then it was sunny all day.

That's all the randomness I can come up with at the moment....except for this:

Tokyo Madness

Today had to be one of the strangest days I can remember.

I had an early job and had to do pretty much the height of morning rush hour. Same trip I take every other Friday. It was raining, which sucked, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The train was really crowded. I was wedged into a corner of one of the doors (not a bad spot as far as that kind of thing goes). Just as the door starts closing, this fiftyish guy squeezes in. Again, nothing strange about any of this...until he starts really shoving me. The train was so packed, that there was not an inch of space I could have shifted to. My back was to him and I tried to ignore what was just a bit more than usual jostling. Suddenly, he starts deliberately shoving me while shouting loudly (in English), "My space! My space! My space!!!"

For those of you not in Tokyo, morning rush hour trains might be packed but they are generally very quiet. This guy was shouting loudly as he was shoving. I was too shocked to be mad...for a few seconds. I managed to turn around to face him (the train was so packed that even that was hard...I'm not even sure how he got the leverage to shove me). I made eye contact and almost whispered "If you don't stop shouting or touch me one more time I will beat the shit out of you right on this train." (or something to that effect). I don't know why, but the quiet voice in English works better than anything else in a situation like this. He didn't understand the English, but caught the intent. He shut up and stayed as far away as possible from then.

Too bizarre!!!!!

Same trip to work, I get to Shibuya and walk past two salary men beating each other with their briefcases. Strangely enough, they were hitting each other in the legs with the briefcases. The police were arriving as I walked past.

As I wondered if the whole city was losing its mind, I got on my last train. Some college-aged kid tried to jump in as the doors were closing (the trains were running every 90 seconds at that point) and got caught dead center. He was a little panicky and reaching into the car asking for help. He wanted someone to pull him in. We just stared. He was an idiot.

On the way home, the train I was on broke down and was stuck in a tunnel for twenty minutes.

Wanna guess how carefully I looked both ways before crossing the streets when walking home from the station?!

What are the odds of that chain of events...and why couldn't they culminate in me hitting the lottery or something?

At least today wasn't boring!

The latest

I was writing on the other blog before this. A big mistake. I get all worked up...time to tone it down.

Work is picking up (a little).

On the Saturday after my birthday, Taka and I did our new celebration thang. We had karaage.

From this year, on Christmas and each of our birthdays we can eat something usually off our list (my rule is that it needs to be organic). Karaage is basically Japanese fried chicken. It was doubly out of the usual, because we almost never fry anything.

It was great!

Between the chicken at Christmas, the fried chicken on my birthday, and all the seafood over the New Year holiday...I'm thinking it's just about time for a three day water fast.

>>>AND THEN A WEEK PASSED>>>

Didn't do the water fast, haven't started working out and am in no way healthier than a week ago. No surprises there.

Work's picked up a bit. Had a three-hour gig today, have a short one tomorrow and a marathon five-hour job on Sunday. Last week I did a TV commercial. Cable...which means cheap, cheap, cheap, but TV time nonetheless. Bring 'em on!

Saw Casino Royale two days ago. I loved it! I chuckled over unbelievably clean water in Venice, but otherwise thought it was the best in the 007 franchise.

A week and a half in the writing...I'll end this here.

More to follow.

New Year

I'm off to a slow start on the new year.

The New Year's holiday was great. The trip to Kochi was better than I could have hoped for. Even got to spend a night at an onsen (hot spring hotel) curtesy of Taka's mom.

Coming home was a different story. Started with some computer problems. They weren't exactly resolved...but I now know that there is either a loose wire or a short on the internal side of the power connection. It's working now, so I'm happy (if more than a little afraid to turn off the computer). I bought an external hard drive and have pretty much backed up everything of value, so I feel safe now. The hard drive I bought was a really cheap one, so the whole backing up processes took ages. Still...done.

The holiday was great. I ate non-stop. This is from the New Year's day get together at Taka's grandmother's. At this point, most were gone.
There were about 20 people there at one point. Taka's grandmother's could handle it. Those old style houses are really set for this kind of thing (sliding doors between rooms, etc.). The guy next to me was pretty drunk, but the woman behind him and I were in a hempai contest. It's kind of special to Kochi. I didn't start it, and she could have stopped it at any time....but we basically traded shots of hot sake through two full teapots worth. Between us we finished almost half a gallon of sake.

I'm going to write more soon. I think I've got the computer stuff mostly taken care of. I just wanted to get this out so I can make all my e-mail catch-up a little easier.

Last of the Year

I'm changing my domain name provider...more than a few of you won't know what that means, but suffice it to say, it's been a pain in the butt! So far, I've lost a day of my life to lack of sleep, come down with the worst cold I can remember (still can't talk normally after 2 1/2 weeks), totally lost a year's worth of e-mail (including very important work and work-contact information) and basically haven't even managed to fix my work e-mail as of this typing.

I just woke up in the chair (again). I'm still not fully packed for my trip to Kochi...which has a departure time some three hours from now. Too much time for a shower, and not enough for sleep in an actual bed. If I'm not ready, it's not for Taka's lack of heroic efforts. She has almost everything ready to go. I only need to finish the essentials (toiletries, iPod charger, Palm stuff, cell phone accesories, etc.). So far, I have failed miserably at packing.

I meant to do a whole post on this, but I'll just mention that in the lull when I thought I was over this cold (but was about to relapse) about a week and a half ago, Taka and I went to a concert. We saw the Yoshida Brothers (Yoshida Kyodai in Japanese). They were fantastic!!!!!!!

Suffice it for now to say that if you've never seen two brothers that have been playing together for 25 years on three-stringed traditional instruments with what looks for all the world like an ice scraper, you need to broaden your horizons. Seriously, these guys were great. They played everything from traditional Japanese, to jazz, to some pretty rockin' pieces. Their back-up band included traditional Japanese drums (taiko), a traditional flute (shakuhashi), an electric violin(!), a western drummer, a keyboard, and both a base and rhythm guitar. The Yoshida brothers played separately and in almost every combination with their backup band as well as just the two of them alone. There was music to suit almost every style imaginable. In short, a great concert!

As I mentioned before, I'm off to Kochi for the New Year in a few hours. It'll be nice to get out of Tokyo for a while. I like Taka's family, and there will be loads of fantastic food and drink. I'm even going to get to spend some time at a hot spring! Can't say I'm looking forward to the airport/plane thing though. It might not be as bad as the States, but any trip through an airport is one I'd rather not deal with...just an evil that needs to be embraced when you want to be someplace far away.

The whole trip will be a little tough on Taka (and I don't just mean the packing). My Japanese skills are nowhere near up to the task of dealing with her family (hell, they mostly don't even speak standard Japanese anyway...it's something called Tosa-ben). I'll try to be better this year (by not asking her to translate everything all the time), but that won't help when the guys are all over and drinking. Her uncles have been known to wait outside the bathroom to get her to translate something to me once the beer starts flowing. Taka's a trooper, but it gets to be a bit much. I'll try to lighten her load a little this year. When I told her that I'd take my Japanese book (Japanese for Busy People) with me, she laughed (when she finished choking). I've had the book for 10 years and have made it to chapter six at least five times (the book has 40 chapters).

Well...Happy New Year to all! May it be everything everyone is hoping for.

Peace.

Randomness from Hangover Hell

Somehow, I got it in my head last night around 11:00 that I wanted to be around people. The time may reflect how embarrassingly late I slept-in yesterday. I actually hopped on my bike and peddled over to the next closest thing to an actual town in this metropolis of eight million people. For those of you that have visited, none of you has been there.

Kanamachi is a tiny place by Tokyo standards...but (I discovered last night) they know how to do a Friday night. I'm sad to say that I was out till what would have been sunrise if it weren't so overcast. It's been a very long time since I've been out-n-about. I even met a couple of interesting people.

As usual with this kind of thing, I am paying for it today.

I just found out that I will be in Kochi for the new year's holiday. I'm not exactly looking forward to the whole plane thing, but am looking forward to a trip outside of Tokyo...esp. one that will involve lots of really good food! Time to polish up my excuses on why I don't speak the language and how come there aren't any children.

Because it's a holiday, I doubt if I'll have any free time, but I'm hoping to sneak away for a while (maybe steal a bike and take a ride along the river). One thing I really am looking forward to is a trip to the onsen (hot spring) near Mama's house followed by a dinner prepared by a master of Japanese cuisine (Mama). Papa likes it when I visit. He's allowed to drink with me.

For those of you confused by the above, Mama and Papa are not actually Taka's relatives. They took care of her and her sister while both of Taka's parents worked for so long, that they have become part of the family.

Since Taka bought the new digital camera, I think I'll try to take a lot of pictures. I'll put a few here in the new year.

Is anyone besides me shocked that another year is coming to an end? Does getting older necessarily mean that you go into a time warp?! I seem to spend the first few days of every month going, "Is it (month) already?!".

I feel like I'm in another time zone. It's 2:30 a.m. and I'm about to wash dishes before brushing my teeth and stumbling into bed. Of course I woke up in early afternoon and had a nap in a chair (my neck keeps reminding me of that little fact). Maybe one of my many New Year's resolutions should be establishing a bedtime (right up there with that 14-year favorite...learn the languge of the country I live in).

Weather-n-Stuff

I won't even make apologies for the length between posts anymore. As far as I can tell, nobody's reading this anyway.

Right now I'm waiting for dinner to finish cooking. I have a few minutes. Once the stuff's in the pot, kimchee nabe doesn't require much more than making sure it doesn't boil over.

I spent all day today cold. Figured it was cold out (it wasn't). Actually, it was pretty nice tepurature-wise. Taka figures I might be sick. I refuse! I've been sick enough this year.

The trip to the store(s) for dinner shopping was once again more than a mile on a bike in the rain. The sage and wise weather forecasters said that last night's rain would end in the morning (it did) and would be followed by party cloudy skies....they must have missed the part about the heavens opening and the deluge of rain that lasted from 2-7 today. I honestly think the head of Japan's meteorological bureau is some old guy with a trick knee. "It don't hurt, so the rain'll stop by morning. Get one of those satellite picture thingies to prove I'm right."

Thank god for spell check...though one of the corrections for "bureau" was "beaver"!

Finished dinner. As usual, enough for four. Tomorrow's lunch (and maybe dinner) are ordained. No complaints here, though. It was great!

River Ride

I started this the day before yesterday, but in my usual timely fashion, I am just getting to finishing and posting it today.

I went for a bike ride along the river today. According to the markers, I did about 45 km. (about 28 miles). I strongly suspect that I may regret it come tomorrow. It's been a pretty long time since I've done a trip that far by bike.

At the time I left (after lunch), the weather forecast was for partly sunny to turn into mostly cloudy. They kind of left out the part about a weather front moving through with strong wind gusts and driving rain, followed by steady rain with little or no wind. That part would have been good to know. I fought against wind (until it slacked) and pretty heavy rain all the way back. It was a solid hour after dark by the time I dripped into the front door of this place.

No one that has come to visit me has seen the river near my place. Not that it's a must-see spot on the tourist regime or anything, but it's pretty cool. It's designed for both flood control and park-like conditions. There is roughly 100 yards of flat land on either side of the river, with about a 40-50 foot high hill on either side of that. From where the river meets the bay all the way up to the 24 km. marker, it's baseball field after baseball field after soccer field. Past that, there are driving ranges, short golf courses...then a real golf course (probably a par three).

The top of the "hill" on my side of the river is a small, paved bicyle/jogging path that runs well beyond the 20-some km. I did away from Tokyo Bay (whatever direction that might be from here...I think it's North) today. I've been as far as 30 km. one way before and there was no end in sight.

Before the weather changed on me, I took a few pictures with Taka's new digital camera.


These are some flowers that were in a bed next to a soccer field. I don't know what they are called in English, but they are called Kosmos in Japanese.

When I was a good 13 miles up the path, I was ready for a break. I went down toward the river (a lot more countryside at that point). I took this path, thinking it was a fisherman's path to the river. I ended up in a homeless person's living room. I apologized and went back to the main "road" and went another mile or so.


This is where I stopped for my break. You can't tell from this, but I'm kind of under a train bridge. A little french bread, an apple and some Shiraz...right about the time I realize the weather is changing.

The trip back was pretty horrific. A nice time till then though. I wasn't as bad as I expected the next day, either.

Nikko

Since the weather's been changing I've been sleeping more (and better), getting outside more, and using the computer less...as those of you I owe letters can attest to.

Last week was a three day weekend, and since we haven't really done anything in a while, Taka suggested a day-trip to Nikko. Niether of us has been (and I rarely get the chance to visit historic or world heritage sites), so I jumped at the chance.

It drizzled a little, but not enough to affect the day. We had a really good time. Here are some pics:

This is some bridge. It was the first place we saw. The internet tells me it's called The Sacred Bridge and is really just a newer bridge built where the original one was...of course the newer, current bridge was built in the 1630's.
The insane people you might be able to see walking on it, paid $5 for the privilage...and they can't even fully cross. They can just go out on it, come back, and then cross the river on the bridge I'm standing on in this picture. You can't tell from this shot, but that river is really cool. Just under the bridge it's like 9-12 ft. deep and a raging, torrent of water.

We bought tickets to see the inside of 5 temples and shrines in Nikko's World Heritage Site park. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed inside, but even the outside of these places were some of the best that I've ever seen. Inside one of the places behind the Bhudda was a room with a huge dragon painted on the ceiling (all these places are dragon-themed). The priest/guide showed us something really cool. He banged two sticks together (I forget what they are called, but they are used in traditional music, sumo tournaments, etc.). Really loud, but no big deal...then he stood dirctly under the dragon's head and did it again. An almost metalic-like resonating ring lasted almost a full minute after the strike. Very cool!

Here are a few shots from the day:


This is just one side of the entryway to one of the temple courtyards. The picture doesn't do it credit, but it is a huge wall filled with wood carvings of the most fantastic kind (matched on the other side of the entrance).


One of the guardians of a temple gate. Usually they are demon-like creatures, but here they were human warriors.


Once again, the picture doesn't do it justice but the woodwork, contrast and style just blew me away. (This is above a shrine door).


A lantern garden. I bet it would be really cool all lit up at night.



The sacred shrine of the cartoon frog. (Need I say more?)

And we finished it all off with a fantastic dinner.
Featuring lots and lots of Yuba (made from skimming off the top of the vat durring the process of making tofu). It was fantastic!!

All in all, a great day!

It's Not the Heat...

It's not the heat, it's the humidity. In a word: bullshit! It's both...and it's just as bad when it's humid and cold!



The last few days have been in the mid to upper 80's (F) and the humidity has also been in the mid 80's %-wise. Not very pleasant. There have been signs that autumn may be about to show itself though. I love autumn. Comfortable days and cool nights. How great is that?!

Nothing really new since the last post. I have a pretty cool audition tomorrow. It's a fairly well paid audition (which means I'm on the short-list) for voice-over work on a major national TV commercial. I don't want to get my hopes up, but this one could be fun if I get it (...and will likely involve a series of commercials over the next year).

Today I immersed myself in my obsession with news. The anniversary of 9-11-2001 was, of course, pretty high on the reading list. As promised, I'll keep most of my serious comments on the other blog which can be read here. There is one exception though...

Please do NOT consider that ABC's "docudrama" tonight and tomorrow night represents anything close to approaching the facts of 9-11! Look into the director's background, check out the producers, and above all, ask yourself how a $30 million production will be shown on a major network with no commercial backing (five hours of prime-time TV, commercial-free...what does that add to the production costs?). A public service?! Give me a break!! I haven't seen it, but man, there warning signs all over this one. My most fervent hope is that this causes everyone to dig a little deeper into what really happened vs. what has been reported.

Okay, I'm done. The funny thing is that even though I wrote about 9-11 in my last post on the other blog, I never mentioned ABC's farce. Go figure!

Need to get some sleep. I've practiced as much as I can for tomorrow, now I just have to be rested. The weird thing about these things is that often you think you know what they want, then are told when you show up that they are looking for a huge change from what they have been doing...

Computer (W)ails

After 17 hours on the computer yesterday and several hours on the phone today, I can't believe I'm even managing a post here now.

While Mac's are much less prone to crashes than other types of computers, they nevertheless happen. I had some fairly serious (though not as bad as they could have been) computer problems yesterday. After a few unusual crashes, I ran a software fix program that I've used many times before. It didn't work the first time through...it actually shut itself down. I ran it again. Without getting into too many details, it found a lot lot of corrupted files (overlapped) and more or less fixed the situation.

When my computer came back on (and I actually clapped with relief when it did), I discovered that while everything else was fine (and I AM grateful...all my pictures, music, bookmarks, misc. work, etc were fine), my mail program and my calendar/schedule book suddenly were as if they were turned on for the first time, same with all the basic settings for the computer as a whole (Appearance, general preferences, etc.). That was about the time that I realized that the last time I backed up my computer was March.

After hours upon hours of trying to retrieve what was lost, I readjusted everything to the way I like it and figured I'd just have to bite the bullet as far as all e-mail went. I knew that all was not lost as far as my schedule went though. My Palm was still cool. In fact, it can synch with my calendar/scheduler and I could bring that up to date easily. Yeah... When I tried that, my computer erased out my entire schedule off my Palm (rather than my Palm filling-in the computer). One of the results was me being a half hour late for a job today.

I know to back-up important stuff regularly. Everyone knows. In fact, I was just thinking about it the other day...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Okay.

So here's the current deal... Anyone that owes me mail can lie and say you sent it yesterday. Anyone I owe mail to will have to deal with the fact that I am starting from scratch (actually, from March since I reinstalled back-ups).

As best as memory serves...I don't work tomorrow. I'm debating getting an external hardrive to backup the whole computer regularly. They are really cheap right now. Tomorrow's plan: After sleeping to an unbelievably late hour, I'll back up the important parts of what I have and give the rest some thought. Taka has been great through my recent obsession, and I made it up to her (a very tiny bit) by a good dinner tonight...I plan on making tomorrow two in a row.

Time to get away from this thing for a while.

Told you guys that this site would be more like an online diary...the other site is for those less faint of heart!

Try this: Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com if clicking on the link doesn't work.

Excuses, excuses...

I've recently been accused of not staying on top of correspondence. Partially correct...and if you are a steady reader of this blog, then skip to the third paragraph (consisting of two words). Otherwise, choose from the following whatever feels the closest to the truth or puts you most at ease.

- You sent me mail?
- It was your turn.
- I must have accidentally erased it.
- You didn't get it?
- It's been damned hot in here.
- I haven't checked the computer in a while.
- I've been answering them in order...but I have SOO many friends...
- I was sick.
- I thought I answered it.
- Your last must have been routed to my junk mail folder.

My bad!

Not really a lot to write about. Taka was off for Obon last week. We didn't do much...a little shopping, out to lunch/dinner, that kind of thing. Found a new favorite Thai place. Did a more thorough check of Omotesando Hills (a mall way out of our price range) where we did find a very cool wine shop. There was also a really cool sake place, but both in one day would have been a bit much. I worked a few days. No Obon for narrators (thank god), although the the week after seems lacking...

Man, is it hot!!!! My body is just not built for hot weather. Taka jokes that I wear a permanent wool vest, which explains my feeling this time of year. ...maybe a full-body wax, followed by electrolysis...

I was going to end this after that last...but felt it somehow left an image that would leave you all a little nauseous.

The first sign of Autumn has come. Both Kirin and Sapporro have their autumn taste beers on the shelves. Last year, Kirin's Aki Aji (Autumn Taste) beer was horrible...I'm sad to say that this year's is fantastic.

Truth be told, very few people read this and I really do have a lot of e-mail to catch up on...

In a political kind of mood or looking for someone to argue with? Check out my recent post at: Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com This reminder will be on the next few posts.

Fluff

I've been called on for not updating this for a while (fairly) .

Not too much going on Steve's world recently. Today hasn't been too bad, but it's been HOT!! I've got a couple of jobs tomorrow and Friday and a party on Sunday (Monday starts a four day holiday).

Somebody moved out of the building yesterday, and man, did they pick the wrong movers! The older of the two guys talked like he was inside of a crowded bar even though the day (aside from him) was very quiet. They brought all this stuff downstairs and had to park it in the lobby, because they waited to bring the heavy stuff that had to be in the back of the truck until last. They took longer breaks than I thought possible, and worst of all was the fact that they were practically bouncing furniture off walls. The older guy was obviously drunk off his ass. I'd have been furious.

I will confess to being nosy (although I like think of it as having a curious nature), but in my defense, this computer (my office) has a ground-floor window that faces about everything in the lobby and bike parking area.

The other night I had to endure a 30-minute lecture (in Japanese) by a police officer that was told repeatedly that I don't speak the language. The lecture would have to be titled, "How dangerous it is to ride a bike at night with no headlight". He didn't seem to care that my light had just broken, that I offered to replace it that minute (we were in front of a store) OR the Philippino prostitute soliciting services not 25 feet away. I paid twenty bucks for a new light only to discover the old one worked after all...THEN got hit by a car on my way home!!! (No cops then!).

I wasn't hurt. I was barely touched, though I did fall over. Mostly, I just over-balanced during a fast stop. The girl driving the car was bawling so hysterically, I couldn't even get mad. I just disgustedly said I was fine, picked myself up and rode home. She looked too young to even drive. Except for a slightly sore arm the next day, I barely felt it. That brings my total for being hit by cars in Tokyo to 2. The total for all of Japan is something like 4 (not counting very near-misses). Should I considered my life charmed (still breathing), or cursed (four accidents and more than a few close calls)?

Still thinking about my trip home. It was the best trip back that I can remember. I wish Taka had gone with me.

No pictures to post this time, but I'll try for one or two in the next entry.

Time to shop for dinner

This blog will continue on as a kind of public diary (of sorts). The rest (politics, news, and most "soapbox" stuff) will from here out be at Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com This reminder will be on the next few posts.

The Trip

The trip went like a typhoon. It came, went and was over before I could really even think about it.



I am soo glad I went. I am really glad I spent the better part of my time in the States at my Grandparents' house. It is no stretch to say that it was very comfortable. I even got to meet a lot of my grandparents' neighbors...out under a tree, between houses and overlooking the fairway to a par four hole I never remembered to ask the number of. Those people and that part of my trip re-established my thoughts of an America I thought was long gone. Good people one and all.

I truly enjoyed my time with my grandparents. Even doing the odd chore around the the house and fixing the occassional meal was a treat. I would have to put this trip right at the top of the list of times I've been back to the States. Other highlights included the best crabs I've had in decades and getting to put a face with a name in meeting my Dad's friend Kathy (my new crabs-n-beer buddy...even if her beer of choice is Coors Lite).

The trip ended a little strangely. I discovered (the day before I left) after 12 days that I had lost my passport. That was fun...not! Since I still had my tickets (and my passport is always with them), I can only guess that it had slipped out of the pack while I took it from the seat-front on my last plane in. The airline (which was not even my first call out of what turned into five hours on the phone) found my passport. Some very intellegent and nice woman at BWI received it, did a computer check and saw that I would need it again from Baltimore on the 19th. She set it aside on her desk, waiting for me to call. It stayed there, until she took a day off and someone sent it to Houston, Texas. That's where it was at 5 p.m. on the day before I was to leave for home (at 6 a.m.). They had to fly it to Baltimore in time to meet me at the airport. It was supposed to arrive around 11:30 p.m. when I was supposed to check and make sure it was there. At 12:30, there was nobody in the office...same at 12:45, 1, 1:15...all the way to 2:30 (which is when the office at BWI was suppossed to close). Each time I called, it was to a 1-800 number and since they won't refer anyone back to a previous operator, I had to go through the whole story from the beginning each time. I was NOT a happy camper!! I ended up just staying up all night since I needed to leave before 5 a.m. (Thanks Brian!!!!).

The passport was there, no problem. Unfortunately all my planned complaints about the screw-up the night before had to be saved. It was the thoughtful, nice lady at the desk when I arrived. Continental doesn't pay her enough.

There was one other interesting (such as it was) end to the trip. My suitcase was 15 pounds overweight. I looked a little stupid with my suitcase open on the floor in front of the check-in area while I transferred 15 pounds of dried beans to my backpack. That said, you can't imagine the savings on those beans...they WILL be enjoyed for some time to come!

I need to get back to see family more often. Next time, I hope Taka can make it too.

This blog will continue on as a kind of public diary (of sorts). The rest (politics, news, and most "soapbox" stuff) will from here out be at Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com This reminder will be on the next few posts.

Traveling

This blog will continue on as a kind of public diary (of sorts). The rest (politics, news, and most "soapbox" stuff) will from here out be at Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com This reminder will be on the next few posts.

Hard to believe that I'll be leaving here the day after tomorrow! As you all can guess, I haven't even really started packing yet. I have a list of things to take (which is likely missing more than it includes), but have barely started assembling things. The best I can say for myself, is that I dug way to back and bottom of the closet, got my suitcase out and threw a few things I might take in and on it. Funny how only my things end up in the very back and very bottom of closets (under piles of Taka's things that need to be very neatly replaced after I finally manage to get to what I was searching for)...hmmmm.

As much as I'm looking forward to seeing my family, I'm really not looking forward to the actual traveling itself. I worked it out, and door-to-door will be 22 hours of travel...all but the last hour or so, all by my lonesome. Blah!!! I am anything but a fan of airports and airlines.

This is my image of airports.




I'll be thirteen hours on the first plane. With that kind of time, food is an issue (when isn't it with me! lol). Airline food is crap at the best of times, but try the strict vegetarian "meals" sometime. One of the things on the aforementioned list is food to survive on during the flight. Did I mention that I don't sleep on planes?

I'll be bringing my: iPod, iPod charger, Palm Pilot and charger, cell phone and charger, step-down transformer and memory card reader/writer. I wonder what airport security will make of all the electronics and cords? lol

Well, time to stop playing around taking pictures of me not packed...and at least get a start on dinner, if not actually doing a little packing.

Foreigner

This blog will continue on as a kind of public diary (of sorts). The rest (politics, news, and most "soapbox" stuff) will from here out be at Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com This reminder will be on the first few posts.

I'll be back in the States in less than two weeks. It'll be my first time back in three and a half years. This time it'll be more of a family trip and less of a vacation. I felt a bit like a foreign tourist when I went back last time. A lot of the things that stood out were the same kinds of things Japanese tell me about their trips to the States. Kind of weird, huh?

I won't need to plan things like side-trips to interesting places on this trip or anything (in fact, Taka's not even coming with me this time), but there is still a lot that needs to be planned and not a lot of time to do it in. Coordination between several households can be difficult, esp. with the time difference and various work schedules involved. As strange as it sounds, there are even issues with what I can and can't eat that need to be dealt with. I've always been a procrastinator when it comes to travel, but this time, the whole thing has been on short notice.

Things would be a lot easier if I could just rent a car at the airport. Not having a license doesn't bother me at all here, but can make a person feel crippled and dependent in the States (outside of, say NYC). To that end, I have been in contact with the Maryland Department of Transportation to see what it would take to get my license back while I am there. To some extent (considering my past license-related incidents), getting a license wouldn't have been the trial I expected. Due to the time elapsed, I was just told that I would basically start over as if I never had a license. All I need is to take the eye exam, written test, driving test (all of which can be done the same day), and assuming I passed all three, could walk out that day with a license. I would also need proof of identity (not a problem) and proof of Maryland residency (Whoops!). Since Maryland is listed as my U.S. address on my Visa here and is on almost every form I've ever filled out for the government here, I kind of thought that being a U.S. citizen also came with some form of connection to a state. Wrong!

There is no way for me to prove residency in Maryland because I don't live there. Even if I could manage to fake it (I'm not advocating law-breaking here), I still wouldn't attempt it. Maryland would then no doubt expect their due in taxes. It would be obvious in no time that I'm not actually a MD. resident. No license!

The whole license thing reinforces a feeling I've had for some time. It's like I'm a U.S. citizen, but I'm not American. I really feel like a foreigner when I go back to the States. So much has happened there while I was here (esp. since 9-11). My entire take on world events is that of a foreigner compared to a very large part of the U.S. (and the majority of my family), and vise versa. I'm a foreigner here too, but for some reason, I am more comfortable with that. It freaks me out a bit when it happens in the country I was born and lived in for 27 years. Although it does help that I can (more or less) speak the language there (aside from NYC taxis).

No doubt there will be a lot more posts on this trip over the next few weeks. This trip is kind of a big deal to me. It will be great to see the family again (on their own turf)!

New Blog

I originally wanted this blog to be a place where family and friends could quickly and easliy get caught up on what's happening around me...even see a few pictures that I wouldn't bother to e-mail out to everyone. Kind of a public diary of sorts. I also wanted it as a bit of a soapbox to cause people to think about what is going on in the world around us. Those two things aren't meshing very well, so I've decided to split them up.

This will continue on as a kind of public diary (of sorts). The rest (politics, news, and most "soapbox" stuff) will from here out be at Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com

I'm busy getting that started just now, but will post to this one soon.

Photos

Today was a little cool and very rainy. I wore a short-sleeved shirt. Sometimes I think my sole talent is dressing badly for any event...

I realized that it's been a very long time since I've posted any photos to this blog. Here are a few (they are from my mother and aunt's trip):


Taka and I by some mountain I forget the name of...



A few people with a mission...










I used to live near here...just over the water, and 40 min. by bike to the right.








I hope that satisfies for a bit...I'm tempted to add a pic from the houses in the flower war, but maybe later.

Things I've seen (1)

No excuses for why I haven't posted in so long. That'll probabably be changing (the postings, not the excuses), so keep checking.

I'm guessing this will be a reaccurring thing in this blog (thus the end of the title). It's just a list of things I've seen in the last two days. I've been in a pretty bad mood and this may reflect that, but I'll try not to overwhealm. It may also reflect how much of a housewife I am...


-Thousands of flowers in hundreds of varieties
-Four people riding bikes while writing cell phone e-mail
-One person writing cell phone e-mail while riding a bike in the rain and holding an umbrella
-A woman who deliberately ran over my foot with a shopping cart (after I stopped and moved over to get out of her way) because another woman was blocking her mad rush forward (she actually hesitated, then pushed forward over my foot...no apology)
-Three houses in a row competing over their flowers...making an excellent section of neighborhood
-Trash, yet again, put outside the entrance of my building at least two days early
-Some guy on a scooter for no apparent reason and with no witnesses (he knew of) speed up, then put both hands in the air and keep them there for the duration of speeding through a red light.
-A small, single stalk of celery for $1.50
-The wife of the priest of a neighborhood shrine that recently expanded (We talked...kind of. She was really nice.)
-Close to thirty baseball players in uniform, on bikes, coming straight at me (not a problem, just a little weird for a minute or two)
-A train with a big dent on the front car (don't even want to think about how)
-a shooting star
-Three people (one was that lady with the cart) that were about to give me shit for my comments (some of which were pretty nasty), but stopped when they saw a an angry-looking skin-head foreigner
-At least fifteen cats, basically running wild
-my neighborhood, on a bike, at 4 a.m.
-a minimum of twenty people I could punch if the world was truly fair
-The one-eye guy staring at me again (he doesn't really irritate me, but I do wonder why he always stares...it's going on six years now)
-too many people in a frenzied hurry to do what is basically just a daily chore (shopping)
-a very scared door-to-door real estate salesman (he didn't give up over the intercom phone and I gave him a reason not to try this apt. again)
-My face in the mirror...kind of weird as the beard grows back, but I can maybe see why people are afraid when I'm mad...they think I could very well be insane.
-Did I mention flowers?

Long Time

Let me start by saying that a) the hiccups thing was a one-off and b) most of this was written even before the the last post.

It's been quite while since I've posted anything here...but that's not the reason for the title.

My mother and aunt came for a visit. It's been a long time since I've spent time with family (other than my wife)...but that's not the reason for the title.

Looking back on the last couple of weeks, I've come to realize what a very long time it's been since I've spent more than a few hours at a time with anyone (...and that's getting to the main thought behind the title). Kind of weird really...I know I don't come off that way, but these days I get a little freaked when dealing with people for more than a few hours at a time.

The Visit:

My mother and aunt's visit kind of started a long time before they actually got here. I wanted to be a good host, but it's not something I have a lot of experience with. My mother and aunt aren't exactly what you would call experienced travelers, and from the east coast of the States to two countries in Asia is quite a trip. I kind of felt the need to impart a little ....actually, I was a bit of a dick.

I think it's (partially) because it's been a little too long since I've spent significant amounts of time with anyone. I was out of practice. I don't think I handled things as well as I could have. I was worried. Aside from their time with me, I was worried about the time they would be traveling without me. Traveling alone in other countries with ease is a skill that takes time and practice. Some people can drift through a trip to a new place, but that's not my image of my family.

With that as my excuse, guess what?! I may have copped an attitude on the woman that birthed me...and her sister. I hope they know it was out of love and concern...especially if they are reading this! :-)

All that said, I was really happy to have them here. It was really cool to show the people I grew up with the world I live in now. Even though the focus was on some of the more touristy stuff, it's cool that my next e-mail or phone call will draw on personal experience of where I am calling or writing from. It's been a long time. Too long. For that matter, I think I need a little re-connect time back home.

Overall, I rally enjoyed the visit. Of course it was wonderful to be together, but I liked pretty much all the rest of it too. I like seeing the stuff tourists want to see. They want to see it for all the reasons I ocassionaly miss due to the complacency that time and familiarity causes. If all their pictures weren't being loaded to this computer, I'd have had to take loads of shots myself. This is an interesting place to live (the whole country, not just Tokyo), and visitors help keep that a sharp mental image.

Did I mention that family-time was a big part of it?!

..or that it's been a long time...

I'm sure anyone would understand if my asshole-ieness showed before that first cup of caffeine in the morning, but that's not what I remember. Mornings were actually okay. I was more of an evening asshole. Okay, enough self-flagellation for the moment. (and I wrote this a while ago and don't even remember why)

While my mom and aunt were here, I had a lot of random thoughts and feelings. Lame as it is, here's one: Is it a normal age-thing to feel joints and muscles just getting on a bike (I ride a bike the way most Americans drive a car...in the neighborhood at least)? Early mornings, late nights, and loads of walking no doubt play a huge part, but I'm still sore! Here's one: Am I still American? I don't really feel like it, but can't replace it with anything else. Sometimes I think I revel in the fact that I am an obvious foreigner in this place. These days I would probably feel like one back home, but I am actually one here.

Bedtime.

Hiccups

In a perfect and somewhat more literary world the title of this post might refer to the sudden, unexplained and somewhat baffling method of my posting to this site. In reality though, it's to bitch about the worst case of hiccups I've ever had.

I'm actually in pain today from yesterday's hiccups. If you're waiting for the punch-line you can stop...there isn't one. I had the hiccups for over five hours yesterday. I have no idea what brought them on but was glad they came after I had finished work for the day (I was reading paragraph-long sentences from newspaper articles in the morning. I wouldn't have made it through one sentence). Today my back, stomach and chest all hurt. It's almost too ridiculous to be upset about, but it wasn't so funny last night. At the one-hour mark it was just starting to be unbelievable. After three, I felt like I was going insane. By the fifth hour I was wondering if I was going to have to go to the hospital for hiccups. Then they stopped. Don't know how or why they started and don't have a clue as to why they finally stopped.

For anyone with the urge to send their own personal cure, feel free. If I ever have the misfortune to experience the hiccup hell I was in yesterday, I promise you that from the three-hour mark the most ludicrous remedies start to sound at least worth an effort. By the five hour mark, I was almost ready to try the most likely cure I found through my Google search (miss-typed with each hiccup...and cussing that followed)...a .45 caliber shot through the roof of the mouth. Judging from how well all the other remedies worked, I probably would have hiccuped and missed.

The real irony would be that one of the "remedies" I tried was the real thing. The absolute, all-time, guaranteed hiccup cure...and it had a 30 minute (or three hour, for that matter) delay before it kicked in. It wouldn't surprise me in the least. After five hours of hiccups (not even commenting on some of the outrageous stuff I attempted to get rid of them), my threshold for surprise is at all new levels.

Age

No reference to my aunt's age intended, but she said something to me on a recent visit that stuck (kind of like thrown, wet toilet paper). She said that I had another age-related crisis coming. To put it as bluntly as it feels, "FUCK!!!!!". Turning 40 wasn't bad enough?!!!

I didn't do "40" well. My wife and friends will attest to that. I could talk about clinical depression or the whole mid-age thing, but truth-be-known, I was just Hell-on-Earth to be around for about six months before, and almost as long after my 40th birthday. Somebody please tell me that I'm not going to have to subject those around me to a another whole year of that!

Thoughts about age are something that comes up randomly. They attack from the back and side (like a tiger). When exactly do the attractive women casually looked at during the course of a day all become young enough to be your daughter? When exactly do you start looking for excuses for the pain it takes to get out of a chair after a nice rest? When exactly does age become a topic for conversation (or blog topics)?

I'm not really as bad as I sound. I'm not entering the abyss that was "40". Frankly, it's as much an intellectual stretch as anything else to talk about this...still... You know that "good pain" you get from a recent workout after a long break? Is that supposed to be the feeling after a day of showing your neighborhood to your visiting Mom?

Please save the "You're not old!" replies. First of all, they aren't all that necessary. I don't feel all that "old". Second of all, you must be either (a) a lot older than me, or (b) lying. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that my back kind of hurts from that unplanned nap on the sofa yesterday.

If Life is a journey, then can I start back from about the half-way point? :-)

Gotta go. Shopping for a bright yellow 2-seater. Really fast, and oh so cool! The chicks really dig it!

LMAO

Scattered Thoughts

Five and a half weeks without a drop of alcohol and I still stubbornly refuse to say that I've quit...I'm just on a roll. Somewhere along the way I've managed to become addicted to green tea...I guess that part of it could have been worse. Thought I'd lose even more weight. That didn't happen! I have had a non-stop case of the munchies lately, and despite it's all being healthy stuff (nuts, fruit, etc), if I don't start getting more physical than getting out of this chair for another pot of tea I'm going to balloon back up to the bad old days.

My ankle seems pretty much better, can't imagine if this happened while my mother and aunt are visiting (four weeks from today). Another reason to start exercising. Hope we'll all be ready for the steps, standing and walking that is the very definition of sightseeing around Kanto.

It snowed today in Kansai. The news tonight showed it snowing in Nara park on the first (official) day of full cherry blossoms. Bet that bummed out a lot of people that had pre-scheduled hanami parties!

Read an article today that said only 20% of 11-17 year olds get the recommended nine hours of sleep a night (when did it go up to nine?). The article went on to say that 45% get less than eight hours of sleep a night. This means that 55% of 11-17 year olds are getting eight or more hours of sleep a night?! Somehow I really doubt this. The article also stated that the average time to get up on a school day was 6:30. So this means that 55% of kids as old as 17 are asleep by no later than 10:30 at night?! For that matter, 20% are asleep by 9:30 on school nights? Hmmmm.

Here's something I wrote some time ago and never posted:
I saw another accident tonight. As far as I could tell, nobody was hurt. A car hit a person on a bike. The driver of the car was at least 20 mph over the speed limit, smoking a cigarette and talking on the cell phone. The guy on the bike was actually reading or writing e-mail or text messaging on his cell phone (that's right, I said he was on a bicycle at the time!) as he just rode right through the red light. There seemed to be very little harm done on either side, and it was like a contest of which of them could apologize the most and escape the scene the fastest. ...don't know why I added that now (other than it allows me to erase a two month old unposted draft). I fear the day I get in a bicycle collision with some idiot that is as stupid as that guy on the bike. I don't think an apology will do it...and the first bow is likely to be into my knee.

Taka's life becomes a hell on earth tomorrow or the day after. There will be arrests of partners at Taka's firm tomorrow (or the day after). Three separate, unrelated cases of what amounts to the same crime (advising or helping a client to do something less than legal). Rumor has it that six partners are involved. Two for each of the three cases. If taken together to prove a corporate culture, this could be the end of the company (think Anderson Consulting). Since Taka is in the public relations department, she will be beyond busy for a while (possibly right up to the time that the company she works for no longer exists). The caca will hit the fan sometime after the arrests and press conference.

Anyone that read this far may now breath that sigh of relief (or disappointment) that there was nothing political or overly controversial in this whole post.

Time to take out the trash then get some sleep.

Thoughts on a Mad Cow

So another case of Mad Cow is discovered in the U.S. Kind of surprising really, considering how few cows are tested.

So, how is the U.S.D.A. responding? Well among other useful things (such as digging up the buried carcass of the recently discovered infected cow to more fully evaluate its age), they are considering cutting back on their testing. In addition, since I've started this post, the aphis site has been offline. This is the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is a branch of the USDA. They boast of providing the public daily updates but apparently are having computer difficulties at present.

How thorough are the U.S.D.A.'s testing methods? Let's look at some numbers:

The total amount of cattle (dairy, beef and calves) in the U.S. is about 97 million. The generally accepted number of slaughtered cattle per year in the U.S. is roughly 35 million. There is only money budgeted to test roughly 40,000 of those per year. Being a little fast and loose with the math, that works out to about 0.1 percent tested. To put this another way, 99.99% of all slaughtered cattle are not tested. Keep in mind that this leaves out the figures for how many of those 40,000 tested were dairy cows or cows not meant for human consumption.

To make the testing procedure even more useless than it already is, how about this?: Only cows that are obviously sick are tested. Cows that show behavioral changes, and for the greater part, cows that are too ill to even walk through the chutes are the only ones tested. Cows that appear "fine" to the eye are not tested at all. In short, the testing procedures that the U.S.D.A. assures the world are more than adequate, are statistically useless. There is no real testing of any kind at all going on...and what little there is, is still coming up with positive tests!

To further protect the public (at least that's who they assure us are being protected), it was decided that only cattle 20 months old or younger could be slaughtered for human consumption. This is because BSE does not present itself before then. However, there is no limit on how old dairy cows can be while supplying milk. It also fails to regard the issue that just because an animal doesn't seem to be dying of the disease, doesn't mean that they aren't infected. An example that comes to mind is AIDS. HIV positive people carry and can spread the disease for years without actually being in the throws of full-blown AIDS. I would argue that just because a cow shows no signs of BSE, there is no reason to assume it poses no threat.

How else is the public being protected? Well, cattle feed may no longer carry byproducts of ruminants (animal byproducts from sheep infected with scrapies [the sheep version of BSE] in cattle feed is thought to have first started BSE). Somehow, pigs were "declared" not to be ruminants for the purposes of this law (a law which even the USDA admits is being broken on a regular basis and is very difficult to enforce). Pigs also have a version of this disease as do chickens (whose feces is regularly added to cattle feed (nice thought, huh?).

So how dangerous is the beef you consume? Statistically, it's still not that bad. But with up to a 20 year incubation period in humans, who knows how many people are currently infected? The only ways to test for vCJD (the human form of BSE) are (risky) brain biopsies on people presenting symptoms or a highly unlikely test procedure during an autopsy. There is an added situation to note here. The most common diagnostic error in finding vCJD is to find that the person suffers from or died of Alzheimer's. They both present similar findings (the smoothing of the folds in the brain). There has been a widely reported dramatic increase in Alzheimer's (esp. in the States) recently. Could some part of that be due to misdiagnosed vCJD? There is just no way to know how many people are infected and will develop vCJD even as I type this.

Is there some kind of conspiracy to not test U.S. cattle? I leave it to you to form your own opinion. Keep in mind what an incredibly large, wealthy and powerful, tight-knit group the beef industry is. They spend as much or more in advertising, lobbying etc. as any other wealthy, powerful industry in the States. The beef and dairy industry rank up there with the oil, defense and pharmaceutical industries (and has close ties with two of those). To give a couple international examples into cattle testing protocols, Japan tests 100% of the cattle intended for human consumption. In Europe, roughly one quarter are tested. Sounds excessive compared to the .1% (drawn from a pool of obviously sick animals) the U.S. tests, huh?

I think I'll stick to my lifestyle choices food-wise.

Why Me?

Why me, indeed!

Once again I find myself at the computer with one leg propped up and an ankle on ice. I'm reasonably sure this is unrelated to gout (other than the cumulative joint damage it causes over time).

Yesterday morning I woke several hours before my planned time to wake up to make my ritual trip to the bathroom before returning to bed. Well, you know how if you sleep with a hand or foot in a strange position for too long it is a little stiff and sore just until you slowly stretch it out a little? That happened to my ankle...but aside from being half asleep, I REALLY had to go to the bathroom. The pain was instant but bearable, and I was back to bed in to time.

Yesterday I limped around a little, it hurt a little I went to the store for dinner stuff and it hurt a little more (and was a bit swollen), but still no real big deal. Today when I woke up, it was a little swollen, but I pretty much spent the whole day doing little that required much more than a trip to the kitchen, etc....Until it was time to shop for and make dinner. The more shopping, the more pain. Fixing dinner almost killed me. Right now it looks and feels like a sprained ankle.

I don't eat meat. I don't consume any dairy. I eat very few processed foods of any kind. And I haven't had anything but water, green tea , juice and an occasional coffee to drink in close to a month. So what's up with the ankle!!!!!

Whining, complaints, and general ranting done for now (although Taka may have to suffer through a bit more before the night's through.

I spent a large part of today fact-checking my next post. It's inspired by the latest case of Mad Cow discovered in the States. That'll be up soon.

I have an early job tomorrow. It'll be yet another embarrassing day if I need to take my cane (bad enough that I have one to take!).

Staying Up-to-date

Here are is just a tiny sample of what I read today. I actually spend at least a couple of hours a day going through the news. These don't even scratch the surface of the things that interest me at the moment. Maybe next time I'll add a few on Education, Health, Random Cool Stuff...

G.O.P. Senators Say Accord Is Set on Wiretapping
Moving to tamp down Democratic calls for an investigation of the administration's domestic eavesdropping program, Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that they had reached agreement with the White House on proposed bills to impose new oversight but allow wiretapping without warrants for up to 45 days.
Full article at:
From the New York Times

Congress cannot legally bypass the Constitution. If they wish to change the Bill of Rights, Congress can initiate a change by a 2/3 vote in both chambers followed by ratification of 3/4 of the states. Absent that, Congress saying it's legal for Bush to wiretap without warrants doesn't make it so.
The Constitution is the original "contract with America". When the government acts outside the Constitution, it ceases to be the legal government of this land.
- Mike Rivera


The Cost of War(s)
US Spending $5.9B In Iraq Per Month...
Monthly expenditures are running at $5.9 billion; the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan adds roughly another $1 billion. Taken together, annual spending for the two wars will reach $117.6 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 -- 18% above funding for the prior 12 months.
Posted Mar 8, 2006 10:19 AM PST
Category: IRAQ
Full article at:
From the Wall Street Journal

Impeachment
A reasonable background article from Harper's magazine:
The Case for Impeachment

I would like to add that for all of the reasons listed in this article (and then some), I would include not only the president but the vice president, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rove, Rice (and anyone else I may have missed. The list of charges are huge (and vary somewhat from person to person), but I'd settle for whichever stand the best chance for outing the lot of them.

Impeachment
Straight to the article:
30 US Reps for Bush Impeachment Inquiry



For Those Who Served...and continue to pay the price.


Soldiers Back From Iraq, Unable to Get Help They Need
The VA acknowledged some veterans suffer those problems but said most do not.
"Last year, 97 percent of veterans who came to us for a primary care appointment got that appointment within 30 days, and 95 percent of those who came for an acute care appointment got it within 30 days," said R. James Nicholson, secretary of Veterans Affairs.

A thirty day wait for an acute care visit?! Read both pages of the article and you realize how optimistic even that travesty is.

Full article:
From ABC News

Steve Stuff

Thought I'd give the political stuff a little rest for at least one post.

I finally got the free tickets issue worked out with Northwest Airlines. For those of you saying, "Huh?"...Taka and I got two free round trip tickets anywhere in Asia in return for staying an extra night in Saipan last year (tough break, huh?). They expire at the end of this month. Taka and figured a short vacation to Thailand (if the more exotic choices weren't possible).

Try redeeming free tickets sometime! Man, what a hassle! Three phone calls, the second one lasted an hour and a half. First I was basically told that any and all flights I wanted weren't possible (although they did keep telling me Saipan would be okay...oh yeah, and I could go to Thailand but couldn't come home). From there I was told that the tickets I held in my hand weren't really free tickets but were just re-printed tickets from the trip we already took. When I demanded they check, I was told it would take two weeks....by which time, of course, no booking of any kind would be possible. By the time I made it on the phone with the supervisor's supervisor, I eventually worked a deal where the mileage equivalent of the tickets I was arguing over would be credited to our WorldPerks cards. Now since we have the points instead of the tickets, there is no expiration date. We can use the tickets any time we want. I guess determined and persistent demands for justice occasionally work.

Taka just got back from five days in Hong Kong for work tonight. She figured she'd have time for some shopping, etc., but they kept her so busy she didn't even get to shop in the department store connected to her hotel. She got back around 10 p.m., managed a small bowl of miso soup and a glass of water before falling asleep on the sofa. I'll be pretty much on my own till Sunday when she is at least partially rested up.

A couple of weeks ago, I was really sick for three days. I couldn't even keep water down. I was a little concerned since the same thing happened about two months before. I was wondering if it had to do with my diet, my drinking, my insomnia, or some combination of the three. I was a little relieved when I heard that a friend of mine and her husband had the same thing a week earlier. She described every symptom exactly. Her husband went to a doctor and was told it was a stomach virus that has been going around Tokyo for some time. I guess I caught it twice in 2 1/2 months.

After three days without so much as a drink of water, I was pretty badly dehydrated. As I slowly started with okayu and water and worked my way back to regular (for me) food, I kind of stayed with just water. I developed a renewed motivation for health in general. I've been really focusing of three solid, well-rounded meals a day, with fruit and nuts as snacks between meals. Water (lots of it), green tea and various juices have been my only drinks. I'm also working hard at trying to normalize my sleep schedule. Next step will be easing back into working out again.

Speaking of food, health, etc., here's one to end on:

A 12 year old girl in the States doing a science project had some findings worth sharing. She went to five fast food places and ordered sodas (one from drive-thru and one from the counter of each place). She also took samples of the water from the toilets of each place. She then did a bacteria count on the ice in each of the sodas and compared it to the toilet water from the same place. Shocker time! Three of the five places had higher bacteria counts in their ice than they did in their toilets!!!
Whoops! The link I had up before was the wrong one. It's been corrected. Sorry!
Here's the article:
Dirty Ice

Free comedy

Free, I guess because it isn't meant to be funny (which makes it all the funnier!).

A lawyer apologizes to the Vice President for the trouble he caused when he was shot in the head by Cheney.

How powerful is Cheney?!

Man, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!!!

CNN

CNN...the best comedy money can buy...

I just saw a sound bite from Wolf Blitzer asking, "...so what do you want the world to know?"...followed immediately about a story of a lost dog in a New York airport. That was followed by a story on whether or not Johnny Weir is really gay (with some wonderful put-downs of both Desperate Housewives and American Idle...both, no doubt deserved...but STILL!). In this day and age what possible relation does any of that have to anything outside of tabloids?

That all occurred during what was as near as I could tell was essentially a 25 min. promo of snowboarding as a sport. Not that isn't, but where in any of the above was anything worthy of news?.

Apparently the rest of the world (aside from those being vilafied for protesting offensive images in print) is just fine. There was also a wonderful story on how the "Freedom Fries" issue has now become a a verbal protest on Danishes.

I now feel truly informed! I can't understand why mainstream media is losing so much viewership, when the irony and chance for comedic routines is running at such a fevered pitch! Please don't let me even consider that they are just showing what people really want to see...There are some things just too horrible to consider!

Has there EVER been an easier time for comedians?!

Glad to see what news is really of interest! Maybe if Chaney shot another person in the head (while aiming at a little ground-walking bird), it might get almost as much time as that lost doggie in NY! Tens of thousands dead in Iraq for what amounts to a lie, sanctioned torture, the Constitution being essentially turned into a useless pice of historically interesting paper, but we need a helicopter shot of the search for the missing dog (which in all fairness is a champion Whippet!).

Embarrassment X Ten

Let me start by saying how windy it is today. It's like a typhoon on a sunny day.

I was finishing up shopping for dinner. Thirsty, and needing to mail some postcards, I bought a beer at the 7-11. A bag hanging from each handlebar of the bike, and an open beer in hand; a gust of wind made me grab my hat. That resulted in a most spectacular fall-on-my ass spectacle. The beer shower aside, (I think beer may have gone 20-30 feet) a four year old little girl came up to me to ask if I was okay. Life is not supposed to be like this! I flew out of there so fast, I forgot to send the postcards I went there to mail
.

As the embarrassment fades and the humor of it all sets in...my butt hurts!!!!! God most certainly has a sense of humor...or at least irony.

Random Stuff

The title says it all. This really is random stuff.

Just re-read my last post. I stand by all of it, but I really ought to stop writing and posting late at night. I even revised the first couple of lines.

I had a virus a couple of weeks ago (fever, lack of appetite, hot followed by cold, the whole bit), and couldn't eat for a few days. I wasn't eating all that well (volume, timing, etc.) for a while before that though. That's really not a good thing when you are following my food lifestyle. After I got over the virus, my appetite came back...with a vengeance. I'm now back to a much healthier eating style that has actually added a few pounds (some of which were needed...I was getting a little too thin according to friends).

Now I need to get back into a little working out. I dread starting, because I've let myself go so long with practically no exercise at all. Bike trips to shop for dinner have been about it. I'm so lazy about starting. Even when I do briefly try, it is often followed rapidly by the "put it off until you can no longer pretend you are doing it at all" phase. If I can just keep up any regular workout for two consecutive weeks, I know I'll stick to it (for a pretty long time). When it happens next, I'm guessing there will be a post here about it...

Man. Put out my political beliefs on this blog (no matter how provocative or antagonistic), and none of my family or close friends have any comment. This post will probably get several. Go figure. You know, it's okay to debate, argue and disagree on the blog and keep that completely separate from all other communication. You can even comment as "Anonymous".

I saw a guy on a scooter run a red light tonight. On a bicycle I'd probably do the same (though scooters are a little different). He was doing about 30 mph (48 kph). None of that really surprised me considering the time of night and light traffic...but this guy was doing cell phone email at the time!!!!! I've talked about the "cell phone/lack of attention to surroundings" thing before, but even I was shocked when seeing it done on a scooter hauling-ass down the road at night. What could possibly be that important?!

A decent night's sleep and I have parted company some time ago. I have often had problems sleeping in recent years. Usually it's the "can't get to sleep until the sun's coming up" variety. I still (on non-work nights) have a bit of a challenge to get to bed before it starts getting light out. I sleep late, but it still only amounts to less than six hours. Recently, the problem has changed. No matter when I get to bed and no matter how tired I am, I seem to sleep an hour or two and wake up. This is followed by an hour of sleep or so, waking, another hour of sleep, waking...you get the idea. There are nights when I get seven hours of sleep (plenty good for me), but since they came in intervals of one and two hours at a time, it just isn't the same. If this happens more than four consecutive nights, my days can be a little wired.

I've been in this country for more than fourteen years. Every time I get a visitor (which hasn't been all that often), I find myself learning more about the country I live in, and call home. It's not just the visits to the historic sites (which I still enjoy), it's the other questions and cultural things that come up. It's a chance to talk about things like food (always one of my favorites), check out things I hadn't really thought about, and re-live some of those things that so fascinated me when I was new to this country.

Well...certainly not worthy of James Joyce's stream-of-consciousness, but generally, these were things that came to mind in the order they hit while waiting for that urge to get some sleep.

Legal!?

Pre-starting note: I wrote this a week+ ago. I was sick, it was late, but the issues are still relevant.

News Flash! Big Brother listening in on your phone calls is about to be legal (even though it's now been admitted to have been going on since a little while after Sept. 11 2001).

This has always been allowed, and it is doubleplus ungood to think otherwise.

I could go on with Orwellian comparisons for ages, but will refrain for now.

It is not comforting to know that my conversations on the phone with my family and friends are subject to tapping and investigation. International calls are primarily what is being disscussed (so far)...and that would include my whole family and a few friends. I do tend to bring up politics from time to time, and probably use certain key words that would no doubt trigger software to start recording the conversation. Which then would at some point require human assesment...which therefore require a file or files to be kept.

Since when has a "War on Terror" ever been a real war anyway? A war with no definable enemies? A war that allows wartimes powers?! Please! A non-war that allows the U.S. president powers far in excess of "peacetime" powers? Even those, he pushes to the extreme and way past (think torture, phone taps, and the ability hold people in detention for unlimited amounts of time with little or no legal recourse). We no longer follow the Geneva conventions (among many other conventions) and we have just thrown most of the Constitution in the trash. Pretty cool that this particular "war" has no actual, definable enemy and basically can continue indefinitely. REMINDER: the Constitution was written expressly to prevent this kind of governmental control (don't even START me on the so-called Patriot Act...the name alone reeks of propaganda reminiscent of things Americans have always been against [think policies of Stalin, Mao, Hitler]). People, please!!! Every nation on earth since the time a "nation" first existed has been at war with terrorism against it (and/it's peoples). It is a country's responsability to protect itself and its citizens against acts of terror, it is not a declared war that allows the executive branch to bypass constitutional law.

NOTE: Before I go on, let me just say that my views on this are not paranoia or sme kind of a conspiracy theory. Bush has admitted to this personal invasion of privacy publically. The Justice Department is about to declare it legal. The methods, etc. are extrapolated from a lot of sources that I'm not going into here. Remember that while Bush and Co. seem to be talking about specific taps on specific calls, there is nothing they say that actually limit it to that...and quite a few that could be read as any/all international calls.

How many people do you know that are really pissed at having to give their Social Security number to banks, credit institutions, and even universities. Very soon there will be a national ID card with a RFID computer chip that allows remote viewing (how long before criminals beat that?...less time than it took to beat credit cards is my guess). People should also think about how much other info on each and every one of you has floating around out there. I did a search on myself and got a bit of info for free (it even listed my brother and father). $50 more would have gotten me a staggering amount of info. This isn't even identity theft, and that is a problem that costs billions of dollars a year. That's mostly from stolen, sold or lost info, but this other stuff is legal...sound like I'm going off on a tangent? Not really. I'm coming back to this in a minute.

The U.S. government (in what I firmly and strongly believe is in direct violation of the Constitution) now can compile files (audio and written) on any international call without so much as court approval or the vaguest of proof of impropriety other than the claim that "Hey, we're in a war on terror!". It is widely known that the NSA and now, even the CIA and FBI have some of the best scanning software in the world. International calls (supposedly only) are computer scanned for key words. Calls with key words are recorded, filed and saved for someone to check. This creates files. Files on people like me, my family and friends...because any conversation about the U.S. government, terrorism, Iraq, etc. are bound to include key words.

Back to the part that sounded like a tangent. The Pentagon has "lost" over a trillion dollars in the last 10 years. There have been multiple cases of laptops containing sensitive data lost (even in White House strategy sessions). Data lost or corrupted through hacker attacks on computers containing sensitive data, and let's not forget the multiple spy scandles that occur on a somewhat regular basis. Even if you fully trust the U.S. Government to check in on one of your international calls, can you trust them with the files they made of the check? If you can get loads of stuff legally on the internet, what do you figure you could get if you just ignored the law? The info available is staggering.

Am I paranoid? Not really. Even though I strongly suspect there is a file on me somewhere. I feel (and believe) in the long run it'll show me as one of millions of harmless people concerned about what is happening in the world. Am I one of those nutcases that believe in conspiracy theories, etc.? I often jokingly say, "Yes.". The trick is to understand the joke. Do I believe in all, or most conspiracy theories? Of course not. Some of them? Sure. It's silly to think there aren't conspiricies in this world (people are arrested for them all the time). As to whether I fit the "nutcase" part, that's pretty subjective.

Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.

It's been so long since I've read Orwell's 1984, I may just offer some stranger in the street a couple of bucks to pick up one for me in a small bookstore and leave it at a pre-designated location (wouldn't want my name on the list of the people that buy it)... lol