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