2009/8
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8/01  Same Name

Cow is now so pleased that the picture book really exists. Additionally, his favorite part is when Palle only wets the tip of his nose instead of washing his face, taking the advantage of having everyone including his mom somehow disappeared. So Cow was a lick-and-a-promise-king since then. Such a guy was enjoying an online game next to me as usual, and he seem to have found this character who had the handle name just the same as my sister, Hime. So he's gave me a tap and told me that.

What are you doing sis? Quit fooling around and take care of the kids. Oh, I know it could be someone totally different, but just in case.

The End

Caterpillar

8/02  Emergency Mail

As I was checking my e-mail, I found that I've received one from my friend. The title said, "Aa-ee!". That's a cry of despair. I wondered what happened and opened the mail in a hurry to find out that my friend's air conditioner had broken down. It was a short mail ending with a call of "Heeellp!". Oh boy, that must be terrible since my friend unfortunately lived in Saitama prefecture. Saitama is one of the hottest area in the Kanto region due to the heat-island effect. They say the temperature won't go down even at night there.

I've sent a reply with some measures to prevent heat strokes, but I'm still worried about my friend and her family's condition... Hang on, buddy!

The End

Caterpillar

8/03  Back From Space

Mr. Kouichi Wakata has returned safely to Earth from nearly 4 months' stay at the space station. I've just heard on the radio that he said in the press conference held to report the crews' safe returning, that his bottoms hurt when he is sitting on a chair since he had no chances to sit on things in space. Hmm, I've never imagined that. I wonder if his back hurts in the same way when he sleeps at night. He also seems to have said that because he had no chances to take a bath in space, he felt the water was too hot when he took a bath with his son (that's Japanese style), though he originally likes to take a hot bath.

Maybe it would be good to have Obaba shot out into space once, for she always complains the water in the tub isn't warm enough even though I've set it at 43 degrees celcius.

The End

Caterpillar

8/04  No Rest For The Wicked

The stabbing of a young girl and her grandmother is creating a sensation. News source told that the girl was working as a service staff in a "Mimikaki" (ear cleaning) shop, and the guy who stabbed her was her customer. They say he's been spending about 300 to 400 thousand yen each month on this ear cleaning service. Well, I guess he must have been spending the money to see the girl, rather than to enjoy the cleaning service. How was he making his living spending so much money anyway?

Oops, work time. There's no rest for the wicked. Not to mention, I do "Mimikaki" on my own.

The End

Caterpillar

8/05  That's Embarassing (- -;)

Today was a cancel day. I had four meetings scheduled but two of them were cancelled. Perhaps becasuse I unexpectedly had some free time, I got sleepy and ...

!! I've stained my shirt with drool! God, that's embarassing.

The End

Caterpillar

8/06  A New Door To Future

Last night, I saw the Japanese broadcast of "CBS 60 Minutes" that was a rerun of a report about autism broadcasted in the U.S. six years ago. It was amazing. The report showed how an Indian boy who was diagnosed to have severe autism, gained skills to communicate with others mainly by writing messages, having been taught enthusiastically (it appeared almost Spartan) by his mother. It was really impressive! I have spent some time together with autistic people before, but at that time people with serious autism were thought to have difficulty in communicating, let alone speak meaningful words in order to form a sentence.

If what they said in this report is really happening, then I think the time has finally come to open a new door to autistic people's future.

The End

Caterpillar

8/07  Susceptible To Mosquito Bite

Another surprising thing I recently learned is that there seem to be people who are susceptible to mosquito bites, and people who are not. Well, I've really wanted to know more about that, because I've always had a bunch of mosquito bites since I was a child. A mosquito coil manufacturer says that people susceptible to mosquito bites have common features as the following; have dark complexion, have high body temperature, have high level of carbon dioxide (like after drinking), have lots of perspiration.

Dang. I fit into all of them...

The End

Caterpillar

8/08  Receipts

The date of my commuting pass was expiring, so I went to extend it. Lately, I've been buying my passes at the vending machine since I don't want to feel unpleasant because of some teller with a bad attitude. But there was a problem. The vending machine does not give out receipts over a certain amount of payment, and I usually end up going to the window. I had to go to the window unwillingly and asked for a receipt again yesterday. The teller, with a displeased look on his face said, "You can get receipts over there, you know."

Over there where? I wish they'd prepare a nice vending machine that can give out receipts regardless of the payment amount, if they couldn't handle their customers properly.

The End

Caterpillar

8/09  Summer Vacation

My friend living in Switzerland came back to Japan on vacation, so we went for a drink last night. In Switzerland, my friend currently seems to be working at a law firm, and she's got a long summer vacation nearly a month, since the courthouse was not in business and the law firm, just as well. She said she had come back to Japan for her vacation however, she couldn't stand this hot and sticky uncrofotable weather, and has escaped to her second house in Nagano (there seems to be an Onsen within 10 minutes' walk), and stayed there for the past whole week.

Wow, that's great. I wish I could be in her place. Actually, I've been going to work dripping with sweat every day, but that don't pay me enough to take a long summer vacation like her. Oops, here comes the rain again. It's one of those heavy ones! Laundry! I've got to take in the laundry!!

The End

Caterpillar

8/10  Did I Miss Something?

What I thought was a heavy downpour, turned out to be a typhoon... It's been raining buckets from time to time all day today in Tokyo, effected by Typhoon Etau. But then, sunshine falls from between the thick clouds when it's not raining. Wierd weather, really. The news says it's doing serious damage in Hyogo prefecture. Hope it don't get too serious.

It feels as though summer has gone past us before we even noticed it, and we're already into the autumn typhoon season. It makes me feel like I've missed something.

The End

Caterpillar

8/11  Earthquake

There was an earthquake early this morning. We've had another one on Sunday. I wasn't so worried since both of them were rolling, not the kind of jolt coming from beneath your feet that's said to be destructive. But still, earthquakes get me terrified. The source of this earthquake was told to be Suruga Bay in Shizuoka Prefecture, where they must have been taking the brunt of Typhoon Etau moving up the Pacific coast around that time. So Shizuoka has been hit not only by a typhoon but also by an earthquake. They say the Tomei Expressway is partly blocked due to partial collapse. That's tough.

There must be people who use the Tomei Exp. to go back to their hometown, for their Obon vacation starting from today...

The End

Caterpillar

8/12  Perseid Meteor Shower To Come!

It's the meteor shower series in a while. The Perseid meteor shower is said to be seen in the northeastern skies from around today's midnight to before dawn tomorrow. That means ... it's a shooting star paradise! Although the meteor shower is predicted to hit the peak around two o'clock 13th morning, on the other hand you might have some trouble seeing them since the raidiant (the point where meteor shower start) is too close to the moon and can be blinded by moonlight.

Even so, the meteors shoot away from this radiant, so they can be spotted all over the sky. In fact, they can be seen longer rather away from the moon. Hey, how about wishing upon a star sometimes?

The End

Caterpillar

8/13  Too Excited

Feeling excited about the meteor shower, I got out on the balcony to look up at the sky at seven past midnight, August 13th. Overcast. Pearl grey clouds were covering the whole sky. There was no sign of even the moon which was supposed to blind the meteors with its light, not to mention the stars. Two thirty-eight in the morning August 13th. Rain, is falling ...

So we couldn't see the Perseid meteor shower this summer. A little disappointing. Maybe I shouldn't have got too excited after all.

The End

Caterpillar

8/14  Just A Little Vacation

Although mine is not as long as my friends' I'm having a four days' summer vacation from today. I did wish to do something a little vacation-ish, after all I got four days off and it's summer. However, I can't afford neither the money nor the time to go on a trip. So I settled for a photo exhibition of wild animals held at Roppongi Midtown, instead of flying to Africa to see some wild animals and spend some nice time there.

Perhaps because I seldom even go near Roppongi, I enjoyed not just the photo exhibition but a lot more of other things. Though I must have looked totally like a country hick. But I was able to breathe in some spiffy air. I'm pretty much satisfied.

The End

Caterpillar

8/15  Live Thomsen

There's a Tokyo FM's radio booth at Roppongi Midtown, and there you can see how the program is broadcasted through glass. Yesterday when I went to see the photo exhibition, I've walked past the booth while they were supposed to be broadcasting. That means, there must have been Yoko Thomsen, the personality of the show that we usually hear from the radio in our office. Even so, even so. I've passed away the booth without recalling it at all... It was too late when I realized. The show was over, there was no one in the booth...

If I had noticed it much earlier, I could've been able to see live Thomsen! Stupid me, stupid, me!

The End

Caterpillar

8/16  Well, Well, Well

I went to see the TokyoFM web site to check the spelling of Thomsen, the radio personality's last name. There I found out that the show of Augusut 14th, Friday was broadcasted from outside the studio.

That means, to put it plainly, there was no one in the studio booth from the start at Roppongi Midtown when I passed by... Well, well, well.

The End

Caterpillar

8/17  I'm Never Going To Eat It

It was probably leftovers from the little gangs' snacks. There were some blocks of what once seemed to be madeleines left on a plate on the kitchen table since yesterday afternoon. Thinking to myself that there will be no chance of me eating this, I've put a basket over it to save them from getting covered with bugs, just in case. And then, this morning. JoOusama, pointing at that article that has been left there for more than twelve hours, and threw a short question at me, "Are you going to eat it or not?"

What makes her think that I would eat it? I'm never going to eat it unless it's the last food on earth. What is she going to do if I get an upset stomach at work tomorrow?

The End

Caterpillar

8/18  Ahh, That's Better

Having an upset stomach reminds me of a situation I've bumped into today. One of my acquaintances has asked me, "How do you say geri-wo suru in English?" Hmmm, what was it? The harder I tried to remember, the word seemed to slip further away. I knew I'd say a-ha, that's it! if someone told me the word, but I just couldn't come up with it. So I unwillingly told her that "I have an upset stomach" would be comprehensible. I was desperate.

I've just checked and found out that the word was.. ah, yes, yes! It's diarrhea! I got it! Ahh, that's better.

The End

Caterpillar

8/19  Deep Sky Retires

As I was checking today's news, I found this article that said "Deep Sky Retires from Injury" on the Internet. Deep Sky, a 4-year-old colt is the winner of last year's NHK Mile Championship and the Japanese D'erby. Though I wasn't going to bet on him any more, since he'd miserably suffered a complete defeat against Vodka. They say he's got bowed tendon in his front left.

Hmmm. This would only make the autumn G1 races monopoly for Vodka, and that sounds less interesting. The only thing left for me to do now, is to place my hope in the 3-year-olds. That's Unrivaled and Logi Universe... Hope there's more.

The End

Caterpillar

8/20  Those Damn Cicadas

Perhaps because it was a student-heavy area. The road which I usually walk home from the station was deserted during the students' summer vacation. As I was walking home the quiet road, a cicada took off into the air from the asphalt concrete pavement. Faint-hearted, I let out a loud cry, "Duoff!!" Then, maybe they were startled by my voice two more cicadas, one from each side of me, also took off at once. "Yeeyaaaao!!" I jumped up, too.

I was pretty embarassed when I heard a chuckle from behind. I've been witnessed by a young couple coming from behind while I leaped up a good 12 inches above the ground. Oh, those damn cicadas. It's not fair to attack me in waves like that!

The End

Caterpillar

8/21  Oh My GOD!!

Lately I found an inexpensive DVD recorder, so I was planning to go and buy it this weekend. I prepared just enough money to buy it and I was all set to go, when Cow who was searching on the Internet about that recorder murmured, "but it doesn't seem to have an analog tuner."

Nooooo!! That can't be!! My TV is still a CRT-based television. How am I supposed to use a recording device that doesn't have an analog tuner?! Oh my GOD!!

The End

Caterpillar

8/22  Costs 50,000 Yen

A DVD recorder with an analog tuner and two digital tuners would probably cost about 50,000 yen... 50,000 yen... The famous tour agency HIS was running a TV commercial offering a five-day Hawaii trip for 49,800 yen. That means I can go to Hawaii and back if I paid 50,000 yen. I don't think I can afford that much now...

I was thinking that this year it would be easier for me to watch "24" but in vain.(In Japan, they run not the last season, but the previous one run in the U.S. in a week, at the beginning of October every year.) Too bad.

The End

Caterpillar

8/23  I Guessed Right

Buena Vista, the 3-year-old filly who is rumored to race in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, appeared in the Sapporo Kinen grade 2 race today. Her performance was gathering attention since she had already won two classic races for the fillies, Oukashou and the Japanese Oaks. A little curious, I too, attempted to call the race in a while, though not so seriously. As I went crossing out the horses that seemed to have no chance, those not-so-attractive members of the race brought me back to Ymanin Kingly and Buena.

And the result was... Yamanin Kingly came in 1st winning a grade race for the first time in his life, with Buena Vista coming in 2nd. I guessed right. I guessed right, but somehow on this particular day, I didn't place my bet...

The End

Caterpillar

8/24  Beni-Imo Taruto

I've got a bottle of "Ishigaki-no Shio" (salt of Ishigaki Island) and a box of "Beni-Imo Taruto" (raspberry-red potato tarts) as a gift of Okinawa. So Cow and I tried the tarts right away. Hmm. It's pretty good. From what it said on the package, Beni-Imo seems to be the local food of Okinawa. Oh, really. It has a beautiful raspberry-red color, and it's not too sweet. Although the tart part, it seemed more like Monaka (Japanese wafers) than tarts. But that doesn't matter.

I'm happy as long as it tastes good. Mmm, tastes gooood!

The End

Caterpillar

8/25  Ice Cream Van

The Lower House elections due to be held on August 30th is now less than a week away, and the occasion of seeing those loud election campaign cars are getting more often day by day. Yesterday, I spotted a weird van among the campaign cars on my way home. The van decorated all over with light bulbs had something like a chimney, and coming out from there were... soap bubbles..., scattered along the street. As I listened to the announcement blasting from the van, I noticed that they were appealing early voting to the public. Apparently, it was a van of the ward's board of elections.

Geez, I almost mistook it for an ice cream van.

The End

Caterpillar

8/26  Blinded By Youth

By chance, I started teaching English to my acquaintance's high-school age son. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no idea what and how high school kids might be thinking, or what kind of things they could be interested in, especially when I've finished high school something decades ago. However, however. As we went talking about various things, the boy who at first seemed to be rather quiet, started to say his opinions or throw questions at me.

Woooow. I was blinded by the brightness of his youth. He brought us a gift castella of regards from his parents, too. I appreciated it very much. I think I'll have it later. After all, we've just finished eating "Beni-Imo Taruto".

The End

Caterpillar

8/27  Wicky-san

I guess it wasn't because I was going to teach a young and lively high-school boy, but I saw Wicky-san(Mr.Anton Wicky) yesterday. The name of Wicky-san reminds many of us of that famous corner, "Wicky-san's One-point English Conversation" in the morning news program of some TV station.

I almost stopped him to ask what kind of things I should teach a high-school student, but unfortunately he was talking to someone in fluent Japanese on his cell-phone, so I had to give up questioning him. He passed me by and went up on the escalator. Bye, Wicky-san...

The End

Caterpillar

8/28  Congrats Monchitchy

Misato Nakamura has won the gold medal in the World Judo Championships women's 52kg class. She won a bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics last year, but she was chagrined. I thought she must be extremely happy this time but in fact, her expressions showed nothing out of the ordinary...and here's what she said when she was questioned about her unemotional face. "Yes, people tell me all the time. I feel happy inside but it doesn't seem to show. It looks awkward (when I try to). I did feel relieved and happy when I heard the ntional anthem of Japan."

HA-HA-HA. I think she's done a great job regarding that she had injured her left knee ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in July. Congratulations, Monchitchy! (She looks like the monkey doll Monchhichi. I spelled differently because the sound seems closer to its Japanese name when spelled this way.)

The End

Caterpillar

8/29  Congrats! 2

Following Monchitchy Nakamura, Yoshie Ueno has also won a gold medal in the 63kg class of the World Judo Championships yesterday. Congrats!! Yoshie was also among the ones who weren't selected as the national team member though she won the Olympic trials. They'd turned her down because of poor experience in international matches. Why don't they take this opportunity to change the selection method of the national team for once and for all?

Resultingly, the Ueno family now has one Olympic champion daughter, Masae Ueno who has won the former two Olympics, and one world champion daughter out of three daughters. No stupid prowler would choose to go inside their house, I guess.

The End

Caterpillar

8/30  You'll Never Know

Today is the Lower House election day. I went to vote, too. I understand that everybody must be concerned about the result. After all, it's a national election. But although it's always the same old story, I can't stand all the TV stations broadcasting the election report all through the rest of the day. I don't understand why they have to report by the minute while the vote counting are still going on. Why don't they broadcast regular programs and just use the captions? Wouldn't that be enough to tell what's going on?

As they say, you'll never know what's going to happen until things are actually over.

The End

Caterpillar

8/31  I'm Not Counting On Him

The administration has finally changed as a result of the election. Well, it should have. I mean, I bet the Democratic Party would never be able to take the reins, if they couldn't win this time. However, their clean-swept victory seems to be going a bit too far to me. And this change in administration itself also seems to be a take off from President Obama's catchword, "change". Because I think that Japanese generally like trendy stuff and easily tend to get carried away by them, I am a little worried if these people really voted concerning the nation's future.

Well, for the meantime, let's see what Hatoyama can do. Though I'm not counting on him.

The End

Caterpillar