10:02 a.m. I've got up at 8:30 today though it was Sunday, and having realized I had no computer to search about hard disk drive, I decided to go out to the library to look and see if I can find any books on it. Right. If I can't search the vertial library, will try the real one.

11:30 a.m. Am in the library now. Mmmm, it's cool. It's like an oasis compared to my room which makes me feel like I'm in a scorching desert. Have won the seats battle after a few challenges against older women, and have now secured myself on the edge of a couch with four books on my lap. OK. Let's take a look from this one.

2:04 p.m. Looked up to find who the noisy bad boy was that interrupted my glorious.. oh, no. Seems I've fallen asleep while reading the last book... I must be exhausted.

The End

Caterpillar

9:00 a.m. Taking a look in the mirror before leaving for work. But the reflection in the mirror showed an occlut figure with one eye half blotted with blood. Aaaargh! Aaaaaarrrrrgh! It was conjunctival hemorrhage again. Think have read on a website before that one of the causes of conjunctival hemorrhage was eye strain. Have been overworking my eyes since my lap-top stopped working, come to think of it...

3:10 p.m. Have showed my occult left eye to Cow but with little reaction. What a bland guy. Meanwhile, this bland guy has tried recovering Master Boot Record, and have become able to display the folders stored in C drive of my hard disk onto his computer via crossing cable however, it only shows the icons and are still not able to open. He is now seeking for a way to fix partition table. He said he might try that and see if he could save the data. Try, try.

The End

Caterpillar

1:23 p.m. Have shoved lunch down my throat only to find that the next meeting was to start from 4 p.m., not 1 o'clock... Well, it's better than the reverse.

1:57 p.m. Cow has miraculously succeeded in opening the Document and Settings file of my broken hard disk drive! Regarding that this miracle happened as Cow tilted the hard disk without much thinking, some sort of physical damage of hard disk is suspected. Now he's trying to open the Owner file which is located on a lower layer but it's taking time... Oh, please copy that whole folder, won't you? Don't think I can take this strain any longer...

2:41 p.m. File copy didn't work out so successfully. We managed to copy some folders, but couldn't copy mail data which I wanted to save most. Cow is still trying, though it seems we only have a slim chance or maybe even none. Wish there was something I could do! The radio is playing Sarah Brightman singing Turandot. Wouldn't something dramatic happen with the help of this dramatic song?

The End

Caterpillar

2:23 p.m. Had a call from my client cancelling the appointment for today right after lunch. As I put down the receiver, Cow brought out two glasses and.. BEEEEERR! We usually don't drink during working hours since it's generally thought to be wrong in Japanese culture, but today can be an exception as it seems more wrong to pretend you're feeling perfectly fine without them in this endless heat.

2:33 p.m. Mmmmm, that was gooooooddd!

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Caterpillar

4:09 p.m. Temperature has gone up to thirty-four degrees again. Have been practicing Uchi-mizu (Japanese custom to spray water on the ground to reduce heat) every night before I go to sleep, a wonderful Japanese custom we can be proud of, though am afraid it might not be much help against this extreme heat. Especially when the temperarure goes up to over thirty degrees day after day like this, think it could be just a drop in the bucket.

4:19 p.m. With my approval to the loss of all data in time of re-formatting, Cow has executed ‘format’ of the hard disk taken out from my lap-top however, the disk couldn't be formatted as we had guessed, probably because of physical and fatal damage of platter or head or the ball bearing. Thought so. We couldn't read out the data in the hard disk ater all. How can it be formatted? All the hard work and time turned out to be not even a drop in the bucket. I'm buying a new computer.

The End

Caterpillar

2:25 p.m. Have been traumatized by jiaou-zi. I tried some methods that my friends had suggested me, but still cannot fry them nice and crispy. What is it that I'm doing wrong? Am I supposed to deep fry them until they're crisp at the bottom before pouring in hot water? But wouldn't that stick the jiao-zi to the pan? When should I turn the flame low? Or is it the pan that JoOusama had scraped it's surface so many times? I used to cook perfect jiao-zi when I lived on my own, though I seem to have forgotten how to cook them over the years I'd been away from cooking.

2:31 p.m. One of my friends who lives in Germany has come back for a short visit and we're going to see each other for the first time in.. years. Anyway, we're going to Gyouza-no Ousho (eat-in jiao-zi chain) next week, so thinking of sitting at the counter and observing each and every move of the cook.

The End

Caterpillar

1:53 p.m. I have another friend coming back from Switzerland, the one who left me her guitar, and am seeing her for lunch tomorrow. As I was wondering where to eat, she said she wanted to go to a local eating place where they serve Teishoku, set menus. Hmmm, that's a pretty difficult request. There were at least two or three of them in every town, but most of them are now replaced by fast food and family restaurant chains and it's not so easy to find them these days.

2:02 p.m. Have managed to find two near the place we're meeting. Wonder if they're open on Sundays, though... What if they're not? Must think of a plan B.

The End

Caterpillar

7:43 p.m. Have had lunch at a Chinese restaurant with my friend and just been back from the library. Am pretty tired.

7:51 p.m. While we were eating meatballs and jiao-zi drinking beer at the Chinese restaurant, a topic about nationality came up. Think I probably pointed the question to my friend from curiosity, asking which nationality she was now Japanese or Swiss, since she'd married a Swiss guy and got divorced if what she's told me before was true. Anyway, she showed me her ID card, on which her nationality was printed in tiny letters. Oooh, how come the words are so tiny? I tried holding up the card closer and then away, but still couldn't make it out. Oh no, could it be that I've become far-sighted? But I'm certainly not that old?

10:23 p.m. Have tried reading tiny letters on my Karaoke box membership card but I couldn't focus my eyes on them. As I took of my glasses and tried again, this time I was able to make out the words, which means I'm getting far-sighted because of age...

The End

Caterpillar

5:43 p.m. As I've been wondering about what to write today, Cow has been bothering me as usual. It seems that I've been puckering my brows without noticing, and having seen that expression, he started to say it reminded him of someone. Someone, who?

5:48 p.m. But the problem with this Cow was that he couldn't recall the names of people from their faces. I ususally try to draw out some clues to what the person's name could be, via circuitous routes asking what they're most famous for, or what kind of work they'd achieved, any characteristic features, etc. etc., in order to reach the correct names. Sometimes stupid Cow can't even come up with hints. Well, this time all he had as a clue was "Something like Kim." Excuse me? Am I supposed to reach a conclusion from "Something like Kim?"

5:57 p.m. The amazing thing is that I ususally do come up with the correct answer with so little hints. Now I know exactly whose face he had in mind, recalled from the bottom of his face file by my tied eyebrows. It's Chloe Obrien, character appearing in the TV series 24. He's a simple-minded fellow, really.

The End

Caterpillar

3:32 p.m. Have been without computer for a month now. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been causing me that much incovenience as I thought it would, except that I can't write this ‘Murmur’ at home on Sundays like I used to. Besides that, there hasn't been much problem so far. What should I do for the summer vacation coming up this weekend, though? Do I have to come to the office every day just to write ‘Murmur?’ But then it wouldn't be a vacation... It takes an hour and a half to get here, you know.

3:46 p.m. While I have been worrying about how to keep modifying the ‘Murumur’ during sumer vacation, Cow has been absorbed in searching for videos on YouTube, of jumping crocodiles... Apparently, he seems to have been impressed by a jumping crocodile he saw on TV.

The End

Caterpillar

2:20 p.m. Clients have been cancelling meetings. I don't blame them. The weather has been bearable the past couple of days however, the heat seems to have come back today and it's burning outside... I've learned in elementary school that Japan's climate is moderately warm and moist, but things must have changed over the years since it's extremely hot and humid now.

3:35 p.m. The radio is playing Chitose Hajime singing "Perfect," originally made and sung by Eddie Reader. Oooh, it's strange, weird, gooey, it's beyond expression. It reminds me of the first time I've heard the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" covered in Minyo (Japanese local folk song) style.

3:57 p.m. Cow is absorbed in digging information on John Titor predictions suspecting its consistency.

The End

Caterpillar

1:57 p.m. The Perseid meteor shower is said to be at its peak around midnight tonight. As a matter of fact, have been counting the days since had missed the last Aquarids meteor shower on July 28th due to lap-top crisis.

2:40 p.m. Unfortunely, the Japanese archipelago is now being hit by typhoon, and it's been quite windy with partial rainshower here in Tokyo today. Worried that I might miss another chance to see a meteor shower, have just checked the forecast. Tonight we're having cloudy skies with partly rain or..thunderstorm! Oh, God. Chance of rain from 6 p.m. to midnight is said to be 20 percent. Not a very good condition to watch meteor showers. But I'll give it a try anyhow. Wish all of you good luck.

The End

Caterpillar

11:37 a.m. Have been checking Dell's line-up of lap-top computers for about a week now. They seem to offer discounts from time to time which according to Cow, is the right time to buy a comparatively good spec computer for a bottom price. I've took aim at a 15.6 inch lap-top with Dual Core 1.86GHz cpu, Windows 7 OS, 2GB RAM, 160GB SATA HDD, super-multi DVD drive and wireless LAN, and a preferable 13.3 inch with even higher potential. However, the price has been set on 54,980 yen and 84,980 yen, respectively, which hasn't been changed so far...

11:43 a.m. Looking very much forward to page update when the prices tend to drop. Well, today didn't seem to be that day, though. Sigh.

The End

Caterpillar

1:32 p.m. First day of summer vacation, though am at home in this sweltering heat sweating buckets, and not on luxurious vacation in the cool mountains of Nagano, or enjoying a relaxing Onsen (hot spring) soothing my nerves and healing myself in the quiet province of Noboribetsu, Hokkaido. Have cursed myself at least thirty-six times since morning, of not being able to afford such nice vacation.

3:47 p.m. Have checked Dell page on a displayed computer at an electronic retail store. Prices still seem to be unchanged...

The End

Caterpillar

2:17 p.m. Second day of summer vacation. But how different is it from yesterday? What am I doing?

4:42 p.m. Start guitar practice to cheer self up.

5:07 p.m. Am playing terribly. Suddenly notice that strings were rusty and pick has been worn out. Must replace both in order to play better or go on with practice, though again, face the cold reality that cannot afford to buy new version of either items...

11:39 p.m. Miraculously remebered that had bought buy-three-and-get-one-free pack of guitar strings several months ago. Marvelous. What a person of foresight. Must be genius, psychic or similar.

The End

Caterpillar

10:12 a.m. Third day of summer vacation. Got up to remember the terrifying truth that had to go out today. Staying home with merely periodic on-and-offs of ailing fan was almost unbearable, but going out in this heat was even worse. Have been embarrassed by own shirt, weirdly dappled on the back with wet patches of sweat, so many times this summer. But sweating is unavoidable since as a psychic able to forsee the future, have a strong feeling that I will have to walk a lot today under the glare of the sun.

2:32 p.m. Am glugging beer from a jug at a beer garden. Can't recall when was the last time have been to a beer garden. Perhaps the one in Sapporo, which is eight years ago already? Beer definitely necessary to help forget the heat and the loss of my computer, and the stinging pain that cannot afford to pay for the ones I want to buy.

5:40 p.m. Luuuvv beer garrenz. Iz super. Wissshh I could jus liiiivv inneere. Who carezabout stupid shirt.

The End

Caterpillar

11:32 a.m. Fourth day of summer vacation. Am going out to jiaozi-meeting today. A little excited to see my friend in over ten years. Must not be late. Have put just enough money in my pocket, got my commuting pass to save train fare, watch, check, towel, check, breath care... oh, who cares. We're all going to smell of garlic anyway.

6:47 p.m. Have been back. To my dismay, all the dishes seemed to be cooked inside the kitchen and although we can see the the cooks above their waists through glass, there were no seats facing the kitchen to sort of peer in and see how things were cooked. So I couldn't actually ‘see’ the procedures or how they were frying the jiao-zis, but the food was good and I didn't have to pay much which is one of the most important things to me these days, cost-effectiveness. That brings me back to the discount rates of computers. As it transpired, the update of the discount computers page seemed to be today and the fact has been on my mind all day, though can't check if the prices have been dropped without any computer...

11:39 p.m. Last day of summer vacation... ending.

The End

Caterpillar

1:33 p.m. Work has started but meeting has again been cancelled, assumingly becasuse of extreme heat, so had beer for lunch. Mmmmm...

1:35 p.m. Thinking back on yesterday's jiao-zi meeting. Had very much fun talking with old friends in a while. Besides my friend temporarily coming back from Germany, there was another friend who we both knew since elementary school and we had jolly good fun talking about what we've been doing these days. Interestingly, we were all linked to foreign languages in some ways, my friend speaking fluent German while my other friend is now learning Chinese. Looks like it's getting global even around myself.

1:57 p.m. The only minus point was that I got terrible heat rash, walking around during mid-day on the hottest day this summer. Ooooh itchyyy. Grrrrr.

The End

Caterpillar

5:50 p.m. Mmmm. Having cookies my friend has brought me from Deutchland. Feeling thankful for having good friends.

5:52 p.m. By the way, Cow has dug out a funny video on YouTube. It looks like an advertisement of... what is this? Hell Pizza? Ha-ha-ha. This is awesome. It starts as a zombie movie, but there are several points where you have to pick from two choices to go on, which decides the outcome of the movie. Very interesting. Perhaps TV dramas will follow in their steps in the near future?

The End

Caterpillar

4:12 p.m. It's a little cooler today. Good thing since it's been hot for weeks now. Have been applying ointment on heat rash for a couple of days and it seems it's getting better, but only gradually. It's almost unbearable when parts of my body, like the side of my right shoulder, or my right shin begins to itch, and it's giving me a hard time especially during meetings with my clients. I'm trying not to scratch but sometimes I just can't stand it. What's worse, the itchy area seems to be expanding, spreading all over my right arm.

4:20 p.m. Wondering why and how I got heat rashes on the inner side of my right arm and on my right shin in the first place. I mean, one generally wouldn't sweat so much on such parts of body...

4:24 p.m. Shocked to hit the cause of heat rash. Have remembered that had practiced guitar for a couple of hours on the hottest day this summer, with the inner side of my right arm touching the guitar body, while the back of my left leg covered my right shin, as I played sitting directly on the Goza (straw mat) laid out on the carpetted floor. Was even expecting to lose some weight playing in the heat for hours, though apparently the practice had turned out to be a tragedy.

The End

Caterpillar

5:03 p.m. Konan High School has won this year's Koshien, Japan's National High-School Baseball Series, as the sixth school in history to win both the spring and summer tournaments. After scoring a lucky point from their opponent's error, the island boys from Okinawa piled up five consecutive hits to add six more points in the fourth inning, while starter Shimabukuro's concentrated pitching didn't give more than one point to their opposing team, Tokai-dai Sagami. The game eventually finished in a 13-1.

5:34 p.m. Congratulations, boys! Great job well done! You guys are going to go down in history! And that's something. Something you all can be and should be proud of the rest of your lives! Wish I had something like that in my life; something I can be proud of...

The End

Caterpillar

10:32 a.m. Oh, God. Have overslept. Was going to get up early, go to the library to check the racing form for the Sapporo Kinen, since I can't check them on JRA's site without any computer. I knew it was going to be hot today, and it is, indeed, so I was thinking of starting early before it gets too hot though completely failed.

11:04 a.m. It's HOT... I might fall down in this heat if I go now.

11:16 a.m. Besides I haven't finished the washing yet.

11:38 a.m. Think I'll give up the Sapporo Kinen. It's a grade two race, anyway. If I give up checking the racing form, then I wouldn't have to go to the library walking under that burning sun for more than twenty minutes. Instead, can stay home and sit right in front of the fan. Hooray!

6:07 p.m. As I opened my bag to take out a fresh pack of cigarettes, I noticed there was a book from the library due today... Damn!

The End

Caterpillar

1:23 p.m. Cow has been mumbling something about windsurfing. Have been ignoring him since have got lot of work to do myself, but think he'll catch me in a matter of time.

1:43 p.m. He caught me. Have been lectured by Cow about windsurfing and was also made to listen to his additional petit-boasts starting with, "When I was young..."

6:31 p.m. Okay, okay. So you were doing windsurfing, yacht, scuba diving, and... what was it again? "Jet ski. " Right. Jet ski. So that's great. You were a sportsman. So what? Quit being nostalgic foolin' around with old memories man, I've got bills to pay here. Unlike you, I'm living in the REAL world.

The End

Caterpillar

10:43 a.m. In the subway on way to work, have spotted a magazine ad hanging from the ceiling. On the ad I noticed a headline that said something like, "I don't want to spend my life complaining all the time." Remembering Cow has always been telling me that I complain too much, I wondered what I can do to change my life. Hmmm... Then it suddenly hit me. Humor! Sense of humor, that's what I need! But what exactly could I do to put that sense of humor into action?

10:45 a.m. Like heaven sent, I got an idea. How about Nazokake, a traditional Japanese-style word game linkng a pair of homophones in the form of riddles merely to state the answer with humor? I can use Nazokake to state my unsatisfied situation with sense of humor instead of just complaining. Lst's see, let me start off with... I looked around for a topic. And the first thing my eyes caught sight was another ad of armpits epilation. Oh, geez, cannot come up with any Nazokake with epilation...

The End

Caterpillar

5:32 p.m. Feel tired and weary. Perhaps due to lack of sleep? Don't have fever but my body seems to be heated up and have been driking cold drinks like Mugi-cha (barley tea), iced coffee all day in oder to cool self down. Still I feel hot even in this air-conditioned office... And the horrifying thing is that I DON'T WANT TO EAT! Me? With no appetite? Oh no, that's not like me, that's not me at all!

5:43 p.m. Could I be suffering from heat? But the forecast had said the weather is going to stay this way fore the next several days or even longer. How will I get over? Will I be able to survive through this heat? I wish I could just go to sleep and have someone wake me up when the heat is over.

The End

Caterpillar

6:19 p.m. I was treated to a steakhouse dinner last nihgt. Sometimes, good things just come walking by. I thought I had lost appetite because of this heat, though actually, I inhaled a hamburger steak and enjoyed several visits to the salad bar, with a jug of draft beer.

6:29 p.m. Wonder why those jugs of draft beer taste so good. It's not just because it's hot, I suppose. Something in that creamy foam seem to cast a spell on me every time I take a gulp. Wish I could lie on the beach drinking cold draft beer out of iced jugs all day. Mmmm, it sounds so wonderful. Though obviously, don't want to be hungover.

The End

Caterpillar

6:49 p.m. Was wondering what to write at which point Cow said, "Why don't you write ‘I love I love beer,’ then?" Shurrruuuuup.

6:51 p.m. Still wondering while Cow is interrupting saying, " How about, ‘I love curry!’ or ‘I love Tendon!’ or ‘I love cheese cake!’ ‘I love Anmitsu!’ ‘I love spaghetti!’ I love, I love..." Quit bothering me, you stupid Cow!

6:56 p.m. Cow won't let me concentrate. Now he's saying that I look like Stich from Liro and Stich, and that people would cry out, "Hey, there goes Stich!" if I wear a blue cap with big ears. I admit that my eyes are a little apart, that's true, but I DO NOT look like Stich. Stich has bigger pupils. Or are his eyes consisting only of pupils?

The End

Caterpillar

12:09 p.m. Meeting has been cancelled again, so have been viewing a Japanese site called "Calah Payer." It's a site of amazing wonders from around the globe, introducing animals, insects, nature, history, science, culture, UMA, UFO, etc, etc, in numerous photos or movies. Very interesting. Cow seems to have found the formerly said "Hell Pizza" commercial in this site.

12:35 p.m. Hmmm. The photos from nearly a century ago was interesting, and so were the food related ones. My favorite was the photos of what people eat around the world. It shows photos of food consumed in a week by different families from around the world. Also shows how much they've spent. It's interesting to know that developing countries seem to eat more fruits and vegetables than we do. They also seem to have less packed food on their tables. Assumingly, they must have been bought in markets and not supermarkets. Think that's something we should take after, together with the fruits and vegetables.

The End

Caterpillar

11:38 a.m. Will somebody tell me when this heat would stop?

2:21 p.m. Going through pile of notes and receipts. Found some Tokyu Hands bungu(stationary) tickets which Cow has given me yesterday to get rid of them himself. Bungu tickets are discount tickets you can use when you buy stationaries at Tokyu Hands in Shibuya, and because there were no expiration date printed on them, I had put them in my pocket to bring them home.

2:34 p.m. Staring at the tickets in my hands, I recalled that I had searched on the Internet later to check whether it was valid, and it turned out that Tokyu Hands had already ended the whole discount service involving bungu ticket five years ago. That makes these tickets totally worthless... Why did I bring them home, then? Why? Why?

The End

Caterpillar

11:13 p.m. Am going to fry jiao-zi for tomorrow's lunch. Have prepared the filling earlier in the afternoon, so could start wrapping them in dough sheets right away. Now that I've finished wrapping them, and I'm feeling good so far, since the amount of filling was just enough for the dough sheet when it's usualy either too much or too less, I am going to take a thrilling step forward into the frying process. Learning from experience, will use the proper Teflon frying pan instead of JoOusama's prickly-surfaced pan which looks more like a grater.

11:24 p.m. Ooooh, can pick up jiao-zi from the frying pan! They're not stuck to the surface like they were so many times before, though am cooking over high flame! Amazing.

11:32 p.m. Here comes the thrilling part. Removing the jiao-zi from tha pan to put in lunch box. As I put a spatula under one jiao-zi and pushed slightly forward, it slid under the whole row of jiao-zi with ease! What were all those worrying and thinking for?

12:03 a.m. Am enjoying green tea with triumphant success. So it was the pan that was wrong, not my cooking. Can't tell how nice a smoke after a good work was. Mmmmmm.

The End

1:21 p.m. Just called two electronics retail stores to check the price of the blades of a fan, though unfortunately, the person in charge was tied up in both stores and I have been told to wait for them to call me back. It was Sunday night when JoOusama complained to me to do something about the fan in Obaba's room, because the fan was faced directly toward the old woman's bare chest which JoOusama feared it could cause a heart attack that might lead to sudden death. I was just about to have supper, so I peered into the room and simply turned the fan head slightly upward, to avoid the wind hitting Obaba directly. However, having been changed the angle of the head while the power was on and the blades still spinning, the blades seemed to have hit the cover and one of them had apparently broke.

2:31 p.m. Had calls from both retail stores and one of them told me that the blades cost 1,110 yen, while the other told me it cost 1,105 yen. But the fan itself only cost 2,800 yen! What to do? Should I pay more than 1,000 yen to get new blades, or should I buy a new fan?

3:29 p.m. Torn between ordering blades and buying new fan. But it feels so wrong to buy a whole new fan when it's only the blades that are broken...

The End