2:36 p.m. I dropped by an electronics retail shop yesterday, to get a divider for my TV antenna. Have been plugging in the terrestrial digital antenna cable into my HDD recorder, since it had a tuner mounted whereas my old CRT TV didn't, connecting the two with a video audio cable. With several different attempts of cable connecting, had eventually settled for the same way with my new TV last weekend, but was unsatisfied when I realized that I had to keep the HDD recorder turned on to watch TV. I'd anticipated that before I bought the TV, though I couldn't convince myself to spare another couple of thousand yen until I really felt the need to buy a divider.

2:49 p.m. I felt a wave of panic when the TV didn't go on after connecting the cables last night, but then I was sticking the TV side antenna cable into the BS/CS jack, where I should have been connecting it to the jack below. As I took out the cable, screwed it in the right jack and pressed the remote, the TV went on to my relief. HDD recorder also behaved normally. Perfect. And now I have the privilege of being able to record two different programs at the same time, because there are digital broadcast tuners in both the TV and the recorder. What a pleasant bonus.

The End

Caterpillar

1:54 p.m. Friend has replied to my mail. Seems we're going to JCB all right. Cow is busy studying the how-tos and tips on replacing power units, probabaly because he has to cut the chassis. He becomes especially deliberate when doing something irreversible. He's ordered a graphic card and a power unit yesterday, not to mention after spending the former night and a whole day pondering the decision, and is now anxiously waiting for their arrival.

2:02 p.m. Cow has just interrupted me launching the e-mailer, merely to check and see if Amazon had informed that the package has been sent out. No mail from Amazon yet. Take it easy, man. Think it won't be until later this afternoon.

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Caterpillar

1:15 p.m. Am leaving for JBC. Have agreed to meet my friend at Meguro at three o'clock but thought should leave early so I could take a look around Meguro station since I haven't been there for nearly twenty years and things might have changed over time.

11:39 p.m. JBC classic has finished without a ruffle. The most favored Smart Falcon has run all the way with Transcend in tow closing in to a length, Civil War coming in third, just as most of the fans there had expected. My friend has modestly won odds set as low as 1.2, while I won the exacta for 1.5 and a trifecta of 2.5. Should have remembered that it was Ohi instead of JRA, where the odds were so low that it makes you feel down even after you'd won.

My only relief was that my friend seemed to have enjoyed the atmosphere of a race track. In fact, she enjoyed it too much that she even told me she wanted to come again. She seemed to absorb everything she saw or heard, rolling with laughter when I called Mr. N-jima on her cell-phone to seek advice and, was told I should inform her that all the creatures appearing at the paddock before the main race were cows not thoroughbreds. Because she seemed to have so much fun, I offered to take her to a JRA race track next time.

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Caterpillar

2:26 p.m. The parts Cow had ordered for the old desk-top had arrived during the holiday. He's already replaced the parts, but is struggling with other troubles such as trying to find a resolution for the the error dialogue saying that "the user profile has been broken," that pops up repeatingly when he launches the computer.

2:49 p.m. He's trying system recovery now. Looking pretty fruitless, though. Good luck.

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Caterpillar

2:14 p.m. Eventually, Cow made a new account to log onto the computer, and removed all the necessary data to that account. What made the task confusing was that he had put all the data in D drive, to avoid the risk of losing data in case C drive went down, though Cow himself had forgotten about that. I remembered about our mutual computer programmer friend Oggy, who was against making partitions. After some experience of computer break downs over the past two years, have finally come to realize why he was against it.

2:24 p.m. It is definitely not a normal temperature for November when today's high is twenty-three degrees Celcius and, I'm perfectly comfortable in a cotton shirt don over a tank-top. Anyway, hope the weather holds until tomorrow since am going out to meet friends.

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Caterpillar

10:48 a.m. Leaving home for Shibuya to meet friends. One of them had requested that she wanted to go to Tenka Ippin, a famous ramen chain so we are meeting at the Shibuya shop. One of my acquaintance had told me earlier that their ramen soup is extremely thick, almost like stew. I have been worried ever since, that it might be too thick and oily for me that I might not be able to savor the famous ramen.

6:30 p.m. Just came back and watching the recording of Espoir City easy-winning the Miyako Stakes as I wait for the Climax Series of Chunichi Dragons and Yakurt Swallows to start on TBS. Tenka Ippin didn't have such thick soup as I had feared. It was rather oily than thick. The taste of soup itself was plain but the excessive amount of oil made it oily, which eventually made me pour in some vinegar. With two large spoon-fuls of vinegar, I found the soup quite good.

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Caterpillar

3:25 p.m. Have been fooling around too much with local horse racing or going out too much, that work has become piled up in a huge mountain. Actually, am having five sessions in a row on Wednesday which am dreading, because am not prepared at all. Just cannot get myself to get at it. The thought of a long day without even a potty break is too horrible that can hardly face it. Brrrr...

3:30 p.m. Must finish up work early today, though. Am going to Def Leppard's concert this evening. Yeah! But am worried might not get there in time for I have a session until five forty. The show starts from seven, so that only leaves me about an hour to go after packing things up to leave the office, though it takes thirty minutes for the subway ride and at least fifteen minutes to walk to the nearest subway station. Am not sure how long it will take to get from the station to the hall because it's my first time there, not to mention the directions. Would I have enough time to stuff my bag into a coin locker? Would I be able to find a vacant coin locker in the first place? Would I have enough time to go to the bathroom before the show starts? Or have enough time to calm myself with one of those draft beer sold in paper cups? What if the show begins without me?

The End

Caterpillar

12:13 p.m. Mmm. Still savoring Def Leppard's concert. I noticed that the past two decades since I had last seen them had put some weight around Joe's chest and waist, but the band seemed to be refined in a mature way. They were energetic just as I'd remembered them from the last time I'd seen them, and yet they were poised and cool unlike young bands that tend to push their way through the show, often overrideing the audience.

I was feeling uneassy about the loss of Steve Steamin' Clark and how it would affect the performance until the show actually began, since it was Steve who got me attached to the band. Vivian, I knew of course from his participation in Dio or Whitesnake, was a great guitarist with high playing skills, but I just couldn't imagine how he would fit in on stage. However, my worries proved to be unnecessary. He fit in perfectly. I even thought the new single Undefeated couldn't have been more better if it wouldn't have been for him. Apparently, he's added a new color to the band, and though that color may be different from the one Steve had (and it should be), there's no doubt it was a fresh new breath of wind that helped the band grow into its present maturity.

Still, all those beautiful songs from their early days have brought back the memories and I find myself thinking about Steve again. Miss him. Wish I could have done something for him.

The End

Caterpillar

12:06 p.m. Day two of savoring Def Leppard. Have got Def Leppard songs in my iPod and the more I listen, the more they bring back vivid excitement of the show. Have been wearing a stupid grin on my face all day since yesterday, singing along and savoring every minute of their performance as I replay it over and over in my head with the music.

Have finished a morning meeting without much trouble. So far so good. But know must freshen up for the long day ahead. Can't keep grinning foolishly all day while clients come in for their meetings though I just can't seem to stop.

The End

Caterpillar

4:03 p.m. Day three of savoring Def Leppard. But know must adjust myself to reality, since Queen Elizabeth Cup is coming up this weekend. Have heard that Snowfairy, last year's defending champion is coming again, and Reve d'Essor who has been away because of a fractured leg is also said to be coming back. Must shake off my foolish grin.

4:11 p.m. It seems the barrier draws has not been made yet. They might be announcing it tommorow. But Snowfairy and Reve d'Essor seems to be coming as expected, according to JRA, and there are also Aventura, this year's Shuka-sho winner, Erin Court thie year's Oaks winner, Dancing Rain this year's British Oaks winner, and Whale Capture too. Wow, what an impressive lineup. Don't think Apapane would perform well, though.

The End

Caterpillar

2:19 p.m. Brrrrr. Chilly. Well, it should be. One third of November is already behind us, it would be abnormal if it was warm. Try to recall November Rain of Guns'n'Roses though cannot since still savoring Def Leppard.

2:25 p.m. Ooooh, Reve d'Essor drew post number eight. That could be an advantage if the horse is in a good enough condition. Dancing Rain in fourteen and, oh geez. Snow Fairy has drawn eighteen... Starting from large numbered gates is usually considered to be a disadvantage, especially at Kyoto race tracks, because it would be difficult to keep the horse under control while having to get over a small hill on the backstretch.

Hmmmm. So what to do with Snowfairy would be the key to winning this race. This is going to be hard.

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Caterpillar

12:06 p.m. Have signed out a book about Python at the library yesterday and started reading right away. It was a tutorial for Python, so was expecting something more understandable though it actually wasn't. Have managed to read up to page fourteen, but what is a floating point number? Are they equivalent to numbers expressed with dots? And what is a complex number? What are real numbers and imaginary numbers? Must get a tutorial for the tutorial.

12:21 p.m. Another thing that have been fretting about is the Queen Elizabeth Cup. Have learned from yesterday's evening paper that this year's British Oaks winner Rain Dance is a front runner who is also mighty fast. At least, the paper said she had a remarkable record and, that she should be able to perform well on Japanese turf too, since her mother's brother was a Japanese horse called Shinko King. So, what if she takes the leat at a record-breaking pace? She might go all the way and earn herself an easy win whereas even if she failed, the pace she'd set would be a blessing for Snow Fairy who tends to stay off the pace and comes driving from the last corner. Oh, gee. That makes it so hard to handicap the race.

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Caterpillar

7:16 p.m. Have spent most of day setting up old printer for JoOusama so she could use it via her extra-old desk-top. She was using another Epson printer until it started to pop up frequent warnings to "set paper" although there were many sheets left. Trouble surfaced when I tried to download a driver for the active printer onto her PC, and discovered that I couldn't find a slot to plug in the LAN cable. All I could find was a jack for modular cables. Unbelievable. Thus, I had to download the driver onto my lap-top first, copy the data onto my iPod and try to transfer it to the desk-top which I failed, because the desk-top could not recognize my iPod as a memory device. Fortunately, had my sister lend me a USB Flash memory to copy the data, and finally succeeded in transferring them to the stupid desk-top.

And because it consumed so much of my precious Sunday, I have failed to buy my betting tickets for the Queen Elizabeth Cup in which Snow Fiary earned her second victory in Japan. I saved some money though, since was not going to include Apapane in my bets.

The End

Caterpillar

2:51 p.m. JoOusama has left three thousand-yen bills on my desk, probably for the printer involving task. I refused it last night, since I'd done it from pure generosity and not for money however, as she always does, JoOusama must have thought it better to settle things with money because she didn't want to owe me one.

Well, if she insists, why not take it as compensation for my work and time, and think I'd won the Queen Elizabeth Cup? I did work all day after all.

3:04 p.m. Have ordered Def Leppard T-shirt via Internet with the money. Think I deserve it. Besides, it was a bargain compared to the tour tees sold at the concert which were priced 4,000 yen. Was billed thirty-five U.S. dollars including shipping, but would actually have twenty-two percent off due to exchange gains. That is a bargain.

The End

Caterpillar

2:37 p.m. Samurai Japan, our national soccer team is having a historical game in PyongYang, North Korea. It's an away game for the Asian qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It's the first official match held in North Korea in twenty-something years and as we had feared, sports news reports that our team has been met with a harsh welcome.

News source say that the national team has been stuck at the airport for nearly four hours on ground of immigration check, and the members including coach Zaccheroni were all exhausted. They also had some food confiscated, such as bananas, gums, and quick-cooking ramen (noodles). Perhaps the North Koreans wanted to try some. Anyway, think it is all the more important to achieve results in such restricted condition. Now is the time to hold your ground, boys. Stay undefeated.

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Caterpillar

12:30 p.m. Ohhhh, we've lost. It doesn't affect the qualifying that much but still, a loss is a loss. Many things are said about the game, though it is true that the North Koreans controlled most of the game and we couldn't score a goal. We'd better look back the game, analyze it, and formulate an effective countermeasure.

While the national team was losing their game, Cow and I were losing temper because the banner link we'd updated somehow didn't show properly on our web page. We've double-checked and tried updating the new data over and over but still, our computer display defiantly showed a blank space with a red cross mark in the center, in the spot where our banner link should be. Finally, at the umph-teenth attempt, we realized that our new IE9 browser was referring to the cache, not the modified data. Very annoying.

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Caterpillar

1:54 p.m. Mail has come from artists' goods store that they've shipped off my Def Leppard tour tee. In fact, it arrived yesterday, which means that the shipment has been made within three days after my order. Not bad, I guess. Am expecting the T-shirt to arrive by the end of next week.

1:58 p.m. Have also received email offering affiliate program. They're offering payment for both commission and per-click. Hmmm, what to do? Will think about it tomorrow. Don't have enough time today since am having three meetings this afternoon.

The End

Caterpillar

2:29 p.m. Brought jiao-ji for lunch today. There was a time when couldn't cook them well, having them stuck to the pan when frying, however, I've analyzed my procedures, found out what my problem was and overcome my numerous failures to become a complete jiao-ji master now. Have a feeling I could even sell them.

Am not sure if I'm following the Python tutorial book, by the way. But since have learned from my experience of jiao-ji that can achieve something with strong will and some time, am trying to encourage myself to at least read through the book no matter how complicated it seems to be. Let's not give it up yet, baby.

The End

Caterpillar

2:35 p.m. Heavy rain battering against our glass door. Fear the glass being broken or the whole door knocked out of the frame. Have worn short sleeve tee today since the forcast had predicted the temperature to be as high as twenty-two degrees, however, it turned out ot be unbelievablly chilly in this concrete floor office, and am wearing a fleece jacket over the tee.

As he came back from shopping slightly wet from the driving rain, Cow reported that it was warmer outside. I've always suspected that it was colder inside this office rather than out, except on sunny summer days when it gets hotter inside. Now it's been proved. Wonder how such thing could happen.

2:52 p.m. Oh, no. It's leaking. We'd already set some buckets or containers of some kind under the usual leaking spots, but I hear a dripping sound from a different spot...

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Caterpillar

11:32 p.m. Tired. Tired than I should be because have lost Mile Championship completely. I wasn't even close to winning. My key horse Real Impact, had sunk in fifth place with no reason I could think of. Cannot understand.

Have lost confidence. Not that I had some before. Don't feel like I could win races at all. How can I pull myself together in just a week? But must do that since Japan Cup is only seven days away. No, no, cannot handicap race. Don't know what to do with wobbly-at-the-homestretch-Buena Vista. Will she revive just like Apapane?

The End

Caterpillar

3:02 p.m. Have thought over my loss of confidence. Well, it didn't start today, come to think of it. Actually, I've been visited and revisited by the idea so many times in my life that I feel like I'm an imcopetent person.

The only way to get over such feeling, I think, would be to practically experience the taste of success. So, what am I waiting for? Must start searching about Japan Cup.

The End

Caterpillar

3:27 p.m. Have extended returning date for Python Tutorial. Was supposed to return it by the 25th, however, am still at page fifty-two for the moment, of a hundred and seventy-nine pages, reading about the loop techniques in data structure. Am almost through the fifth chapter.

It was all gibberish at the start, but now am beginning to understand what it says. Well, that is exactly why it's taking so much time to read, because am trying to read and understand at the same time. To my gratefulness though, this book has an example for every function. So although I'm unfamiliar with many terms, with some time I can make out what it says and get the idea. A very good tutoiral, in that sense. My head gets filled with question marks at first, but as I read it over and refer to the examples, I find small clues here and there and those clues seem to lead me to the whole picture with an ‘a-ha’ in the end. An ideal tutorial. It reminded me that discovering and learning new things were so exciting.

The End

Caterpillar

1:03 p.m. There. Have cleaned, dried and put away the fan, taking full advantage of this precious holiday. It's been bothering me all this time that I still had the fan out, but couldn't put it away since didn't have enough time to clean and dry it. It's finally done and am feeling super. Have also moved some boxes so that can make more room for thirty-two-inch TV. It's been sticking out to the narrow space where I need to pass through in order to get out on the roof veranda, scaring me every time I pass that I might bump into it and knock it over. Now there's no risk of knocking the TV over. Good.

5:48 p.m. Will have to wash my down jacket next, though. Have been putting it off too.

The End

Caterpillar

2:20 p.m. Checked JRA website for barrier draw of Japan Cup. It hadn't been uploaded yet. Calm down, calm down. Checked email and found that one of my clients had sent me mail to cancel meeting for yesterday. Calm down, calm down. There were no meeting scheduled yesterday because it was a holiday. Had wondered if I should remind him before the holiday but decided against it, since he should know well that we were taking the day off. Obviously, had underestimated him.

3:01 p.m. Barrier draw uploaded. Buena Vista drew post number two, Rose Kingdom, three, Pelusa, seven, Victoire Pisa, eight, Sarah Linx, nine, Mission Approved, eleven, Win Variation, twelve, Danedream, thirteen, Shareta, fourteen, and Eishin Flash, fifteen. Hmmm. Buena drew a good post unlike Eishin Flash, though both horses are reported to have improved their condition. Danedream, probably, would perform well no matter where she starts from. Calm down, calm down. I still have two more days till the race.

The End

Caterpillar

3:45 p.m. Oh no. Can't think of anything but Japan Cup. Must think of something else. Something, something like... what?

4:15 p.m. Like washing my down jacket. Have washed Obaba's too, thinking that she might not be wearing it again. Was going to visit her today until JoOusama suddenly announced this morning, that she was going to the hospital today. That meant I couldn't go because we'd agreed earlier to visit her at different times to give her as many chances to see us as possible. Have been planning my visit and trying to make time for it almost two weeks. Now I'll have to do it all over again. JoOusama is inconsiderate as ever.

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Caterpillar

2:32 p.m. Cow has been fumbling with the ink cartridge which resulted in a late lunch. And now am urged to finish up this "Murmur" quickly, because he's going to use this desk-top from three o'clock. So must hurry.

2:35 p.m. Back to Japan Cup. Think am going to key Buena Vista. She could be past her prime, though I think she could make it to the top three this time, after running her first race of this season in the autumn Tennou-sho (and sinking to fourth place for the first time in her career in Japan). Other horses all seem to have some kind of problems. Am thinking Buena Vista and Eishin Flash for the moment.

The End

Caterpillar

10:12 p.m. Have keyed Buena Vista on my trifecta. Have plucked up my courage and marked her in the first place. She won. But the second and third were totally unmarked. The performance of Eishin Flash, Rose Kingdom and Win Variation turned out to be very much disappointing. Almost too disappointing that these horses made me wonder if they'd ever win a grade one race.

The End

Caterpillar

3:33 p.m. Feeling pang of fear that I might lose all the races this season. Think must do something. Something, but what?

There are so many things cannot do anything about. JoOusama has received call from the hospital late last night, asking for permission for a tracheotomy to tie Obaba to a respirator because the doctor in charge thought her breathing was shallow. Obaba has grown so weak since she keeps refusing to eat. She's nothing but skin and bone now, but still she keeps refusing tasteless clumps of paste the staff there call food. It breaks my heart to watch her getting closer to death although she hasn't been an ideal sweet grandmother to me. Yet it's her choice, her right. I suggested JoOusama that Obaba should be left alone without the respirator. If she's dying, think she at least deserves to die with dignity.

The End

Caterpillar

3:46 p.m. Def Leppard tour tee has arrived. The color was darker than had expected, but no problem. Mmm, what luxury to be able to listen to Def Leppard wearing thier tour tee.

3:54 p.m. Just heard on the radio forecast that there's no chance of rain this evening. Humph. TV and newspaper forecasts had been threatening it would rain today, so I fixed my broken umbrella which one of its arms had snapped some weeks ago before going to sleep last night. To my dismay, the fixing consumed quite some time resulting in a late start this morning. And it's not raining. At all. What was all that work for?

The End

Caterpillar

1:02 p.m. End of November, already. Time seem to fly as I grow older.

Have finally finished reading Python Tutorial by the way. The last few chapter again turned out to be gibbrish, but somehow I made it through. Am taking notes from the book right now, though have to return the book by December 2nd, that's Friday. Have only two more days. Must hurry. Besides, I got my next V.I. Warshawski book waiting on my desk.

The End

Caterpillar