3:44 p.m. Several years ago, I've written about the house gecko living in Cow's house. That Cow has been seeing a house gecko sticking outside his kitchen window from time to time for, well, quite a long time.

This morning, he spotted a gecko on the kitchen window and pointed it out to me. Ah, the new generation. Geckos are called Yamori in Japanese, literally meaning to someone or something to guard the house. It seems we have a loyal guardian. Welcome gecko, we appreciate your loyalty!

The End

Caterpillar

4:57 p.m. Awww. Sometimes, life really deals you a blow.

I dropped my iPad mini when I was out on the street. I took it out to take some photos and it just slipped out of my hands, hit its frame hard on the asphalt, bounced once and stopped. I picked it up gingerly and recognized a terrible crack on the display at the left bottom corner. The back frame has chipped, too.

I am so sad I don't think I can write anything positive. But as Neil Pasricha says, I've got my second choice. I "can grieve, and then face the future with newly sober eyes." I can choose "to move forward and move on and take baby steps into the future." I feel like I'm being tested now. Well, on a second thought, perhaps I was fortunate enough that it was only the front screen that shattered.

The End

Caterpillar

4:04 p.m. As our fiscal year begins from April, many things start moving from April in Japan. Schools start a new semester, railroad operating schedules are reviewed and renewed as well as the work scedules in companies and offices, and many companies hold ceremonies for the fresh graduates who start working from April.

TV programs are not an exception to this, so I have checked out the list of Anime starting from April. It seems there are a few I want to watch this season. But they surely are a part of my energy source, that I just couldn't afford to miss them. According to the list, The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Ghost in the Shell Arise Alternative Architecture and Knights of Sidonia (second season) is starting.

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Caterpillar

2:37 p.m. I've just called my insurance agent to check if my iPad mini's repair fee might be covered with insurance. He told me that if I have a house fire insurance, it might cover the fee depending on the contract. But I don't! I don't own a house so I don't have any fire insurance either. My parents have it, I'm sure, though the chances are close to nothing regarding their selfishness, grrrrrr.

Okay, stay calm, look to the future. Even if I don't have any insurance contract to pay for my iPad repair fee, even if it's cloudy in Tokyo, I might be able to take a glimpse of the lunar eclipse tonight. The wind might miraculously push away the clouds a bit to make a slim gap in the southeastern sky, just so that I might be able to take a peek at the eclipse from around 9:00 p.m.

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Caterpillar

9:26 p.m. Osaka-hai finished more or less as I'd expected. Kizuna was beaten by Lachesis because the lap was average and the track condition, soft. It was easier for Lachesis to win in such condition, since she was carrying 2kg lighter weight than Kizuna, 3kg lighter than Spielberg. I was even naming Air Saumur as the horse to butt in between the Deep Impact descendents. But just when I call it right, I'm watching the race on TV without buying betting tickets grrrrrrrr.

Looking to the future, perhaps I should start preparing for Ohka-sho coming up this weekend. Luckily, I've already decided my key horse, so I will focus on her rivals that I think might come behind her.

The End

Caterpillar

4:14 p.m. I've been contemplating what to do with my iPad mini. For now, I'm thinking of keeping it the way it is with the front glass pannel cracked, until summer when my additional SoftBank free wifi service expires. Then, I can bring it to an Apple Store for a repair, where they'd probably replace it with a new device, which means that the batteries and other parts would also be replaced with new ones. Considering that I'd be using it for 2 years, it would be a good chance to renew the whole device. Meantime, I can save up the money for the repair(replacing) fee.

And then, I'd get a Gumdrop Drop Tech case to protect my new iPad so I won't have to feel devastated again. I'm a bit concerned whether putting on cases on these mobile devices might cause heat problems especially during mid-summer when it gets extremely hot and humid in Tokyo, but then I'll just have to be careful not to use the device outdoors in such heat.

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Caterpillar

4:52 p.m. Last Friday, I bought a tube of glue for sewing called Saihou-jouzu. It's supposed to hold up to the weight of 2kg, and also washable after being iron-pressed and dried completely, so it is expected to replace threads and needles in simple sewing or mending.

Since the bottom of my rain parka has unraveled and hung loosely from the edge, I decided to mend it with this glue. As usual, I followed the instructions dutifully, and iron-pressed the bottom of my parka with a cloth over it for 20 seconds before I let it cool down. I wasn't sure if it would stick as the nylon had become worn out and thin, but it seemed fine. It's been only 7 hours, though so far there seems to be no problem.

I've also worn my rain boots today in a while. It was the first time after I'd filled the crack using ShoeGoo, and I was a bit afraid it mught come apart while walking or something. So far it's holding good. Looks like I'm becoming a mending master.

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Caterpillar

5:08 p.m. Oh, no. The crack on my rain boots reopened. After a qick search, I discovered that the cracks on rain boots were quite a common symptom. It seems that the rubber gets cracked easily around the stem of the toes, because that was where the boots were strained most while walking in them. Unfortunately, there seems to be no magical cure. I'll try applying ShoeGoo thicker, making sure not to raise my hopes.

On second thought, maybe I could make it look like the protecting rubber on motorcycle riding boots. That wouldn't look so bad.

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Caterpillar

5:06 p.m. As I'd thought, it seems ShoeGoo needs to be applied thickly. I checked the cracks of my boots yesterday after I got home, and found that the cracks hadn't opened up all the way. The part which remained stuck was where ShoeGoo had accidentally piled up to more than 1 millimeter.

Putting aside the boots, JRA has announced the barriers for Ohka-sho. My Rouge Buck is in post number 8, while the still undefeated Cat Coin and Queen's Ring drew post numbers 11 and 13, respectively. I'll put a link for those who want to see the details. Barrier Draw for Ohka-sho

Must review why I goofed on my previous race so I wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

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Caterpillar

3:43 p.m. I have just seen the video of Cat Coin winning the Queen Cup.

Hmmm... I didn't feel anything sensational about the horse. Have a hunch she might perform better in a high lap race when the last three furlongs take more than 35.0 seconds. As for Queen's Ring, it depends on her condition. Whatever the reason, the fact that she'd won a grade 3 level race with a 20kg loss in her weight makes me think that there is, at least, some damage. I can't be too confident about Queen's Ring.

Therefore, I declare to mark Queen's Ring in the third place of my bubble card. First place and third place decided, all I have to do now is look for the second place winners.

The End

Caterpillar

2:34 p.m. Okay. So my key horse is Rouge Buck, which would probably be marked in the first place pool, and Queens Ring in the third place pool, what about the other horses? I hadn't decided the 2nd place winners yet and its already Saturday.

My call is Let's Go Donki, Cat Coin, Loaded or Tenderly Voice. Contessa Thule and Moon Express, I'm still undecided because the inner post numbers seem to be a disadvantage in Ohka-sho. As it is a fillies' calssic race, I'm not sure whether I'll buy them in trifecta formation or put them all on a wheel with multi trifecta. After all, I might freak out at the last minute and settle on trio.

Long-shot seekers are screaming that Rouge Buck has never raced with 15 other horses so she might balk and would be nowhere to be seen, but when such horses win, they win. I'm betting on her winning.

The End

Caterpillar

4:02 p.m. My key horse stayed the same but others have changed a bit after I'd considered the lap, seen the weight gains and losses. My only worry was the lap to slow down because it would not be good for Rouge Back. She has never been squashed among a bunch of horses, so I wanted the lap to flow to relieve her of the risk. But things didn't work out like I wanted it to. I had picked up some trivia about the laps of Ohka-sho on the Internet, and got too caught up in it.

Disappointed, I cleaned out a shelf in my closet. That made me feel better. I moved my bed quilt down to the lower shelf so I could reach it easily. Now I wouldn't have to reach up above my head to take them out and put it back in again every day.

The End

Caterpillar

3:19 p.m. The trainer of Rouge Buck seems to have said he wasn't sure about the reason for the horse's loss, if it was the distance, track condition or the lap. Hoping someone would deliver this message, here's the reason why Rouge Buck has lost. Because she got mobbed in a bunch of horses.

Rouge Buck sprang out from the barrier, a nice clear start. There weren't any fast runners to take the lead so the lap drops down, giving Let's Go Donki dash to the head of the group. Rouge Buck wants to go, but Tozaki holds her down which dampened the horses passion. Then, instead of leading her towards the outside, Tozaki chooses to stay, only to have his outward course blocked by Cat Coin. Now Rouge Buck is locked inside, which is the worst scenario. And by the way, that was Tozaki's second mistake. Finally, in the last stretch, Tozaki probably wanted to take Rouge outside but he couldn't, because of his former mistakes. Cat Coin is on the outside, so he chooses to dig into the group ahead. That was Tozaki's third mistake, though at this point it couldn't be helped as Rouge Buck had lost her concentration.

Considering the outcome of Ohka-sho, Japanese Oaks is likely to be run at a slow lap, perhaps even slower than Ohka-sho. Rouge Buck would perform better, only if the crew including the rider, learn from this experience to be creative and come up with a way to race the horse without getting her squashed.

The End

Caterpillar

5:31 p.m. No one might want to hear anything from a Caterpillar who's blown Ohka-sho completely, but I have to keep trying as Satsuki-sho is coming up this weekend. I think Real Steel is a good horse, though I'm not so sure if he could win on Nakayama turf.

To win a 2,000 meter on Nakayam turf, it is crucial to get and keep a good position. If a horse is left behind at the start, that horse is out. Well, that is, unless the race miraculously becomes a high-lap race, and the horse has enough speed, power and concentration to sweep all the otehrs from the outside. If the lap drops down, all you need are front runners and horses that drew inner post numbers with light speed, not afraid to charge into a bunch of other horses.

At the moment, all I know is that Lemaire is riding Satono Crown and the barrier draw is still a couple of days ahead. So there isn't much I can do, I suppose. I ought to check out Duramente's performance in past races, though.

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Caterpillar

4:45 p.m. It shined for the first time in a week or so. I almost forgot it was spring.

The forecast has been alerting us of sudden thunderstorms, hailstorms, rain and wind all day, though I haven't been met with any of them. Well, not yet, anyway. Just checked the weather news. It seems I should stay alert a little longer as there's a chance of rain after six. Until then, I have a bit more time to enjoy the warm spring sunshine yay!

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Caterpillar

5:30 p.m. Cow and I have been discussing about how to buy betting tickets. How many combinations would it amount to, if we bought 5 horses' trifecta on multiple formation?

I am terrible with numbers, but Cow was supposed to be good with it. Still, we struggled making misses here and there. Finally, Cow realized that it was a waste of time as he was not going to buy multiple formation for Satsuki-sho.

Well, I was thinking of buying it, so this experience has been quite informative.

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Caterpillar

4:26 p.m. On my way to work, I spotted a sparrow's nest on the eaves of our neighbor's garage. Spring has come.

Acording to our neighbor, the sparrows have been returning every spring and have been nesting at the entrance of their garage for years until the 2011 earthquake. They hadn't returned for three years, however, last spring our neighbor noticed a tiny nest forming on the eaves of their garage. Needless to say, the homecoming of the sparrows cheered them up considerably.

I was glad to see the sparrows had returned again this year. I'll keep in mind to tell the Mrs. when I see her.

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Caterpillar

2:32 p.m. As a matter of fact, I am still undecided.

I'm still undecided about my key horse for Satsuki-sho. Currently, I'm torn between Satono Crown and Kitasan Black. Basically, I think it is very important to gain a good position in Satsuki-sho. The winner must be in the top five group at the last corner, unless that horse has outstanding potential compared to its competitors, just like in Deep Impact's case.

Satono Crown has a diadvantage of winning the prep race, Yaoi-sho, yet he was fresh back from a break, so perhaps I shouldn't worry so much about his damage. On the other hand, Kitasan Black must have at least a little damage considering he has already run three races this year, still TV Fuji Spring Stakes is the best step for Satsuki-sho. Well, in the sense that the horse might have relatively less damage, Satono Crown would be my key for now.

As for his rival candidates, I hate to be bland but Duramente, Real Steel, Kitasan Black, Beruf and Danon Platina are the names on my list.

The End

Caterpillar

10:27 p.m. Darn, if I had only keyed Kitasan Black!

As a matter of fact, I've even changed my key horse to Danon Platina at the last minute, thinking I should not key a horse I can't be perfectly sure he'd win. Yet I didn't think Danon Platina would win, just thought he might come in second or third.

Well, I knew Duramente was a good horse especially after seeing his past performances. I just couldn't be sure. Now that he'd won Satsuki-sho, he'd probably perform good in Japanese Derby, too. That is, unless Satsuki- sho has left him a big damage, but I doubt it.

The End

Caterpillar

3:47 p.m. I heard a spring storm was coming so I've worn my ailing rain boots and it's barely raining. Grrrrr.

But you never know. Rain can start falling from evening and come slashing, drenching me from head to toe. Just in case, I've brought my rain poncho too, so no worries.

No worries, though I can't help checking the weather forecast.

The End

Caterpillar

5:09 p.m. Cow has been calling Tenno-sho and seems to have decided what to buy already. For your information, Tenno-sho is still more than a week away, but Cow doesn't seem to care.

Here's what Cow decided to buy; key horse: Gold Ship, Win Variation, Lachesis, others: Kizuna, Sounds of Earth, Admire Deus. I'll have to remind him next Friday.

The End

Caterpillar

5:23 p.m. Just as Cow was lookng up past data for female horses that performed well in Tenno-sho, it trasnpired that Lachesis had scratched off.

Too bad, Cow. It seems her goal is Takaraduka Kinen.

The End

Caterpillar

5:22 p.m. So it's my turn to get disappointed this time.

The sound from my left ear bud connected to my old iPod nano suddenly stopped coming out. I tried sticking in Apple earbuds to isolate the problem which worked fine. That means the headfone socket has no problem so it had to be cable disconnection. That's what I feared.

I've just checked a retail shop's website and it seems they still have a bit of supply for a cheap set of earbuds. I'll drop by and see if I could get a new pair. I don't want to use my Apple earbuds on iPod nano as they have a microphone and I don't want to ruin them in everyday use. Hope the next pair would last a little longer.

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Caterpillar

5:20 p.m. Since JoOhsama keeps blasting the radio day and night and I was having sleeping problems, I started listening to healing music on YouTube. And I just can't stop.

I wasn't expecting much of this healing music stuff, but as it turns out, they're having great effect. It's still difficult for me to get up early as I'm usually exhausted and stressed out by the time I get to sleep, though I feel like I'm sleeping deeper, even in the noise of the radio emerging through my ear plugs. I can feel the difference when I get up.

I'll put a link to my favorite sleep-inducing clip. I think it's a short demo clip consisting of five sections aimed to draw different effects which includes music to adjust your autonomic nervous systems, recovering your brain from fatigue, and lead you to deep sleep.Music Developed to Sleep Deeply (Japanese) I'm not sure about its effects, but my palms' pustulosis have become better after I started listening to this.

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Caterpillar

6:10 p.m. It was yesterday when I dropped by a 7-eleven near our office. I spotted Cow's old friend but I couldn't say hello.

It wasn't just because he had deformed into Jabba the Hutt in the years I hadn't seen him, but he seemed to be in a mad rush of packing his heated boxes of obento into the plastic bag. It made me feel I shouldn't interrupt.

Since I discovered he's still in the neighborhood, maybe I'll see him around. I'll make a mental note to say hello to him next time we bump into each other. Hmmm, time does do miracles sometimes. True, I was surprised, but am glad he's well.

The End

Caterpillar

11:20 p.m. I've dug out my analysis on the connection between Tenno-sho and its prep races from my horse race text files. Aw, it brings back the pain. My key horse Kizuna had lost in 4th place.

A year ago, I tapped in all these data probably trying to console myself. One year later, I'm being encouraged by my own work. In a week, I would see the outcome of this year's Tenno-sho. Hope I'll be thanking myself for analyzing.

The End

Caterpillar

3:31 p.m. My favorite season has finally arrived! It's sunny, bright, warm enough to stay in short sleeves, with a light breeze flowing all around.

There's no reason I should feel down at all, except for the noise JoOusama has been putting me through. You wait till this weekend when I will cover the wall with noise reduction sponges. I'm gonna turn it into a quiet, peaceful, soundproof sanctuary.

The End

Caterpillar

5:30 p.m. Of course I was thinking of getting myself some urethane sponges to cover up the wall of my room for soundproofing. JoOusama never turns off her radio even during the night, and that has been bothering my sleep for the past several years.

However, as I dropped by a DIY shop, I discovered that they were a bit too pricy. A 10 x 10 (inch) square sponge mat for 900 Yen was too much, considering the area of spce I had to apply them to. But I've remembered reading an article about shutting out neighbors' noise, that mentioned melamine mats as a preferable option though they were more expensive. Well, it said "melanin" in the article, but I'd deduced it must be "melamine," since the article was about reducing noise, not sunburns or tans.

Then it hit me. Melamine, right? HA! They sell melamine sponges for cleaning in 100 Yen shops!

The End

Caterpillar

2:48 p.m. I did a little experiment with some melamine sponge, though unfortunately, it wasn't so effective as noise reduction material. It seems like I'm on a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs.

And now I've just discovered that Fenomeno has scratched off from Tenno-sho. Here's another down. Hope the next wave would go up.

The End

Caterpillar

3:05 p.m. Gosh. Cow has just read aloud the barrier draw for Tenno-sho and it sounds like Gold Ship has drawn post number 1.

Gold Ship hasn't performed well in his past two challenges for Tenno-sho, and I was leaning towards the idea that his low resistance to fatigue explains it. But now I'm not so sure. Perhaps it was simply because he lacked concentration, though that doesn't automatically mean that he's relieved from the fatigue problem. Hmmm...

The End

Caterpillar