Happy New Year, everybody! It's me, Caterpillar. At the end of last year, my friend Mr. O pointed out that my articles were often too long, which I agree. So I'd like to anounce this year's goals "concisely".

1. Extending from last year, increase guitar skill level.
2. Extending from last year, make this site more massive.
3. Extending from last year, become a better caterpillar.
4. Write sentences short and concise.
5. Listen to what people say.
2 more were added this year. (^ ^;)

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Caterpillar

Yesterday, I wrote that I was pointed out by Mr. O that my articles were often too long, but to be precise it was "each subject was often too long". I'd like to have the opportunity to make a correction and apologize here. m(_ _)m

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Caterpillar

I got my first hit this year. But not the Takarakuji lottery or horse race.

Early New Year's morning think it was around ... 6, a couple of cardbord boxes weighing about 10kg that were stacked up at the corner of my room, suddenly collapsed like an avalanche falling on my feet while I was sooound asleep. I woke up to the enormous wham, shaking and impact, though I couldn't understand what happened. Anyway, good thing I still got my feet ... . (^ ^;)

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Around noon on New Year's Day as I was eating Zouni, Tono suddenly started to say that "someone had left the seat warmer of our bathroom toilet turned on since last night and our bathroom could have been on fire".

He seemed to think that it was Obaba who left it on, and he boasted "So I have been pulling out the plugs before going to sleep since last Friday". Oh yeah? Then why could it have been on fire?

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Caterpillar

Horse race of 2008 is going to start from today. Two feature races of the New Year holiday season, the Nakayama Kinpai and the Kyoto Kinpai would be run.

I've been trying every year, to raise a toast (Kanpai) after winning "Kinpai" but so far I haven't had a chance ... . However, since I drew a Daikichi for my Omikuji at Hatsumoude, I think I can count a little on my luck this year. Speaking of Omikuji, I drew a Daikichi last year, too though I coudn't win a single race ... .

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Caterpillar

This year's work is going to start from tomorrow. I'd better set my mind to it and get ready for it.

By the way, the results of the Kinpai yesterday were ... y .. yeess! I won the Nakayama Kinpai! Seems like lady luck has finally smiled at me after 2 years of losing! Moreover, it was at odds of 1-160!! Though I only bet 100 yen on it. (^ ^;) Still, it was a hell of a job for me. Thank you, lord. It couldn't have been without that Omikuji power.

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Caterpillar

I started a new job since last September and I've been commuting to my office spending about an hour and a half every day. And during this short trip to my office, I've been seeing a number of "wierd people".

I've only been commuting for 3 months, but the clear No.1 who build an established position was the "plock-plock woman" ... .

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One day on a subway with sparse passengers, I heard a plock, plock sound getting nearer from the next car. As I looked in the direction of the sound wondering what it was, my eyes caught sight of a plump woman covering her head with a scarf, plock ... hitting the head of plock ... passengers who sat plock ...dozing with something like a paper pipe, gradually closing in towards where I was at.

Although I usually sat sleeping dribbling from my mouth, I left the seat in a hurry and evacuated by the door. Pheeew that was close. (- -;)

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Caterpillar

Additionally, the No.2 weird person of 2007 was the "nail-clipping man" who suddenly started to shave on the subway platform as he pulled out a dry shaver, then after getting inside the car and forcing himself down in the little space left at the seats, started to clip his nails despite the rather crowded condition.

This, too was shocking ... . (^ ^;)

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Caterpillar

Cow and I was going to hold a meeting at the beginning of this year, and in order not to make it an emotional mud-flinging as usual, I read a Japanese book and studied a little. The book was titled "Kaigi Kakumei", written by Takashi Saito. It was a very intereting book and I saw the light with this. I recommend this book to people fed up with wasting time on unproductive meetings which in Mr. Saito's words, are "like an imperial style confrence before the throne".

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I have been wondering from when I should buy and start using the commuting pass again, in order to save as much money as possible. After much thinking, I decided to buy it on the 8th when the multiple tickets that I had been using during the holidays would run out on my way to the office, making the pass valid from the 9th.

So, on may way home on the 8th, I threw in 530 yen into the vending machine to buy an ordinary ticket of 230 yen, and 900 yen (!!) came back as change. I guess someone had forgot to take it. Formidable Omikuji power.

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Caterpillar

Bon Jovi is gonna hold a two-day concert at Tokyo Dome on January 13th and 14th. As a Bon Jovi fan since their debut, I definitely wanted to go but gosh, what is that ticket price? 10,000 yen for an S-seat?! I hate to have to admit it though I'm afraid I can't pay 10,000 yen for a concert ticket ... with my present puny little income ... .

Even foreign artist's S-seat ticket used to be 3,900 yen when I was a junior-high-school kid. Isn't there anything that could be done about it, Mr. Udo?

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Caterpillar

(SUN) January 13th, 2008

I've been linked by fate recently and teaching English to a 10-year-old boy called Y. Y has a gold rank certificate (highest rank) in children's STEP test, so he already knows English words pretty much.

The other day, I asked this Y "how do you say Junigatsu in English?"
"December," he answered, triumphantly. So I pressed him asking "what's Ichigatsu, then?" After a few minutes' thinking, Y opened his mouth and said, "Happy New Year" ... . Good job, Y.

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Caterpillar

I was talking with Cow's old man the other day, about one of those microwave quick cooked rice.

"This is really convenient you know, though it's a little too much for me," said papa Cow. "Too much doesn't sound good, they say it's better to leave off with an appetite to keep healthy," I replied. "Yeah, really," agreed papa Cow and continued, "but it would be terrible (for other people) if I stayed too healthy to inadvertently live up till 100 years old." ... papa Cow! Good job.

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Bon Jovi's concert in Japan has been over, while I was thinking I wish I could go, I wish I could go, but I can't ... .

Thinking about paying the national pension, national health insurance, etc. from my present several ten-thousand yen take-home earnings, I just couldn't afford a 10,000 yen ticket ... . But next time I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna try hard so that I could. Someday ... you wait and see, someday I'll be Saturday night.

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Caterpillar

I haven't been able to play the guitar like I want to. I've been stuck for about 6 months because I can't play a certain phrase properly. So I decided to get back to the basic and went searching for a right hand picking practice on the internet.

I came across a site introducing methods using thin picks. Hmm. I ran and got a couple of thin picks right away trying the methods and Wohhh! I was able to play the phrase! What were my past 6 months? But I feel like I can play anything now. YYaba-daba-doo!

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Caterpillar

I've been briging Obento (box lunch) to save money. Sometimes I restrain myself from eating the side dish mini-pork cutlets on the supper table, to keep them for the next day's Obento.

However, as I opened the fridge to put the cutlets in my lunch box the next day, gooosh, there were only 2 of them left where there was supposed to be 5! It's Tono. Damn ... . Excuse me, but didn't you say you cared about cholesterol?

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A postcard arrived from a friend living in Germany, as a reply to my New Year card.

It had a picture of a night view of Cologn, centering what seems to be the Cologne Cathedral (probably;) and it was very beautiful indeed. With the Gothic style Cathedral ligted-up in the darkness of the night, it looked really Europish and pretty. It gives us Japanese an impression of a castle in a fantasy world, when seen through our eyes.

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I met an Australian tourist family (probably;) in the subway car on my way to work. And the seemingly mother of that five-member family was explainig to the children that this car was going to be for women only during a certain period on weekdays, pointing at the sign on the window that said "Women Only".

Wow, so she understands Japanese, I thought to myself as one of her daughters asked without hesitation, "Why?" Now, this was a hard one and a bright mother as she was, the best she could do was to reply "I don't know ... ." (^ ^;)

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Caterpillar

As I won the New Year opening race Nakayama Kinpai, me and Cow agreed to eat something nice with the money I've gained. So I stopped by this not-so-expensive Sushi restaurant (it's quite famous for good taste and reasonable price) on my way to work, bought some take-out Sushi for 2 people and had it for lunch.

Maaan, that was gooood! (T-T) It's been a Sushi in several years and although it wasn't a "Kanpai with Kinpai", it sure made a luxurious lunch. Thank you, God!

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Caterpillar

I've come to read books lately. I know it's nothing to announce here, though ... .

I seldom read books during my school days, but now it seems ... that I've suddenly come to be awakened to the enjoyment of reading. I feel a sort of contentment, of information or words soaking into myself after I've finished reading a book. Then, my heart that has been stirred up by the words in the book, seem to make a soft but good landing somehow, in peace and order.

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Evidently (as expected), it seems that I won the Kinpai by a freak of a chance. I blew a bundle at this week's Keiseihai as usual. Speaking of blowing a bundle, my friend's father had once said, "I think I have considerable savings at JRA Bank. But I can't draw them out 'cause I can't find my security code."

That's a good one! Actually, I can't find mine either. Unfortunately, some things don't seem to be written in books.(^ ^;)

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Accident occured to Apollomahal as he went into the homestretch in Keiseihai. The horse collpased on the turf. The jockey was thrown aside. When the race was finished, the TV screen switched to display a gray horse that somehow scrambled up to his feet on his own but with his right foreleg dangling, throwing an anxious glance at the jockey. The next day, Apollomahal was announced to be put to death for poor prognosis. It was a regrettable tragedy. But that's horse race.

Right before the accident, Apollomahal suddenly seemed to decrease his speed. A sweet animal, you were. R.I.P.

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Caterpillar

Recently, I read Japanese books titled "`Shinpaishou` to Jouzuni Tsukiau Houhou" written by Yutaka Ohno, a professor at Keio University and "Gucha-gucha ni natta Atama no nakawo Seirisuru Shinpuru Shikouhou" written by Yoshiyuki Kabata, a management consultant in UFJ Research Institute.

Both of them were helpful but in a different way; the former one as a counseling sort of book, while the latter one was a guidebook of specific methods, introducing various data and examples to get over troubled situations.

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"Gucha-gucha ni natta ..." turned out to be pretty interesting, with the first half written as a volume for practical use, introducing mainly methods or data to solve many problems you must face in life, though I found it rather hard to approach. The last half consisted of the writer's experiences and various other examples, filling me with hope and courage as I finished the book and realized it was a wonderful one.

Recommended to those who distress themselves about how they should live the rest of their lives.

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Caterpillar

Japanese local libraries these days, have become extremely useful than before.

In the area where I live, you can return books, extend returning date or reserve books in different libraries from the one that you've signed out, as long as it's in the same ward. You can also make reservations or extend returning date from the internet. More over, bigger libraries are opened until as late as 9:30 p.m. That means I can drop by after work.(^-^)It's fully air conditioned and best of all, it's FREE! I appreciate that.

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Caterpillar

When I moved in to this house, the refrigerator that I had been using until then, also moved in with me. But I cleaned it up and left it unplugged, since there already was a fridge in the house. Besides, I didn't think that I was going to stay that long.

About 2 years ago, the fridge that was in the house went dead and a new one came. But the new fridge went out of order last September, less than 2 years after being purchased, because someone had forgot and left it slightly opened.

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Last September, the temperature was still around 30 degrees celcius, when the second fridge became an "unrefrigerated" box. So I let desperate JoOusama use my fridge while they fixed the other one, though I realy didn't want to because I knew she'd mess it up or break it. It was a weekend and the broken fridge was supposed to be fixed by Monday, so JoOusama agreed to return mine on Monday.

It's been 4 months since then. But she still hasn't returned ... my fridge. Growing messier and messier is ... my fridge ... .

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Caterpillar

These past 4 months, I've been telling JoOusama a number of times to unplug my fridge and return it. But JoOusama, who discovered that it was very convenient to have 2 fridges working, showed no sign of unplugging my fridge, hiding behind the shield of a puzzling paradox that "it won't break if you use it".

Any way you slice it, it seems the risk is smaller to leave my fridge unused than have someone using it, who drives a new fridge out of order in just 2 years, Her Majesty... .

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Caterpillar

Aunt Y drops by our place once a month, to check on how Obaba is doing. She is the only relative that still comes around this odd family. And the only person who understands my frustration of coping with Obaba ( I believe so ... ). She seems to have come last Saturday, and left a thank-you-note and some money for me.

I haven't been seeing Obaba much lately. I feel a prick of guiltiness.

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Maybe because I've been unfriendly to her lately, Obaba seems to bug me a lot. Maybe because she wants me to pay attention, she seeems to breathe down on my neck. And gets yelled at.

But since she's hard of hearing, she never seems to care ... . Sometimes she even asks me back "WHAATT?!" in a 3 times louder voice than mine ... . It's hard ... . (- -;)

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Caterpillar