There was a car accident at a crossroad near our office today. I didn't actually catch the moment of the accident, I just happened to come by the spot. There was an ambulance and several police cars with an additional crowd of onlookers, and they were making a scene. According to an Obahan(a term used for middle-aged woman who likes gossips) among them, a car seemed to have hit someone riding a bike when it came into the crossroad. There was a bicycle lying on the ground with its front part squashed, and it wasn't hard to imagine what had happened. I worried if the rider was all right.

Then the Obahan turned back to me and said as though nothing had happened, "She's all right. I saw her get up and walk away by herself." Oh really, you sure do know everything. Why don't you write a book about it?

The End

Caterpillar

I think it was yesterday. I had to fill in the date of a document in front of a client, so I checked the date on my watch. It should not be mistaken, I thought, and wrote in the date after doubled-cecking it. But the client fed me in a split second, "Err, that's July 1st isn't it?" A little puzzled at what she said, I dropped my eyes on the document only to find out that I've written June 31st on the date line. What was worse was that it was written in ink...

Well, I've been pretty busy, and have forgotten to fix the date of my watch. Additionally, today is supposed to be July 1st, according to my watch. I'll fix it later. Though I'd probably forget to do so.

The End

Caterpillar

The date on my watch has finally caught up with the real date. Well, today I had some time to fix it. And I suddenly noticed that it was July. Wow, summer is waiting, right around the bend. That might have been the reason we were having frequent attacks of mosquitos recently. It usually starts around evening. At a time like this, the best solution is... please recall that famous scene in the Anime, Doraemon, here we go folks. Ta-da-da-da da-da! Here you are, Katori-senkou(mosquito coils)! These stuff aren't no mockery you know, it really works. After all, those flying mosquitos drop to the ground right in front of your eyes when they hit the smoke. It's pretty cool.

It would be nice if you tell your non-Japanese friends about it in case they still don't know.

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Caterpillar

Usually, Mom Cow cooks us steamed rice and Miso soup for lunch, so I've been bringing side dishes as Obento. However. Recently she seems to forget turning the rice steamer on. Apparently, she has pressed the heat-retention button instead of the cook button today, and it seems like we have to settle for a late lunch. Geez, I'm starving.

I've once heard a person who does palm reading say, that people who have vertical dashes on their heart line cannot hold back one's hunger. Let's take a look at mine... uh-oh, there are countless dashes... Can't wait till the rice is cooked.

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Caterpillar

Yesterday, one of our clients from the nighborhood brought us a bunch of corns. The same guy who brought us some freshly-picked Takenoko(bamboo sprouts) before. He said they were delivered from his relatives in the country that afternoon. I appreciated it very much. I husked an ear right away, plucked a few grains, then threw them in my mouth. Hmm, it was sweet! Not the kind of man-made sweetness, it was more natural. Mmm, it was good! Lightly boiled later on, the cream color of the grains turned to a bright yellow.

I guess you'd become both physically and mentally healthy, if you eat things like these every day. It makes me want to move to the country right now.

The End

Caterpillar

I watched the Winbledon men's final on TV last night. It was a spectacular game! Last year's final, Federer vs Nadal was a breathtaking match over 4 hours, but it was just as exciting this year going over 4 hours again. Actually, it was around 3 o'clock in the morning when the broadcast finished. Thanks to that, I'm terribly sleepy. But I'll forgive them after all, it was an exciting game.

Roddick may be upset and I feel a bit sorry for him, after seeing him fight so hard and well, getting so close to winning. But although he had been beat today, I'd like him to stay confident since his performance was really remarkable. (Sometimes even better than his opponent!) Besides, Federer who beat him today, was beat by Nadal last year. Today's runner-up, tomorrow's champion. Anyway, those guys both fought so well. Congrats, and thank you!

The End

Caterpillar

The weather has become sunny in a while today, and the tempretaure soared up from morning. Needless to say, the train cars were air-conditioned. I happened to find an empty seat so I sat down, and noticed that the guy sitting next to me could be roughly estimated as 5 foot 11, and 180 pounds. This guy, he was releasing so much heat. Oh, please. It was supposed to be air-conditioned no doubt, the lady sitting across from me was even wearing a cardigan. But it was absolutly not cool at all! In fact, the air around me must have been at least three degrees higher.

Hey you, it's not a time to be fooling around with that game on your cell-phone, did you know that? Oh, come on, give me a break, I'm sweating bullets you know.

The End

Caterpillar

Yesterday we had fine weather, but today it kept raining with short intervals. Around this time of season, the chances to put up umbrellas usually increase. And I don't know why, but I often see people with unnecessarily huge umbrellas these days. Isn't there anything that could be done about them? I mean they get in my way. I always have to step aside and wait for them to pass by on the narrow sidewalks of Tokyo, and that's pretty annoying.

Additionally, the people putting up those jumbo-sized umbrellas somehow tend to be young women or slender young men. Wouldn't a smaller umbrella be enough to keep them from getting wet?

The End

Caterpillar

My head aches. Since last night, I have a strange feeling in the back of my head and it feels sort of heavy. And I feel a dull pain run down from the back of my head to the neck when I bend down. I also feel a banging pain like I was hit in the head with a hammer or something, whenever I clear my throat or sneeze. It feels like I've been announcing my bad conditions here in this "Murmur" so often these days. Could it be that I'm actually a physically weak person?

Perhaps somone might have hit me in the head with a hammer while I've been asleep last night.

The End

Caterpillar

My head still hurt from morning. So I looked up my symptoms on the Internet, and discovered that they were very similar to those of acute sinusitis. Meanwhile, my head seemed like it had been turned to Joya-no Kane(the night watch bell), and someone has been ringing it once in every 3 to 5 seconds, though the gong's speed was doubled whenever I tried to stand up or sit down. It bothered me so much and I couldn't get anything done, so I made up my mind and almost crawled to an ENT clinic near-by. The time was around four, but unfortunately they were already closed...

As I looked at the opening hours pinned on the entrance door, I found out that they only work from 2 to 4 in the afternoons. Wow, only 2 hours?! What an easy job!

The End

Caterpillar

I had no choices, so I went to a clinic for internal diseases near the office, the clinic I've been to before. The doctor's diagnosis was cold caused by virus. Additionally, I had to go through a simple test for the new type virus. And I tested... negative, of course. That was because I didn't have the flu which I knew right from the start. I don't think so many people would diagnose me for cold from these symptoms. They're all you can get from a sinusitis. It's just that I haven't had the pus out yet. But since the diagnosis was cold, I was given some antipyretic painkiller to reduce the headache. I took this medicine at once, but it didn't actually solve the underlying problem.

Today, my head still hurts. Though it's grown better than yesterday while the painkiller is working.

The End

Caterpillar

My head still hurts when the painkiller that I've been given at the internal disease clinic wears off. But I had been informed by the doctor there, that I should take them with at least 6 hours' interval, and even before that, he'd given me just enough tablets for the meantime, so I can't take them so frequently. I had to save them and settle for taking them only twice a day, live through the pain and run to the nearest ENT clinic from my house, first thing Monday morning. However. This ENT clinic near my house, somehow was incredibly popular and always crowded, that they had many old people waiting in line more than 30 minutes before they open.

I've always thought that those old people should be working, if they were so well enough to get there and stand there waiting in line before hte clinic even opens. Is it because I have a twisted personality?

The End

Caterpillar

I did it. I got up early this morning, and I've been to the ENT. It reminded me of several years ago when I used to get up early to take Mikeco to the vet every day. I got there more than one hour before they opened, but there were already four more people waiting. Despite those old people I managed to squeeze myself in and was able to get examined and was diagnosed as... not sinusitis. According to the doctor, my sinuses were clean enough and therefore my headaches must have been a tension-type.

That means I'm suffering from the same type of headache as.. Obaba. Oh gee, that's quite embarassing. By the way, did you know that sinuses used to be spaces to store permanent teeth while we were kids? Wow.

The End

Caterpillar

The ENT doctor has told me that while we are infants and have baby teeth, our permanent teeth that are supposed to come out later, are stored? in our sinuses. And when our baby teeth come out, the teeth that were stored in our sinuses slide down to become our permanent teeth. After all the permanent teeth had grown, our sinuses turns to two empty spaces.

When those empty spaces get filled with pus, that's when we become sinusitis.

The End

Caterpillar

One of our clients brought us some cans of 100 percent fruit juice. We put them in the fridge right away, and had some later. Mmmm, it was good! The rainy season seems to have ended a couple of days ago, and it has been pretty hot since then. A fresh cold can of juice is definitly appreciated on a hot day like this. It feels like it soaks into my tired body. I was about to say, "it makes you feel alive," when Cow said, "It makes you feel like you were reincarnated."

Reincarnated? I wonder what he is getting reincarnated into with a can of juice.

The End

Caterpillar

This morning on my way to work, I saw a bunch of kids on the subway platform. It's a weekday morning. What are they doing on a weekday morning, they're supposed to be at school during this time of day, aren't they? They caught my attention so I studied them for a while. There were four boys seemingly the same age maybe around 6th grade, and they were all dressed pretty rough in T-shirts or tank tops with half pants and additional sports sandals or sneakers to go with it. The boys seemed to be talking, laughing and enjoying a nice time together.

!! Could it be that they're having summer vacation already?!

The End

Caterpillar

It was when I went to the kitchen to clean and put away the dishes after my late supper last night. There was a high flame burning under a kettle. Maybe it's JoOusama, I thought. That old lady, she must have left the kettle on fire and must be waiting for the water to come to a boil in her cool air-conditioned room upstairs, since it gets too hot in the kitchen when we use the burner. But it is awfully hot in here. Well, it should be leaving the kettle on a flame so high I thought turning the flame lower, and put my hand on the handle of it without thinking much. I got knocked off. It was boil-dry!!!

Gosh, she almost got me burned to death together with the whole house.

The End

Caterpillar

It's not such a big deal compared to having been nearly burnt to death, but the water was also left running from the tap at that time. What is the matter with these people? Added to this, there have been a number of times I almost got intoxicated of carbon monoxide, because someone had left the gas running.

No wonder I get headaches living in a place like this...

The End

Caterpillar

I went out for dinner with a friend I met at the reunion held earlier this year. My friend suggested of going to an Italian restaurant known for their original Italian dressing, so we decided to go there. We were having coffee after enjoying some dishes, when a waiter came up to us and whispered, "I'm sorry to have to say this, but I'm afraid we have customers waiting."

So what? It wasn't lunch time, you know. It was true that the restaurant was crowded, and maybe we seemed like we've finished eating and won't drop any more money. But I didn't expect to be driven out of there in this way... It was a little disappointing.

The End

Caterpillar

I've been to the library in a while and there I happened to meet a family who were planning to go to Hawaii for their summer vacation. However, they seemed a bit worried about the language, since it was their first trip abroad in 10 years. And the father was about to sign out an English-Japanese dictionary... So I stopped him and suggested a book called "Tabi-no Yubi-sashi Kaiwa-chou"(literally, finger pointing phrase book for traveling abroad). In this book are some of the most frequently used phrases in short simple words, with additional readings in Kata-kana that enables the readers to actually speak with correct intonations, only by reading them aloud. There are also humorous pictures to go with each phrase, that are sure to grab the locals' hearts. It should definitely be useful than a dictionary. It's my recommendation for those traveling overseas this summer.

And you can make full use of the book for FREE if you sign it out at the library.

The End

Caterpillar

Today, we've come up to only a day away till the observable solar eclipse in Japan after 46 years' absence. However, however. It has rained almost all day in Tokyo today. And the forecast is telling that we're going to have cloudy skies tomorrow, with occasional rain. They say it would start from around 11:00 AM (Japan time) though...

Will we be able to see it?

The End

Caterpillar

Unfortunately, we had overcast skies in Tokyo today as the forecast had said. The sky was covered with white clouds and I couldn't see even a glimpse of the solar eclipse. After all we can't control the weather. They say the eclipse has been seen from between the clouds in some places of Tokyo though. Incidentally, it's said to have rained on Akuseki-tou(Akuseki Island) where it was supposed to be the best spot to observe the eclipse. My condolences to those overnight solar eclipse fans who ditched work and went to Akuseki-tou.

Putting that aside, I'm more worried about the weather that seems like we've been taken back to the rainy season. I'm afraid there'll be mushrooms growing from my head before long.(-_-;)

The End

Caterpillar

The PE teacher from my junior high school got arrested. According to the news, He had been using drugs since 3 years ago, when he had a tough day at work.(Using or carrying illegal drugs are strictly prohibited in Japan.) I read the news in the evening paper about 2 days ago, and I've been wondering if he could be the same person as my teacher, after reading the information on his age, occupation, position in his current workplace, home address, and so on. But I've found a news movie a short while ago where I can identify the guy's face, and now there's no doubt that he is my junior-high PE teacher.

I'd never even dreamed before that there would be an arrest from someone I knew. It surely has much more impact on me than the solar eclipse.

The End

Caterpillar

Yesterday, I wrote about the news of my junior-hi PE teacher getting arrested and since then, I have been receiving e-mails one after another. According to one of them, the news has been causing a whoop and a holler on our junior-hi community in the SNS, Mixi.

Well, it should be. I mean, there aren't so many people who experience one's acquaintance getting arrested. At least, not here in Japan I guess.

The End

Caterpillar

I was pretty shocked by the arrest of my PE teacher. Perhaps I might have been too distracted by it. I was on my way home walking to the station the day before yesterday, when a strange woman seemingly in her 60s came up to me and said, "Your bag is opened." It was very kind of her. I thanked her and took my backpack off my shoulders to have a look. And oh, my. The zipper of my backpack was completely open...

Did I walk all the way from my office with my bag wide open like this? Oh boy, no kidding... Fortunately, it looked like I hadn't dropped anything on the way, though.

The End

Caterpillar

I..it's HOT. Well, it's supposed to be hot, after all it's summer. It seemed like the rainy season was back again only a couple of days ago, and now here's the mid-summer heat. Still, I must be lucky enough to have the wind blowing. It's keeping me alive somehow. I wonder how I should spend such a hot day-off. Hmm...!! How about climbing up on the roof and spending the day relaxed, maybe having some cold beer? That sounds pretty good. But I realized that I have to get myself a ladder to climb up on the roof in order to do so...

Even before that, I'll have to clean up my room to make space for the ladder... (-_-)

The End

Caterpillar

My favorite heavy rotation Teva sports sandals seem to smell these days. Originally, the sole part is supposed to contain some sort of deodorizer in its material, and it has become one of their salesepoints that it doesn't smell. Though perhaps because I've been wearing them for the past few summers, maybe the effect has worn out and my sandals stink especially after being wet by rain...

Yesterday, the weather was fine and we also had wind, so I've washed and dried my sandals in a while. And just as I've been thinking that I wouldn't have to worry about the smell any more, it starts raining in the afternoon today... Oh, of all times.

The End

Caterpillar

The weather still seems to be stuck in the mud, though there is one good thing that it's brought me. It's the Myouga(Japanese ginger sprouts) that are coming out of the ground in the back of our kitchen. So many of them are coming out one after another that I can't catch up picking them. I've had them for lunch today, as condiment for my rice noodle side dish. It's amazing how these Myouga refreshes the heat and stickiness when you have them.

Well, it's a blessing of nature. Let's not pick them all and relish every bite of it.

The End

Caterpillar

One of my clients told me that she was going to her best friend's wedding this weekend. I feel sorry for the guests invited in this heat. When I asked her where the ceremony was going to take place, she answered it was going to be held at Kamakura(that was pretty far from where we were talking). Maybe her best friend was from Kamakura I thought, but my client said she wasn't. Then was the groom from Kamakura? The answer was no. I pressed my client, "Then why are they having a wedding at Kamakura?" She sighed and told me that the couple wanted to have a wedding ceremony at some place with an ocean view, because it was summer...

Wow, aren't they such a nice couple.

The End

Caterpillar

The forecast had said this morning, that today's highest temperature would be 31 degrees celcius however, that couldn't be. It has got to be at least 33 degrees. Since it's so hot, maybe it would be better for those weathermen to announce the temperature 1 or 2 degrees higher than the forecast. Well, although it's really hot and humid, as a matter of fact, personally I don't actually dislike walking in this heat. It makes me feel like I'm being tested by nature as one of the creatures that live on earth. And I like challenging things. I feel like, bring it on, I'll take the challenge!(^ ^)

But I usually look like I've taken a dip in the bath by the time I reach my office. I'm hyperhidrosis...

The End

Caterpillar

There's a corner on the Asahi-shinbun where celebrities introduce their favorite picture books. Yesterday, it was the former Fuji-TV announcer Kyouko Uchida known as Ucchy, and she was introducing this picture book titled "Palle Alone in the World" by Jens Sigsgaard. Oh boy, it's the book Cow once told me about!! According to Cow, his teacher has read the picture book for him and his classmates when he was in elementary school and he loved the story however, he couldn't find the book when he tried to buy it after he'd grown up, because his experience went way back for decades and he wasn't so sure of the title.

When I told him about the article this afternoon, he cried tears of joy saying,"I knew that book existed!"

The End

Caterpillar