Category Archives: Personal

Freezing Near Dancing Girls in Leotards

I spent the day freezing whilst watching girls in leotards simultaneously freeze and dance. My main job, though, was to serve as navigator, but I even let a female do that. Sort of.

Today was the it’s-the-end-of-something-so-let’s-dance-in-the-cold-performance (something like that) for our youngest’s Rhythmic Gymnastics group. The RG powers-what-are assemble clubs from around Saitama Prefecture and they put on an afternoon show. (There is, in fact, a morning performance with different clubs, but we didn’t have to go to that.)

They choose the end of February because, well, I’m not sure. I think it’s because many of the girls are finishing with the clubs before moving on to high school and/or junior high. Or it’s because that’s the best time to schedule an unheated gymnasium.

I started the day with a private class that I’m teaching while the regular teacher is out of Japan. I then got to serve as navigator during our trip to the performance site. However, this time I used my smartphone as the navigation system because real maps require effort. The navigation system (Google maps with its female voice) is pretty good–I especially like its on-the-fly traffic warnings–but has an annoying tendency to announce a turn a few hundred meters in advance and then to say nothing until saying “turn —” without any warning.

Once we got to the arena, we managed to get a good seat, but our youngest’s performance was the 13th or so on the program. This meant we got to sit in the cold gym watching performances that had to meaning for us. (Note: for reasons involving sadism, Japanese public gymnasiums are neither heated in winter nor cooled in summer making them hellish pretty much all the time.) At one point I broke out my gloves to keep my hands warm.

Our youngest finally performed, did a good job, and then we got to wait for a few more performances.

That was followed by decades of picture taking.

The return trip was mostly uneventful. We pitted our car navigation system versus Google Maps. (I’ll post about that result another day.) Along the way home, though, we managed to buy chicken and bourbon.

Entering the Terrible Threes

Leave a reply

I’m still not sure why I’m doing this. It’s more of a habit at this point and I do it even when I have no ideas.

Whatever the reason I’m doing it, today marks the end of two years writing this blog.

I had planned to write some sort of epic anniversary post and offer some freebies, but life and work intervened to prevent me from assembling all the stuff I’d planned to assemble. I still plan to do that (the freebies) but it will have to wait until later in the week.

I remain shockingly resistant to little concepts like “planning” and “follow through” when it comes to this blog. For a while I had a bit of a plan going: do this post this day, that post that day, take pictures of stuff here and there, but the plans quickly crumbled into dust.

I also have been lazy about taking random excursions and writing about those. Instead I’ve been dependent, much more often than I’d planned, on personal posts that are little more than diaries where I complain about stuff. Those usually come about an hour or so before bedtime when I just can’t be bothered with the post I’d planned.

That said, I think the writing and coherence of the posts have improved over the two years, even when I’m typing random words a few minutes before bedtime. I still have stuff to review and a number of books to review but have resisted taking a day to do nothing but take and organize photographs.

The goals for year three are to, at long last, assemble an email list and offer a newsletter version of Mere Blather that people can subscribe to (and, in theory, include a post that doesn’t appear on the website).

I am also pondering taking a weekly Sabbath, probably on Sunday, where I might post a picture or two but don’t actually write anything. I imagine myself knocking out a couple posts that day and having them in reserve. Or just assembling posts into a newsletter. Or doing nothing and liking it.

I also have a long list of posts I never wrote that I stare at every now and then but never actually write. (In a couple cases I’ve forgotten what I mean by the notes I’d written.) I’ve also got an Amazon Associates account I haven’t fully exploited. (I would, of course, remind you that there is a donation button on the right side if you’re using a PC and way down at the bottom if you’re reading on a phone. You can even donate in Bitcoin if you can figure out how to do that.)

Either way, for those of you who’ve suffered through these posts on a regular basis, thanks. I hope to keep you entertained for at least another year. (Not that you’ve been entertained thus far, but isn’t it pretty to think so?” )

A Waste in Time Wastes Nine

Leave a reply

My brain is rebelling against having nothing to do. Unfortunately it’s rebelling by doing nothing.

For various complicated reasons, I’m not teaching an evening class this term. This means my Tuesday and Thursday evenings are now free.

This gives me lots of extra time to do things I’ve been putting off doing. As Hamlet said, right before he changed his mind, “‘Tis a consummation / Devoutly to be wished”. Unfortunately, unlike Hamlet, my brain isn’t changing. It’s still in busy Tuesday and Thursday mode and it doesn’t seem to know what to do with all the free time.

I worked some yesterday, but today I couldn’t be bothered. The same thing happened on Tuesday.

I think part of it is the disruption of the rhythm I’d established during the course. Teach, wander down to Tokyo, drink coffee, write post, teach, travel, relax, go to bed at midnight.

Now, I’m home in the afternoon and I’m not used to all the down time. Rather than fill it, my brain is determined to waste it. I think we all have a natural tendency to enter denial mode when our usual excuses are no longer available. It’s easy not to do any writing or editing if we’re too busy with other things. However, when those other things go away, our brains start looking for new things.

I’ve even done the “just do it for two minutes and then you’ll catch fire and keep working.” And it’s true, that works for about 10 minutes, then something starts gnawing at the back of my brain and I decide to try something else. Usually something that involves a game.

Eventually, I’ll establish a new rhythm and start filling my evenings with things both productive and fun. Of course, soon after I do that, I’ll probably start the evening classes again. Even if I don’t, I’m pretty sure I can find a distraction.

Almost Never Looking Down in the Mouth

Leave a reply

I horrified a dentist and his English teacher today.

For the next four Saturday mornings, I’m taking over lessons for an acquaintance who’s going on a couple work-related trips. His student is a dentist whose goal is to start giving presentations in dentist conferences around the world.

Both the dentist and my acquaintance commented that my teeth looked very straight–which means they both need new glasses/contacts. They speculated that my straight teeth must be the result of frequent trips to the dentist.

The dentist asked me when the last time I’d been to the dentist was. I thought a bit, did some algebra and said “Around 1998.”

They both freaked out, then assumed I was joking, then freaked out again when I assured them that, no, I hadn’t been to the dentist in a millennium, er, in THIS millennium.

Because they were horrified to the point of being speechless, neither pursued my reasons for not going. The teacher, instead, encouraged me to get a check up and cleaning from the dentist/student because it was cheap.

I would have pointed out that it wasn’t a matter of money. It’s also not a matter of fear of dentists. (Remember, I’ve had needles stuck in my eye; I’m not that worried about my teeth.) My father hated dentists and his dream was to find a dental team that would knock him out and fix everything wrong with his teeth in one epic visit.

In my case it’s a more a matter of laziness. The last time I went was because I’d lost part of a filling and I wasn’t that impressed with the work done by the dentist. This hasn’t inspired me to rush off to the dentist. Also, having seen the dental troubles my father had at a young age and work he had to sit through, I’ve managed to take much better care of my teeth. I’ve also heard that dentists in Japan will sometimes clean a few teeth, then schedule another appointment to clean a few more before schedule a third appointment to clean a few more because national health insurance.

Now that I know an English speaking dentist, I may have to overcome my laziness and get my check up for this millennium.

Cashing Change and Begging Someone Else to Do It

Leave a reply

I carried a lot of money around today. Woe to anyone who tried to steal it, though. It probably would have given them a hernia.

Today was the day I decided to drain the piggy bank (more on that here) and deposit the contents in a real bank. There were, of course, some complications.

When I first started doing this, my habit was to wait until the jars were full and then take them to the bank, hand them over to one of the nice clerks and then enjoy a book whilst waiting for them to count the change and give me bills, or deposit the money directly to my account and I could extract it at my leisure.

Unfortunately, one day 15 years ago, I handed the change over and the nice clerk suddenly sucked on her teeth and became apologetic (translation: you in trouble, foreign guy). Instead she sent me to the ATM where I was expected to enter the change by hand and let the ATM do the counting (note: Japanese ATMs can take coin deposits). I even tried to stack the coins on the counter and she just kept apologizing.

Unfortunately, the ATM could only take a few dozen coins at a time requiring me to make a few dozen deposits. A half hour and a few dozen swear words later, my account was full of cash and my bank book was full of a several dozen small deposits.

After that, I found a different bank. The only problem there was they charged a few dollars for handling all the coins.

Today actually had a few jobs: Deposit the change in my account; convince a nice clerk to do it rather than me; and take money out as today was also pay day. The problem is, as of Monday, I don’t have a bank card. This meant I needed a nice clerk’s help.

The other problem was the coins were surprisingly heavy and I forgot there isn’t a branch of my bank in my town. This sent me the wrong way at first and then I got to carry the coins to the bank where I’d worked with Miss Patience about my name, address and bank card.

Luckily, after a little explaining, begging and playing dumb, a nice clerk took the change and deposited it for me and I was able to withdraw money for rent and food and taxes. I also have a little for more important things like pens and knives.

Miss Patience and the Long Journey to a New Card

1 Reply

All I wanted was a bank card issued in this millennium. After a while I was afraid it might take a millennium to get it.

On Monday I went to the bank to get a new bank card. My card had been issued in 1999 after I moved to Tokyo. It had held up reasonably well over 16-and-a-half years but it had a couple problems. 1) the magnetic strip, which had been hidden, had been exposed and begun to wear out. 2) Although the ATMs still recognized it, the bank that had issued it no longer existed.

I arrived at the bank before closing, explained what I wanted, and then was sent upstairs where I filled out a form, was given a number and waited until my number was called.

Once my number was called, a very nice clerk, lets call her Miss Patience, started to process my application. The first problem was with my address. I’d said that I didn’t want to change my address but Miss Patience pointed out that the address I’d written on the form didn’t match the address on my card. After she told me part of the address, I thought she was talking about the company I work for but she assured me the address was listed as my home address.

The problem was the address listed on my account no longer existed. In fact, it hadn’t existed for several years because the building had been torn down and new buildings put in its place.

I do not know if this means I’ve been breaking the law for several years–and it might explain why I was rejected for a credit card last week–but Miss Patience managed to get the address changed. That, however, led to the next problem: my signature didn’t match the signature on the account and since the card was older than my marriage I couldn’t remember how I’d signed it.

Every time I wrote my signature Miss Patience sighed, told me that was wrong and dropped a few hints.

Clearly I was pathetic enough that she didn’t believe I could be a con artist.

Eventually I figured out how I’d signed it (long story involving miscommunication) and everything was changed. I also managed to get my first and last names on the card rather than both my given names (another long story).

Along the way Miss Patience kept disappearing and reappearing with different forms and we both made mistakes requiring new forms. After an hour together, I was finally informed that my card would be mailed to me exactly “some time next week” and that if I needed money I should go to the counter.

Because the lower level of the bank had closed, I had to take an elevator to the ATM room in order to escape the bank.

As banking encounters in Japan go, it was surprisingly painless given how long it took. Now I’m just waiting to see if the card arrives to see if things actually worked out.

Staying the Same While Still Changing Things

Leave a reply

Today is the six month anniversary of the start of my diet/lifestyle change. Unfortunately, the guy whose plan I was following has run from the public eye after his larger plans failed.

I’ve mentioned before how I started following a plan outlined by Vic Magary and, somehow, managed to stick with it.

I still like his style. Although he’s former military and he called some of his plans “boot camps” and promised to “act like a drill sergeant” if we didn’t turn in our food journals every day, he never tried to be one of those “exercise like a Green Beret/Navy SEAL/Ranger/French Foreign Legion Commando/now you’re ready to go to WAR” types. Instead, he promised to help us reach our goals without gimmicks or hype.

For the most part, that was true, and as of today’s official weigh in, I’m at 82 kilograms (just under 181 pounds) which means I’ve lost 17 kilos or about 37ish pounds since I started. More importantly, for the last month I’ve kept my weight around that number, which means I’ve been able to stop the drop without triggering a rebound. (Although our youngest, who takes notes while watching a Sunday morning medical show–long story–did accuse me of having a rebound after my New Year/in-law visit weight gain.)

I’ve been spotty with the exercise routine recently as my evening schedule has been changed. However, I still drag myself to the tatami mat room in our apartment and exercise at least three times a week. Also, on school days I have a 3ish mile (5 kilometer) round trip walk that I count as exercise even as it destroys my shoes.

My goal now is to work on strength. I didn’t lose any strength as I lost weight–had no where to go but up–but the exercise routine needs to move to the next level.

Unfortunately, Vic’s ventures didn’t succeed the way he’d hoped (apparently not for the first time) and he’s now cocooned back into less risky work. Also, despite student encouragement, he’s pulled all his books from circulation (except one on martial arts). The Facebook page linked above is the last social media he’s kept active, but he doesn’t seem to respond to any posts. All his other websites are down.

Since he’s not around to do it, the only advice I can give is up your protein and vegetables; lower your carbs and liquid calories; replace your between meal snacks with smaller, healthier alternatives; write down everything you eat, about how much and when; do something resembling exercise every day (and write down what you did); and get more sleep.

Oh, and pick one day a week for your official weigh-in. Don’t weigh yourself every day. You’ll be shocked how much your weight moves around from day to day and it will freak you out.

Rage-Quitting Without Stopping

Leave a reply

It was a good idea, but the timing was wrong. Then I should have stopped but didn’t.

I tried to do a couple things today and they didn’t go well. Or, at least, I wasn’t in the mood to do them and that caused things to turn out less as well as I would expect.

I then tried to relieve stress by playing a couple games. Unfortunately, because I was already in a bad mood, I didn’t play the games as well as I could have. In fact, I found myself swearing at the screen and looking for a safe place to throw my keyboard. (It was not mindless rage, just rageful annoyance.)

(Note: rageful is totally a word. More or less.)

This caused me to forget the basic rules of gaming:

–If you’re not having fun, stop.
–If playing makes you more angry than you were before, stop.
–If you’re ruining your stats, stop.
–If you are thinking f@#k my stats, you should have stopped a long time ago.

In my go-to game, World of Tanks, I was especially bad. Instead of having fun and ridiculing myself for my silly mistakes, I was playing like a reckless beginner and could see my stats falling. Rather than rage-quit and walk away, my frustration caused me to redouble my efforts which doubled the rate of the free fall. It was as close as I could get to rage-quitting while still playing.

Eventually, I stopped and found other things to do. The things were no more productive than world of tanks, but they didn’t make me think about throwing my keyboard across the room.

That only happened when I tried to think about a topic for this post. (One of the things that didn’t work out well today was my first idea for today’s post. Long story.)

Maintenance During the Hangover Day

Leave a reply

Today was a day for maintenance.

After yesterday’s headache and general malaise, I decided to make today more productive.

First, though, I had to play an online game with a friend for a couple hours. This was sort of productive, for my stats in the game, and I got lots of information from him about Canada and shared some information with him about Japan.

I was in the post headache-hangover. No pain, feeling a lot better, just not much energy. If you’ve ever been sick and then suddenly started feeling better but weak, that’s how I felt. This meant I couldn’t tackle too many projects involving heavy lifting, but I did get some house cleaning done.

I also decided to do maintenance on a couple pens before filling them with different inks. At first I got lazy and decided to refill a pen with the same ink. Then I realized it wasn’t the same ink–post-headache hangover in action–and gave it the thorough cleaning I’d originally intended to give it.

Unfortunately, this can be slow process and my desk now looks a bit like an unkempt mad scientist’s laboratory with pen parts and pen innards lying about here and there. I’ve even got random tubes and a specimen in a glass jar with its old blood slowly draining out.

Mad Science means never stopping to ask “what’s the worst thing that could happen?” Maxim 14—Schlock Mercenary

The next big project is the annual purging of the file cabinet. I already did a purge of papers and projects and random stuff. Now I have to sort the stuff that was deliberately saved in a special file and not just set aside for another day.

I also have a couple more pens to clean out and a plan to take pictures of them all.

But, I also have an exam to make. And there’s still that online game.

Every Thing Old is Once Again

Leave a reply

I woke up with a headache this morning and alcohol was not the cause, although it was to blame.

This was like a visit from an old friend who used to visit more often but who I haven’t seen in a long time. Perhaps because I’ve added a few more carbs back into my diet, or perhaps because the weather is changing or perhaps because I ate a packaged soup that expired 2.5 years ago for lunch yesterday (note: it said BEST BY not TOXIC AFTER) this old friend stopped by for a visit.

Even worse, I went to bed knowing I was going to wake up with a headache.

I knew this because I started to get a tight spot in the left side of my neck. Imagine waking up with a stiff neck and that’s how I felt before I went to bed. Usually I would pop a couple migraine pills and go to bed. However, because I’d had a couple ounces of vodka (from an ancient bottle of Absolut; are you noticing a trend here?) I couldn’t safely take any medicine.

As a result, when I woke up, my head looked and felt a lot like this:

How my head felt this morning. The screws and the pain are to scale.

I drank some coffee and hoped it would go away. When it didn’t, I took the medicine I would have taken the night before (note: it is not past the BEST BY date. Probably.) and went back to bed for a couple hours.

After I woke up I braved breakfast and although I didn’t have a lot of energy to make and eat very much, what I ate settled well, and I settled down at the desk to waste time.

Since then I’ve been woozy but not sick. I’ve had no trouble eating except I didn’t have a lot of interest in eating. I also managed to accomplish several small tasks but nothing big.

Tomorrow I suspect I’ll feel better. Then I’ll be able to waste time more efficiently.