This will be my yearly complaint about the lack of central heating in most parts of Japan except Hokkaido (and I have only heard that they have it, I don't know how widely used it is). Probably, I wouldn't even notice if, when I turned on my natural gas heater in the morning, the thermometer didn't read 10 C. Come to think of it, it was probably just as cold in the morning in Canada. I just didn't have any numbers to verify the fact. The nice part about my apartment is that I have a lot o...

Why do I let things pile up on me? At first I thought it had something to do with a lack of self-discipline (but not self-criticism) but now I wonder if something just isn't inherently wrong with me. Do I secretly crave punishing myself with the stress of not getting things done, feeling guilty and panic? Am I an anxiety junkie? I certainly don't subscribe to that "I do my best work under pressure" thing, but it lately it feels like I only do my work under pressure. Enough whining. B...

I dropped my biscotti in my latte. Now I am in the ignoble position of either fishing it out with my fingers (and then licking them then, I guess, as I have no tissue with me), or trying to suck back that latte before the thing disintegrates into soggy crumbles of a decimated sponge. Well, if this is the worst thing that happens to me today, I will be KICKING ass!

I have to go back to Canada for a funeral. Getting all the documents together was a bit tough. Say what you want about United Airlines, but my husband got me a mileage flight with three days from departure. Let's see Air Canada try that! Had to get my re-entry permit into Japan so I can come back though. Thank god I remembered because it would really suck to remember at the ticket gate and not be able to go. I get to immigrationa and there and there are 92 people ahead of me. I pray f...

Well, I didn't get home by 7:00. However, first thing when I did get home was to start using that espresso maker. I ripped off that plastic cover and right away, that espresso maker new that I meant business. Now we'll find out who is the boss, I thought to myself. So, first cup of espresso no problem. Milk foamer? Different story. Determined to rebel and undermine until the end, the espresso maker milk foamer feature would not work. After fiddling with this for about an hour, I decide...

Yep, still haven't used that espresso maker. I have gotten as far as taking it out of the box and skimming over the intstructions. Yes, I have to admit it. I actually read through all the instructions for appliances I get. I have only skimmed this one though as it is in Japanese. I think I get most of it. But no further progress than that. By the time I get home, the last thing I want is to go through the rigamaroll of learning appliance operation. I was going to say that the last th...

As I wrote in my other blog, I am feeling amazingly self-satisfied if I actually bring something home for lunch. Lately, meals have consisted of what ever I can pick up at convenience stores. In Japan, one can get a decentish salad, and some other kind of entree the quality (though not proportions) of a Denny's restaurant in the US. If I buy some kind of vegetable for lunch, I feel pretty damn good about that, too. Lately, I notice a stockpiling of instant foods in my desk (sealed in pac...

So, I finally decided to follow the crowd and get a cell-phone that can take pictures. This way, next time I'm at some kind of event, I can stand around with everyone else, arm raised high above my head to avoid the crowds and take pictures oSome of them turn out pretty well. The deciding factor is that my current phone, being 4 years old and the victim of countless, accidental droppings, has bad reception. The only problem now is finding the time to go out and get a new phone. Lately, I a...

Ski trip to Nagano was pretty good. We went to Hakuba and skied at Happo-one. I got a chance to go down the Olympic downhill run (not in Olympic downhill style, of course). It was pretty fun. Snow for the first few days was pretty good, but an unseasonal 14 C for the last few days meant that the snow became really slushy and slow. Boots that were too large meant that I didn't suffer from squished bone syndrome so my feet felt pretty good and I could enjoy myself. It was great to be in ...

So I checked out the web-page. The course is 3.5 km long and has 11 obstacles. There is a maximum of 390 people allowed to participate in the event, so I hope I get registered in time. If I win (which is really unlikely unless everyone else is abducted by aliens mid-course) I get 150kg of koshi-hikari rice. If you haven't tried this rice, you don't know what you're missing. 10kg costs anywhere from 30 to 50 dollars US. There are 5 draw prizes for trips to Hawaii. I will be hoping for that...

I have no idea what this whole thing entails. The best understanding I have yet is that people have to run 3.5 km in deep snow. The event is far enough away that I actually stay over-night there, so I wasn't going to do it until I saw that they have a costume category! How can I not go see an event where people wearing costumes are running in snow? I will probably not wear a costume (I simply don't have the resources to put one together, but I would like to dress up as a moose if I had a ch...

I am going to go skiing! I am pretty excited about it. I haven't been able to go for a couple of years. Hopefully, the boots won't hurt my feet too much. I have bones in wierd places so ski boots are quite painful- which is one reason why I don't go often. So down-hill for a few days and then on to cross-country!

There are a lot of ants in our back yard. They don't bite or anything. They are kind of cute in their little anty way since they are small and don't bite. Sometimes they crawl on me if I stand near the bar-b-q and because they are so small that I don't notice them. When I do, I try to shake them off, but there is always another one on my leg. Now I've kind of got the heebeejeebees and I feel like ants are crawling on me all the time.

It seems that there are certain things that I should avoid saying. "Things are going great," seems to top the list at the moment. It is like inviting trouble to knock you down on your ass. I haven't decided yet if even thinking that phrase is anathema as well. I am also going to avoid any obersvations about people's happiness, because I don't want to muck things up for anyone. So far, "You look well" hasn't produced any dire effects for anyone. I can only keep hoping. If I have wis...

Let's see if I got it THIS time! http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=c5pmfzv5.2mjmiykx&x=0&y=ogeq58