Monthly Archives: November 2004

So, according to my horoscope: Today you could go a bit wild in your personal life, HISASHI! You might feel like making a bold move. If you have had your eye on somebody, it could be the perfect time to let them know that you find them attractive. You’ll be ready to flirt and to send out some passionate messages. You might have an exciting evening if you schedule a nice date. This could be the start of something special, so have fun! But today I just went to work like usual and then went to a friend’s 40th birthday party. The birthday party was sedate, and the only single … Continue reading →

I found out that it’s my brother-in-law’s dad who came up with the term punes (pronounced pyoonz) which means being under the weather. My stomach felt funny all night and I could only sleep on my back. Usually when my stomach is bothering me, that’s the only position I can’t sleep in. I even had a weird dream that my friend Greg was giving up his 8 acres in Scappoose, selling it for a mint, to move to a very nice neighborhood in NE Portland where it was always sunny. To make it more surreal, Chandler from Friends lived there and I met Ross, who was telling me about all … Continue reading →

Several people I know (and you know who you are) took a vacation from blogging this weekend. Several of them, if you can count TWO as several, are knit bloggers and one of them (since I host her web page) continued to get comments on her last post which was last Tuesday! However, they did not quit their knitting. I observed them while they were allegedly watching TV and I saw them knitting and using some sort of odd Trainspotting clickers and little things that looked like rubber bands from some teenager’s braces. OK, so it was my sister and Carolyn. The sad part was that I was the only … Continue reading →

So we went out to the airport to get Carolyn and came back to make Thanksgiving dinner for her, my brother-in-law, my dad, my sis, and me. OK, so all I really did was mash the potatoes and my sister did the rest. What was the disappointment? Carolyn too quiet? The turkey too dry? (Just a little, since it was free range and not a Butterball.) The real disappointment was that I gave my brother-in-law Peter the sample Gilette razor that I got with the daily newspaper and it didn’t have a battery in it! It was just a simple disposable. Oh, the shame! I was hoping he could tell … Continue reading →

The big problem is that our dad likes to be the sickest person in the house. I had to go home early to run interference so she could get some rest. Actually, she thought she was OK in the middle of the day and came with my dad to rescue me from work. We were going to a bakery and then to lunch. She dropped me off at the crowded bakery and drove around looking for parking. When I got back to the car she was sleeping in the back. She wanted me to take my dad to a Slavic grocery while she waited, but she didn’t look too well. … Continue reading →

So most of the time it’s all about George. Or at least we pretend it’s all him. After all, he’s 88-years-old. But when my sister is around, it’s often all about her. Every day she’s gone to visit some other knitter or some friend. Today, however, she took some time to flood the laundry room and throw away the bathroom rugs. She said they were, well, stained. As anyone who lives with men should know, everything on a bathroom floor gets stained. I don’t know how she’s avoided it unless Peter pees sitting down (doubtful), exclusively pees outside (also doubtful since they live in the city now), or she just … Continue reading →

My buddy Greg who is also very generous when paying for meals, is very lazy when it comes to rebate checks. And for some reason, his wife can’t be bothered to send them in either. So after watching them blow a few of them, I started telling him I’d mail them in for him. It costs 37 cents in postage and an envelope and I end up with his rebate checks. For some reason, he won’t take them back, either. I suppose he has his reasons. He hates the dumb rebate dance. I usually agree. Aladdin Systems stiffed me $50 for their Stuffit program and it’s always a pain to … Continue reading →

What I hate about the fall is the leaves. Raking the leaves and walking in the leaves. Most of the time, there are presents in the leaves, left by the nice neighborhood doggies. I went out to dinner with my sister tonight and on the way back I also found a nice cracked sidewalk underneath the leaves and twisted my ankle. It hurts like hell right now. Listened to my voice recorder: a homeless woman told me something last week that I thought was, “Thirty-two wolkhammer.” I didn’t take any notes on the dreams I had last night. I remember some James-Bondy thing, and then something to do with spaghetti … Continue reading →

I am very, very sorry that THE FOOD IN THE KANTO DISTRICT OF JAPAN IS ASS. It’s salty and if you say there’s no flavor they add more salt. They use subtle flavorings like salt mixed with the salt to make things more salty. I really haven’t eaten in Tokyo for thirteen years, but Japan’s an old country so I don’t expect that things have changed much since I was last there. OK, so this is a bit incendiary to the Tokyoites out there, but I’m sorry: to an Osaka dweller, the food in Tokyo is swill. I’m sure the Tokyoites have bad things to say about Osaka as well. … Continue reading →

So the new officers of the radio club were railroaded elected today and I’m the new treasurer-elect. So I think I’ll start sending out harassing email telling people to pay their dues. AHAHAHAHA. So, yesterday we had to take my dad out for Japanese food and tonight my sister had to take him out for Japanese food. He’s quite particular about what he wants to eat. In fact, he never wants to go back for dinner to the place we went yesterday (Hakatamon) because we had to wait a whole three minutes for a table. The food there has it’s ups and downs; the udon is excellent, but the rest … Continue reading →

My sister is supposed to be here to help with my pa, but she’s usually out gallivanting around. When I came home from the gym, she was gone and he wanted me to heat up some soup. Usually that means he leaves most of the soup for “later” (i.e. for the garbage when we finally take it away and toss it) but today he finished it all. Which means my sister was spending less time feeding my pa, and more time fooling around with her friends. Oh, well. It beats staying here all day and having him drive her nuts. I suppose you’d think my pa could heat up his … Continue reading →

And I finally downloaded the pictures from my little Olympus thingy. I’m sure I’m in trouble for showing my work desk, since there’s probably some sort of violation of office policy or something. Notice that the screen is showing my sister’s blog. If you think my home desk is messy, you haven’t seen the rest of the room. That’s a 20th Anniversary Macintosh that is used only as a TV, and piles of stuff I probably ought to throw out.