I Never Blog

I never blog but well When you race the sunrise, get lost in Fussa, experience shouting produce, and bitch at your bank from half a world away things need to get mentioned.



It all started with a red Eye flight out of seattle headed to my new posting in japan. Terribly excited and even more tired once the boarding had begun. With sunrise at about 7 Am central or so these days I figured the jet had a three hour head start, so it was then we started racing the sunrise on a long cross pacific flight with no stops. Very fun times. At least the trip up to Seattle was fun, i'll never forget sitting between a flight attendant (That actually looked good) and a retired AF Pilot. I learned things talking to those two that i'll remember forever. Things such as...Halloween in New Orleans and what happens when a friend tatto's a fake pen**, wears a kilt, and talks like a caricature of a Sean Connerry caricature. Also what happens when the whole flight crew is asleep.



Getting lost in Fussa was an interesting experience. With my VERY limited grasp of Japanese finding a bicycle store (jitensha shoppu) was incredibly long and fun. Anyway, I eventually get to the store with the help of this 4 foot nothing octegenarian running to show me the way to find a great bicycle in all respects but one, It was 10 cm too shot, BUT the seat post length made up for this fact. Anyway, so through very broken engrish translations and miming gesture I get the store clerk to equip a kickstand, and minipump to this 80,300 Yen bicycle. grand total of my purchase....1100-1200 USD (depending on the exchange rate) This is where yelling at my bank comes in.



I had them install a block in my account so that no more than 900 USD can be spent in one day WHILE telling them I'd spend in the 1500 USD range on a bicycle very shortly. So either it was this...or the fact the transfer of 5 bills is still pending into my checking account that held up the transaction. So here I am blogging about of this while hoping that the nice store owner in a beat up part of Fussa honors his word and keeps my goods for me till tomorrow.



The trip back was....unique. Being as interested in other cultures as I am i decide to visit what seemed to be a small shopping center. This is where I encountered the yelling produce.. I see a few vegetable stalls outside so i go to look at what seem to be gene-modified apples. We're talking Granny smith's the size of my head (I'll take a picture when my camera arrives). So i enter the store to see among other things whole frozen fish, and foot long roots straight as an arrow that I can't even place. Then it hit me....the ever present sound of a pitch man wasn't a speaker system, but proximity sensors hidden amongst the daikon. If one enters a 5 foot radius of these sometimes not so hidden sensors they blare at you in rapid japanese the prices of the item, what it is, and other things I can't fully grasp.



To establish communications I sign a new cell phone contract with some company called and i sh** you not 'SoftBank'. The phone is a basic model, call, text, can do pictures, make video calls, scan barcodes, you know normal stuff, all twice the size of my old cell phone. The one thing truly unique about it....the users manual is ONLY in Japanese, so im stuck slowly deciphering what is sometimes a very nearly engrish menu system, and for the life of me I can't locate the 'delete' button when entering a number.



Anyway... After the adventures with produce I stop by a little bakery type place and pick up a riceball with sweet bean paste, after that another bakery and I have a fruit tart, and then I get lost. To sum it up....been up the better part of 24 hours, skipped thursday, got yelled at by vegetables, nearly bought a bike, got a new cell phone that is brick compared to my old one,bitched at my bank, had uniquely japanese food, and got lost. And you'll never believe this...encountered what was at least a 6 foot japanese woman.



This is all on the first day...any time to relax, turn on the TV, and hope the first thing that comes on ISN'T tentacle pron... And here's hoping im the proud owner of a brand new bicycle tomorrow 21 speed road bike here I come....if my bank cooperates.