Picture is worth a thousand words

My English teacher Daniel became a dad of his cute daughter. He looked having a calm and happy atmosphere nobody could not have except a new dad.

I saw him for the first time in three weeks. Just three weeks ago, he had been a guy to be a dad but he had looked just a guy of guys (Sorry Daniel ;). He must be a good dad.

Congratulations!!

(22:19-22:28 9min)

Musical chairs

I've rearranged chairs and desks in the room with my colleague to make a room for one more person. Our room already has five members while its size is not big, so somebody says our room an octopus pot (タコ部屋). Our room is already full loaded, furthermore we are trying to see the limitation of filling people :)

I just remember a gambling; two guys alternately try putting coins into a cup filled with water. It looks the cup is already full filled with water, but there is a small room because of the surface tension.

(22:42 - 22:54 12min)

Sunday programming

I enjoyed programming today, which was not (so) related with my job. I was making an web application which encourages users sharing URLs interested by the users. That's like Digg or Hatena bookmark? Kind of... I don't care about the uniqueness. The purpose was not for making money or getting salary, but for fun and catching up web 2.0 :P

(23:02 - 23:09 7min)

Could not sleep

I was very sleepy and tired yesterday. It seemed that I was too tired to sleep. I went to bed soon after I posted the previous entry, but I was rolling on my futon. I hope I can easily sleep (-m-).

Just FYI. (-m-) is a face mark praying with hands.

(23:49-23:53 4min)

Sleepy day

I was very sleepy today. Commutings of both ways were horrible. Although I usually read a book on the train, I was napping by standing today.

One possibility of my sleepiness is just a short sleeping time. I have got a good habit to wake up 6:30am, but the time to sleep still tends to be extended after midnight. I cannot believe there are short sleepers of somehow 4 hours.

I will sleep in 10 min today.

(22:18-22:26 8min)

Lost and Found

Tomoko and I went climbing the mountain behind our house. We're trying to make it a habit as I mentioned. We changed the route to the mountain from the normal route for fun and exploring neighborhood.

We got lost.

When crawling roads, we found a wild road at the top of a slope. It seemed crossing a mountain (different from the above mountain). That wild road was amazing. I was very surprised that I could find such a nature near my house. I will bring a camera next time.

(22:49 - 23:01 12min)

Paper work again

I had to spend the whole weekend to fill my paper work. The saying again, "Beginning is half the job done". It's true.

(23:51-23:55 4min)

Walking on the mountatine

There's a small mountain behind my house. I walked on the mountain with Tomoko this morning. She said she had started the walking several days ago as her habit.

We intentionally lifted the knees during the walking. It seemed easy but I actually sweated. I have to admit that I exercise too little. I decided to start lifting my knees more on my commuting. It should be good for my health for the long haul.

Well, it's not true. I'm not sure I actually do that. I just wanted to use "for the long haul".

(1:09 - 1:12 / 23:43 - 23:49 9min)

Cockroach poker

I play Catan with my coworkers every Friday. This Friday was a special day, because we had guests from another company. One of the guests was a very famous person to me and similar ages of me. He had been a PR of boys toys and a comic magazine had featured him as our hero!

Anyway, we played "Cockroach Pocker" as he introduced that the game reveals the players' evilnesses. The rule was very simple so that I could get into the game soon. The game was very fun. I want to buy the game and play it every Friday.

Ah, I was not evil but a loser.

1:09 - 1:19

Secret treasure museum in Atami

My most impressive place at Atami was the secret treasure museum (秘宝館). "Secret treasure museum" is a literal translation, but a more suitable translation is the adult museum. So under 18 old kids cannot enter the museum. We expected that it is very silly, and it actually fitted to our expectation.

23:43 - 23:45 + 1:07 - 1:12 (7min)

Expedition

From tomorrow's morning, I'm going to:
1. Atami for 2nights (Sep 11-13)
2. Nagoya for 1night (Sep 13-14)
3. Suzuka for 1night (Sep 14-15)
4. My home for 1night (Sep 15-16)
5. Karuizawa for 2nights (Sep 16-18)

Question, how many socks should I bring?

23:29 - 23:33 (4min)

Booked a Restaurant

I booked a restaurant today for our wedding anniversary. The restaurant is the place we had the wedding party two years ago. Tomoko and I will go lunch there on the same date of two years ago. The date is actually over one month later, so I do not need to rush it indeed. However, it is obviously better than forgetting booking it ;-).

23:21 - 23:26 (5min)

Reviewing today's lesson

• The browser is designed to cope with the next generation of web applications. [deal with, handle with]
• Firefox started to dent Internet Explorer's lead. [took some value (but not destroy)]
  
• That's what we set out to build. [start doing something]
  

• I recognise I'm not perfect. [to admit]
• They have recognised the importance of your contribution. [to acknowledge]
• As I see it, she's making a big mistake. [to have an opinion]

• admit [realize something and pablically say you believe it]
• acknowledge [accept]

• His government has suffered chronic unpopularity. [feel pain] [severe]
  
• A, B and C have added to his woes. [problems]
  
• a political vacuum
• a lapse in policies [loss]
  
• He told the hastily convened news conference. [in a hurry] [organized]
  

22:21 - 22:31 (10min)

Early bird

I woke up at 6:30 am today by not accident. We're trying to shift the working hours earlier. I went to the office at around 8:30 am so that I could use my time for me for one and a half hour. That was so nice for my productivity. Plus, I did not feel guilty to go home at a early time.

I want to make it our habit.

23:11 - 23:16 (5min)

I woke up at 6:30 am today but not by accident. My wife and I are trying to shift the working hours earlier. I went to the office at around 8:30 am so that I could use my time for myself for one and a half hours. That was so good for my productivity. Plus, I did not feel guilty going home at a early time.

Radio Taiso

I recognized doing Radio Taiso is a very good habit after we had tried it in this morning. We'll continue Radio Taiso every morning.

23:49 - 23:50 (1min)

I realized doing Radio Taiso is a very good habit after we had finished it this morning. We'll continue Radio Taiso every morning.

BOOK OFF

BOOK OFF opened a new shop in front of Shin-Yokohama stations some months ago. I went to the new BOOK OFF with Tomoko as today's destination of our walking. The shop consists of 3 floors. It is a relatively big shop comparing other BOOK OFF shops.

I did not find attractive computer books there, but found some business related books. I saw a poster which said they will have a sale tomorrow. If it was today, I don't need to go again...

23:40 - 23:48 (8min)

BOOK OFF opened a new shop in front of Shin-Yokohama station some months ago. I went to the new BOOK OFF with Tomoko as today's destination for our walking. The shop consists of 3 floors. It is a relatively big shop compared to other BOOK OFF shops.

I did not find any attractive computer books there, but I did happen to find some business related books. I saw a poster which said they will have a sale tomorrow. If it was today, I wouldn't need to go again...

Mail from Mr. and Mrs. Murooka

I got an email from Mr. and Mrs. Murooka for the first time in several years. They were my neighbors when I was in Illinois. Their mail said they're now in Osaka.

23:20 - 23:22 (2min)

Happy dining

Tomoko's cooking skills are getting better. I love eating her dinner :) Correctly, it may not be a matter of her skills but I think she is enjoying cooking than before. Today's dinner was grilled yellowtail (ぶり), kamaboko with wasabi (いたわさ), and boiled egg pudding (茶碗蒸し).

yum-yum :-)

23:11 - 23:18 (7min)

Tomoko's cooking skills are getting better. I love eating her dinner :) Precisely, it may not be a matter of her skills but rather that she is enjoying cooking more than before. ...

PMM2

I went to Otemachi with Tomoko to see our advisor of personal money management. Today was the last day of three. We learnt a lot of things about money planing. I was actually interested in some plans like personal pension. Anyway, I'd better study more before making contracts.

0:20 - 0:24 (4min)

I went to Otemachi with Tomoko to see our personal money management advisor. Today was the last day of three. We learnt a lot of things about money planing. I was actually interested in some plans like personal pension. Anyway, I'd better study more before making any contracts.

How to Interupt

Reviewing...

• May I interrupt?
• When you say rational what do you mean?
• Just a moment, / Hold on, / One moment,
• Can I say something here?
• Let me finish? / Let me finish what I was saying?
  

23:24 - 23:27 (3min)

Fixed

I've fixed the previous three blog posts on my English teacher's comments. Thank you Daniel :)

I just retyped all sentences for reviewing, it might be better than copy and paste. I'm wondering if bolding to corrected words is worth to spend a time or not. I'm leaning toward not to do it.

23:20 - 23:23 (3min)

Paper work

I have a paper work now. I don't want to do it, but I have to do it. The due date is this Friday. I know a Greek(?) saying which means like "When I began, that's the time I've finished the half of all".

I'm just in the middle way. I'm not sure when I could finish it up... X-|

22:57 - 23:03 (6min)

I have paper work now. I don't want to do it, but I have to. The due date is this Friday. I know a Greek(?) saying which means like "Beginning is half the job done".

I'm just in the middle now. I'm not sure when I will finish it up... X-|
2008-09-02