Telecommuting and Proud of It!

Wednesday March 20, 10:52 a.m.

Monday night was apparently a hellish one for TTC commuters....at least, more so than usual. Satan must've been stoking the fires a little harder. It seemed to be a perfect storm of emergency buzzers (one for a fight that broke out on a subway...odd, it's not even the weekend) and one dangerous incident in which the doors suddenly opened on a moving packed subway. The response from the TTC was interesting, though. The top brass, including a pale-looking CEO Andy Byford, went on video to publicly apologize for the lousy service. That struck me as a very Japanese thing to do....mind you, he didn't bow deeply, but still, it was a good thing. Commuters were understandably only fairly charitable to the apology....after decades of lousy service, it's gonna take more than a mea culpa to fix things between The Better Way and the unhappy customers.

When I saw that transportation disaster happen on TV, I just thanked my circumstances that I now work from home. Yup, I'm a grateful telecommuter. Since I tap on my computer all day as a translator, I now just leave my home only to either take that needed walk or go downtown because I want to, not because I have to. There was that big news in business in which some of the large companies such as Yahoo or Google (not sure which) recently rescinded the telecommuting policy and forced all employees to return to the ship and batten down the hatches...perhaps nervous that some of those formerly far-flung employees were taking advantage of working at home or at the nearest Starbucks.

To be honest, there are some people who are just not made out to be telecommuters. The temptations are too great: easy access to regular TV and no access by the powers-that-be to look over your shoulder. It's like being back at university. Some students study better by being at the campus library. Some workers are more productive being in the cubicles. As for me, I seem to be able to exercise far more discipline when it comes to my translating work than when it comes to my weight. If I get an assignment, I get at it until it's done. Mind you, my interest in TV has waned down to a nub and frankly I like my job.

Still, it seems as if this sudden switch in the trend of telecommuting is very localized. According to a newspaper article, people being given sanction to work in the comfort of their homes is still alive and well and probably will not be reversed unless the economy really tanks.

Neighbourhood Stuff

Tuesday March 12, 11:16 p.m.

Well, it's been mostly a day of translation and watching the start of the Conclave at the Vatican. I'm not religious by any means but as an observer of world events, it's been interesting watching all the mysterious pomp and circumstance surrounding the choice of a new Pope. And now, SmokeWatch has begun....just love how the media can jargonize even a centuries-old tradition. A chimney is getting more attention than it even gets during Christmas Eve. Of course, nothing came of the first vote as expected, but perhaps tomorrow. However, most folks say the new Pope will appear on Thursday at the earliest.

Got through another round of translation. I got a new assignment of hunting and translating for tomorrow which could be intriguing. It looks like I'm getting into a good groove with my new profession.

Tonight, I actually went to a meeting concerning the unit owners of our development for the first time with Dad. The session involved the presentation of a company coming over to increase the efficiency of our toilets and other fixtures, but we went there to primarily talk with the new property manager about that problem with leakage in the bedroom. Not surprisingly, I was the 2nd-youngest guy there and the questions to the slick presenter were refreshingly direct. To the sales representative's credit, he did a pretty good job and he even went right up to one old fellow whose hearing wasn't too good to explain things as best as he could. Having turned into a major skeptic about most things in life, I wasn't willing to believe everything at first speak so I'm gonna see how the board and residents decide. The jury is out on the manager as well. The regional guy was quite sold on him and made it quite known but the oft-frustrated custodian of our buildings before the new management company came in made it known to my parents that he has no love for this new guy. I did get a straight answer from the regional manager about my problem, but it was unfortunate that the property manager said absolutely nothing to us. Not a good start to me.

And buried in all that stuff about the Conclave and translations and toilet talk was the news that life could have very well existed on Mars after all. Geeks are dancing in the street....or in the basement.

Hair Gone...and so is the Pope

Monday February 11, 9:34 p.m.

After letting my hair go into a shag for over 3 months, I finally made the trip down to Spadina and to that barber shop, Monsieur, to get my hair cut into something more reasonable. It was my second trip down there and things worked out very well. I'm starting to get really tempted to try some of their other services such as a massage or even a shave.

The weather is quite a bit warmer when compared to Friday when the huge storm barreled in. So it was relatively pleasant at 1 degree, but boy the curbs were flooded. I was looking at lakes while trying to cross the streets. My shoes and socks were partial casualties.

Before I left for downtown, I had been watching the news concerning Pope Benedict XVI's retirement announcement. Supposedly, there hasn't been a papal resignation in almost 600 years, so the former and soon-to-be once again Cardinal Ratzinger pulled off a bold move and managed to upstage any news about the weather craziness in the States and that rogue ex-cop in California. Of course, the news media here have been playing up the possibility of having the first Canadian Pope but I think the chances are better for the Catholic World's first African Pope.

Managed to crunch through another translation assignment worth a few hours work. I told the boss that I wouldn't be available for the next couple of days. There has been some give and take among myself, CG and The Entrepreneur about getting together on Saturday for an early dinner. Most of the snags in the schedule have to do with the kids. But I think things will get settled down easily.

Happy New Year

Tuesday January 1 2013, 1:10 a.m.

I'm not typing this as I decompress at the denouement of a New Year's Eve party. I'm at home in my PJs while the television is showing the rerun of the annual NHK Red-and-White Song Festival. My parents are taping the 4.75-hour extravaganza and don't know how to use the timer function on the VCR (yes, we still have that contraption). Therefore, I must stay awake until 2 a.m. when the show finally finishes up. The White (Men's) Team won....and pretty handily, I must say. The Red (Women's) Team had a few problems amongst its participants. I wouldn't say that singers like Ayumi Hamasaki and Mika Nakashima were solely responsible for their team losing, but they certainly didn't help with some wretchedly off-tune performances. My face automatically scrunched up at the aural horror unleashed upon me, and my brain wholly wished that the Japanese would invent an Auto-Tune microphone for these two if they are ever asked back. It was nice seeing Princess Princess getting a final chance on stage on their first, only, and final appearance at the festival.

Earlier today, I went out with The Wild Guy and his family to a mutual friend's house out on the West End for some lunch. Our host was nice to create a Chinese-themed meal....considering the spread she put out, it would've cost close to $40 if we'd had the same thing at a restaurant in Yokohama easily. I only had to pay with a contribution of Laura Secord.

I've been back in Canada now for a year and two weeks. It's been a transitional period although it hasn't had anything to do with any difficulty in settling back into life in the hometown. I've been quite comfortable here. However, over the last 12 months, I've seen myself shift out of teaching, something that I've done for a quarter of a century, and into translating and writing on a couple of blogs. What has kept things connected for me between Japan and Canada is social media. With sites such as Facebook, I have been able to keep pretty good contact with my old friends in Tokyo and Chiba, even though I can no longer meet them in person for the foreseeable future. Being back in Toronto, though, I've also experienced the realization that some of my old friends have become more distant due to family responsibilities and proximity, but other friends have become closer. Certainly, the Anime King is one such fellow and I have gotten a good grounding in what has been popular in the otaku field in my time back home....something that I probably wouldn't have had in the birthplace of anime itself due to the ever-present stigma. Being in a 'foreign' country has provided some measure of sanctuary. Strangely enough, the King is currently traveling in Japan right now and won't be back for a few more weeks.

Not sure what 2013 has in store for me. I can assume that translation will continue to be my new main source of income while people like Mr. Moriya and Swank will provide me with some wisps of my main professional life....at least for a little while. I actually did a quick proofread of the latter student's application letter a couple of nights ago. She was quite appreciative of my efforts on the sudden request....I was surprised to get a far more generous deposit in my account than I warranted. One of my old friends, whom I hadn't seen in several years, said that she would try to set me up with a friend of hers. Hmmmm....I did ask to warn her friend that I was a burgeoning otaku/geek, but of course, she didn't reply to that. Well, I'll apply the same principle in this situation that I will apply to this year: Be hopeful but not expectant. Certainly when it comes to Toronto's professional sports teams, that is also a wise approach.

I hear "Auld Lang Syne" being played on the Red-and-White right now which means that things are closing down there.

Another Christmas

Monday December 24, 8:22 p.m.

Well, in less than 4 hours, Christmas will arrive in the Eastern Standard Time zone. Christmas Eve is firmly esconced into the Toronto firmament with the the cars having cleared out of the parking lots and Lance Brown of CTV having done his annual singing of the sports report. And we can truly thank the heavens that it is only an annual event.

Did my last-minute Xmas shopping this morning at the nearby Bay. As I was walking over, the parking lots certainly looked a whole lot fuller than usual, but the department store itself wasn't all that bad in terms of shopping. I got the presents for my parents. I was talking with one cashier, and he told me that the real panicked customers don't come in til about 2:00, and then it's open season until the closing time of 6 p.m.

Had the first of what will probably be three get-togethers over the Holidays. Yesterday, I met up with some old friends from Japan so a number of us oldtimers from U of T got together at Spring Villa up in Markham for a round of dim sum....in fact, it was probably one of the largest amounts of dim sum I've had in a long time. Boxing Day could be a get-together with a bunch of the Anime Court. I've still gotta get confirmation from the Anime Bishop about whether we will head over to Kinton for some ramen. One other member of the Court asked about dinner that night....I'm all for it. As for the King himself, he is now en route to Japan for his month's holiday in Asia. He gave me a call last night for one more chat before the big trip. Finally, on January 5th, there will be a belated New Year's party of sorts at another friend's place. Ah, did forget about one more gig on New Year's Eve for an afternoon; can't really do the nights anymore. I prefer to just stay home and watch all of the craziness on television.

Of course, tomorrow will be the usual dinner at my brother's. I've got everything wrapped up and ready to do. And I'm gonna enjoy a totally relaxing day.

Finally

Saturday December 22, 12:22 p.m.

Well, we finally got that snow. So we have a White December 22, but whether or not that can be extended to a White Xmas is debatable. And the stuff out there is more powdered sugar than a blanket. Weather Canada has officially said that the probabilities of getting a White Christmas in Toronto in the 21st-century is basically down to 33% compared to 66% back a few decades ago. So, may one-third of your Christmases be white.

 A few days ago, I got a nice little care package from my former students Shiho and Ayumi. They even themed it for the New Year's. Included in the package was a few packets of Maru-chan Seimen; I guess they meant it to be consumed on December 31st since the tradition is to eat toshikoshi soba or noodles of any sort as a way to link (figuratively through the noodles) the Old Year with the New Year. I remember one year back in Ichikawa when I stayed there for the Holidays and I made myself some of those toshikoshi noodles with a couple of huge shrimp tempura. Ended up stuffing myself to sleep during the Kohaku Utagassen.

It'll be a quiet day today....will just be blogging throughout the afternoon and then I've got Mr. Moriya's final lesson for the year tonight. Tomorrow will herald the official start of the Holiday social calendar as I meet up with some friends for possibly some dim sum downtown.

Weird Space

Saturday November 24, 4:35 p.m.

Pretty quiet start to the weekend. The weather people got it wrong for my neck of the woods, at least, in that it's been sunny here and there hasn't been a single flake of snow. However, there is that snap of cold in the air that we haven't felt during the past week. Perhaps the sign is here that we're finally heading into Winter.

It's supposed to be Grey Cup Weekend, but again, I get the feeling that this is more of a downtown Toronto phenomenon. Not feeling much excitement here in the relative boonies. And there haven't been any more Alex Anthopolous blockbuster surprises for the Jays, so perhaps, we may be in withdrawal right now. But what's making me feel this existential null void is that there is no hockey. Just realized it right now, but we haven't had "Hockey Night In Canada"in well over a month, and with now the All-Star Game on the scrap heap, it looks like this will be another in the series of "The Year Without An NHL". Heck even Don Cherry is now being forced to put out newspaper articles of his diatribes. I guess showing up on brokerage commercials only gets so much satisfaction.

Mind you, I've got Mr. Moriya for his Skype lesson tonight. It'll be 3 weeks since I've seen him.

Supposedly, in the last few days, NASA and its Curiosity Rover on Mars may have found something big but are keeping mum about it. Some of the Scully Skeptics are grumbling that it's all ado about nothing but you never know. Maybe they found a beer can.

Decompressing Time

Thursday November 22, 1:47 p.m.

Just taking some time off for the next few days. I had that all-day translating assignment yesterday, and considering the written version of a stern lecture from the boss the other day for not providing a high-quality product, I concentrated even more on this one on Wednesday. After a triple check, I handed it in a few hours before the deadline. Got the acknowledgement from the boss this morning, and he even offered me another assignment today but I turned it down. It was even larger but I'm feeling even more tired. So, today is just taking care of my blogs.

Started my Xmas time this morning when I sent out the first 8 Xmas cards over to Japan, and bought a couple of calendars for my former students since the two of them had been kind enough to send over a small parcel of rice crackers and peanuts a couple of months ago. I figure things are gonna get nuts starting in a couple of weeks.

This morning on NHK News, it was being reported that there was some sort of hostage-taking incident happening at a store in Aichi Prefecture. At the time, the psycho released a couple of hostages and got some bento for the remaining people inside. As bad as that situation is over there, I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like tomorrow on Black Friday in the States. I can guarantee that it will be violent.

Meanwhile in the final sumo championship of the year, there are two yokozuna grand champions for the first time in several years. Hakuho is protecting his one loss as the leader but the new yokozuna, Harumafuji, is looking a bit uncertain after losing 3 bouts. Not too yokozuna-like in performance but then again, the pressure is probably a bit harder on him right now.

Pulling the Trigger, Making the Change

Thursday November 15, 1:02 p.m.

Well, treated my parents to lunch at a Chinese buffet place and then later on, my parents brought home a pizza from the Metro supermarket. I paid the price later on....gastrointestinally speaking. But that's not what the title refers to.

Nope, I decided it was time to hand in my resignation to the school. A couple of weeks back, I did my weeklong session subbing for a teacher....nice students and all, but it was far from a home run with them in terms of rapport....basically I felt like it was the Blue Jays 2012 as a teacher. I could actually see myself in Ricky Romero's cleats and just look skywards. "Why me?" I've been doing this for a quarter of a century with some good success but when it came to this school, I might as well have stuck on a piece of paper to my chest which says "WARNING: ROOKIE TEACHER ON BOARD". There was also the fact that my other work in translation was finally starting to clash with the teaching requests. I had to decline 2 or 3 requests in the last fortnight because of translation assignments. And with that last one, I told myself that it was time to make the call.

So, I sent the e-mail about an hour ago....carefully crafted so that it was polite and apologetic....to the powers-that-be that it was time to move on. Translation is not a walk in the park, by any means. But at least I'm getting more well-earned experience, satisfaction and income. Plus, at least I will have some time back to return to pure writing....aside from blogging.

I still have my lone student back in Japan for the Skype teaching, so that's OK. And perhaps in the future, I may be able to help some other student on an individual basis. But on the organizational level, I'm done.

Quiet Rainy Tuesday

Tuesday October 23, 2:39 p.m.

Fairly lazy Tuesday, but then again having a bowl of Sapporo Ichiban will do that to you. It's been a wet one outside for most of the day so I've stayed resolutely inside. I had a small translation assignment from yesterday which I've completed and gone over, so it's ready to hand in to the boss tonight. He said that there's probably another big assignment coming in from tomorrow, but I hope he isn't in too much of a hurry. Would like to head on out on Wednesday just for the sake of getting out. Again, may want to try Kinton downtown.

Finished off the final stage of the Haruhi Suzumiya experience last night. There was the original 2006 anime, "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" which blended the usual comedy and drama inside a high school. Then, came the straight drama of "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" of 2010 which threatened to tug at the heartstrings. Well, over the past number of days via YouTube, I got to get through the 25 vignettes of 2009's "The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya", which takes it all the way to the other end of the spectrum. Basically, this was the original anime as if it had been filtered through Looney Tunes and "The Simpsons"...just zany comedy. What makes the comedy even more special is that it stars all of the original voice actors from the anime and movie. So, a fan can get to see an even more frustrated Kyon, a not-so-with-it Haruhi and an Internet porn-viewing Nagato.

Still weaning myself off of "Joshiraku" but it's not easy.

Regular Monday

Monday October 15, 7:54 p.m.

Literally blue Monday since it was cloudy all day with intermittent spits of precipitation. Dad and I went to pick up Mom. Had a more troublesome-than-usual ride on the roads due to some well-placed accidents and construction sites. Rosedale Valley Rd. was closed off due to a collision so we had to take the real long way to get to St. Clair, and then coming home was arduous since Wynford Dr south of Eglinton was all clogged up.

Ended up with Pizza Nova for dinner tonight. It's been interesting getting accustomed to Canadian sizes for pizza. Just like converting from Imperial to Celsius, the same has to be done for pizza sizes from Japan to Canada. A Japanese large is actually merely a Canadian medium. A Japanese medium is a Canadian small. Pizza lovers in Japan, therefore, will therefore swoon at seeing a Canadian large. And then we had the remainder of my niece's birthday cake for dessert. I think my doctor was probably sneezing his brains out when I took that first high-calorie bite (Japanese in-joke).

Well, what do you know? Dalton McGuinty decides to call it quits. No surprise there; he's basically burned just about every bridge. And after almost a decade, he did live long enough politically to become the villain.

47

Monday October 15, 1:28 p.m.

Yep, turned the big four-seven today. Nothing to really celebrate about except that I still have a heartbeat and not in any imminent need of medicine to take care of the cholesterol.

Got online and got a number of messages from my translation boss, including a request for me to take care of another assignment. I was willing to tackle it and waited for some more details from him such as the vital files. I stayed online for as long as I could before Dad came home for lunch so I logged off. Came back an hour later to get those files and then a "frantic" mail from him for me to make a decision on it ASAP; I put that word in quotes since he was very polite about it but the tone was in there. 

Well, I know that in my short time in it the translation biz can be rather hectic. But frankly I will not be tied down to my laptop eternally, and after checking the files and the due date he proposed, I don't think I would create anything much of the high quality that is needed, so I politely declined. Sometimes, I wonder if he just wants me to decline to check that I am showing some good judgement on accepting/refusing assignments. But in any case, I will assume that I have the day off today. And not a bad day to do so.

Monsieur

Friday October 12, 7:26 p.m.

Monsieur Barber Shop 415 Bloor St. W.

Since I got back from Japan, one of the things I'd missed was a decent haircut. Not just the cut itself but the service that surrounds it. I have to admit that I was spoiled all those years in Chiba-ken since the typical visit to the barber there involved two shampoos, a rinse, a refreshment, friendly banter and a scalp & back massage....as a matter of course. It cost me, though. The average price at my salon would probably have come out to $55 CDN a visit. Still, I did fairly skip over to the salon every time I went.

Getting back to the Big Smoke last December, my closest tonsorial choice was less than 100 m away from my home. And at $8, it was even cheaper than the cheapest option for haircuts in Japan....the quick cut and vacuum hose near my old subway station. I went there a couple of times....nothing fancy; was done in about 5 minutes and I only had to endure a few minutes of hair pieces stumbling down my back like rappelling Marines. But my last time there, I walked in on one of the cutters just splayed over the three chairs, and when she rose up, she didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed....just looked like she woke up in her jammies. The guy who cut my hair didn't flinch one bit as he twitched me over to the chair. $8 will get you so much.

Then, I saw the latest CP24 commercial which featured the staff at Monsieur Barber Shop & Spa. After that, I looked the place up on the Net, and saw that the place was close to U of T and it had a pretty good reputation. So, I went downtown this morning to check it out. When I took a look inside, it looked pretty busy but the woman at the front (who happened to be the lady on CP24) asked me in a friendly voice to come in. I told her that I didn't have a reservation but she replied that there was no problem and just invited me to sit in the mezzanine lounge at the back of the shop.

The lounge looked a bit like a museum tribute to a French palatial salon, but there was the big flatscreen....of course, it was on CP24....and there was a coffee table with a lot of magazines. But I didn't have a chance to even read one when a friendly barber arrived to greet me, shake my hand and welcome me to the shop. I had my shampoo first which was very comfortable. I remember when I got the same treatment at SuperCuts many years ago....I was face up looking up the barber's nose; at my Ichikawa salon, there was a thin porous sheet of vanity placed on my face so that there wouldn't be any potentially awkward eye contact during the shampoo. The situation at Monsieur was even better....only had to tilt my neck back just a few degrees as my head backed up into a specially-shaped sink and then the barber showered my head in warm water and suds. Afterwards, I was led to the barber chair for my cut. I gave my request to him and he set out to work. I felt a bit badly since I had been suffering from a touch of cold. Perhaps I should've held things off until I got over it completely, but as I kept my well-used tissue at the ready under the black protective sheet, the barber kept himself professional and composed, as the mop on my head started to look increasingly trimmer. After everything was done and I got my hair blow-dried (I was rather relieved that I wouldn't have to sport hair trimmings all over my body on my way home), I got the famous hot towel on my face that people raved about. To be honest, although it was comfortable and it drained my clogged sinuses for a while, it still didn't quite reach the divine heights of getting the hot towel at a Japanese barber shop. There, after getting the shave, the barber massaged in some creamy menthol on my jaw before placing the hot towel on my face where I got to breathe in the stuff like a Vicks VapoRub....a few minutes later, the barber would take off the still-warm towel but not before rubbing the menthol in further on my face.

However, the important thing was that I felt like I did get a good cut and service for the first time in nearly 18 months. Monsieur also offers massage and other spa services. According to the newspaper article on the place, the staffer kinda lamented that Toronto men were still pretty skittish about getting that rubdown or manicure or pedicure. Yeah, I have to admit that I will probably never let anyone get near my tootsies, but getting that massage was de rigueur where I had been living for 17 years. I may take them up on that offer next month. It'll cost me but heck, my shoulders and back will be happy.

The final cost: $25 plus tax and tip. I paid $32....gladly. Perhaps a bit pricey for a haircut, but again, I have been spoiled on service during my years overseas. But even with the tip, that price doesn't come anywhere close to what I used to pay at a simple barber shop in my neighbourhood. The last thing I said to my cutter: "I'll see you next time."

Finish for the day

Sunday October 7, 12:02 a.m.

Well, got my music blog done and finished up with Mr. Moriya for his usual biweekly lesson. Got his  payment for September as well. Good session with him. All's well that ends well.

Tomorrow (or later today to be more accurate), I've got my brother's family coming over. But Mom really hasn't done turkey in some years since neither she nor the rest of the family aren't really into the big bird (I'm the lone holdout). So we'll just head on over to the local Swiss Chalet. If it weren't for the fact that I love the place, I'd be a bit depressed right now.

I'm gonna have to head to the ATM as well since I owe my brother some bucks for the toner for my printer. That's fine...I can always do with some extra walking.

The Quiet is Deafening

Wednesday October 3, 2:01 p.m.

It's my second straight day of blissful relaxation from work. No calls down to the school and no frantic e-mails from the translation boss. I'm sure that will change by the end of the week. Usually, the school staff call me on Thursday or Friday, and the translation boss did say that he wanted to have a powwow either tonight or tomorrow night. Well, I'm not crazy about going out with only a few hours' notice so it'll have to be Thursday night.

I did get a nice e-mail from the teacher for whom I subbed stating that she would like to have me back sometime in the next couple of months since she'll be away again in November and December.

Despite my enjoyment of relaxation, I don't think I can really take a 3rd consecutive day sitting at home, so I will probably head on out tomorrow for a downtown walk or head over to St. Lawrence Market to get my bag of bagels for me and the parents. I may even decide to bring home some samples of that lovely Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich from The Carousel Bakery.

Well, The Blue Jays (Boo Jays, Blooper Jays?) end one of their worst seasons (19 years without a post-season appearance?! Shameful!) tonight. I read a diatribe by one of the Star's reporters, and I'm sure the front office will be getting together for a commiseration session. The disgruntled fans at Skydome (still refuse to refer to it as The Rogers Centre) would probably yell "Go Leafs Go!"as a rebuke, but that horrible team and the rest of the NHL aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Why Didn't I Retire?

Thursday September 27, 10:09 p.m.

Had my first day of three of subbing for a teacher. When I met her yesterday to get briefed, I found her to be the most well-organized educator I'd come across at the school....which was actually a bit of a disadvantage for me since I wasn't sure whether the students would take to my approach and also because I felt obliged to follow her style to the letter, despite her assurances that I could do whatever I wanted. As it turned out, the morning class started out well but started descending into a morass by the end....because I was trying to fulfill the scheduled her way. Luckily, the afternoon class was a bit better. Still, I feel like Ricky Romero trying to get out of his annus horribilis. I'm gonna have to wonder if I'm gonna have much of an attendance tomorrow morning.

For a teacher, the expression "You can't please everyone"takes on a heavier meaning. I've known that almost ever since I became one. But as I get older, it's getting harder to take that sort of truth anymore. I've been a sub at the school now for almost 8 months, and again thoughts are rising about whether it's time to move on from teaching. Just doesn't seem to be all that fun anymore.

Kanji'ed Out

Wednesday September 19, 5:43 p.m.

Well, got another big translation assignment out of the way. I was hoping to get the pages done by noon, but because of some stubbornly difficult kanji and other expressions, the thing got done close to 2:30. Had to skip lunch and almost lost it on one especially truculent Chinese character (you thought Leafs manager Brian Burke had a monopoly on that word?). Also ran through a couple of other files as an editor and I am done....for the next dozen hours or so. The boss told me that there would be another smaller assignment coming in tomorrow...or perhaps Friday.

Actually, the parentals are out in Niagara Falls once again hitting the casino. I'd only found out this morning, just a few minutes before they left, that they would be staying the night at the Falls. Just as well, since with all my teeth-gnashing and hair-pulling, I wouldn't have been too good a son today.

Gonna decompress for the rest of the night. I'll be making myself a nice little steak for dinner, watch some anime, tape that episode of "Ume-chan Sensei" for my parents and then hit the music blog for another couple of entries.

Man, it was pretty chilly out in the corridor today (had no time to go outside). I can only imagine what it must've been like outside this morning. Timing couldn't be better.

Water Torture

Saturday August 11, 10:25 a.m.

My parents were in quite a rage this morning....not with each other, but with the upstairs neighbour. The bathroom ceiling right above the toilet was slowly dripping water. Apparently, this was the 3rd time that this has occurred, and the parentals squarely blame it on the guy upstairs. Not sure why since it could also be the pipes in a pretty old building. In any case, Dad went to complain. The guy upstairs also happens to be the part-time caretaker in our building...and unfortunately, he kinda comes across as a bit of the village idiot: he gabs to anybody about anything including himself, and can only talk at one volume....loud. In any case, my parents hate the guy, and the fellow is the type who simply refuses to open the door to anyone when anyone comes knocking. Dad had to get the super to call him up and drag him down here. Of course, what followed was a few minutes of intense argument with the promise from both the neighbour and super that something would be done.

But it's pretty annoying having to do No. 2 when it feels like the ceiling is doing No. 1 right on you.  It's probably the slowest form of waterboarding that anyone will ever experience. Right now, there is a bucket right on the commode collecting the tea-coloured drops. Luckily, I'll be heading out to my friend's dance recital in less than an hour.

Editing

Wednesday August 8, 12:01 p.m.

Spent most of the morning in my pyjamas editing a translation assignment. Whew....man...pharmaceuticals. Glad I wasn't actually the translator. Would've gone nuts. In any case, I've sent it over to the boss so hopefully, it passes muster.

Been listening/watching the latest round of Olympics coverage. The Women's Wrestling was pretty good, although Carol Huynh has lost to Hitomi Obara. It's always tough when Japan and Canada are up against each other. But apparently Canada has picked up a couple of more medals.

Well, I'm done for the day although I've gotta step out for some bank business later this afternoon.

Solitary Tuesday

Tuesday August 7, 10:38 p.m.

After the long Simcoe Day long weekend. I've had my first day of solitude. The parents are out with their buddies in Las Vegas for the next few days. It's kinda nice living alone again even if it's just until Thursday. However, my mother....being Mom....ensured that I would be kept well-fed without me having to lift a finger. She stuffed so much food in the form of TV dinners and other fare in the freezer and fridge, it almost looks like she was prepping me for hibernation.

But in a way, I was kinda hibernating since I basically cocooned all day. Didn't leave the apartment at all, except for getting the mail. I got my first cheque from my translation gig. Not too bad at all. Strangely enough, my boss there contacted me for the first time in 2 weeks asking me to do an editing job tomorrow for a few hours. And I discovered a call on the message machine from the school asking if I could warp down there today to teach a class....on less than 2 hours notice. Mind you, the staffer called at about 11 a.m. For some reason, I never heard the call despite the fact that I was only in my bedroom at that time....only discovered the message past 1 p.m. In any case, my policy is to never accept on-the-day classes in any case. In terms of planning and execution, it's just asking for trouble...at least for me.

Canada seems to be having all sorts of bad luck at the Olympics. The Canadian Women's Soccer Team lost out of getting into the Finals due to some controversial calls, a Canadian boxer was eliminated from the quarter-finals due to some strange judging decisions, and Simon Whitfield literally fell out of the Triathlon from a crash while he was making the switch from swimming to cycling. Not sure if The Great White North peeved off some higher deity.

However the good news is that Nadeshiko Japan, that nation's women's soccer team will be playing for Gold against the US on Thursday. I can only imagine that there will be a lot of bleary-eyed folks in The Land of the Rising Sun staying up or waking up in the wee hours to catch this one. But as far as I'm concerned, the darlings of Japanese sports have already accomplished the mission that they are now recognized as a force to not be contended with lightly. Gold or Silver, Nadeshiko has already won.