April 26, 2005
End of blog.
Well, I didn't try hard enough, I suppose. Somehow, with work and other things, I don't seem to be home most of the time, including over the weekends. It's sort of difficult to keep a blog up with that sort of schedule, so I'm going to call it quits.
Of course, it was really dead a few months ago anyway, when I ran out of time. The annoying thing is that a lot of things have happened in the last few months; it's just that most of it's unbloggable(?).
If you are a faithful reader, and would like to keep in touch, you have my e-mail address, I think, so please e-mail me. I'll do my best to keep in touch as well.
As for The Bet, the deadline is September 1, 2009. Stakeholders (you know who you are) will be notified if and when I complete the terms of The Bet (of course).
"I officially pronounce the blog dead as of the sentence I'm typing...now...period."
ciao,
T.
Of course, it was really dead a few months ago anyway, when I ran out of time. The annoying thing is that a lot of things have happened in the last few months; it's just that most of it's unbloggable(?).
If you are a faithful reader, and would like to keep in touch, you have my e-mail address, I think, so please e-mail me. I'll do my best to keep in touch as well.
As for The Bet, the deadline is September 1, 2009. Stakeholders (you know who you are) will be notified if and when I complete the terms of The Bet (of course).
"I officially pronounce the blog dead as of the sentence I'm typing...now...period."
ciao,
T.
April 09, 2005
Long time...
Pictured are cherry blossoms at Chidorigafuchi, which is part of the moat surrounding what used to be the Edo Castle (currently the Imperial Grounds, as well as a park). They bloom for about a week, and all disappear rather quickly. In fact, when I was there today, the petals were already falling in a manner reminiscent of soft snow.
This being one of the more famous cherry blossom spots, it was packed. The boats that you see had something like a two-hour wait, and the traffic section from the local police precinct was out directing the crowd. Some of the foreigners I've met here apparently can't understand why we would want to spend hours waiting in line to see some flowers.
I should mention that setting up private parties (i.e., with blankets and lots of beer) is prohibited at this particular spot. If I were at Ueno Park, another famous spot, I would've ended up sending you pictures of lots of Japanese people getting drunk under the trees. Which, in itself, is also interesting.
I realize that I haven't posted for over a month. The past month has been extremely busy. I have to say, I wasn't this busy even during thesis writing...
I expect that I won't post too often from now on, owing to a variety of reasons:
- I'm busy. My hours are at least as long as Everett hours, and I don't have 3pm cookies. (Which, incidentally, probably accounts for the 5kg loss of weight.)
- About 95% of my life is not something I'd like to document publicly. I mean, I certainly can't write about work (about 5/7 of my waking hours), and my personal life is...well...personal. If you want to know about it, you'll have to e-mail me. ;)
- The other few percents of my life just isn't interesting enough to blog about, in my opinion.
I suppose I could turn this into more of a political/social/economic rant. But then again, there are too many blogs about politics or society, and I'd rather keep my blog as an online diary. I will keep updating, at least for another 1605 days. I have to keep the countdown, after all, since I fully expect to win the thing. ;)
Days till I win The Bet: 1605
March 04, 2005
Beef!?
Today was the first time I had to commute to work in snow. It was weird -- I was walking through the snowy sludge left on the sidewalk, and for a second, it felt like I was back in Chicago. Anyway...
I had initially planned on avoiding international politics having to do with tensions between Japan and the U.S., but this one's just a tad too rich to pass up.
As most of you are probably aware, Japan has banned U.S. beef for the last 1.5 years or so -- ever since the BSE case, basically, citing concerns that the regulations in the U.S. don't sufficiently screen BSE cows.
The U.S. House of Representatives apparently submitted a resolution urging retaliatory sanctions against Japan, in an attempt to hasten Japan's decision regarding beef import rules. That in itself isn't all that significant; it smells like any other trade conflict. But...
"The US Senate passed a resolution opposing the Department of Agriculture's move to reauthorize Canadian beef imports, which a federal court had blocked on Wednesday." (AP wire)
So...the U.S. wants to stop Canada from importing beef into the U.S. because they might have BSE beef, but wants to pressure Japan into buying potentially contaminated beef?
I realize that this is a typical behavior from the point of view of protecting one's self-interest, but couldn't the U.S. Congress have acted a little bit more...in sync with each other and not make it so obvious?
(Note further that the federal court ban was issued due to a petition from cattle farmers. Sweet irony there as well.)
Days till I win The Bet: 1641
I had initially planned on avoiding international politics having to do with tensions between Japan and the U.S., but this one's just a tad too rich to pass up.
As most of you are probably aware, Japan has banned U.S. beef for the last 1.5 years or so -- ever since the BSE case, basically, citing concerns that the regulations in the U.S. don't sufficiently screen BSE cows.
The U.S. House of Representatives apparently submitted a resolution urging retaliatory sanctions against Japan, in an attempt to hasten Japan's decision regarding beef import rules. That in itself isn't all that significant; it smells like any other trade conflict. But...
"The US Senate passed a resolution opposing the Department of Agriculture's move to reauthorize Canadian beef imports, which a federal court had blocked on Wednesday." (AP wire)
So...the U.S. wants to stop Canada from importing beef into the U.S. because they might have BSE beef, but wants to pressure Japan into buying potentially contaminated beef?
I realize that this is a typical behavior from the point of view of protecting one's self-interest, but couldn't the U.S. Congress have acted a little bit more...in sync with each other and not make it so obvious?
(Note further that the federal court ban was issued due to a petition from cattle farmers. Sweet irony there as well.)
Days till I win The Bet: 1641
February 24, 2005
View.
I finally got a digital camera. I bought almost all of my electric appliances at one store, so I had several hundred dollars' worth of points to use, and I went ahead and got a compact camera (Panasonic Lumix, for those who want to know). I actually don't like Matsushita as a company, but the Lumix comes with hand-motion correction...
Anyway, the attached picture is a view from my (tiny) balcony. The building to the left is Yebisu Garden Place, an office/shopping/residence complex featuring the Yebisu Beer Garden. (Yebisu is probably the best tasting mass-produced Japanese beer. It's also 1.5 times more expensive than the others.)
Funny thing about Yebisu, the town, is that the town is named after the beer, not the other way around. I even almost ended up living in the area, which would've been really cool.
On a complete different note, the web portal that runs this blog is now the center of attention in Japan. Livedoor Co., Ltd. launched a takeover bid (a rare occurrence in Japan, by the way) for Nippon Broadcast, which owns Fuji Television (one of the major TV stations).
All hell is breaking over, and it's a lot of fun to watch -- especially since I don't own a single share of any of the three companies.
The president and CEO of the company was also the first one to attempt to enter the professional baseball league with a new team. Pretty interesting guy.
Anyway, that's the main story over here. Oh, and I'm finally getting a TV this weekend. You guys should congratulate me on being able to live TV-free for six months.
Days till I win The Bet:1649
February 19, 2005
Room remodeling.
Hmm. Apparently, I've been away from this blog for two weeks. Not a good sign...
Today, rugs for the room and my audio system arrived.
The rugs cover most of the floor space, and changed the room into something rather appealing. I'll post pictures next time. (I lost my cell phone's charger yesterday...)
The audio system is a Denon home theater system. I know, it's funny; I don't have a TV yet (it's on my "to buy" list), so there's no point getting a home theater system yet...but I plan on getting the TV/DVD player set soon. And then my room will rock. ;)
I'm also expecting a kitchen cabinet as I write. I still have to buy all the kitchen stuff I probably should've shipped back here in hindsight. ;)
As it turns out, things are getting extremely hectic around work, so I don't have a whole lot else to write about.
Days till I win The Bet: 1654
Today, rugs for the room and my audio system arrived.
The rugs cover most of the floor space, and changed the room into something rather appealing. I'll post pictures next time. (I lost my cell phone's charger yesterday...)
The audio system is a Denon home theater system. I know, it's funny; I don't have a TV yet (it's on my "to buy" list), so there's no point getting a home theater system yet...but I plan on getting the TV/DVD player set soon. And then my room will rock. ;)
I'm also expecting a kitchen cabinet as I write. I still have to buy all the kitchen stuff I probably should've shipped back here in hindsight. ;)
As it turns out, things are getting extremely hectic around work, so I don't have a whole lot else to write about.
Days till I win The Bet: 1654
February 05, 2005
About Valentine's Day.
I remember something about highlighting cultural differences between Japan and the States (as well as showcase my transition) in this blog. Well, I went shopping today, and remembered one very intesting difference -- about Valentine's Day.
In Japan, Valentine's Day is associated with a very specific act: women give men chocolates. (Men don't have to do anything, usually.) What happens usually is that the women usually give multiple men chocolates, with their "main target" receiving the hand-made or expensive chocolate.
(It's really interesting going shopping near Valentine's Day. All the department stores have their main chocolatiers put up special stands up front, and hand-made chocolate ingredients sell like hotcakes. )
That sounds like a good deal for the men, right? Of course not. There's March 14, White Day, when the men give something back to the women. It used to be that men gave the women white chocolate (a clever marketing scheme by a chocolate maker), but nowadays, men are expected to spend some real money on the return favor. Clearly, the solution is to break up with the girl some time between Valentine's Day and March 14. ;)
Days till I win The Bet:1668
In Japan, Valentine's Day is associated with a very specific act: women give men chocolates. (Men don't have to do anything, usually.) What happens usually is that the women usually give multiple men chocolates, with their "main target" receiving the hand-made or expensive chocolate.
(It's really interesting going shopping near Valentine's Day. All the department stores have their main chocolatiers put up special stands up front, and hand-made chocolate ingredients sell like hotcakes. )
That sounds like a good deal for the men, right? Of course not. There's March 14, White Day, when the men give something back to the women. It used to be that men gave the women white chocolate (a clever marketing scheme by a chocolate maker), but nowadays, men are expected to spend some real money on the return favor. Clearly, the solution is to break up with the girl some time between Valentine's Day and March 14. ;)
Days till I win The Bet:1668
January 31, 2005
Volleyball!
Another sports topic today.
So last weekend, I ended up playing serious volleyball for the first time in ten years. By the way, what I mean by "serious volleyball" would be: three whole hours of exercise, starting with light jogging and progressing to simple ball-handling exercises, topped with some spiking and serving practice. And a few games, of course. It was a lot of fun, and I actually remembered something from my high school years.
And I woke up the next day with half my muscles complaining. ;) It wasn't as bad as I feared it might be, but it's still a little painful climbing stairs. And to think that I was practicing like that every day when I was in high school...
On a different note, I'm already turning into a weather wimp. The evening temperature is now in the single digits (Celsious scale), and I'm feeling the cold.
Days till I win The Bet: 1673
So last weekend, I ended up playing serious volleyball for the first time in ten years. By the way, what I mean by "serious volleyball" would be: three whole hours of exercise, starting with light jogging and progressing to simple ball-handling exercises, topped with some spiking and serving practice. And a few games, of course. It was a lot of fun, and I actually remembered something from my high school years.
And I woke up the next day with half my muscles complaining. ;) It wasn't as bad as I feared it might be, but it's still a little painful climbing stairs. And to think that I was practicing like that every day when I was in high school...
On a different note, I'm already turning into a weather wimp. The evening temperature is now in the single digits (Celsious scale), and I'm feeling the cold.
Days till I win The Bet: 1673
January 25, 2005
New Year's Resolution
I finally started on my New Year's resolution -- to go to the gym twice a week. I couldn't work out much last year, for the obvious reason, but this year, my back is more or less back to normal, so I can actually try to get back in shape!
This year, I have absolutely no excuse for not keeping up with the schedule. The gym is in the same building as the office, for one thing. And I can't even use the "I forgot my gym wear" excuse anymore, since I can rent a set at the gym for 950 yen.
Anyway, I went to the gym today, and used the coolest machine I've seen in a gym so far. It's not an exercise machine. It's a body composition analyzer; apparently, the machine measures impedances across the person's body to figure out the protein content, fat content and water content in each body part. It was pretty neat knowing that I'm 53% water. ;)
The part that wasn't so cool was being told by the machine that I need to lose fat. I anticipated that -- after all, I hadn't worked out since about an year ago, and stress has a way of increasing body fat -- but it's still annoying to hear that the remedy consists 30 minutes of cardio twice a week (coupled, in an ideal world, with a health-conscious diet). At the same time, it was nice to know that my muscle content is pretty much the average amount for someone my age and size.
Anyway, that was the crowning moment of the dday. I'll report next time on something completely different. (Not sure what yet, but I'll think of something.)
Days till I win The Bet: 1679
This year, I have absolutely no excuse for not keeping up with the schedule. The gym is in the same building as the office, for one thing. And I can't even use the "I forgot my gym wear" excuse anymore, since I can rent a set at the gym for 950 yen.
Anyway, I went to the gym today, and used the coolest machine I've seen in a gym so far. It's not an exercise machine. It's a body composition analyzer; apparently, the machine measures impedances across the person's body to figure out the protein content, fat content and water content in each body part. It was pretty neat knowing that I'm 53% water. ;)
The part that wasn't so cool was being told by the machine that I need to lose fat. I anticipated that -- after all, I hadn't worked out since about an year ago, and stress has a way of increasing body fat -- but it's still annoying to hear that the remedy consists 30 minutes of cardio twice a week (coupled, in an ideal world, with a health-conscious diet). At the same time, it was nice to know that my muscle content is pretty much the average amount for someone my age and size.
Anyway, that was the crowning moment of the dday. I'll report next time on something completely different. (Not sure what yet, but I'll think of something.)
Days till I win The Bet: 1679
January 16, 2005
The blog is alive again. Sort of.
Happy new year, everybody! I hope your year is off to a good start, especially in these uncertain times.
I realize that I've been away from the blog for about three weeks now, but unlike Brian, I have no intention of ending my blog -- at least, not before I win the bet. (I probably lost all of my readers, though...) I didn't have all that much time since New Year's Day. But first, a little explanation of New Year's celebrations...
December and January are really interesting months in Japan. First, during December, everyone ends up going to at least one bounenkai, loosely translated as "a party for forgetting this year." Which, naturally, means a lot of drinking happens. Even I ended up going to two of these, and I don't exactly have an extensive social network yet.
January is interesting because now, people go to shinnenkai, which is just a new year's party. Of course, again, you have to celebrate in the most appropriate fashion, which means killing a few more liver cells. ;)
So what have I been up to other than lots of drinking, you ask? Lots of things have happened since I was in Chicago and now, actually. Unfortunately, pretty much all of it is off limits for this blog. 40% of that is work-related, and I am not about to write about work on a public blog. ;) The other 60% has to do with my private life. Sadly, my personal life is a convoluted mess, and I won't take the time to write about it just yet. I might eventually, depending on how things work out.
On a completely different note, I've heard through multiple grapevines about two different engagements. Eugene and Andy, congratulations! Although, to be honest, I'm shocked by Eugene's engagement...
On another note, I decided to start blogging in Japanese as well, so please don't be alarmed if you check this page and find an article with weird characters in it. It's just an online diary, and I really don't expect a large audience for it, but I sort of want to keep a diary in some form. Of course, you are more than welcome to pass it through Babelfish or your favorite automated translator. (Not that it matters which one you use; Babelfish, Google and Systran all gave the exact same phrase back.) It's almost guaranteed to give you a laugh, and in fact, it's probably a lot better that way. ;)
ciao,
T.
Days till I win The Bet: 1688
I realize that I've been away from the blog for about three weeks now, but unlike Brian, I have no intention of ending my blog -- at least, not before I win the bet. (I probably lost all of my readers, though...) I didn't have all that much time since New Year's Day. But first, a little explanation of New Year's celebrations...
December and January are really interesting months in Japan. First, during December, everyone ends up going to at least one bounenkai, loosely translated as "a party for forgetting this year." Which, naturally, means a lot of drinking happens. Even I ended up going to two of these, and I don't exactly have an extensive social network yet.
January is interesting because now, people go to shinnenkai, which is just a new year's party. Of course, again, you have to celebrate in the most appropriate fashion, which means killing a few more liver cells. ;)
So what have I been up to other than lots of drinking, you ask? Lots of things have happened since I was in Chicago and now, actually. Unfortunately, pretty much all of it is off limits for this blog. 40% of that is work-related, and I am not about to write about work on a public blog. ;) The other 60% has to do with my private life. Sadly, my personal life is a convoluted mess, and I won't take the time to write about it just yet. I might eventually, depending on how things work out.
On a completely different note, I've heard through multiple grapevines about two different engagements. Eugene and Andy, congratulations! Although, to be honest, I'm shocked by Eugene's engagement...
On another note, I decided to start blogging in Japanese as well, so please don't be alarmed if you check this page and find an article with weird characters in it. It's just an online diary, and I really don't expect a large audience for it, but I sort of want to keep a diary in some form. Of course, you are more than welcome to pass it through Babelfish or your favorite automated translator. (Not that it matters which one you use; Babelfish, Google and Systran all gave the exact same phrase back.) It's almost guaranteed to give you a laugh, and in fact, it's probably a lot better that way. ;)
ciao,
T.
Days till I win The Bet: 1688
December 29, 2004
Snow!
It snowed in Tokyo today! (The picture is a view from the trading floor, looking down at the gardens right next to the building. The white stuff to the right of the pathway is snow.) It started snowing at around 10:30am, and kept going till 5pm or so. Pretty cool. Not much of it will stick to the ground, though -- not cold enough for that.On a different topic, I just read that Brian has wrapped his blog up. It's sad seeing a friend's blog die...but then again, I have to admit that it is a bit time consuming, and it's really difficult to keep up on a regular basis (as you can tell). I have no intention of stopping, however, at least until the counter at the bottom hits zero. ;)
With only two days left in the year, I doubt that I will update the blog again before 2005. It's been one of the strangest years in my life by a long shot, certainly, and one of the more stressful years as well. I want to thank all of you for having the patience to put up with me during the stress!
Happy new year, everyone!!
Days till I win The Bet: 1706
December 21, 2004
Back.
Of course, I've really been back for a full week, but I spent a good fraction of last week in misery, so it didn't feel like it...
Before anything, thanks to everyone who I was able to talk to in Chicago. It was definitely fun, and I probably won't get to go there for some time...
I caught a fairly nasty throat cold while in Chicago -- actually spent the 11th in the hotel room. The flight back was pretty miserable; I had a little too much to drink the day before, so on top of being sick, I was also hung over. The only thing that got me through the flight, I think, was the Nyquil caplets I took before the Minneapolis-Tokyo flight.
I got back to Tokyo safe and miserable, and had to take 1.5 days of sick leave, just to get well enough to go to work. Then, that Friday was a drinking party organized by the younger people at the Company, so I felt that I pretty much had to go. The party was good, but, again, drinking and cold virus don't mix (or the virus likes alcohol), and I ended up spending last Saturday in bed as well.
Things are winding down with the end of the year approaching. I'm mostly done with the social functions here (mostly of the alcoholic kind). I don't have any Christmas plans now, except for going back home to see my sister, and I'm really looking forward to the four-day break that I get for New Year's.
Anyway, that's sort of my life right now...
Days till I win The Bet: 1714
Before anything, thanks to everyone who I was able to talk to in Chicago. It was definitely fun, and I probably won't get to go there for some time...
I caught a fairly nasty throat cold while in Chicago -- actually spent the 11th in the hotel room. The flight back was pretty miserable; I had a little too much to drink the day before, so on top of being sick, I was also hung over. The only thing that got me through the flight, I think, was the Nyquil caplets I took before the Minneapolis-Tokyo flight.
I got back to Tokyo safe and miserable, and had to take 1.5 days of sick leave, just to get well enough to go to work. Then, that Friday was a drinking party organized by the younger people at the Company, so I felt that I pretty much had to go. The party was good, but, again, drinking and cold virus don't mix (or the virus likes alcohol), and I ended up spending last Saturday in bed as well.
Things are winding down with the end of the year approaching. I'm mostly done with the social functions here (mostly of the alcoholic kind). I don't have any Christmas plans now, except for going back home to see my sister, and I'm really looking forward to the four-day break that I get for New Year's.
Anyway, that's sort of my life right now...
Days till I win The Bet: 1714
December 08, 2004
Last entry before leaving for Chicago.
It is now 18 hours till my flight leaves Narita airport, and I'm sort of in the middle of packing (actually, waiting for clothes to dry). It just occurred to me that the last time I traveled, I basically packed everything; this time, I actually have to figure out what to take with me. It's sort of strange. ;)
I also took the Japan Securities Dealers' Association (JSDA) exam this afternoon. I think I passed, but I won't know till I get back. In the meantime, I plan on enjoying my brief stay in Chicago...
Days till I win The Bet: 1727
December 02, 2004
Chicago trip schedule.
Seeing as how several people seem to want to know exactly what I'll be doing in Chicago, I'm posting my schedule here. Of course, most of this is tentative.
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday
Sunday
As it turns out, Saturday is almost completely free. I can even probably move the shopping to Sunday, if a concrete plan materializes for Saturday...
Thursday:
- (2:15 pm) Arrival at O'Hare airport
- (approx. 4:00 pm) Check in at hotel
- (approx. 6:00 pm) Dinner with friend
- (approx. 10:00 pm)Pass out
Friday:
- (10:00 am) Arrival on campus
- (11:30 am) Lunch (Sammy's, anyone?)
- (1:15 pm) Line up for convocation
- (3:00 pm) Convocation starts
- (4:30 pm) Convocation ends
- (7:00 pm onwards) Celebration Dinner
Saturday
- No special plans. I do have to get some Marshell Fields' chocolates for my group, and I want to get gifts for a few people, so I expect that I will spend a few hours shopping. Anyone who wants to help me pick out a gift or two is welcome to help! (Also, meeting for meals would be great...) Please e-mail me, or post a comment below.
Sunday
- (11:00 am)Brunch at friends' place
- No plan here yet either
- ( 6:00 pm or so?) Dinner at friends' place
As it turns out, Saturday is almost completely free. I can even probably move the shopping to Sunday, if a concrete plan materializes for Saturday...
December 01, 2004
One more week
One more week (and fifteen hours) from now, I will depart for Chicago. It's kind of weird, really. I left Chicago only three months ago, and yet, I feel like I've been away for more than an year.
This coming week is going to be a little crazy for me. I'm taking a qualification exam on the 8th, so I'm now studying like crazy. I suspect that former med students would find this exam easier to study for; it's mostly a matter of rote memorization. I haven't taken a rote memorization exam since...oh...high school, I think, since I didn't take orgo (organic chemistry, for those not familiar with this particular shortened form).
Weather in Tokyo is still fairly nice. At night, it drops to about 10 degrees Celcius or so (what is that...about 50 degrees Fahrenheit?), and that feels chilly somehow. ;) I know, I've turned weak...
Days till I win The Bet: 1734
November 28, 2004
Random oddities.
Right now, I'm (supposed to be) studying for a qualification exam. But more on that later; first, some random stuff.
On Friday, when I came back home and checked my mailbox, there was a very interesting piece of mail. It was -- get this -- an invitation to a dianetics meeting. Apparently, there's a dianetics center about twenty minutes away. The thing is, the pamphlet reads just like any other self-help guide booklet. I suppose a lot of people do get suckered in to the first meeting that way.
The second thing isn't an oddity as such, but a realization: instant ramen noodles have improved significantly in the last five years. I'm eating one right now, having been tempted into it through nighttime hunger and not having a functional kitchen utility set. Anyway, nowadays, there are ramen noodles which come with the roast pork slices and other little items, pre-cooked and vacuum-packed (not freeze-dried) in a separate pouch. And soup base in non-freeze-dried form. And it actually tastes close to what you get at a noodle place. We can't launch rockets successfully, but we can apparently get very good at instant noodles. ;)
Okay, about the exam. As a member of a securities dealer firm, I have to take an exam that qualifies me as a securities dealer. (Actually, I have to take two exams: the first for the securities dealer qualification, and the second for qualification in dealing with derivatives and other high-risk products.) The exam consists mostly of memorizing a whole lot of rules and regulations about securities trading and brokerage. It would be interesting if I didn't have to take the exam.
Oh, to top it all off, I'm taking the exam on December 8, a day before I leave for Chicago. That way, I can spend the flight hours studying for the next one. ;)
In any case, with a concert to go to tomorrow night, I'm a little too excited to study properly...
Days till I win The Bet: 1737
November 24, 2004
A room with a view.
Well, actually, an office with a view.Or, to be even more precise, it's the view from the eastward-facing wall closest to my desk. If I walk all the way to the southeast corner of the room, I can see Tokyo Tower. Not that I have much time to stare out the window while at work, but it's nice to have a view like that, especially when I'm stuck on a problem.
The relocation went off without a major hitch, as far as I know. On Monday, about an hour after market close, the company had a little celebration on the trading floor. The senior people broke open a cask of sake, in a ceremony called kagamiwari (literally, shattering a mirror) -- something only done at the beginning of something new. The sake wasn't bad either. The only complaint people seem to have about the new office are: 1) there aren't enough food options around the building; and 2) the elevators take a little while getting used to (you have to transfer elevators partway).
Yesterday was a holiday officially translated as "labor thanksgiving day". In other words, it's a holiday where non-working members of the society (e.g. kids) are supposed to thank the working members of the society. I congratulated my own labor efforts by...going to work. I do have a good reason. I have tickets to a concert next Monday, which means I have to leave work early (around 6:20pm or so) to get to it on time. I figured I'd work some during the holiday to make up for it. And no, that's something I never would've said as a grad student...
Days till I win The Bet: 1741
November 19, 2004
Random news items.
As a part of my daily routine, I check the news feeds on a semi-continuous basis. Every day, there's one news item that's disturbingly shocking, and I figured I'll mention two of them, just because I like to share.
Today's most disturbing news story was (and I think many of you would agree with me on this) the report that Pedro Martinez signed with the Yankees. Pedro. Yankees. First, the Red Sox win, and now this. I think it's safe to say that the baseball world has ended -- either that or we are all currently living in hell.
Yesterday's disturbing new story: in Osaka during the morning commute hours, a guy got in a car, totally naked, chased after five bicyclists, and ran them over. Two of the cyclists died. No one knows why the guy ran over people, much less why he was butt naked.
Maybe being plugged in to news isn't such a hot idea.
On a completely different topic, I took the first step towards getting a driver's license. To convert a U.S. (or other foreign) license to a Japanese license, there are three mandatory steps, with a highly recommended step in between. First, I have to get my current license translated by an official body. Second, I have to take a written exam. If I pass that, I can schedule a driving exam. The optional step is the part where I fork over 40,000 yen to a driving school, just so I can drive their car for three hours or so in a test course. Not a bad idea, but I don't need three hours.
You are probably wondering why I need a license. Truthfully speaking, I don't. I'm in the middle of Tokyo, where parking lots start at around 40,000 yen, and I have no plans of getting a car any time soon anyway, since I can get around fine on the subways. (And no, Eugene, a car is not necessary to impress women, as it turns out.)
At the same time, it just feels wrong to not have a driver's license. Also, if my current license expires, I'd have to pay at least 100,000 yen to get a license.
Days till I win The Bet: 1746
Today's most disturbing news story was (and I think many of you would agree with me on this) the report that Pedro Martinez signed with the Yankees. Pedro. Yankees. First, the Red Sox win, and now this. I think it's safe to say that the baseball world has ended -- either that or we are all currently living in hell.
Yesterday's disturbing new story: in Osaka during the morning commute hours, a guy got in a car, totally naked, chased after five bicyclists, and ran them over. Two of the cyclists died. No one knows why the guy ran over people, much less why he was butt naked.
Maybe being plugged in to news isn't such a hot idea.
On a completely different topic, I took the first step towards getting a driver's license. To convert a U.S. (or other foreign) license to a Japanese license, there are three mandatory steps, with a highly recommended step in between. First, I have to get my current license translated by an official body. Second, I have to take a written exam. If I pass that, I can schedule a driving exam. The optional step is the part where I fork over 40,000 yen to a driving school, just so I can drive their car for three hours or so in a test course. Not a bad idea, but I don't need three hours.
You are probably wondering why I need a license. Truthfully speaking, I don't. I'm in the middle of Tokyo, where parking lots start at around 40,000 yen, and I have no plans of getting a car any time soon anyway, since I can get around fine on the subways. (And no, Eugene, a car is not necessary to impress women, as it turns out.)
At the same time, it just feels wrong to not have a driver's license. Also, if my current license expires, I'd have to pay at least 100,000 yen to get a license.
Days till I win The Bet: 1746
November 18, 2004
Relocation.
After two and a half months of work, I finally got used to the office. And guess what? The company is moving to a new location -- a floor and a half in the building pictured. A coworker and I went to take a look at the office yesterday. It's nice. As you can see, the building is an all-glass building, so there is a very nice view of Tokyo from the office. Not to mention the fact that everything is brand new. The rooms still smell like new furniture.
See, there are benefits to taking a non-academic job...
November 15, 2004
Strange...
Today, I almost talked to a headhunter. I was in the middle of something, when I got a call from the reception desk. The receptionist told me that a Mr./Ms. XXX from YYY inc. called on the general line, and asked if she should transfer it (I'm being good and hiding his/her name and affiliation). I asked for the transfer, and got a lot of static noise, at which point, I hung up, called reception, and told her that I'm going to be away from the desk for a while (and kept working, of course).
The situation is a little bit strange. As far as I know, employee information is kept private, so the only people who know that I work at the company should be the people I've talked to (or handed out business cards to), or people in the company. If they had the business card, they would've called me on my direct line, so that rules out option #1. If someone in the company gave my name to this recruiter, this person must be a complete airhead, since I haven't even finished half of my probation period, and have no incentive to leave any time soon. So how did this person get my name? I guess recruiters must have backdoor means of obtaining employee lists and such...
In any case, that was mildly entertaining. It would've been funnier if I got to talk to the person; I was going to try pretending that I didn't speak English.
Days till I win The Bet: 1750
The situation is a little bit strange. As far as I know, employee information is kept private, so the only people who know that I work at the company should be the people I've talked to (or handed out business cards to), or people in the company. If they had the business card, they would've called me on my direct line, so that rules out option #1. If someone in the company gave my name to this recruiter, this person must be a complete airhead, since I haven't even finished half of my probation period, and have no incentive to leave any time soon. So how did this person get my name? I guess recruiters must have backdoor means of obtaining employee lists and such...
In any case, that was mildly entertaining. It would've been funnier if I got to talk to the person; I was going to try pretending that I didn't speak English.
Days till I win The Bet: 1750
November 14, 2004
My kind of town...
I finally have flight tickets to Chicago. I'll be arriving on the 9th of December (one day before convocation), and leaving on the 13th (Monday after convocation). I have no idea what I plan to do with the other two days. I will have to buy some gifts, but other than that, things are sort of up in the air at this point. In fact, I could use a little help in that area. What's a good Chicago gift that's not a consumable (i.e. other than Frango's chocolates and Chicago-style pizza)?
On an unrelated topic, I spent three days last week attending econophysics workshop. It's kind of funny, actually; I didn't think I would be going to conferences and workshops after I got out of academia, but there I was. Except, I wasn't a "participant"; I was there as an "observer," since my company was a sponsor. And I know next to nothing about econophysics. Anyway, I found it a little disturbing to listen to talks where the market was modeled as a spin lattice, etc.etc. I don't know enough about the financial market yet, but it's definitely not simple, and a simple model isn't anywhere near a good approximation to the true thing. And the talks were horrible. I guess I got used to high-quality talks, thanks to the Wopats and other such things. There were even two talks that I considered crackpot-like (and the rest of the audience did too).
Anyway, I hope to see some of you when I'm back in Chicago. By the way, how cold is it over there right now?
Days till I win The Bet: 1751
On an unrelated topic, I spent three days last week attending econophysics workshop. It's kind of funny, actually; I didn't think I would be going to conferences and workshops after I got out of academia, but there I was. Except, I wasn't a "participant"; I was there as an "observer," since my company was a sponsor. And I know next to nothing about econophysics. Anyway, I found it a little disturbing to listen to talks where the market was modeled as a spin lattice, etc.etc. I don't know enough about the financial market yet, but it's definitely not simple, and a simple model isn't anywhere near a good approximation to the true thing. And the talks were horrible. I guess I got used to high-quality talks, thanks to the Wopats and other such things. There were even two talks that I considered crackpot-like (and the rest of the audience did too).
Anyway, I hope to see some of you when I'm back in Chicago. By the way, how cold is it over there right now?
Days till I win The Bet: 1751
