Monday

Today marked the beginning of our family vacation. The parental units allowed me to sleep in and didn't wake me up until 9:00. I count that as a good start. Things got better when Grandma and the girls arrived back with a couple dozen fresh bagels. I love bagels.

We spent several hours packing things up before finally cramming all of our stuff into the van and heading for Oregon. Our party consisted of all eight members of my immediate family, our paternal grandmother and my new lappy. Hey, computers are people too!

It was a four hour drive to our campsite here in Fort Stevens State Park. The trip was a little hectic. My youngest sister was emotionally fragile until she fell asleep, my four year old brother is suffering from pink eye, a cough and a stuffy nose and has been pretty miserable and my two oldest sisters have decided that they hate camping and are determined to have a miserable time. Despite the melancholy mood of some our travelers the rest of us managed to have a pretty good time, reading and listening to tapes. A milk shake stop didn't hurt matters either.

Upon arriving we set up camp. Much to my surprise things went up extremely efficiently. We were able to get all three tents (one for the parents, babies and Grandma, one for the boys and another for the girls), a cooking fly, the fire, and dinner ready while Mom entertained the babies. Things went much better than I expected considering the long span of time since our last family camping experience.

Dinner is over and the s'mores are all cooked. We've fended off one attack by a hungry coon and are preparing for bed. I'm set up on the picnic table with my lappy. This post will be delayed until I can find an internet connection from which to upload it.

A Close Call

I almost died today

A few of my friends and I went up to Mount Si to go hiking. The four mile trail was very steep and rocky and due to my poor exercise, I was sweating within the first mile. I brought way too much stuff.

Instead of the stroll in the woods I was expecting we all got a really good work out. It took us three hours to make it up the trail. The way down was alot quicker despite the nasty aches it gave our knees. During the hike I consumed two 16 oz. water bottles meaning that I get approximately 32 miles to the gallon. Pretty good considering that water is alot cheaper than gasoline.

After our hike we went to Burger King to reacquire all the calories we had burned on our trek. A few burgers, fries and milkshakes later we exited the establishment and headed back.

There were four of us on the hike, two brothers from Quiz, TBQelite and I. Mr. TBQelite was driving and since the brothers live on the way we dropped them off first. We ended up staying at their house and to watch a movie and their parents invited us to stay for a very tasty dinner. Thanks Mr. and Mrs. M!

It was a great day but I have a feeling some of you want to know how I almost died. Unfortunately, I've got to get to bed because I've got stuff to do. This story will be continued...

I'm Crazy!

The Pickle has tagged me, obligating me to give my few remaining readers a peek into what I'm crazy about.

Unfortunately, I'm having a really difficult time finding anything that I'm really crazy about.


***Tag rules: Insert any word you like into the phrase "you know you're crazy about ________ when..." Must have at least three answers. ***

I know that I'm crazy about politics when I listen to 20-30 hrs. of talk radio per week.

I know that I'm crazy about politics when I can name the nine Justices of the Supreme Court, the Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority and Minority Leaders in addition to the President, Vice President and the cabinet members who regularly appear in the news.

I knew that I was crazy about politics when I collected signatures for Initiative 912.


Addendum:

I know that I'm crazy about computers when I have to daisy chain powerstrips to plug in just my own devices.

I'm a Bad Blogger

I'm sorry for the poor nonexistent blogging lately. As you all know I've had a lot of balls swirling in the air lately. In addition to my eventful days the weather has been negatively affecting my cognitive functioning. We've had three digit temperatures and tender Seattlites such as myself melt and/or wither in such heat. After I get off work I've been lounging about like an cephalopod with with muscle paralysis or perhaps more like an amoeba. Whatever the creature I most resemble I haven't been doing much.

Since my last post I've:

Written several blog drafts that are still unfinished
Had a birthday
Paid for my classes
Witnessed a 12 yr. old duke it out with her grandmother in a parking lot (that was pathetic)
Bought a plane ticket
Replaced my wardrobe
Purchased a new laptop
And done a whole bunch of other things that I can't recall at the moment.

I hope to improve my post frequency in the near future.

Invoiced!

TUJ invoiced me yesterday for Fall tution and fees.

I have until the 20th to remit ¥631,250, about $5,520. I've got the money but I was hoping to cover this with my scholarship money, which hasn't arrived yet. I should have $11,500 in scholarship checks on the way and I'm going to hold out a few more days to see if I get them.

*EDIT*

Pickle asks, "That is it for the whole semester?"

After ¥625,000 in scholarships yes. That's just money paid to the school though and doesn't account for the outrageous cost of living in Tokyo.

MORE EDIT

"is the water safe????" asks the Blonde.

"I am here to assure The Blonde that the water that Rabenstrange will be drinking will be at least as safe as the water he currently drinks... Wow. That's not very reassuring..." replies the Shadow Walker.

First of all, thanks for your concern. Compared to the water here, where instead of drinking the water out of the Seattle tap I take milk jugs up to the local swimming pool to get drinking water, I'd say the water will be great.

Just kidding! In all seriousness, the water in Japan will be just as good as anything in the U.S.. Japan isn't a third world country. It's not like I'm going to China.

Japan Gets Tough!

According to this AP story reported by Pajamas Media, Japan may be exploring the option of rearming. They are also looking into the legality of a pre-emptive strike against N. Korea. I say good for them.

Japan has relied on the United States for protection decades and I think it would be great if they began to take more responsibility for their defense. Especially now when the United States Armed Forces are streched thin it would be advantageos to have a strong ally in East Asia. Japan has been a good friend and partner to our nation and I think that the concerns that led to Japan's tiny military have been layed to rest.

Manpower!

Dad and Mason got back from their camp on Saturday but Mom and the girls are still gone. With no ladies around we've been living life the guy way.

We hit Safeway and loaded up on Root beer, Ice cream, Sobe and Bush's baked beans. Then we hit up Hollywood Video to get some manly movies. We got Quigley Down Under, The Sting, and Clint Eastwood's A Fistful of Dollars.

Yesterday afternoon, we went and saw Dead Man's Chest. I liked the movie although it wasn't quite as good as Curse of the Black Pearl. DMC was darker than the original. It just didn't exude the aura of fun that the original had. The plot was also more straight forward with less clever twists. The hook ending was rather irritating as well. On the plus side I though some of the sword fighting was better choreographed. On the whole it was a good movie if not as great as the positively fabulous original.

It's been a great weekend but I've got work in a few hours so I'd best get ready.

Frustration!

As I mentioned previously, I'm home alone this week. That means I have no transportation anywhere (excepting work in which case I have friendly co-workers).

I've spent a week working and now I want to go out and catch a movie but none of my friends are available. Several are at a party to which I have no ride and one is on his way to New Orleans to help out with continuing disaster relief efforts.

It's really rather irritating.

Oh well, I'll survive.

Baton!

Peach has passed me a Baton. Isn't that a charming name for Tag? I like it better.

[1, What is your name?]
Handle: Rabenstrange
Japanese nick name: I don't have one yet. Maybe I'll get one soon.
Chinese name: I don't know how to say my name in Chinese
Japanese name: マフュー

Unlike Peach, I'm not very talented with languages.

[2, What did you eat last night for your supper?]
ハンバーガー と アイスクリーム (Hamburger and Icecream)

[3, What is your job?]
I work at a print shop. I make books, posters, envelopes and other paper goods.

[4, What do you like to do?]
Blogging, reading, paintball, camping, playing games, listening to music.

[5, What is you favorite type?]
Someone who is friendly and likes to have fun.

[6, What is your special ability?]
I am not a particularly special person. I'm not very good at most things.

[7, Do you have any license or qualification?]
I have a Hunting Saftey card, a Hunting License, NMLRA Blackpowder shooting card and a Driver's Ed certificate.

[8, Do you have concerns?]
I am very worried about moving to Japan. I don't know anyone there and I don't speak Japanese. I am excited and scared at the same time.

[9. What is your favorite food and dislike food?]
I love steak.

I don't like most seafood. I don't mean to be picky and I try to be open-minded but I just do not enjoy it.

[10. Say a word for person you love]
I am not "in love".

I do love my family very much though. "I'll miss you guys alot!"

[11, Write 5 people you want to give this baton message]
Frazzled Sister, Polka Dotted Pickles, TBQelite, Bugblaster, Radical One.

In case you wonder, I select my Baton catchers based on my most recent commenters.

Home Alone

I'm home alone for the rest of the week. Dad and Mason are at Ranger Camp and Mom and the girls + Zach are on some undisclosed trip.

That means I'm on a steady diet of hot dogs and nachos for a few days. Maybe tomorrow I'll get adventureous and try to make myself burgers or grill up some chicken.

The distressing thing is that I'm beginning to realize that I will starve in Japan. It's not like you can get Kosher Polish Sausages at the convenience stores clustered around Jiyugaoka station.