What's the difference?

Two sample sentences that Tetsuo and I were discussing just now (yes, this is how we spend our Saturday nights...)
What's the difference between them?
I came home to find my house stolen by aliens.
I came home and found my house stolen by aliens.

I say that using "to find" instead of "and found" adds an element of surprise, but this may not necessarily be true...

Opinions please!

ninety days

They said the first ninety days would be the hardest, but I made it through O.K.
They said I should be hospitalized,
but I went to work anyway.
Those ninety days are over now,
and I'm no worse for the wear.
I think I feel myself coming back,
though this time with less hair.

Commuting

I take the train to and from work these days, and I tend to either a. listen to podcasts or band practice on the ol' iPod, or b. work on the ol' MacBook, or c. (when on the bus) perhaps play a game or watch a DVD. But as I was sitting on the train home last night I noticed that almost everyone else had their cellphones (keitai in Japanese) out and were busily doing something with them, even while walking to their seat! Text messaging, web browsing, or gaming seemed to be the top three, but a number of people were also listening to audio.
So
I whipped out my keitai and snapped a picture of the three folks across the aisle from me. The big guy doesn't seem to happy about it...

Sunday

I woke up this morning at 4. Got up, took some meds and checked my e-mail. I went through some paperwork before changing into my walking clothes. Hiromi came downstairs at 5:30 and said she wouldn't be walking today, but sitting in on the "Morning Meeting" (of the Japan Ethics Society). The meeting is held everyday, and we usually just pop our heads in for a second while on our morning walk, but sometimes she gets dressed-up to sit in and listen. Anyway, after breakfast and fooling around with the little ones, I got dressed-up and went to the "Men's Meeting" seminar with my father & uncle in-law and one of my father-in-law's childhood classmates, a Mr. Yamashita.

The seminar was certainly of interest, four speakers from different backgrounds and societal levels spoke about the power of ethical living. Outside of the seminar (in front of Hamamatsu Station's north exit) we saw a group of monks (komuso-) in traditional tengai (a reed hood shaped like a basket).

Afterwards we returned to Iwata and ate lunch @ Kaniya Ramen where the background music was all instrumental 80s tunes and I heard my first listening of the muzak version of Rock Lobster by the B-52s.

My Japanese name

I was looking for something entirely different (a client's website actually) and I somehow ran across this little gem of a site that generates a Japanese name for you. I assume it's random, didn't have enough time to check, but anyway here it is:

My japanese name is 小松 Komatsu (little pine tree) 一真 Kazuma (one reality).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Best t-shirt I've seen yet

I may have sent this to some of you already, but I was at my son's second grader soccer tournament last week or so when I saw a shirt that, from a distance, looked like it had the word "penis" written on the front. I knew that couldn't be right, that my dirty little mind must be playing tricks on me, but then when the mom wearing the shirt came closer, I saw what I saw.
I asked my wife if she knew the lady (she did) and to ask her for a photo shot because her gaijin husband collects funny Japanese t-shirt photos. She agreed, and after the photo was taken it was explained to her what was written on her shirt (nice logo too). She said she would never wear it again, and asked me to let her know if she wears any other odd English on her shirts, We'll see.

A Bad Week

Well, the details and the nitty gritty aren't so important, suffice to say that I totaled my car on Monday, due to a unbelievable error in judgment, and then on Saturday I had an epileptic seizure in the airport in Singapore en route to New Zealand. Consequently I spent three days in hospital in Singapore and did not make it to New Zealand after all. I still don't know what caused this particular episode, nor do I remember the event itself. All I have is loose teeth and a quite well bitten tongue to remind me of the situation. One minute I was chatting amiably with my students, the next thing I knew I was in a wheelchair in an unfamiliar room where people were asking me if I knew my name and where I was. I knew neither. So I was sent off to the local hospital, no local money, no friends, and no way to contact the outside world. I read the same time magazine three times. Eventually I got in contact with Gwinner in New Zealand and my wife in Japan in order to let folks what was going on. I still don't know what brought it on, but I'm grounded (no driving) for the time being.
It's been an interesting week.

Deepresso

I was minding my own business the other day at a juice/coffe vending machine when I came upon this little gem:
Deepresso canned coffee from Georgia. What marketing genius came up with that one? Feeling a bit "deepressed" that day, I bought a can, and soon I felt right as rain...

Circle of Life sorta thing

I received a phone call this morning at 2:30. It was my brother-in-law Dennis calling to let me know that my father had passed away. He had been in and out of the hospital over the last two years for a couple of reasons. Heart trouble, cancer (colon, lung, and liver in that order), emphasyma, diabetes, and cataracts. He was recovering from having some radiation treatment for his cancer when he suddenly died of a heart attack.
Fortunately, my family and I just went to San Jose to visit with him at the end of last month when the kids had spring vacation. We took this picture with him at that time.
He gave me some free advice when I was at the pit of my troubles, and here it is for you:

"This is free advice,and worth every penny.
1. The cemetaries are full of people that were "indispensible"
2. If you are trying to emulate your predessor in your job, you will fail.
3, When you delegate a job to someone, they will not do it the way you would have. Sometimes this is a good thing
4.The human brain can handle just so much..after that, It takes a break..
5.Let people do the job you assigned them..check for results, not methods."

I think it's well worth the price...

Welcome to America

We are back from the good ol' US of A, and what a trip it was. I was fortunate enough to see many friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in years and years. I was also fortunate to spend some time with my father, who is not doing well at all. Actually, he became worse while we were there, I'm not sure if it was our fault or not, but I hope he feels better soon. It was tough seeing him as such an old man who can't even walk around his (honestly speaking, disgusting) house. I was of course shocked by the amount of junk he has collected over the years, and the amount of junk that has been deposited in all the upstairs rooms by one of my sisters. Simply amazing.
I'll post some pictures when I get the chance to do so.

I'm out–

Happy New Year Nobody

This is a picture of sunrise over the port of Fukude in Iwata City Japan, January 1st 2007. The family all got up at 4 am to head over to the "Morning Meeting" of the Japan Society for Ethical Living by 4:30 and then we drove the twenty minutes or so to the coast for sunrise. Each and every January 1st for the past 15 years I have toasted the family at breakfast with a cup of sake. Not this year.I have a good feeling about this year. I feel change is in the wind. I sincerely wish I could get my iMac working...