Entries this day: AM PM Tom

AM

3:02pm JST Monday 2 August 2004

Quickly, um, I am on the train (and on time) to be at work in 13 minutes.

I just finished applying for an international card at my bank. Cost 1050 yen to apply and apparently 525 yen for each subsequent year, and 210 yen + 3% for withdrawals. A ton cheaper than sending cash by Lloyd's.

But, fuckin' fuck; they replaced my domestic Japan-atm card, so I can't send a card to janette and keep a card here, allowing me to do cash stuff here and let her smurf cash out of my account and into my US account.

Ah well. The universe provides what I need; apparently I don't need that other card right now.

PM

12:15am JST Tuesday 3 August 2004

Work was fun, ending with Kozue. She works really hard at her studies.

I'm tired.

oh - I began learning the doomsday method of calculating the day of the week for any date. Pretty cool to imagine doing that in my brain.

Tom

12:36am JST Tuesday 3 August 2004

Ahh; I forgot!

Tonight I stopped by the kebab guy on Bremendori (dori=street) which is the main street that crosses my train line at my train station. I stopped partially out of compassion; he's there every night, and seems to have only a few customers. I was also a bit hungry, so I figured I could afford 500 yen to give his kebabs a shot.

Randomly, Tom arrived behind me; he was riding by on his bicycle and offered to give me a ride home on the back.

It was scary and fun, like flying home in a rickety old airplane that could barely stay off the ground (and off the edge of the streets). We were lucky at the two streets we had to cross; no traffic came to put an end to our antics.

I realized my stomach muscles were completely taut, trying to keep my body balanced so we wouldn't crash and die.

"Oh Rob, don't you trust me?"

"Oh Tom, of course I trust you; I just want to stay firm behind you here."

Sometimes we talk like we're old lovers.

We arrived at our street, where I dismounted cause the kerthumpyhump to get up onto our street would have been a bit much for his low-air-pressure tires and our shakey disposition.

Michael, who also works at Gaba, was just at the same point after walking from the station; he had taken an earlier train. For no particular reason other than Michael's apparent tendency for making wild claims that usually(?) have little to do with reality, I announced that Tom had given me a ride home from Jiyugaoka.

- - - -

Beautiful Kuli walked in while we were outside talking (Michael lives in the next building). She is tall and looks like a swimmer. Incredible.