Entries this day: AAM Hello,_World! Marble_track Zzzz_flash_halted

AAM

3:30am JST Tuesday 2 January 2007 (day 13432)

Slept longer than I planned, but now I'm up. Going to take a shower now because I haven't showered since last year.

Hello, World!

Hello, World!

Hello, World!

It's Rob in Japan!  I hope you remember; I'm the Rob formerly known as Rob Broke
Shoulder, which summarizes the end of my TJ Bike Adventure, bicycling 1400 miles
around Honshu..

It's been fully 6 months since then, and in the shoulder department, I'm pleased to
announce full recovery.  I can do push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and even sit-ups with
no pain to the shoulder whatsoever.  Full mobility and all that, too!  For those
who don't know/remember the story, feel free to read that Rob Update at
http://robnugen.com/travel/tjbike/kyoto2006/2006-05-30_The_end_of_the_road....shtml

Speaking of those who don't know that story, I have added several people to this
list without asking explicit permission first.  If you don't want to receive any
more Rob Updates, simply click the remove link at the top or bottom of the message!

And, because it's been over 1 year since I implemented this list, many of you are
slated for removal after this email.  (If so, there will be a message at the top
indicating such.)  Let me know if you want to stay on.

Okay, okay, enough administration, let's get to the juicy gossip!

I'm still working full time, but now working full time at two jobs.  One is
teaching English at English Village in Shibuya.  I'm teaching adults 1-to-1, for
basically 40 minutes per lesson.  Students schedule lessons according to their
schedules, so my schedule is unique every day, but with some consistent students
from week to week.

My *other* job is computer programming in Flash for a video game start-up company. 
Basically a friend of a friend has tapped three computer guys to flesh out a video
game idea he has.  At this point, there is no money, but we're basically pretty
excited about the possibilities.  Boss guy will be speaking with venture
capitalists next year.

Oh, wait, it *is* next year!  Happy New Year!!!

For New Year's, I went alone to Shibuya, just to see what it would be like.  Some
people guessed I would find the streets vacant, but they were wrong.  The
pedestrian areas around Shibuya crossing were pretty packed, with police along the
edge of the streets to keep the sloshing crowd *out* of the streets.  There was no
formal countdown, but everyone with their cellular phones pretty much handled it
for themselves.  The sloshing crowd turned slightly into a *moshing* crowd, and I
was a bit worried for some of the shorter participants.  But soon enough (after
about 8 minutes), the crowd began to go wherever crowds go after crowding Shibuya
for New Year's.  I didn't have a camera (both of mine are broken), so I headed home
on the 0:14am train, with no proof I had been anywhere.

I do have proof of something else, though; I've been working on another marble
track, like the one Maggie has been storing for me in Texas.  (Thanks, Maggie!!) 
This one I have thoughtfully called Marble Track 2, and have just put a video of it
up on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jeo1TVfrkvI  My actual plan was for
this one to be a small sample for an even larger marble track, but Marble Track 2
has taken all my spare time.  I work on it during my free time at work, and
sometimes use it as a topic of conversation, or an abject distraction for those who
don't want to study.

And now for topics without a segue-way, I have reconnected with Mankind Project
(http://www.mkp.org), the men's group that supported me for my last 5 years in the
US.  This summer, I found a small group that meets in Tokyo, so I've enjoyed that
support for my personal growth work.

I've come to find life in Tokyo really ... easy.  The trains are fantastically
convenient and inexpensive.  I don't have to think about anything regarding
personal safety.  People basically leave everyone alone to do everyone's own thing.
Ignoring rumors that Tokyo is due for a Big Earthquake, I could live here for a
while.  Considering my contract with English Village and the new video game thing,
I'll basically be here for 2007.

If you wanna come visit, we have room.  Just give a couple weeks' notice!!!

    Love Love
     - Rob! 

Marble track

7:46pm JST Tuesday 2 January 2007 (day 13432)

Just recorded a video of Marble Track 2, which I'll put up on youtube in a second. And perhaps also on my site.

Marble Track 2 before big marble switch worked

Zzzz flash halted

3:31am JST Wednesday 3 January 2007 (day 13433)

I'm just uploading some commentary about my day on youtube. Basically that flash production was halted after Tariq was like, "yeah, we need to store the usage history."

Aw, crap.