Entries this day: Journal_ketchup Soap Work reika_lesson

Journal ketchup

8:32am JST Thursday 23 October 2008 (day 14092)

I'm up early, on the train already, but going *away* from Shibuya so I have time to write about the last three days, each of which was filled with a morning routine:

1. reiki level 3 practice

2. neti in the shower

3. 20 minutes' meditation

and then eat cereal or read/write online before heading to work.

Work has seen less progress than I might have hoped, in that Sho and Malek have gotten yanked off-course by an issue with a client, whose client is mad because our client made a mistake, and has been told they must cancel their contract with us to 'make things right.'

BUT, Sho started doing some invoices yesterday with my newly written billing system, and we spent a couple hours tweaking things to make 'em righter than before. Part of the changes could have been done by me already (find a font that will look good for both Japanese and English: KOJMIN (in my file), though Sho described it as Mincho-, I think), though I had been trying to find a different (more difficult (why?)) solution: detect whether the data being written was English or Japanese, and set the PDF font accordingly. Finding a font that worked for both was definitely easier to implement.

In other "work" related news, I helped Jesse with some PHP coding that he's doing for his church Christmas celebration. He's pretty smart for a guy from Kentucky (*), but he hasn't programmed in a while, hasn't programmed in PHP ever, and I don't know that he's actually been schooled in programming. Anyway, he was doing pretty well, but I just gave him a few tips by email, and then helped him sort out some bugs while we stood in Apple Store Shibuya, using one of their computers to debug the code. Jesse kindly bought me a kebab from a shop in Shibuya that was a step up in size and quality from the one we used to frequent in Jiyugaoka back in our Gaba days.

(*) I was born in Kentucky.

I had a dream this morning:

before she had read my email, Kumi was telling me about a system they had set up at their work by which people who would be shocked by certain information would *not* receive the emails, just because the information would do them more harm than good. Kumi wasn't one who would be easily shocked by normally shocking information; I was glad to hear that.

Also "work"-related, I've been trying to get an actionscript thing to detect if a button is *not* pressed, but have had trouble sorting out how to do it. I wrote a message to kirupa forums; hopefully someone who's actionscripter-than-me can answer.

This project is for a new game idea with Tariq. I would definitely enjoy working with him, and learn a lot from his great business sense, but at the moment there's no cash involved so I've not put a ton of time toward it.

I've put more time toward reading Volume III of Atlantean Secrets (thinking about writing a Wikipedia entry for this series, if there's not one already) (for the second time). I'm not at the point where Szar, Elyani, Maryani and King Vouskidass (sp) are deliberating ways to help Elyani's ascention (sp) ritual work.

Woah. I just noticed that ritual and spiritual share a sequence of letters. I wonder how they're related. Probably just the rit in meeaning and the ual in conjugation.

AND, finally, I've been helping Angel a bit with her soap-sellin' website, which isn't yet ready for public use; there's no secure way to check out, and only a few product have been entered. I may get into chat mode with her this morning.

9:02am JST

Now have arrived in Motomachi-Chukagai, the station on the opposite end from Shibuya on this line (actually two lines: Tokyu Toyoko, and Minato Mirai) (Next year (?) it will be three lines total, with Shibuya in the middle. Minato-Mirai, Tokyu Toyoko, and Fukutoshin which already goes from Shibuya up past Ikebukero, but the Tokyu Toyoko Line doesn't yet connect with it in Shibuya. Similar to what they did in Yokohama Station some years ago, the line will be adjusted to go down several levels underground to connect with the new line. In the case of Yokohama, it used to connect with the somethin-somethin' line, to somethin-else station (I'd know it if I heard the station, but not necessarily the line)

Anyway, headed toward Shibuya now, still early for work.

An interesting bit of news arrived last night, when Mia called me after Helma called her. Helma was disallowed to enter Japan again on a tourist visa, and is headed to Australia until further notice. I entered Japan several times in a row on tourist visas and never had any problem. She even had proof of forward travel out of Japan. Not sure what happened or will happen next.

The phone call came while Ami and I were eating dinner. I haven't seen Ami in several days (it seems). Her mom apparently has stomach cancer, and on pre-initial analysis could have just a few months to live. We're supposed to get more definite news today. I've tried to support Ami by giving her space and coming to see her as appropriate; I'm not that close to her family, and I don't really know what support she needs. Seems like she's taking care of herself and family as best she can.

Before Ami left, we cuddled; I didn't even suggest a romp; I thought a more present presence would be ore appropriate. She left after a bi, and I slept until getting a phone call from Kumi after she got the news regarding helma's unexpected absence. Though there will probably be no meditation circle tomorrow, Kumi and I are going to meet up anyway to talk about ways we can do ISIS 101 (together?). We have permission to use Amy's cabin, though it might be too cold to use it during the winter (once Helma gets back). Going to OZ seems to be an option for Kumi soon, and I'll let myself go once I get enough cash to do it without going into debt.

Could concevably decide it's a good investment, and not worry about the temporary debt; it would be less than I incurred while finishign my bike ride (a euphemism for breaking my shoulder two years ago)

9:26am JST

We're leaving hiyoshi now (on an express train), so we're just about to blow through my station, Motosumiyoshi to stop in Musashi-Kosugi.

9:28am JST

Now we're in Kosugi.

I've covered all the major bits in the last few days, except for what I *haven't* done: worked on Colleen's painting (I finished a complicated part, and now it's simmering). I also haven't used pornography since before this weekend or so. That's not soooo amazing, but definitely interesting: I deleted all the pr0n images and movies from my home computer. Not from this one yet; hang on.

9:35am JST

done. In Jiyugaoka now; so crowded there's a bag hanging over my computer, hanging off a guy's arm; I've closed the screen part way as protection, and don't know if I'm tyinpg correctly.. bye!

Soap

5:54pm JST Thursday 23 October 2008 (day 14092)

Chatted with Angel about her soap sellin' site, and set up the payment information for a paypal thingy. Showed her a bit about how to run the admin page, and then rolled out to lunch with Andrew.

Work

5:50pm JST Thursday 23 October 2008 (day 14092)

Andrew and I ate lunch at Subway.

Today, I've made several changes to the billing system today: cleaning up the user interface, and making more things be editable, such as the companies' billing info, and the message to each company that shows up on the bottom of each invoice.

Heading out in a bit to meet Reika for a lesson where I usually meet Yurika.

reika lesson

10:30pm JST Thursday 23 October 2008 (day 14092)

Met Reika at the cafe in the bookstore at 7pm for a 1.5 hour lesson; she still seemed a bit nervous even after an hour, so I suggested we head to da Pink Cow, which I had suggested as an excellent resource for her job-finding, English-learning plans.

Our visit at The Pink Cow included Traci-hugs, ice-free orange juice, double-guacamole tortilla chips, Corrine-chat, cow-go talk with Murphy (who's far more business minded than I would have ever guessed), David asking about Uncle Cow (stinky after Gas Panic) and Ami (with her stomach cancer dehanced mom), plus introducing Jeff, and me-n-Reika's conversation, including the summarized long version of my answer to "what do you believe?"

Dropped her off at Inokashira Line (taking her through Shibuya station, instead of out by Hachiko (it's slightly sprinkling)), and she said she'd contact me for more lessons. Nice.