a new bike
I woke up this morning to a clean place at about 10:30. I think I've finally caught up on my sleep because I didn't feel awful waking up like that. And I'll bet I sleep easier in a clean place too. There's some kind of disturbing energy in the environs if it's full of clutter. Anyone sensitive to energy like that will sure know what I mean.
In any event, after playing a game of i-go with neomagusx and learning a bit more (the hard way), I decided it was high time to get a new bike. My other one had gotten stolen a couple weeks ago (yeah, updates, I know), when I forgot to carry the key with me when I went to work. Truth be told, I've done that a couple times before and it had been fine. But I guess I really got lucky. There are two (and only two) things that get absconded with in this city: bicycles and umbrellas. Leave your wallet open in the middle of the street and it'll still be there tomorrow; leave an old beaten-up bicycle unlocked for 6 hours and goodbye!
I went to the bike shop down the street and asked for a used bike. I felt a bit bad because I interrupted his 将棋(Japanese chess) game to have him run off and fetch a bike for me and then spend the next 30 minutes cleaning it up for me, but I suppose it is his job. Either way, I ended up with a nicer bike than I used to have, and he let me have it for ¥3000 (under $30). I've still yet to figure out how it works, but it has 3 gears which clearly do something, yet there's no derailer. Furthermore, there's only one gear for the chain to go in. And it's got an automatic light that turns on when it gets dark, and I assume it gets power from the wheel but I don't feel it like I did on my old bike. The old one suffered a huge power drain if I put the light on and I had to pedal twice as hard. The new one - no change.
Had a great chat with the bike shop owner too. I'm really happy with my Japanese ability at this point. I can carry on pretty normal conversations basically without a hitch. Maybe a word or two I don't know creeps up, but that even happens in English, right? Anyway, we talked about a number of things while he was fixing up the bike, and it just felt good to talk to someone like that. We talked about languages too, and if you're ever going to learn a language, it's a whole lot easier to do so where everyone's speaking it around you than to just study from books or classes. But of course you already knew that, didn't you?
Went to a karaoke box to practice with the band tonight too. We picked the last couple songs and decided to have our gig on the 25th of June in the beer garden. Talk about early, but it's the best day we could come up with. And it's the day after Little Shop of Horrors too...Yikes. But it should be good, and you're all invited. We're doing a bunch of Beatles tunes and a few others (7 or 8 in total). And there's a fun Japanese one in there too (that I really ought to learn sooner rather than later) that I'm looking forward to.
In any event, after playing a game of i-go with neomagusx and learning a bit more (the hard way), I decided it was high time to get a new bike. My other one had gotten stolen a couple weeks ago (yeah, updates, I know), when I forgot to carry the key with me when I went to work. Truth be told, I've done that a couple times before and it had been fine. But I guess I really got lucky. There are two (and only two) things that get absconded with in this city: bicycles and umbrellas. Leave your wallet open in the middle of the street and it'll still be there tomorrow; leave an old beaten-up bicycle unlocked for 6 hours and goodbye!
I went to the bike shop down the street and asked for a used bike. I felt a bit bad because I interrupted his 将棋(Japanese chess) game to have him run off and fetch a bike for me and then spend the next 30 minutes cleaning it up for me, but I suppose it is his job. Either way, I ended up with a nicer bike than I used to have, and he let me have it for ¥3000 (under $30). I've still yet to figure out how it works, but it has 3 gears which clearly do something, yet there's no derailer. Furthermore, there's only one gear for the chain to go in. And it's got an automatic light that turns on when it gets dark, and I assume it gets power from the wheel but I don't feel it like I did on my old bike. The old one suffered a huge power drain if I put the light on and I had to pedal twice as hard. The new one - no change.
Had a great chat with the bike shop owner too. I'm really happy with my Japanese ability at this point. I can carry on pretty normal conversations basically without a hitch. Maybe a word or two I don't know creeps up, but that even happens in English, right? Anyway, we talked about a number of things while he was fixing up the bike, and it just felt good to talk to someone like that. We talked about languages too, and if you're ever going to learn a language, it's a whole lot easier to do so where everyone's speaking it around you than to just study from books or classes. But of course you already knew that, didn't you?
Went to a karaoke box to practice with the band tonight too. We picked the last couple songs and decided to have our gig on the 25th of June in the beer garden. Talk about early, but it's the best day we could come up with. And it's the day after Little Shop of Horrors too...Yikes. But it should be good, and you're all invited. We're doing a bunch of Beatles tunes and a few others (7 or 8 in total). And there's a fun Japanese one in there too (that I really ought to learn sooner rather than later) that I'm looking forward to.