Friday October 15, 8:08 p.m.

Yep, at 3:32 p.m. this afternoon, I turned the big 45! It happened just two minutes into my 90-minute lesson with Mr. Swank. I somehow made the announcement some 48 minutes later. No big plans although I got some nice wishes from Speedy and the staff, and a few Mixi friends. Plus, I had my fave Chicken Saute over at The Restauranteur's place although neither she nor the juku boss have been informed about my birthday.

The only other student I had was The Bass this morning. For some reason, he seemed slightly edgy...at least for him (he's probably the most laidback student I have)...and his Listening was somewhat out to lunch.

Actually, it's also my niece's birthday as well so good wishes to her. I hope she did get that Miffy book on time.

As usual, I've got the boss and The Restauranteur in less than an hour.

Thursday October 14, 5:33 p.m.

Well, I'm over halfway through another Hump Day. I've finished with The Patent Attorney, Grandma Dynamite, The New Yorker and Mr. TOEFL. The New Yorker got me some Okinawan chinsuko and a small package of Corned Beef Hash after her trip to Okinawa last week. And it was Mr. TOEFL's final lesson with us here at Speedy's. He just had a couple of lessons left on his contract which explains his presence yesterday and today. After this, he's off to Toronto for the next 3 months. I gave him a bit of information on my hometown such as weather...weather is always a biggie for folks heading over there.

I also got a Halloween Dozen from Krispy Kreme for the enlarged gang at Speedy's. Yep, the cameras were all out to take a picture of the Jack O' Lantern donuts. I'll have to supply my own in a future entry.

Anyways, I should grab something from the conbini before The Carolinan gets in since it'll be straight on through her, Miss Thursday and The Music Man before I finish up tonight.

Thursday October 14, 8:29 a.m.

Yep, after all the wonderful news about the miners being brought up from the Chilean depths, there just had to be some sort of lunatic idiocy to balance things out. Apparently, once the very first guy got brought out, the media scrum truly turned into a rugby scrum, tearing down the tent that held the relatives.

Yup, the world is Taoist...

Wednesday October 13, 10:30 p.m.

Got through my gauntlet of lessons today. It was good to see Mr. TOEFL again after 4 months. Ironically after a stint Stateside, he lost about 10 kg! And he had some really good hamburgers to boot.

Basically, The Overachiever, Mr. TOEFL, 001 and Miss Sony were a good bunch to get through a gauntlet. All of them are willing to talk on anything which saves my voice a lot of wear and tear.

I would like to go home now since I not only have to come in early to see The Patent Attorney but I also have a rather massive lineup on Thursday. Looks like Grandma Dynamite is not gonna cancel.

Wednesday October 13, 8:15 p.m.

After about a month, 001 finally came back in from the cold...or Turkey, at least. I did ask her about whether she would be renewing to which she did answer in the affirmative. However, she has booked her next lesson a month later. She is really dragging her contract out. In any case, unsurprisingly, we managed to avoid the boring textbook very easily by talking about her trip and then about Aiba-kun.

Looks like they've gotten 9 miners out from the Chilean depths so far. So far, so good.

I've only got Miss Sony before calling it a night. That loaded lunch has helped me gotten through the 5 hours.

Wednesday October 13, 3:28 p.m.

Well, the epic Chile Mine Rescue drama is now coming to a successful close...I was lucky enough to have been at home to see the Phoenix Capsule go down the shaft and then come up with the first trapped miner. Not a dry eye in the house, including mine. This will probably go down in history as a rescue on the order of Apollo 13. I'm sure a lot of Hollywood producers are thinking of the possibilities.

Mrs. Mild wasn't too mild last night. It wasn't exactly a crash-n'-burn class but Mrs. Mild wasn't in a good mood since she's been suffering from some sort of fatigue due to the up-and-down nature of our weather. She has never been the quickest student in my flock but she always tried hard and had a smile on her face. Not last night. She looked exhausted and even got a bit cranky at her husband. Well, I figure that once in 6 years for her is warranted.

Loaded up on the calories today since from 4 p.m., I'll be going pretty much nonstop until 9:15. I've got The Overachiever, Mr. TOEFL, 001 and Miss Sony tonight. 001 should be interesting for a couple of reasons...she's coming back after a month away due to work and a vacation in Turkey, and this will be her 3rd-last lesson on her current contract. I'll probably ask her about her intentions tonight but I won't be surprised if she decides to finish things with us.

Tuesday October 12, 4:26 p.m.

Well, it's been another long weekend. Ended up buying "Get Smart: Season 2" from Sale, that DVD shop in Akiba specializing in foreign discs. Paid 4,700 yen...yup, a tad expensive but again I really did want to get my hands on it. I've learned the hard way that once an opportunity goes away, that may be it. "Get Smart" is no longer all that funny but I guess my nostalgia bone has been rather tickled by the antics of Max and 99. In any case, it makes a bit easier for me when I head home and grab DVD sets back in Toronto.

Summer just won't let go of us here in the Kanto, and perhaps in the entire country. It came back yesterday with highs of 28 C in Tokyo. It's about 5 degrees cooler today but the humidity has still made it rather sticky. Again, there will be another gradual cooldown over the next few days. Perhaps Fall may come here for good by then.

I had Cozy earlier this morning since yesterday was a national holiday. I tried cooking one of his recommended dishes over the long weekend, oshidofu. It's basically a stew of beef, tofu, bamboo shoots and green onions. It came out rather well but unfortunately I chose the supermarket that charges premium prices for beef as my supplier for ingredients.

Since The Beehive was off today, I had several hours to rest up and have lunch before my usual juku Tuesday crowd of Mr. White and The Milds. Not too bad today but the next couple of days could be rather hellish, especially Thursday since I've got 7 hours' worth of classes. The Sisters of State will make up part of that. The New Yorker cancelled last Friday...maybe the only time in her 5 years with me that she's ever canned a lesson due to a cold. She's now inserted herself into the early afternoon slot. All I know is that I'm either going to be exhausted or grumpy by the time I finish with The Music Man.

However, I'm somewhat happy to say that The Shareholder has cancelled his lesson this Friday once again due to work. Not that he's a bad guy but he's not the most outgoing fellow. As he has himself admitted, he has no sense of humor. His father probably beat it out of him. And I do have Saturday off this weekend.