Thursday September 22, 11:34 a.m.

Looking pretty gray and dark with some spitting rain out there. I checked the long-range forecast in Taiwan on the Net. Apparently, there may be the odd thunderstorm over Taipei on Monday but the next couple of days were symbolized by a black cloud. That doesn't look good but then again we will already be on the ground so at least the tour can continue...unless that black cloud means typhoons. Just hope that The Madame and I don't suffer a bad surprise when we hit Narita.

Quite the news night in the States. The third-most powerful hurricane in recorded history bearing down on Galveston, a tornado touching down near Minneapolis and a plane scare (thankfully safely resolved) over LAX.

I managed to get the lesson plans done for not just The New Yorker and the Carolinan tonight but also for the other pair of sisters I teach tomorrow. I'll have to get a bit of shopping done for some cheap cue cards.

I've been hearing all about this Kate Moss scandale with these pics of her snorting drugs. The only thing that surprises me is that this is actually news. Kate Moss? Cocaine? Quel horreur! It rather reminds me of Captain Renault yelling in mock indignation that Rick's Cafe Americain holds gambling while the corrupt man himself collects his winnings. Well, it looks like the fashion houses are dropping her like a used syringe only because of the media spotlight which only now just decided to shine on her. It does send a message but that won't be enough, of course. One model who was being preened when the reporter shoved a mike in her face just wondered aloud why the attention was being shone on Moss now. This is old news, folks.

Wednesday September 21, 11:10 p.m.

Another long day comes to an end. I had my usual Monday morning and afternoon students, The Class Act and SIL, this morning due to the national holiday a couple of days ago. Literally the classes at The Lady's house were back-to-back since they were scrunched up next to my lessons at Speedy's. Thankfully, the whole kit and kaboodle was liberally peppered with good humour so the time went pretty quickly. The Class Act went well and The Matron kindly took copies of all the immigration stuff I had collected to show to her hubby. If everything works out, I'll be meeting the man in a couple of weeks. Speaking of immigration, Paddy will be giving that town hall a call and see if his power of attorney will loosen the red tape.

SIL suffered a bit of an accident over the weekend. She had the misfortune of slipping on a zabuton on bare flooring which resulted in a cracked tailbone. OUCH! Fortunately or unfortunately, my own cracks...jokes, that is...were breaking her up at the cost of causing some pain for her tailbone.

001 and 002 were fine as usual. Speedy hopes that 002 will give up her other school, a nationally famous institution that isn't NOVA, to come over to our motley operation. The way I've been keeping her in stitches while educating her at the same time bodes well. Speedy also told me of this party on the holiday Friday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club for English teachers and students. His mission is mainly to go fishing for new students. He wanted me to come along since going alone is no fun but after looking at the website, I thought the whole affair was more of another human swap meet. And since he didn't seem all that enthused to go otherwise, I'm pretty much of a no-thanks. As it turns out, The OL cancelled her lesson for Friday, but I'll just be happy to get home after my lessons with the kids in the morning.

Chip Guy finally popped in the e-mail after an absence of several months. Looks like he had his own experience in Taiwan just the other day. Although his business trip was pretty much trains, planes and automobiles, he had enough time to go up the Taipei 101 Building and laud it. 002 also told me that she envied my upcoming trip since she enjoyed her two trips there herself. Looks promising.

I also got e-mail from that former student-turned-airline crew member. Looks like she wants some help in interviews since she's interested in moving onto another airline. I proposed October 2nd.

Now that I finally got replies from The Matron and my brother, the only other AWOL correspondent is SR. I'm not sure what's happened with her after the news that her company, an American airline, went bankrupt.

Wednesday September 21, 8:22 p.m.

The traditional first day of Fall. Not quite sure though what the temps are or will be out there. My room has a tendency to show season lag since I still need at least a fan to keep cool.

It was a mixed bag at the juku. The boss is still praying that I will be able to stay with the juku. The New Kid was alright although it was plainly obvious that he needed a shower. He's still a kid so it'll be a few years yet before he's vain enough to need cologne or deodorant. The Beauty Pair was OK although Kei seemed a bit bored. I only had Mrs. Mild since Mr. Mild was too busy at work and McGirl had some other teenage plan. As for The Siberian, things were a bit smoother since we were able to lock onto a topic that he showed some interest in...the wonderful world of fortune telling.

I finally got word from my brother. He's been strangely unresponsive to my e-mail for a while so there was a little worry whether I'd offended him or not, but he's usually very straight with me. Looks like everything is OK but he didn't show any reaction about my visa plans.

I just got a call from my mother's town hall concerning that request for the documentation. The lady is very polite but it was another example of red tape. I'm gonna have to let Paddy know. I don't think he will be able to sweet talk her into doing anything about it...even with his skills as a lawyer. And I'm hoping that The Matron has some good news for me today. She never responded to my e-mail about her initial proposal.

Tuesday September 19, 1:23 p.m.

Pretty unsettled out there right now. Just overcast with bits of sun peeking through. Despite the forecast temperature of 26, it still feels humid out there.

Just had The Beehive. The usual chattiness. Got a couple of tins of baked beans from Mrs. Tulip. They're the Libby's variety, apparently from California or Texas according to the double label of English and Spanish. I'll have them but it won't be today. It just won't do getting gas during the juku classes tonight.

Also sent out a couple of envelopes. One was to my uncle with my request for his help in my immigration matter. The other was to Shard; he'd requested me to send over a local pamphlet of Pizza Hut since he got a kick from seeing these rather bizarre pizzas such as Potato and Mayonnaise. Yup, I can see where he would be intrigued by our choices in pizza.

Monday September 19, 10:58 p.m.

It's been a quiet day. Pretty warm, though. However, the temps will be falling by quite a bit tomorrow. Only up to 26 C. Made up some dinner and then proceeded to write a letter in Japanese to my uncle in respect with my immigration plans. It took me the better of an hour to write up three-quarters of a page of kanji and hiragana when I combined the actual pigeon prints along with looks through the dictionaries. I'm proud to say that I got the task done.

During this time, there was a lallapalooza of a special on TBS tonight called "Doors". I guess we're in that transition time between the Summer and Fall dramas once again. This four-hour extravaganza was basically the Japanese version of "Battle of the Network Stars" (remember that old chestnut from America?). However, all of the battlers were from shows within the TBS family. One thing I have to admire about the Japanese when it comes to these epic game shows is the elaborate games they come up with. They really come up with some big-ass obstacle courses which take up the room of an entire warehouse. I can't even describe some of these games which wouldn't look out of place in a typical Tim Burton movie. The preliminary course had celebs slide down a ramp via a sled and across a small pool; if they were lucky enough to cross over successfully, then they had to face 3 huge falling doors with holes in them. If they managed to stand in the right spot so that the holes fell over them, then they had to negotiate through three rotating spindles over another pond before trying to shoot a ball through five swinging axes to a target. And that was the easiest one to describe. The very final course which only had group left was trying to ride a bicycle across a very teetery footbridge. Noone made it across without falling off (of course, everyone was tethered to a bungee cord) so in effect, there was no winner this year.

The news was pretty good internationally for Japan. The 6-nation talks concerning North Korea's nuclear capability finally came off successfully. North Korea promises to scrap its nuclear program in return for a promise from the United States not to attack or invade the country and some material stuff. So I gather that the Kim-dom will play nice...for now.

Also, the founder of the large Daiei department store chain, Mr. Nakauchi, passed away today.

Time to take a shower and then watch one more game show before bedtime.

Monday September 19, 12:13 p.m.

Got to wake up much later than usual...even in comparison to a regular Sunday. It's the beginning of a strange week in which the Monday and Friday are national holidays bracketing a 3-day work week. Well, it won't really work out that way for me since I'll be teaching the kids and The OL on Friday. For your information, today is Respect-For-The-Aged Day. I can certainly use some of that respect since I'm aching all over. Perhaps those massages were more of a workout than a relaxation session.

I'd forgotten to mention that before "Cinderella Man" came on, there was a trailer for "Sayuri". Well, "Sayuri" is the Japanese title for the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha", the best-selling book about how a poor country girl became the most sought-after professional lady in Kyoto. The transition from book to movie took quite a while with the project being batted around all the major directors.

It was interesting to see all these Japanese actors, people who I've seen all the time on the telly in various dramas and commercials such as Koji Yakusho from "Shall We Dance?", Momoi Kaori and Ken Watanabe from "Batman Begins" rattling off their lines in English. But the big thing was watching Ziyi Zhang as the titular character. Now I have nothing against her being cast as a Japanese woman...when it comes to the business of casting a major motion picture, things such as ability, fame and the all important quality of putting butts in seats will always take financial precedence over nationalistic accuracy (can anyone name a Japanese actress right now who has the worldwide fame of Zhang? No, thought not.). In this movie, Zhang is the star. And boy, does she stand out....and speak English.

Still, after watching this trailer, I couldn't help but get that feeling of "Bugsy Malone" about this movie. For all those who don't know what I'm talking about, "Bugsy Malone" was this bizarro flick from the mid-70s starring just kids dressed up as gangsters and molls from the 20s while mouthing obviously lip-synched songs. The most notable thing was that Scott Baio and Jodie Foster were the two leads. With all of these Japanese folks spouting English and a Chinese actress playing a geisha, there's a part of me afraid that the gimmick will just stick out a bit too much. I hope the story does hold up but frankly I'm always a bit skeptical of any Hollywood project that comes to Japan. And that still includes "The Last Samurai".

Well, time to clean out the apartment.

Sunday September 18, 8:50 p.m.

Aaaaah....The Beauty Pair and I underwent a very relaxing experience at Riraku no Mori, the new massage emporium in Namjatown. Yep, the entire town was busy as expected for a middle day of a long weekend. However, we were able to get appointments with a couple of places: one was a Asian massage salon and the other was for a place specializing in Indian head massage. Both places were already packed to the gills so the appointments were for later in the day. In the meantime, I took the Pair, who had never visited the wonders of the various food museums, to the Gyoza Museum. Quite a few lineups to endure this time around. My past visits there were on very slow days like Thursdays. Not this time. However, all of us managed to sample most of the various kinds of gyoza for sale. That's a good ton of garlice, minced meat and cabbage in us today.

As for the massages, Yuri and I went to the Asian massage place while Kei visited another place. The salon had that atmosphere of Southeast Asia in its scents and decor. I had a young man for my masseur. The massage was for half an hour. It was basically a softer and longer version of what I usually get at my neighbourhood clinic so I wasn't duly impressed although I thought it was quite good. And the last 5 minutes, he had flip over on my back so he could give a brisk rubdown of my scalp which was the highlight. Yuri enjoyed her rubdown. Kei was already at the meeting point of the table area in the Gyoza Museum with a new sample of gyoza; she related that her experience was fine if a bit painful.

There were 3 hours until the next appointment so we just did Phase 2 of our scourging of the Museum. And then we waddled our way up to Ice Cream City. It was also crowded but not nearly as bad as the earlier reconnaisance effort during the O-Bon holiday. There, we gave two parlours a shot. One was a place whose claim to fame was a rose-flavoured ice cream sundae, I kid you not. And the other was a place which has become quite famous on the variety shows here. The staff work their magic "kneading" plain vanilla ice cream with paddles on a frigid metal platter while mixing it with plenty of fresh fruits and chocolate items such as Snickers bars or Smarties. The three of us shared a concoction called "Strawberry Fields" which mixed in fresh berries, some shaved almonds and Special K (that stuff which always helps a Japanese sundae).

We also took a tour of the Puff Pastry Exhibit but didn't bother getting anything there since we were all pretty stuffed. After a brief respite on a bench, the three hours managed to fly by. And thus we headed for our last stop, Dhora Vilas, the Indian head massage parlor. That was most definitely the highlight of our day. That salon was even dimmer than the other place. Luckily the seats where we were to get rubbed down were so light-coloured. The masseuses were all dressed up in saris. My masseuse asked me to take off my glasses and watch. She put on some rather warm pads on my shoulders and then scrubbed my head with a damp towel. She then asked me if I had any particular problems today. So I answered that my eyes were feeling quite tired. She replied that she would mix up a concoction of oils that would help alleviate my eyestrain.

I was sitting in the near-dark faced away from the masseuse (in fact, I didn't see her for the entire session) but I could hear some clattering of bowls which presumably was the mixing of oils. At first, I thought I was going to get an Ayurvedic treatment (getting the oil dripped slowly onto your forehead). Instead I had the oil massaged into my scalp rather briskly. And then I got a pretty hectic shoulder massage. There wasn't any of the shiatsu that I was familiar with but the first part was fairly intense in that that the masseuse was smacking my body pretty hard and then doing a lot of picking up of my shoulder muscles. But after that storm came some blissful arm kneading and the slow descent into slumberland began. Once she started to rub my earlobes, I was hers. I could actually understand how a Ferengi felt. I barely remember getting the back of my neck and scalp rubbed before my pilot light went out. When I did regain consciousness, the massage was over. I only remember 6 minutes....one-fifth of the massage! Now that's one relaxing session. It's definitely worth another visit but I will truly try to stay awake if it means ingesting a couple of Cokes. Yuri also mentioned that she went into La-La Land and was afraid that she started snoring. All of us were buzzing about Dhora Vilas. The two half-hour sessions came to a grand total of 6000 yen...no, not cheap but occasionally worth the visit. However, I'll come for another Indian head massage.

After that wonderful time, we all decided to head on home since we were all feeling quite contemplative and peaceful. I was quite content to let The Pair gab between themselves. And I was glad that the two enjoyed themselves eating and getting rubbed down.

However, my culinary feast wasn't over. For some reason (massage? long weekend?), I got this craving for ramen so I stopped off at the station ramen shop for a big bowl of chashu men before heading home. Yep, I think I topped off my garlic quota for the month. And I'm gonna have to load up on plenty of veggies and fruits tomorrow to compensate for all of the meat and grease that I devoured today.

That lunch with The Madame is now off the schedule. Although she denied it, I think I did push her into it...gahhh, when will I ever learn? Well, at least I'll meet her at the airport. The Anime King also called up to confirm that I shouldn't drink one drop of tap water in Taipei. Besides, he says, why would I ever want to drink polluted tap water when I could have glorious bubble tea anytime and anywhere? Also, the engagement parade continues around me taunting me. He just announced his engagement.

That glorious massage also did more than generate a craving for ramen. Now, I want to actually take a bath.

Sunday September 18, 9:58 a.m.

Thought I wasn't going to make an entry until after coming back from Namjatown. But then my curiosity on our hotel in Taipei got the better of me so I decided to do a bit of research. I saw a number of sites which showed the Paradise Hotel with photos and the usual description of services and amenities. I was rather surprised to see how much the hotel had considering the very spartan description on the document that I'd gotten from the Tobu Travel Guy. Then again, I am going to be on a Japanese tour; there probably won't be any time to enjoy any of those things. The hotel boasts the most luxuriously appointed in-house karaoke suite in Taipei. I also read a review dated 2003 in which the fellow said that the Paradise was a decent hotel but the rooms were dark and humid. Cave dwelling? Hopefully, things have improved since the prehistoric days of the early 21st century.

Speaking of humidity, it's feeling pretty sweaty in my own place right now. I gather that means it'll be another hot one out there.

Sunday September 18, 1:26 a.m.

Yep, home after a long day. I think Tokyo is in Festival mode this long weekend. The Kiba mall usually has some sort of street performer in front of the Starbucks I teach at, but today there was a jazz combo belting out Dixieland. Not surprisingly, it was all for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Would've loved to have taken digital pics of that and sent them into CNN. Japan cares! JJ was her usual happy self.

I joined up with The Madame at Ikebukuro afterwards to get the itineraries for Taiwan in 10 days. The guy there did confirm that it would be better to not drink the tap water and stick to the Evian instead. What we take for granted... I paid the incidental costs for insurance, fuel and all that in what turned out to be quite an expensive day for me.

We had a bit of a small lunch to eat at the upstairs Fujiya on the restaurant floor of the Tobu Department Store. The Madame was right when she said that the old family restaurant franchise had improved its cuisine. The salad and pasta were quite good. The latter was even al dente. The Madame and I basically talked somewhat on her long interest in spiritual matters such as remote viewing. I'm keeping an open mind about it despite my healthy skepticism about things like that. In fact, what she told me about it rather reminded me of the premise behind "Orion's Arm", that epic sci-fi website I've been visiting lately.

Raced down to the Shinjuku Picadilly to meet Speedy. That woman who had drunkenly tried to pick me up on the cruise a couple of weeks ago was there. I was a bit worried at first that she was quite cool to me but she was OK although her outgoing nature was definitely more tempered last night than the first time I'd met her during my first Speedy Movie Night. There was one more woman from the other night as well but that was it. Just five of us. And we had a bit of a surprise in that "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was practically sold out. There was only standing room available. Even the discount ticket shop behind the theatre had sold all of its tickets for that movie. So we made a quick decision to watch "Cinderella Man" instead. Yesterday was its premiere but it got a far smaller audience. From what I'd heard of its performance in the States, it seems like Russell Crowe's latest may also be quite anemic here.

And that would be a pity that I wouldn't understand since it was a pretty good flick. It was a Ron Howard movie so the story direction was predictable: hero on top of the world at first, then hits bottom before crawling up the heap to victory again. It basically followed "Apollo 13" almost to a tee. But once again, "heart" came through. Crowe played a thoroughly decent guy and the other characters were very sympathetic...that is, with the exception of the near-sociopathic Max Baer. Didn't realize that Jethro's father was such a jerk. Or maybe that was just a bit of hyperbole on the part of the writers. Certainly, I don't think Baer's descendants would like how he was portrayed on film. But I digress. I think the movie succeeded, for me anyways, because all that 20s and 30s atmosphere wasn't allowed to overwhelm the core story. And I think Crowe's performance is deserving of a possible Oscar nom if only because his James Braddock made us forget for 2 hours what a jerk he can be in real life. I swear that Russell Crowe may be paralleling William Shatner's career, albeit Crowe has more talent. Crowe's last role as Captain Aubrey in "Master and Commander" just reminded me so much of Captain Kirk, and now the Crowe/Braddock dichotomy can compare to Shatner/Kirk. As I paraphrase the late James Doohan...Doohan would be very happy to follow the iconic Kirk to the ends of the universe but he would leave the vain and pompous Shatner in the dust.

But back to the review. Along with the performances, I also enjoyed watching the thrilling fight scenes and how the trainers simultaneously coached their charges. There were also a few standout dramatic scenes such as the first tearjerking one in which the once-proud Braddock goes literally hat in hand to get some cash from some of his old minders. The other was seeing how Braddock handled his son's stealing incident. One wouldn't be blamed if he thought the boxer would wallop his errant son. And yet, Braddock gave his son one of the most gentlest and wisest admonishments that would easily rival any disciplining that Charles Ingalls would give his kids on "Little House on the Prairie". Finally, I would have to say that despite the similar setting, Renee Zellwegger made us forget Roxy from "Chicago" and in fact made us forget her more iconic role as Bridget Jones. What didn't work was a superfluous subplot involving the Braddocks' neighbours in crisis, the Joneses. I couldn't really see any point to their inclusion except to emphasize the angelic decency of Braddock. Mind you, that subplot did educate me about what Central Park was like during The Great Depression.

The movie worked its magic on The Madame. She was tearing up at the end so I gave her my tissue. However, her love for Adonis physiques continues as she confessed that the really loved Craig Bierko as Max Baer. She even had me spell out his name on her cellphone screen for further reference. Well, for her information, we both underestimated his age. He's even older than me. At least one of the other ladies also confessed to some lacrymal activity but both women said that they felt more exhausted after watching the brutal scenes of pugilism. I told them that Rocky Balboa looked far worse in his first movie.

I'm not quite sure why "Cinderella Man" failed to make a big impact in the States and didn't do all that much in its first night here. I mean over here, the story would be perfect for Japanese viewers: the tale of a protagonist who has to go through Hell and Earth to reach final victory and vindication. But then again, Russell Crowe, although he's a known face here, doesn't hold a candle to Johnny Depp's flawless visage. And perhaps with the exception of "Gladiator" half a decade ago, his films haven't really caught fire here. As for its disappointing performance in the States, you got me. Perhaps Crowe's antics outside of the film have turned moviegoers off; perhaps, moviegoers have finally tired of boxing films going straight for Oscar greatness after "Million Dollar Baby" and "Ali".

Two final points about "Cinderella Man". Once again, Ron Howard brought in his brother-as-filmic trademark. Clint Howard came in as the referee in the first match. And I was rather tickled during the end credits when I saw that Ron Howard and Penny Marshall had produced the movie. Can you imagine that? Richie Cunningham and Laverne DeFazio putting up a movie. Or if you wanna go even further...Opie Taylor and Myrna Turner. Who would have thought that 30 years after their heydays on "Happy Days"?

After the flick, The Madame had to rush home but I decided in what wasn't the most sound of ideas financially to accompany Speedy and his two mates to a Thai restaurant, Erewan, not too far away. It was just as well that The Madame took off. The food was pretty darn spicy and I know that her tongue is far from asbestos-lined. I ended up paying 5000 yen for dinner tonight. Well, the food and surroundings were good, and besides, this movie night thing is more a monthly deal anyways.

It was the usual massive scrum at Shinjuku Station for the trains. My long experience and good twisty right knee, though, cut me through the horde like a knife through butter. I did envy my dinner companions, though, since they only had to take the Marunouchi Line a couple of stations west before they were home. On the Tozai Line, I had to contend with another one of those young thuggish types sitting beside me and trying to muscle as much space away from me. I held my own though and he just had to make do sullenly. I was thinking some very evil thoughts about his future all the way back home.

In any case, I've been at this for more than an hour. It's time for bed since I gotta head on out again for what could be a futile trip with The Beauty Pair to Namjatown.

Saturday September 17, 11:51 a.m.

In a word...lovely. The weather is looking that way outside: not too cool, not too warm, sunny with plenty of fluffy white cumulus clouds. Couldn't ask for a better day. In homage, I'll be wearing something a bit more casual for work and then meeting up with the Madame. Ah yes, not only did she agree to an earlier spot of coffee before Speedy's Movie Night but she recommended that we meet up to pay some of those incidentals at the travel agency and get our itineraries for Taiwan.

I just heard that Renee Zellwegger and her hubby have called it quits after just 4 months. She was just in Japan not too long ago to plug "Cinderella Man" which opens either today or next Saturday. There was a welcoming committee at Narita asking about and congratulating her on her marriage. Hmmm...something we said?

Friday September 16, 10:22 p.m.

Another week gone by without too much incident. The weather has become cooler here but it feels like my apartment has a bit of catching up to do. I have to have the AC on to cool things down.

After The Teacher's lesson, I made my way down to Immigration. The process had that "across the bridge, over the hill, to Grandma's house we go" type of vibe to it. But in this case, it was two subways, a JR train and a bus. Not surprisingly, the place was rather packed with waiting visa holders or aspirers of various nationalities. I wanted to pick up the "Extension of Visa" application form but they were no longer placed on the writing desks littered all over the 2nd floor. I had to go pick it up at a central desk on the 1st floor. There was an older couple taking care of things behind the counter in a most C-3POesque if polite way. It was kinda like watching the Japanese "Ozzie and Harriet" or "Ricky and Lucy" or "Archie or Edith". There was one woman ahead of me who seemed to be having a lot of trouble about her form and was therefore pelting the both of them with tons of questions. Luckily, the female half of the comical duo was able to wean herself out and get me that form in a few seconds.

Once I got out of there (including the round trip bus ride, the entire odyssey at Immigration took 45 minutes), I decided to have lunch at Hansens again. Yup, Shinagawa Station has its own version of the restaurant at the swanky new Konan Exit side. Unlike at the two other branches I've had hot dogs in Shinjuku and Omotesando, the Shinagawa branch, trying to match in with the upscale surroundings, was a sit-down restaurant replete with suited maitre d' and bloused waitresses (who looked like they hang out in Shibuya in their spare time despite the uniforms). Imagine that...a chi-chi sit-down hot dog restaurant. Well, I guess if it works for burgers... Apparently, this Hansens didn't have a Philly Steak sandwich on the menu. C'est domage! So I opted for the Cheese Dog set and one more plain hot dog on the side. The Cheese Dog was OK but I think I prefer having the cheese slices rather than the cheese sauce that I got smeared on the dog. Just a bit too gooey for me. The other dog came with plain potato chips.

Afterwards, I took the Yamanote Line again and headed for Shibuya. I actually made it to Tower Records after an absence of several weeks. I succumbed to my latent fever for 80s music and bought yet another compilation. Plus, I got the latest issue of TIME dealing with who dropped the ball on Katrina.. I also did a bit of browsing about Taiwan. I read one of those Lonely Planet books. I was rather intrigued by the fact that it recommended that we only drink bottled water there and there was a good chance of getting dengue fever unless one plastered on the insect repellent. Aye...that didn't sound too welcoming so I've sent an inquiry to The Anime King for confirmation. I also told him about what was happening to Akihabara.

After taking a brief scour of HMV since it was on the way back to the station, I hopped the Ginza Line and got off at Toranomon to my old Starbucks. Yup, the staff still remembers me. The manager and one barista gave me a healthy "Konnichiwa!", and the former asked what had happened to The OL and me. I just responded that things had gotten a bit busy for my student. Hm...I'm kinda wondering if I should try to groom the same relationship with them that I've had with the Tea Room all these years. I don't take these relationships for granted. I really do appreciate being welcomed. I just wish my old school staff had had the same amount of respect. But then again, if they'd had done so, I wouldn't be in my current circumstances.

The OL came in a few hours later. She's still not too happy with her job and the long absence from the lessons have taken a slight toll on her. Her listening wasn't too hot today but she definitely got in her two yen. Fortunately, she will see me next Friday on the national holiday (her company doesn't observe them...rather reminds me of NOVA). The Starbucks in Toranomon does observe them so we'll be meeting instead at the Canadian version called Blenz in Omotesando. Not quite sure what the crowds will be like next Friday. Since it will be the first day of a long weekend, perhaps a lot of people will be fleeing the metropolis or they'll just head for the cafes and restaurants in Tokyo. But since I'll be in town anyways teaching the kids in the morning, I figure that I can just grab a table a couple of hours in advance and just while away the time doing crosswords.

I got word from JJ that she'd like to advance the lesson time tomorrow to 2. No problems here. I just sent The Madame a proposal of meeting her earlier for coffee since I don't think 45 minutes will do us justice. I got signalled that a reply has come back from her. If she doesn't take the bait, well, I can always scour the CD shops or bookstores in Shinjuku until it's time.

Friday September 16, 8:05 a.m.

My shoulders feel as hard as granite, I've got a slight rasp in my throat and it's much cooler outside. I hope this means that Fall is finally on its way. After the heat and humidity of earlier this week, I'm feeling practically giddy with my physical ailments.

Well, I've got my teaching mixed in with some Immigration today. Gotta send that envelope to my mother's hometown town hall for some documents to help my Permanent Residency bid and then between The Teacher and The OL, I've gotta run down to the Immigration Centre and pick up an application form to extend my current visa. Man, I'm lucky that I have several hours between lessons but to go that circuituous way just to pick up a piece of paper...gahh! It's the commuter's version of bureaurcracy. I've yet to hear from The Matron of an update on her hubby's kind proposal. I know it's early but I hope she does come through.

The news hasn't been all that compelling here since the avalanche win of PM Koizumi. Just another report on how all the Japanese Major League ballplayers were doing, another bad police officer getting busted for copping (ouch!) a feel off a woman. However, I did see the televised chew out of the leadership of the Democratic Party of Japan by its members for its big meltdown on Sunday. The members seemed to take the opportunity as a practice session for future campaign speeches.

Thursday September 15, 9:32 p.m.

Strangely enough, it seems like this month, more than June, is the time for engagements and weddings...at least in my sphere of influence. Not only has Yumi Adachi tied the knot...mind you, it was an Oops! wedding...but I heard that Movie Buddy's buddy, Sam, and his live-in, made it official a couple of days ago. And now the two students I had tonight announced to me that they're engaged. Yep, MK and the Manager are now one step away from matrimonial bliss. My congratulations to them.

Kept my first gym workout in a couple of weeks pretty light so as not to overtax my atrophied musculature, and for the blunt reason that I just wasn't feeling particularly into working out. But I am paying my money to the gym so I'm obliged to not waste it.

Still have some stuff to do before I hit bed tonight. I got my weekly pile of ironing to get through, get ready for The Teacher and the OL and then get ready to send out some key letters.

Thursday September 15, 8:29 a.m.

Well, what do you know? The temperature did drop. I actually felt a little chilly with my electric fan going on. It's only going up to 27 today. Very relieved. I'm hoping that this day signifies more than the fact that it's the middle of the month.

However, I am feeling signficantly older. I read on the site of local celeb, Eriko Sato, that former child star, Yumi Adachi, has gotten married. When I first arrived in Japan a decade ago, this little girl, this Japanese reincarnation of Shirley Temple, was all over the airwaves as this sweet-smiling but snarly-mouthed urchin who would twist anyone's sympathies to survive in this drama called "Ienaki Ko" (A Homeless Child). Her big catchphrase: "If you love me, give me money!" Hm..charming. Now this morning, I checked the wide show and found out that this young adult who still looks like she needs to be carded has not only gotten married with some comedian but has got a bun in the oven. Oy vey!

I even have a secondhand reminiscence about little Yumi. One of my minders in NOVA told me that she had been her student for a short time at the Okachimachi school (a note to all Yumi otaku: don't bother looking for it; it was closed down years ago). Adachi never got past the lowest rank due to the rigours of her work. However, some of her rabid fans got wind of what she was doing and proceeded to mob the little branch. Well, Yumi quickly got out of her English-teaching hobby after that incident. My old trainer hadn't even realized how famous she was, at least not until the siege.

Well, gotta get those plans done up for MK and The Manager. It's been a while since I've seen those folks. Then I gotta get some more work done for the project.

Wednesday September 14, 11:33 p.m.

I feel not unlike a warmed-over Cinnabon. It was another blazer here in The Big Sushi. But apparently today will be the last of the great hot ones for at least this week. It should be dropping to a relatively frigid 30 degrees tomorrow.

Well, that trip over to Kinshicho was a wild goose chase. The optical store that The Teacher had recommended couldn't install existing lenses into new frames so that was that. Still, I could finally take a look at this centre briefly. With the atypical (for Tokyo) grid-like pattern of its streets and the cubic buildings jutting out into the sky, it felt more like walking through Sapporo than the nation's capital.

I hopped onto the Sobu again and ended up in Shinjuku. I walked over to have lunch at Hansen's, that transplanted hot dog emporium. Since it was the latter half of lunch hour, the place was pretty packed but a very happy, smiley staffperson eagerly told me that he saved me a table in the back. Man, THAT is service with a smile! Since I didn't want to get into that confusion of ordering a double-dog set since I've come to the conclusion that Hansen's has canned that idea, I ordered a Philly Cheese Steak set with an added hot dog on the side. Of course, the crinkle-cut fries were still there. The Philly was quite good but could've used more cheese. No complaints about the dog though.

Then it was off to the Starbucks nearest The Company since I got to the area a full hour before my scheduled drop-in at The Company to pick up my pay. When I did get there, it was a pretty quick chat with the Prez. Just a few words with him while I took in the yen and gave him the receipts and then I was off again to Speedy's.

Speedy had a rather bad day technologically. Apparently, a virus managed to infiltrate the school system and wipe out a month's worth of work. To add insult to injury, a fix-it man will have to repair the damage for a cool 70,000 yen. Still, I was able to get access to the Internet. 001 and 002 were fine as usual but I was quite sleepy. It took some pretty superhuman strength to get through the day but I also noticed 001 stifling yawns during the lounge session.

I spent about an extra hour getting stuff done for the great Immigration project. I didn't intend to stay at the school that long but when I checked my e-mail, Paddy was kind enough to do a lot of the legwork when it came to paperwork and so all I had to do was print it out and put my stamp on it. This past week has been interesting. My project is twin-pronged: Paddy and The Scrivener have been helping me with the Permanent Residency end of things while The Matron and my old friend from NOVA have been tackling the extension of my current visa. I'll be so happy, though, when things finally clear.

Skippy has given me some new addresses to replace her old ones since one of them was getting spammed big time. She's still confirmed for not coming to the Saturday movie night with Speedy. I told her it was just as well since it looks like it'll just be him, me and The Madame for "Charlie". The Barmaiden sent me a progress report on her first few days in Toronto. Looks like she's been having a good time so far. I told her and 002 about the wonders of The Madison Avenue Pub near U of T. Luckily, there was a website to refer them to.

I was hungry when I got back to my station. Serves me right for buying a chocolate eclair and a packet of peach jelly and calling it dinner. I couldn't get anything substantial at this late hour at the risk of waking up nauseous but my stomach was pretty adamant that I just had to throw something into it, so I ended up ingesting a small bag of peanuts and rice crackers while downing it with a Calpis Water. It ought to do the trick.

Wednesday September 14, 8:28 a.m.

Another scorcher today. At least, it won't get any hotter but 34 degrees is still 34 degrees. I think I'm gonna have to take another shower.

Although at this time I start teaching at 4, it'll probably be a long day since I gotta do some errand-running. Get some new frames for my glasses and then pick up some money from The Prez. I would have stopped at Akihabara to see if this metamorphosis were really true but I don't think I'm gonna have time. Besides, Wednesday isn't the day to visit to get the full effect. Sunday's the day but then again, I'm meeting up with The Beauty Pair on that day. Perhaps once I get the money, I'll treat myself to Hansens, that transplanted hot dog chain. I was talking about it with The New Kid so my culinary memory has been sparked.

Well, gotta get that lesson planning going.

Tuesday September 13, 11:25 p.m.

The heat was down a good deal when I left for the juku this afternoon. The climate may not be too disciplined but I can always depend on the seasonal angle of the sun to bring the temps down.

It was an interesting start to my night at the juku. When I got to the house, it was totally devoid of life. I had to go upstairs to switch on all the lights and the air conditioning. Man, was it a sauna there! The paranoid part of me thought that the boss took my notice too seriously and just wanted to escape from my sight. I was already into my class with The New Kid when she finally came back home. She burst into my room to tell me that her mother had needed some emergency surgery on her eye and so left in quite a hurry. But it looks like her Mom is on the mend.

The other two lessons, The Beauty Pair and The Milds with McGirl, went quite swimmingly. Much better balance in the latter class. I was also quite relieved that The Siberian had cancelled his lesson today. Still not sure what to do with that guy. Instead, I used the hour vacated by him to have a heart-to-heart with the boss about my situation. It was quite heartening to hear how much she wanted me to stay on with the juku since both she and I feel that if I were to go, my entire group of students would quit their classes. That would be a pity. So it looks like all of us are depending on The Matron to rescue me. As for The Beauty Pair, I'll be meeting them on Sunday to head over to check out all those massage places in Riraku no Mori in Namjatown. I hope we can get in. It is a Sunday after all, and not only that, it is also the middle day in the first 3-day weekend of the month.

Well, it looks like The Prez will be in the office tomorrow so I can pick up my pay. It would be nice to get my balance up above the million mark again. I'll probably head on over to The Company once I get my new frames in Kinshicho. At the very least, it'll be interesting visiting the area.

I actually got two replies back from The Coordinator. She says she'll try and help me. I'm not too hopeful for a response...quick or otherwise.

I need another shower badly.

Tuesday September 13, 4:17 p.m.

Well, I've spent most of the afternoon just planning lessons and listening to old music...a bit of a calm in what has been the small maelstrom of my visa. The curtains are drawn and the air conditioner has been on for a few hours so things have a pleasntly cool vibe. I've also been reading through the much-belated (it was printed before the debut of the new Doctor Who) issue of SFX highlighting all of the good Doctor. From reading through it, I've come to the realization that with the exception of the new and improved series with Chris Eccleston, the only saving graces that this series had had in its classic form were the characters themselves and the idea. It certainly could not have been the special effects (well, the TARDIS interior always looked good).

Skippy called to say that she won't be coming out for Speedy's Movie Night after all due to other plans. I kinda wonder if the old boyfriend decided to make an appointment with her instead. The Madame is all good for a bit of coffee before the main event though. M+M have set their next date with me. It'll be all the way on Halloween weekend. Should have plenty to talk about by then. I've yet to hear anything about my requests for assistance from my old school. Not that I'm really expecting any answer from them. I've burned quite a few bridges there but then again, the majority of the staff deserved a bit of demolition.

I've just gone through an entire bowl of pork kimchi on rice, daikon salad and fried chicken. And I drank it all down with oolong tea. Well, my insides ought to be getting a good cleaning by now. But I do have to get ready to get going to the juku within the next half-hour. Hopefully, the heat's come down somewhat.

Tuesday September 13, 1:29 p.m.

I will be so glad when scientists come up with artificial time limits on seasons. This summer has already worn out its welcome with me. Just way too hot out there! I'm gonna have to sacrifice the shirt I'm wearing to the washing machine. It's already soaked with sweat.

Well, the announcement to the Beehive didn't go as badly as I had feared, especially since I did dangle that little piece of hope in the form of that proposal by The Matron's husband. Still, I did feel like a guy giving a press conference in front of an eager group of journalists with the ladies pelting questions at me. They did get a kick out of the news that soon-to-be-former Princess Nori may be living at the perhaps-newly-posh address of Akihabara.

I've started getting replies to my announcement on Sunday. So far, the reaction has been pretty muted which kinda signifies that perhaps I'm making an emotional mountain out of a molehill. I am anxious to find out something from The Matron, though.

Gotta get the lesson plans done for tonight's outing at the juku. Got word from The Madame that I still gotta pay some incidental fees sometime in the next week for Taiwan. I'll be meeting her for coffee before Speedy's movie on Saturday.

I found out from "Dark Horizons", the movie website, that there is a new sci-fi show on the horizon called "Threshold" oddly enough (horizon...threshold, get it?). What struck my eye was that it starred Charles S. Dutton and Brent "Data" Spiner. According to the cast bios, Spiner will be playing a very mercurial and confrontational NASA microbiologist. I guess he's still trying to shake off his landmark role. It rather sounds like a 21st-century version of "The X-Files" so I'm kinda holding back any praise despite the accolades, deserved or not, it's already getting.

Monday September 12, 11:48 p.m.

Well, it's been a day and night. I had The Class Act as usual. After having sent my rather sad notice last night, one of them offered to help out. It's been an interesting exercise today. I've got help coming out from all angles. It almost feels like running a company. Perhaps watching "The Apprentice" would have helped.

The Madame sent me a so-called emergency message to pay the rest of that money for the Taiwan trip. Apparently, she found out that there were no less than 3 contradictory pieces of information concerning when to pay up. I did wire that money in although it was a bit depressing seeing my bank account dip into the six-digit range for the first time in a few years (remember I'm being paid in yen). Ah, well. Mind you, I do have quite a bit of money owed me by The Company. I may have to drop into the place during a non-teaching day to get my money since I won't be seeing those guys until October. The Prez hasn't been in whenever I've been there for the past few weeks.

Speaking of the Company, once again I just had that one guy who's been coming relentlessly for the past several weeks. Junior just can't or won't show up. I think it's becoming clear that his attendance will be moot. I'm now considering whether it would just be an easy thing simply to drop the class since his classmate is just studying stuff that he probably won't ever use. And it was just another struggle today with the listening segment. However, he and I usually have some good chats in Japanese at the end of the class. One was about that article with The Teacher concerning the fate of Akihabara. He certainly doesn't sound too disappointed about the gentrification of the area. And he dropped a bit of a bombshell....he said that he'd heard that one of those two Gundam legs will possibly end up being the building housing the soon-to-be married Princess Nori and her husband. Since marrying a commoner will mean the loss of her royal status, the two will be living in just a regular condo. But what an address!

I was feeling pretty exhausted after The Company. But I still had one more house call. But it wasn't The Poppy. Instead, I went over to meet the juku boss' friend over at Nishi-Kasai Station to help him get through the oodles of English legalese for some contract. We went over to his apartment and pored over the pages of the contract. I managed to keep it focused on just the English language although at a couple of points, he threatened to swing thngs into legal territory for which I'm obviously woefully ill-prepared for. He even had me go through the entire book of the contract just to give it a once-over. Well, all I could possibly was scan it and then just focus on a few areas to make sure the English was in good form. But I got my pay for my troubles. Not sure if I really did help him. The boss apparently informed him of my visa situation. I'm gonna have to sit down with her tomorrow and update her on the movements of this past day.

I'm plenty tired since it was one of those energy-sapping humid days. I didn't even bother eating any dinner. I just had one of those rice crackers that the juku boss' friend's wife so kindly gave me as further compensation for my hour there. At least, it'll keep the grumblies away until morning.

I'm gonna be talking turkey with the Beehive first thing since I sent a fax over to Mrs Alps this morning. Could be an interesting start. But all I'm interested right now is a hot shower and sleep.

Monday September 12, 7:19 a.m.

So far, I haven't gotten any fallout about my big announcement last night. I did get a response from The Madame, though, to ask me to pay the rest of the cost for the Taiwan trip ASAP since she read something in the contract which contradicted what the woman at the travel agency had told us. Ahhh...the wonders of bureaucratic confusion. I think there has been a lot of news on that lately.

Well, Mr. Koizumi is savoring his landslide victory. The others are verbally licking their wounds, much to the glee of the LDP faithful. Of course, the elections were seen worldwide. China, Korea and presumably much of Asia aren't too thrilled while the US is quite happy.

Sunday September 11, 9:52 p.m.

Well, I've started the ball rolling on informing my private students about the changes that will occur in about a little over a month. I've contacted folks like The OL, SIL and the like. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but it wasn't a pleasant thing either. I have to come up with Japanese messages for The Prez and the New Yorker since their English isn't quite up to reading speed. I've also gotta inform The Beehive. This one will be, by far, the most difficult group to announce this to. I just mentioned last Tuesday that this was the beginning of our 7th year together. I don't want to shock the folks by just blurting it out in person this Tuesday so I'll send a fax to Mrs. Travel's house tomorrow morning.

It was a good thing that I did the laundry early this morning. As I was checking out "Orion's Arm" earlier this afternoon, I noticed things outside darkening dramatically. In fact, I just saw this massive great wall of gray-black rolling in with sounds of thunder. I quickly brought in the dried clothing and closed the windows. Man, it got so dark that I thought a total eclipse was coming overhead. Then, I heard these very distinctive pings hitting the balcony railing. Initially, I thought that we were actually gonna get hailed on. They turned out to be very big drops of rain thrown down from the heavens at high speed. For about 30 minutes, the deluge was on. Fuji-TV's regular Sunday broadcast of live horseracing showed a racetrack just a few stations away from me getting absolutely doused. It was basically a re-enactment of last Sunday night after the cruise.

Beyond 8 tonight, it's been pretty much the Lower House Elections on all of the channels. It looks like Koizumi will easily get his mandate. However, I think this will mean political deadlock as usual. The people may have given The Lionmaned One his mandate but his big raison d'etre of privatizing the postal system will just continue to be kicked about in Parliament. The guys who broke away from the LDP in protest against the privatization attempts and made their own parties have only scored a paltry 5 seats so far. I'm not sure if what those politicians are wiping off their faces would best be served scrambled or sunny side up.

It was rather hilarious watching the coverage on Fuji-TV. The producers there have labeled their show, "Senkyo Wars" (Election Wars) and the opening minutes had wall-to-wall John Williams music from a certain sci-fi movie while the newscasters chatted away. I think they quickly did away with that idea since I don't hear it now. I think the music was blocking out a lot of what the talking heads were saying. However, I've been keeping it mostly to NHK since it's the only channel with English dubbing.

Between 8:30 and 9, I was switching between NHK and CNN where "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart was playing. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure how Stewart would handle the Katrina affair but boy, did he hit another one out of the park. Mind you, picking on FEMA and Bush hasn't been new since last week but he even knocked Larry King for a bit of inappropriateness during a talk with a sobbing Celine Dion. Then again, I've known that King is hardly in Ted Koppel's league when it comes to interviews.

Well, I gotta make that fax up for Mrs. Travel. Gad, I'm gonna hate this.

Sunday September 11, 12:56 p.m.

Got that massage in. The clinic was pretty sparsely populated today. There wasn't the usual influx of old folks or even middle-aged guys. They were probably out at the polling booths. I had the young fellow rubbing me down (OK...stop snickering). Usually after his sessions, he remarks how knotted up my shoulders are. Well, he put in the word "very" this time. I wasn't surprised. The last few days have been putting me in knots internally.

Just got some groceries for lunch and dinner. I'll probably just clean things up at home. I bought that Haagen-Daas parfait as a treat....I'd better think it as a treat. It cost almost 400 yen!

That TVNewser site is continuing its nearly daily updates on Anderson Cooper's mental health. Now, it's using words such as "existential crisis" to describe the son of Gloria Vanderbilt (only found that out just a few minutes...rather stunned by that revelation, after seeing Mommy Warbucks all these years ago in those commercials). Speaking of the Katrina devastation, apparently the flood waters are being drained a lot faster than expected. I'm not surprised. During the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, the authorities were saying that it could take years...or even decades according to some very pessimistic types...to bring Kobe back to its former glory. Well, Kobe has been back up and running for a number of years now. I can see New Orleans bouncing back itself. Mind you, I think the emergency response to Kobe was somewhat faster.

I've been continuing my exploration of "Orion's Arm". Man, I'm not sure if the contributors are trying to be very serious or flippant about their approach to sci-fi. They go into some head-numbing detail about concepts such as AI Gods and hyperturings. They say they try to eschew everything that's soft about the conventional stuff such as "Star Trek" or "Star Wars" but it's still all technobabble to me. But then once in a while, I see stuff that makes me wonder if Douglas Adams' ghost is adding some of his own "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" spin to the material. Still, it makes for an interesting existential (there goes that word again) walk in the cyberspatial park.

Sunday September 11, 9:28 a.m.

None of the usual solemnities about this date but the US is still going through September 10th. Over here, it is Election Day! According to BBC, the turnout has been "brisk" which is saying quite a lot considering past apathy for voting.

As for me, since I'm not a citizen here, I'm merely an observer of these events. All of the networks will be turning up their engines tonight but in the meantime, it'll be regular programming. It'll just be errand day. I've already had my Sunday breakfast, done the laundry and I'll soon be headed out for my rubdown (dearly needed especially today) and then off to get some new frames for my glasses. I'm still on the old tarnished pair. Although I'm used to it now, this pair is missing an eye pad so the bare metal end has been digging into the left side of my nose.

Saturday September 10, 8:56 p.m.

Finished off my pork kimchi and rice while watching one of the satellite karaoke channels. When I first got Sky Perfect some years ago, I got this karaoke channel thinking, naively, that I would be able to get my favourite songs to croon to on demand. Well, as it turned out, the channel has a fixed schedule of spotlights on certain singers at certain times of the day while the morning is devoted to kiddie music.

However, the nights seem to have more original programming, usually in the form of shows based on stuff like music from the 80s and 70s. Of course, enka has a home here, too. And it was one of those programs I was watching while chowing down. With all the J-Pop, J-R&B and idol stuff now pounding the airwaves, it's refreshing once in a while to hear some of the old-fashioned enka. Brings back memories of yesteryear musically since the early years of my life were spent listening to this stuff on the old Victor stereo. Enka used to be a major part of the music world here for many decades until the very last one of the 20th-century when it finally started shrinking with the invasion of American and dance sounds. Still, although the genre belongs to the middle-aged guy in a suit or the woman in a kimono, there are a few young folks who have surprisingly decided to go the old-fashioned way.

The guy I saw on TV tonight was on a program called Enka O or as it's translated, "The King of Enka". And he was this somewhat androgynous fellow who would look more at home in a visual kei, the Japanese equivalent of glam rock, video. But there he was in concert crooning some new tunes with the usual vibrato and lyrics about lost love and drinking in a Sapporo bar. If he really does become a force in the industry, it would be another welcome shot in the arm since I only know one other guy in his 20s who's become a bona fide enka star, Kiyoshi Hikawa.

I'm not a huge fan of enka although I can appreciate it while being in an izakaya nursing a beer. I don't recall a single CD in my voluminous collection that would be considered an enka CD although I've got some entries in CDs detailing the top hits of certain years. And yet, I wouldn't mind a compilation disc with all of the best stuff. I've got a feeling that enka, like jazz, will never die. It may just occupy a rarefied area of music in which only the true enthusiasts will happily enter like those folks who love cool bop or baroque, but at least it will stay somewhere in the pop cultural conscience.

Earlier in the evening, I was going through "Orion's Arm" for the second time. The site is this very densely plotted and epic attempt to create a history of the future based strictly on hard science (none of these flights of fancy like warp drive or transporters, which is called soft science). Just the facts, ma'am for the multiple contributors. Despite working from this basis, it still manages to make some pretty interesting and intriguing predictions for the next 10 millenia. Very addictive.

Saturday September 10, 5:47 p.m.

The kids were pretty sleepy today. Kinda blah actually. But we managed to survive. Afterward, I headed to the mall at Kiba for lunch. The food court was tons more crowded than it was during my last trip there during O-Bon. Somehow I managed to get my KFC and get a table. JJ was her usual bubbly self. Had a heckuva time trying to get through Third Conditional but then again most students do..not an easy structure for a non-native speaker of English.

Just want to unwind tonight. I may be rather busy tomorrow getting stuff.

Saturday September 10, 6:42 a.m.

Another early day, another day at the kids'.

Got all my planning done last night so I'm not too worried about that. But I will have to be doing a bunch of photocopying at the nearby convenience store.

I see that Michael Brown of FEMA has been recalled to Washington from the disaster area. I figure that's a good move on the government's part since in a way it would be saving Brown's life. If the VP can get heckled incessantly during his little trip to Mississippi, I can only imagine what people would like to do to the FEMA director.

Friday September 9, 7:40 p.m.

Land O'Goshen! Will wonders never cease! The garbage area downstairs is no longer a cesspool. Someone actually bagged all the sludge from the past 8 weeks and then it got collected. The pit is now empty. I won't need to hold my breath whenever I leave and come home.

My lesson with The Teacher was quite interesting today. We spoke somewhat on Nagisa Oshima's "In The Realm of the Senses" or as it is known here in Japan "Ai No Corrida" (yes, the same title as the Quincy Jones disco hit from 1981...no idea why composer Chaz Jankel named it after the movie). The movie is or was controversial when it was released in the 70s due to its explicit pornographic tale on the real-life story of sociopathic Sada Abe who had a very torrid affair with a man before strangling him to death and slicing off his penis as a memento.

Another topic was, strangely enough, "Space Cruiser Yamato", that classic Reiji Matsumoto anime which was known as "Star Blazers" back Stateside. The Teacher was surprised that it had been shown during my salad days as a youth in Canada. And then, her topic was on the sad "gentrification" of Akihabara. We went through an article from the Net which stated that developers via the cops were now executing a plan to clean out the famed electronics district of all its grime and otaku so that it would take on a cleaner look of a Silicon Valley. I have seen the construction of two huge skyscrapers (almost like the legs of a Gundam robot) and the opening of an express train running from here to Tsukuba, the science town famous for hosting the 1985 Expo. And then next week will be the grand opening of a humongous Yodobashi Camera just outside of the immediate Akihabara strip. This place easily looks like it wants to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. But I had no idea that all of these things were part of a conspiracy to leach Akiba of its strange flavour. Police are now actually breaking up those street-dancing performers in anime dress much to the chagrin of the appreciative otaku. These are the same performers whom I saw and reported some months ago. And they're all gonna be gone very soon. The author of the article predicts that the whole area may be otaku-free by mid-Fall. I also mentioned that when I passed by one of the skyscrapers, there were several non-Akiba like shops such as a Starbucks and other esthetically pleasing establishments. I have no idea what's to become of the maid bars.

I'm a bit disturbed by this plan of action in Akihabara. Yep, sure, there will be plenty of people happy with the gentrification since it will mean that the otaku, seen by them as very disturbed folks, will have to either find new places to haunt or go underground. Also, the cleanup will probably mean that a lot of the extreme forms of pornography will disappear. However, I still think there will be a dear cost in terms of the pop cultural aspect. Akihabara as it is (and will be for at least a few more weeks) is unique in the world as a headquarters for all things anime and manga and the genre of people known as otaku. I'm not trying to say that it should be made into a heritage site or anything but I think it's still a shame that a unique part of contemporary Japanese culture will be transformed into another nice and clean commercial district. There are plenty of those in Tokyo but only one Akiba. I guess then that book on Akihabara that I bought a few weeks ago will take on a sudden poignancy. I will mourn.

Well, in any case, after The Teacher, I went off to Shinjuku's Kinokuniya to find a text that would help the little sister's progress. I found the most updated version of New Interchange. It's the Pre-Beginner level so supposedly it's even lower than the version I use with people like MK and The New Yorker. However, the pics and the exercises look ideal for an 11-year-old kid. I also got that copy of Passport so that Speedy and I don't suffer any more incidents like the one from a couple of days ago.

I had another long session with SR at the Tea Room today. But I was able to get some lunch there on her tab as well. We only chatted...didn't touch on any of the grammar stuff but I did give her homework for next month. The next time I'll see her will be after Taiwan.

I finally got word from the juku boss. She was shocked at my two messages but she says she understands and hopes that I will continue to keep in contact with her as a friend. I suddenly felt a twinge of sadness when I read that. The fact that she wrote her reply in Japanese instead of her usual fractured English got me a little guilty as well. Sigh...I really don't want to have to leave the juku.

Well, in any case, I have to have my dinner and then get on with the lesson planning for the kids and JJ tomorrow.

Friday September 9, 8:46 a.m.

Is it me or is Anderson Cooper starting to channel Martin Sheen's character in "Apocalypse Now" and New Orleans is playing Vietnam? It is getting very surreal and the journalist is going native.

Got another e-mail from Speedy in what I hope is the last contribution to this silly thing about the texts just now. He's quite the volleyball player when it comes to messages. He replies to just about every little thing. I used to do that quite a bit, too, but I've weaned myself off the habit in recent years. Anyways, apparently, the other day he also had even more of an emergency when one of his other teachers accidentally went home with Speedy's apartment keys, and the teacher lives in my neck of the woods...a good hour's subway ride away.

I sent word to Paddy about my visa situation just because I thought he would like to know. I have yet to find out anything from the juku boss. Hmmm....

Still thinking about the next few months and what I'll have to do. It's looking increasingly likely that I'll need a miracle to maintain this current lifestyle...but perhaps change is the best thing.

Thursday September 8, 7:17 p.m.

Rushed off to Speedy's and got those books back to him. Luckily, he took the screwup well. But I'm gonna have to get my own copy of the text for 002's classes since I think this will happen again. Speedy asked me again about my decision concerning my visa but I couldn't really give him anything. I mean, there really isn't anything to be said...I gotta get a full-time job if I'm to retain my status here. I've yet to hear anything from the juku boss and she's usually quite prompt about replying. A bit worried there. If I don't hear anything soon, I'll have to start giving the bad news to everyone in a couple of weeks.

NHK's been doing its own on-site coverage of the aftermath of a major storm. Typhoon 14 doesn't compare to the death and destruction of Katrina but it still left quite a few casualties and destroyed property throughout the country. The network has also covered the 400th career home run of Hideki Matsui just now.

My lesson with The New Yorker was interesting. She told me that she'd just broken up with her boyfriend of 8 years, and she's now in the middle of getting things packed up to move back to her parents in Ibaraki Prefecture after her shack-up with her ex-beau. Never heard a peep about this boyfriend which seems to be par for the course when it comes to women here. They're quite expert at compartmentalizing the various parts of their social lives. Skippy, for example, didn't even mention a single bit about her boyfriend until way after she'd graduated from the school.

Finally finished "Ringworld" on the subway today. At first, I'd thought the characterizations were pretty thin but they deepened a little later on. I found the lead character of Louis Wu to be the glue holding the group together and also to be a bit of a jerk at the same time. I was surprised that the novel got a whole slew of sci-fi awards including the Hugo and the Nebula. I didn't think it was that amazing but then again Larry Niven probably was the first guy to develop what a ringworld would look like in detail. In any case, I still have a better impression of this novel than I did with J.D. Salinger's "Catcher In The Rye". That novel just didn't work for me...probably a product of its times. Talk about damning with faint praise.

Currently watching the Japanese version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" I'm surprised that the show has lasted this long. I think it's been about 3 or 4 years since it came to our shores. Initially, like the original version with Regis Philbin, the show had regular citizens but it soon reverted to type and is now just showcasing celebs instead. Civilians just aren't charismatic enough here.

Thursday September 8, 1:13 p.m.

Looks like my week of annoying luck (or maybe I should really upgrade it to bad luck) continues. I may be in the doghouse with Speedy since I accidentally brought home some texts that he needed for his lesson right now. I got an SOS from him via phone message and e-mail. Just a lousy habit I've got. I just hate myself sometimes. Well, it's too late for his class today but I'll have to bring them over to him tonight after The New Yorker.

Thursday September 8, 11:20 a.m.

After all that typhoon stuff from early this week, it's a bit "refreshing" to see the skies clear and sunny. However, I'd like to complain to room service about the temperatures. At least, I have the chance to air out the mattress and do the laundry.

It'll be a quiet day workwise. Just have The New Yorker for her 4 o'clock. But I'm still thinking about what to do with the younger sister on Saturday. She's getting a bit old for the kiddie books but I don't think she's quite ready for my usual texts ("So, little one, can you repeat 'Does that include utilities?'"). I'll take a look around the Net for some ideas and take a look at the Shinjuku branch of Kinokuniya tomorrow between The Teacher and SR, but I have a feeling that a lot of the new regimen will be homegrown. Not a bad challenge.

With all of the Katrina coverage I've been watching, I've barely seen any of the local coverage. Not even sure about what's been happening with the election campaign although NHK has been giving air time to the various parties during the early morning and late evening hours.

Thursday September 8, 12:17 a.m.

Well, I had half-expected it but when the news came, it still left me a bit lost and saddened. This morning, I went to meet Paddy's acquaintance, an immigration lawyer, about the possibilities of getting my Permanent Residency. She told me that if I can get all the necessary documents amassed then I would be scot-free. I had already achieved the other major condition: to exist here for over a decade. The only catch: even if I threw in the whole package to Immigration in the morning, it would still take at least 6 months for the whole kit and kaboodle to be processed. And just because it's in processing doesn't mean that I'll get an extension on my current visa. I will still need to extend it...which will mean that I'll have to give up the life and students that I've been enjoying for the past few years. I gotta have a full-time job for any company to sponsor me.

On a day that was exercising some major wind power, I went over to Speedy's some 4 hours before 002's lesson. I told Speedy about my situation. And we rather mulled over the probabilities but the fact is that he can't really help me since his company is still a newborn and financially as shaky. He can't afford to give me a full-time position. I even contacted the immigration lawyer again via e-mail to pose her a question from Speedy about some loophole. She wasn't too optimistic.

As anyone would scold me, I should have seen this coming earlier and done something about it. But frankly, I'm just not one of those guys who can really see the big picture or the long-term goal. What am I gonna do when I retire? Can I just continue teaching English for the rest of my working life? Will I die alone here? Who knows? I don't have this map in my head to tell me where I will be going. But one thing is clear...because of my inaction, almost all of my students will be affected in one way or another. Most likely, I'll have to start scouring The Japan Times Monday ads again for the first time in 8 years.

At this point, I've only told Speedy and I've sent off a message to the juku boss. She will definitely not be happy. Part of the reason I did this was a Hail Mary attempt to see if she could come to my rescue in any way but I doubt it's gonna work. I didn't tell 001 and 002 but the day will most likely come soon. I ended up staying over at the school for several hours due to my very early arrival and the fact that Speedy invited me to have pizza with his wife and the graphic designer responsible for whipping up the company stationery and mugs. It was a pleasant if subdued dinner in the lounge...just perfect for my mood.

The Carolinan just contacted me right now. Looks like she'll be a scratch for later today due to the big move of her office. I'll just be seeing her sister in the late afternoon. Some sleep will be nice right about now.

Wednesday September 7, 7:38 a.m.

Woke up to some sun streaming into my room. And yet, we're still forecast for some rain later today.

I was reading on TVNewser, my most recent acquistion for my Favorites LIst, the latest article which asked the question on why if Anderson Cooper is talking about so many bodies being seen, why aren't they being shown on TV. I didn't get the impression that the author was intimating that Anderson and his colleagues were either lying or exaggerating about the body count. Perhaps he was intimating that such grisly sights need to be shown to really stress the impact of this storm. Well, of course I'm speculating on speculation but I think that the impact of the storm has been made quite well not just in the States but worldwide. Plus, there have been some bodies shown on Anderson and in reports on some of the other shows on CNN although I'm not sure what the policy is on the American networks. I think even in these days when kids would just scoff at the scenes in the very first "Alien" or "Friday the 13th", there is just something about seeing real bodies, bloated and rotting in the hot sun, that would still make a lot of folks squirm if not scream. And believe me, after having the unfortunate curiosity to page through one of those bizarro magazines at HMV detailing grisly death scenes, I think we can be spared the sight of additional bodies and just take Anderson's word for it.

Speaking of disasters, and forgive me for the very rough segue, I heard that on the upcoming Emmys on September 18th, a number of actors and actresses will be paying tribute to theme songs of the past including William Shatner doing his version of the "Star Trek" song. This could rate on the scale of the Rob Lowe/Snow White fiasco.

I received word from The Barmaiden who has just come back from her trip to the World Expo in Aichi Prefecture (there was a World Expo? Who knew?). She had some major gripes about having to line up for hours to get into pavilions to walk around in for a fraction of that time. She made the point that the Japanese seem to have too much patience to wait in queues. Yup, the locals do like their lineups. Whether it be for the most popular restaurants, big sales or overrated expos, the Japanese don't seem to mind whiling away time that could be put to better use. Perhaps there is a feeling that if so many people are lining up for so long, then the purpose for all this queueing up is well worth it. I wouldn't be too sure about that. I know that one of Chip Guy's big peeves about living in this country was the willingness of citizens to line up for hours to get that table in that rumoured Italian restaurant or kaiten sushi bar. His belief is that no restaurant is worth that much love. He has a point...at least when it comes to Italian restaurants and sushi bars, one just has to spit in this burg and the wad would probably hit either type.

Tuesday September 6, 11:45 p.m.

Not quite sure how that typhoon is faring right now. I'm not sure how Tokyo will fare tomorrow morning.

My juku night was a bit off on all corners. I should've kept to the Eiken for The New Kid, The Beauty Pair seemed a little quiet tonight, I had to do a balancing act between The Milds and McGirl to the extent that I nearly crossed the line of favoritism to the latter's side, and The Siberian is still a tough slog. Man, he was sweating like a pig tonight due to the humidity. Just not quite sure what to do with him. He's becoming the poster child of the slogan "Teachers make the worst students". Just doesn't give out a whole lot despite his increased fluency when it comes to conversing.

Once again, the boss, The Siberian and I ended up staying a full half-hour after class chatting. Well, it was more the boss chatting at us. She was talking about the whys and wherefores of running a juku and in the midst of that, she explained how grateful she was that I was working there since I'm still quite the popular one when it comes to teaching English. It was a nice thing to hear since I'm always concerned about how I complete my job. She mentioned that more important than knowing my craft, it was my general approach as a humourous and humane teacher that's gotten me the success I have...or so it's assumed. I'm not sure if that really made The Siberian think a bit more about his lessons with me. Even at his early age and experience, teachers can be pretty set in their ways. In any case, the boss also relayed to me about that company guy whom I helped some months earlier concerning his contract. It looks like he has hit a snag with it. I could've told him the first time that his contract suffered from overly heavy use of legalese. I contacted him by e-mail tonight to see if we can meet sometime in the next few nights.

M+M, or one of them, contacted me tonight about our next session. It'll be sometime next month. I can't be sure about my schedule so far in advance but I can sure try to accomodate them.

It was unbelievable but when I got home it was actually cooler inside than it was outside. I'm still not totally convinced but apparently when I shut down my air conditioner before leaving for the juku, the cold air held its ground for several hours inside the apartment.

Tuesday September 6, 1:51 p.m.

Just watched the news about Fidel Castro's offer of help to the US concerning Katrina. When I first heard of this news last week, I was just floored. An avowed foe of the States not only offering help to its enemy but also having people stand up for a minute of silence? Cats and dogs must be living with each other. Then I saw the footage just now of Castro in front of a reported 1500 doctors with backpacks just ready to go as soon as ol' Bush gives the say-so. Then I said "Wait a minute here" with the sneer that usually comes across my face. Do I sense a bit of political theatre? It's no wonder that the White House hasn't said a thing publicly. Part of me, though, still thinks that Bush should swallow his pride and let the Cubans in. I'm sure Castro has some sort of deviousness up his sleeve but if it can save people's lives on the Gulf Coast, then I'm sure everyone except for the most extreme of right-wingers will be quite happy.

Tuesday September 6, 1:21 p.m.

Looks like another annoying luck day. Not bad luck, just annoying. I accidentally dropped an umbrella near a guy at Tsudanuma Station...no harm done but annoying. I place the same umbrella by a stack of flourescent lamps set to be installed. At the same time, the JR staffer comes by to pick some of them up, gotta move the brolley right away...annoying. And then I drop a platter of supermarket kimchi pork on rice outside thereby wasting 400 yen...well, maybe that was bad luck. I should've realized something when I saw the cost of my groceries come up to 1333 yen. Mind you, it could've been worse, I guess. The bill could have been 20 yen less.

It was a steady spritzer this morning on the way over to the Beehive but the rain has stopped for now. Only a few Bees today...well, actually we were just missing two of them: Mrs Perth and Mrs Travel but they're two of the most vocal members. Actually, everyone is pretty vocal. Mrs. Tee was her usual down-on-herself self. She's got a major house remodeling project underway which is depressing her no end. I always have to be careful that she doesn't completely drain the life out of the room. Mrs Alps was her usual happy self and Mrs Tulip was steady and armed with her e-dictionary just in case of any vocabulary emergencies. And the long-absent Mrs. Jade was back. She'd had a rather busy tough patch earlier in the year since her family was in official mourning after the death of her father-in-law. But the ready smile was back on her face and the others mentioned that she looked rather radiant today. It also helped her cause that her son got officially engaged.

Things seem to be slowly getting back to some sense of normalcy on the news after exactly a week of Live From New Orleans. General Honore is bringing law and order, FEMA and dozens of US agencies are finally getting something done, and CNN reporters are getting less strident. And the network is slowly looking at other disasters around the world: a theatre stampede in Egypt and a plane crash in Southeast Asia.

Monday September 5, 11:06 p.m.

Got word from The Madame and Skippy about their trips home after they had left me on the Yamanote last night. At the time, a driving rain had just started. Skippy was OK since her father came and picked her up in the car but The Madame got a bit of an ankle-soaking walking home. Looks like things got pretty serious last night. There was an area of Tokyo in which some houses got flooded all the way up to the ceiling of the first floor. Right now, Typhoon 14 is hitting Kagoshima on the south end of Japan. It's pretty darn powerful but according to the charts, it looks like it will skirt north of us although we'll probably still get our share of rain on Wednesday.

Had my longest day of the week starting with The Class Act. The Lady is still pretty adamant about the "horrible" service at Sadler last Thursday. To quote Movie Buddy on his opinion of "Revenge of the Sith", he and the other critics must have been watching different movies. And so I wonder if she and I were dining at different restaurants. In any case, neither of us will ever go back there again. In her case, it is out of choice. SIL was fine as usual. And once again, I just had the one student at The Company. And once again, things were better since we went piecemeal over the material instead of having to tackle the conversation in the text cold.

Then I met up with The Poppy at the local Denny's. We had a good time chatting and studying...mostly the latter. I think that's the way we'll probably have our occasional lessons. I won't be seeing her for an entire month since she's unavailable next week and the next two Mondays are occupied by a national holiday and my first day into Taiwan respectively. Man, does she like her older men. She's always had a thing for these actors, Japanese and Western, who are well into their 40s such as Gary Oldman. All I can say is that one of those celebs ought to make tracks for her right now since some of them seem to enjoy "robbing the cradle".

Speedy got back to me after I'd sent that half-apologetic thank you last night. He was pretty neutral. Didn't mention anything about what I'd said about that overagressive girl but thanked me for coming out. Well, I think all I'll do now is just take that shower and make those final comments for The Poppy before retiring. I'll try and get some of the ironing done tomorrow morning before I have my first lesson with The Beehive in several weeks.

Monday September 5, 7:32 a.m.

Well, we certainly got the month's worth of rain last night. I wasn't aware that the rain caused so much misery until I turned on NHK just before hitting the hay and seeing all these bulletins come up. Apparently, a number of homes in Saitama and other suburban areas had to be evacuated. And we still have Typhoon 14 due for touchdown this Wednesday although I think the effect won't be as bad as Typhoon 11.

Still haven't gotten onto the lesson planning. Will be doing that very soon.

Sunday September 4, 8:44 a.m.

Doesn't look too sunny right now out there. And there's rain threatening for tonight's cruise although NHK says that it won't come until after 9 p.m. I'm crossing my fingers although my brain says to expect the worst.

I got word from The Ballerina. She's been busy with her job up in the sky. Not surprisingly, she won't know her schedule for late October...when The Lady and SIL fly off to London...for several weeks but she was kind enough to say that she'd let me know if and when she gets that flight.

With all the news from the States over the past week, I haven't heard much from Japanese news but something that just came in over the radar was the discovery of remains of two Japanese tourists in Afghanistan. They could only be identified through dental records. I'm not sure if they were victims of an accident or the Taliban. One other reason that I haven't been keeping myself updated with the local stuff is that much of it is on the election campaign. If you've been here as long as I have, you'll know that it's all just the usual stentorian blather: we are better than they are, we'll get the country going right again. I've seen a few of the roving vans out there with the megaphones blaring out the candidates' names incessantly and the waving white-gloved hands...a great example of political irony.

Sunday September 4, 11:52 p.m.

It was a fun-filled Sunday for the most part; quite different from the past few Sundays had been spent at home. I met up with The Madame, The Satryr and Skippy at Ueno Station for dim sum. There was a place across the station called Bamboo Garden which sounds more Chinatown-like than Chinese. The entire place was this glass and chrome structure which stuck out incongruously against the old decrepit buildings bracketing Ueno Park. But it was in keeping with the recently remodeled station,

Dim sum in Tokyo is not like dim sum back in Toronto. That is, to say, restaurants don't have these old waitresses pushing carts yelling their wares in Cantonese or Mandarin. Basically, it's just a set course with X number of bamboo steamers. Ours cost 2000 yen per person. The food was pretty good. It was basically the old regulars such as siu mai, sho ron po and gyoza. Certainly the conversation was entertaining enough. The Satryr and I once again got into cinema class mode which often left the ladies in the dust. However, we steered the conversation back into more familiar territory for them. And of course, the ladies always seem to have the knack to get into some rather off-color topics of a sexual nature. Not that I'm complaining too much.

Afterwards, the four of us continued our conversation at a cafe in Ueno Station itself. Once again, we managed to get into some rather intriguing topics such as the uselessness of some of the settings on the bidet-like controls of modern toilet seats. Let's say we found out a little too much information about the Madame in that one. The Satyr had to make his way home so the three of us remaining continued to chat for just a little while longer before we went on to our next destination.

We all made our way down to Takeshiba Pier and met up with Speedy and his gang for that big cruise through Tokyo Bay. There was already a very sizable lineup for the ship with an hour to go before boarding. Quite a lot of folks in their yukata since yukata wearers got a 1000 yen off. Finally, at about 7 the gates opened and we boarded this surprisingly large liner. It wasn't exactly the Queen Elizabeth II but it was definitely no tugboat either. And it did manage to fit all 500 passengers pretty easily.

I found out that this cruise thing is a nightly activity that's been going on since the end of July. With all of the frolicking that took place and in such numbers, I initially thought it was just a one-off special. Each of the four decks had different types of food selling, and the alcohol was freely flowing. We all had a great time and I was personally grateful to the weather for not literally raining on our parade...at least not until we were on our way home. It was quite gusty, though, which made The Madame, Skippy and me squint a lot during the initial minutes of our 1h45min cruise. There was a lot of food such as sushi, yakitori, Korean fare and even Turkish doner kebab being bandied about while some summertime J-Pop of yesterday was blaring on the speakers. Our sizable group was up on the top deck so we had the greatest view as our ship sailed at quite a fast clip. We passed by the bright lights of Odaiba across the bay and then we ended up into some lightless black zone which made me shudder a bit before we turned around and headed back to port.

With our group, there was that rather portly young lady who was with the movie crowd a couple of weeks earlier in Shinjuku. I think it was part alcohol and partly a personal interest in me but in the last leg of the sail, she was trying to strike up a lot of conversation with me and at one point, she wrested me from my talk with The Madame and Skippy to introduce me to a former working-holiday visa guy who had spent a year in Toronto...15 years ago. We had a mutual acquaintance in the form of a guy whose friendship I dissolved several years ago for various reasons I prefer not to go into. Of course, I was polite and didn't say anything about that but that young lady kept bringing up that point just so that she could keep the two of us in the circle. Both she and Speedy tried to get me and my two female companions to go to the second party of karaoke at a building next to the port but we politely declined. For me, I have classes to teach tomorrow, something that I have yet to start planning. However, another part of it was that I just wanted to get out of that lady's gunsights. She's a nice girl and all, and I do remember stating that she was a decent person to actually strike up conversations with everyone at the movie night, but I think she just got a little too agressive that night. So the three of us just silently crept away when we finally docked, something that in retrospect that I feel a little guilty about since I didn't get a chance to thank Speedy and his friend for inviting us to the cruise in the first place. I did send him a thank-you e-mail just now, though.

Once we made our escape, the three of us decided to have a final coffee at a Starbucks in Shimbashi Station before we got on the Yamanote Line. Just a few stations before we got to our respective destinations, the skies opened up and hammered us. When I got off at my station an hour later, it had rained according to the watermarks and drying puddles of water. But thunder and flashes of lightning were rumbling about as I walked home. Just now, there was a rather intense squall followed by some steady shower activity.

I realized I gave that lady my e-mail address and phone number. Ah well...