Weekend Update
Feb. 12th, 2006 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkanFriday ended on a rather blah note, with mandatory attendance at an enkai meaning I didn't get to pop in at any of the three birthday parties taking place in the prefecture. Furthermore, although the guest of honor left at 8pm, my section chief kept us there until about 10:30 - over five hours spent in a tiny enclosed space with six chainsmoking Japanese men. Also, while my section chief has always been nice to me, he has very regressive views on politics, gender, and international relations. So, hard to sit and listen to that stuff.
Saturday was vastly improved by a visit from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
demeter918, including video games, pop culture talk, shopping (I got a $50.00 pair of headphones for free - love the point card system), more yakiniku than two human beings should resonably be allowed to eat, onsen action, and snowboarding this afternoon. Then we headed to the Big City for some shopping and a brush with death as an obviously-much-better-at-driving-than-this-foreigner-is Japanese person attempted a lane change into the exact same area currently being occupied by my vehicle. It occurs to me that adult diaper companies could make a small fortune by importing Americans into this country and forcing them to drive around on the public roadways for a day or two.
In related news, it is a peculiarly perverse feature of Japanese drivers that they do not tailgate in good weather conditions. Let it rain or snow, however, and you'd think my rear bumper was emitting vehicle phermones they way other drivers stick to it.
Nonetheless, I saw d918 safely back to her apartment before heading home, and luckily the good weather held out until I got back. Still, I was still somewhat tense thanks to earlier events, and thus nearly wet myself/died of a heart attack when my car emitted the loudest, most agonized screechcrackle I'd ever heard in my life.
And then the heavens parted and the three broken speakers came back to life. Only one of them had been working thus far. It was a good speaker, and it was pretty interesting to listen to half of the audio stream and get a better idea of how those tracks are put together. Nevertheless, four speakers are even better. And they are nice speakers.
Also, it just hit home that I drive a fucking Honda Civic.
Life is sweet.
That will be all.
Saturday was vastly improved by a visit from
demeter918, including video games, pop culture talk, shopping (I got a $50.00 pair of headphones for free - love the point card system), more yakiniku than two human beings should resonably be allowed to eat, onsen action, and snowboarding this afternoon. Then we headed to the Big City for some shopping and a brush with death as an obviously-much-better-at-driving-than-this-foreigner-is Japanese person attempted a lane change into the exact same area currently being occupied by my vehicle. It occurs to me that adult diaper companies could make a small fortune by importing Americans into this country and forcing them to drive around on the public roadways for a day or two.In related news, it is a peculiarly perverse feature of Japanese drivers that they do not tailgate in good weather conditions. Let it rain or snow, however, and you'd think my rear bumper was emitting vehicle phermones they way other drivers stick to it.
Nonetheless, I saw d918 safely back to her apartment before heading home, and luckily the good weather held out until I got back. Still, I was still somewhat tense thanks to earlier events, and thus nearly wet myself/died of a heart attack when my car emitted the loudest, most agonized screechcrackle I'd ever heard in my life.
And then the heavens parted and the three broken speakers came back to life. Only one of them had been working thus far. It was a good speaker, and it was pretty interesting to listen to half of the audio stream and get a better idea of how those tracks are put together. Nevertheless, four speakers are even better. And they are nice speakers.
Also, it just hit home that I drive a fucking Honda Civic.
Life is sweet.
That will be all.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2006-02-12 01:27 pm (UTC)(Though, in some respects, it reminds me of a recent-ish phenomenon around here: sharing the road with cell phone users. I've watched them do -all- of the oblivious, insane things you've described.)
no subject
on 2006-02-13 06:22 am (UTC)I share your ire for cell phone drivers. (And cell phones in particular, as they so often seem to supplant the real live people one should be interacting with at any given time.) Americans are bad enough, but Japanese drivers on their cell phones?
You'd be safer parking your car and walking.
no subject
on 2006-02-12 02:00 pm (UTC)ROTFLMAO!!
I sould be ILL after spending all that time in the smoke....glad your weekend got better anyway! And a big yay for speakers magiclaly fixing themselves LOL!
no subject
on 2006-02-13 06:23 am (UTC)Really feel sorry for my immediate boss, though, as she's expecting and has to sit and inhale all that smoke. At least social norms are such that neither of us is expected to light the guy's cigs for them anymore.
no subject
on 2006-02-13 05:38 am (UTC)And yay, the speakers finally work! You must have hit the right sort of bump (or pulled hard to the right to counter that mis-alignment) to get a loose wire back in place.
no subject
on 2006-02-13 06:24 am (UTC)I know - I'm really glad that happened before I took it in and paid money to have a human being pop it back into place. Didn't hit any bumps when it happened, so it must have been the alignment's fault;)
no subject
on 2006-02-13 07:04 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-02-14 05:59 am (UTC)my section chief kept us there until about 10:30 - over five hours spent in a tiny enclosed space with six chainsmoking Japanese men
that will knock me out x__x;;