Oh, Lordy Troubles so Hard
Feb. 6th, 2004 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkanThese past few days have about killed me.
My several-thousand dollar computer is fucked up. Thanks to its microsuck OS, I have yet to burn a single CD with the burner. Yesterday, my microphone stopped working. Today, all three of the USB ports also stopped working.
My day after school: I need to unwind. Think I'll watch a movie. Oh wait! I can't; by virtue of the fact that my speakers connect to the computer via USB slot, there's no sound.
Okay, fine. I'll record some more soundfiles for my website. Oh, but wait! I can't. The microphone no longer works.
Maybe I'll upload those pictures I took in Osaka. Wrong again! The camera attaches via USB, and we all know how thatworks isn't working.
Lesson plans? Nope, my storage card needs a working USB plug. What's the use of writing lessons if I can't get them off my hard drive?
Listen to music? Hardly. No speakers, remember?
Same goes for learning new tunes. Can't learn any tunes if you can't fucking hear them.
My supervisor called the post office to see if anything could be done about my mail. So the section chief comes to my school to make a formal apology to me. I found this extremely humiliating because 1) it's my landlord's fault, not the post office's, and 2) I'm never good in these situations anyway. The guy was so nervous he spilled the tea the OL gave him all over the conference table. He also brought a small gift to atone for the fact that my package was lost. Humiliating
He spoke to my supervisor, not me (because he didn't know that I speak Japanese). He said that he'd called my landlord on my behalf. See, there's this law that all landlords must provide ground floor lockable mailboxes on any tenement over two storeys tall. Gee, guess who was violating that one.
He said that the landlord told him he remembered seeing my package sitting on the street corner for a few days and that someone probably stole it or the garbage men threw it out, since the streetcorner is also the garbage collection area. So the fucker saw it and didn't do anything. Glad to hear he's so concerned about his tenants' well-being.
The mailman is apparently going to walk up four flights of stairs to deliver my mail to my door until the landlord fixes the mailboxes "sometime this month." The little reminder about the illegality of it all did wonders, it appears.
He also told my supervisor that he was shocked that my employers allowed a young woman to live in that apartment building, because "drunk men stop in all the time." This is a euphemism for "there be hookers and other dangerous people." It's about as close to an outright accusation as you are going to get when polite Japanese professionals are concerned.
Anyway, the section chief of the city post office brought me a gift, although he's not at fault. My landlord has yet to speak to me directly about this, let alone apologise. But that's okay. He doesn't need to. He still gets my rent every month.
And now, the icing on the cake: the mailman's gift was coffee. Maybe this is a nice gift by Japanese standards; I don't know.
Of course, I don't drink coffee.
That will be all.
My several-thousand dollar computer is fucked up. Thanks to its microsuck OS, I have yet to burn a single CD with the burner. Yesterday, my microphone stopped working. Today, all three of the USB ports also stopped working.
My day after school: I need to unwind. Think I'll watch a movie. Oh wait! I can't; by virtue of the fact that my speakers connect to the computer via USB slot, there's no sound.
Okay, fine. I'll record some more soundfiles for my website. Oh, but wait! I can't. The microphone no longer works.
Maybe I'll upload those pictures I took in Osaka. Wrong again! The camera attaches via USB, and we all know how that
Lesson plans? Nope, my storage card needs a working USB plug. What's the use of writing lessons if I can't get them off my hard drive?
Listen to music? Hardly. No speakers, remember?
Same goes for learning new tunes. Can't learn any tunes if you can't fucking hear them.
My supervisor called the post office to see if anything could be done about my mail. So the section chief comes to my school to make a formal apology to me. I found this extremely humiliating because 1) it's my landlord's fault, not the post office's, and 2) I'm never good in these situations anyway. The guy was so nervous he spilled the tea the OL gave him all over the conference table. He also brought a small gift to atone for the fact that my package was lost. Humiliating
He spoke to my supervisor, not me (because he didn't know that I speak Japanese). He said that he'd called my landlord on my behalf. See, there's this law that all landlords must provide ground floor lockable mailboxes on any tenement over two storeys tall. Gee, guess who was violating that one.
He said that the landlord told him he remembered seeing my package sitting on the street corner for a few days and that someone probably stole it or the garbage men threw it out, since the streetcorner is also the garbage collection area. So the fucker saw it and didn't do anything. Glad to hear he's so concerned about his tenants' well-being.
The mailman is apparently going to walk up four flights of stairs to deliver my mail to my door until the landlord fixes the mailboxes "sometime this month." The little reminder about the illegality of it all did wonders, it appears.
He also told my supervisor that he was shocked that my employers allowed a young woman to live in that apartment building, because "drunk men stop in all the time." This is a euphemism for "there be hookers and other dangerous people." It's about as close to an outright accusation as you are going to get when polite Japanese professionals are concerned.
Anyway, the section chief of the city post office brought me a gift, although he's not at fault. My landlord has yet to speak to me directly about this, let alone apologise. But that's okay. He doesn't need to. He still gets my rent every month.
And now, the icing on the cake: the mailman's gift was coffee. Maybe this is a nice gift by Japanese standards; I don't know.
Of course, I don't drink coffee.
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no subject
on 2004-02-05 10:13 pm (UTC)But the mailman sounds like a puppy... =/ Feel so bad for you, and him, and the whole situation.
*hugs*
on 2004-02-06 01:30 am (UTC)the mailman's gift was coffee
He's put some thought into this, obviously. You, after all, come from a country which has a reputation for loving freshly ground & brewed coffee. One day we should talk about the misconceptions about Americans created by the television and movie industry.
*kicks landlord in the head*
*kicks him again, for good measure*
no subject
on 2004-02-07 04:11 am (UTC)Is there someone you can take it to who can fix it? Or something?
Your landlord is a complete dick. Hope he gets his shit together quick.
I do feel bad for the mailman, poor thing. I guess he thinks American = love coffee. I guess it's the thought that counts, eh?
Hope the situation clears up quickly. <3
no subject
on 2004-02-09 09:33 am (UTC)The thing is, this one was veeeerrrrrrrryyyyyyy expensive and only about 6 months old, so it shouldn't be doing this shit. But I feel your pain. Computers always give me a hard time, no matter how much I love them.
Your landlord is a complete dick. Hope he gets his shit together quick.
As of today, he hasn't. I'm giving him a week to fix the damn box before I ask to be moved, money be damned. Or, I might have him fix it and then ask to be moved anyway.
I do feel bad for the mailman, poor thing. I guess he thinks American = love coffee. I guess it's the thought that counts, eh?
You know, that never occurred to me. Thanks - I feel better about that bit now. :)