レゴ

最近、ウィル君がレゴというおもちゃを気に入った。僕も小学生のときにレゴが好きだったからウィル君と一緒にレゴを遊ぶことは楽しいです。レゴの組立説明書を見ると、言葉がなくて、イラストがしかありません。イラストだけで組み立て説明書を作ることは難しいと思います。もし自分の会社のマニュアルをイラストだけで作って見ればどうかな。できれば翻訳者が要らなくなりますので、それは困ります。

Round 3: Day 119 - That'll Do, Pig.

I'm bringing Round 3: With A Vengeance to a close, a couple of days before scheduled. This round has been tough. It was a little aimless, undisciplined, and mentally draining. If I don't do the workouts in the morning, which I don't, I really struggle to do a workout in the evenings. The last two weeks have been especially tough for some reason. I am feeling aimless myself, not able to find enjoyment in anything. Interest in my job is way down. I'm at a loss with what to do about William, who is getting more and more caught up in his own world and losing touch with people. Joseph is endlessly sick, coughing and crying. My wife has become a person I have lived with for a really long time, and not much more. I dread weekends, and on weekdays my day is repeated over and over again, to the smallest detail. I am in the best shape of my life, but my enthusiasm for life has gone.
So this slump on the endless roller coaster of culture shock, sleep deprivation, a boring job, no sex ever, living in the stalest society in the world, the relentlessly brutal weather, whatever the cause of this particular bleh period is, something has to change. If I can change it before my subconscious butts in and does something silly that would be great. And if I can change it without losing my wife or my children, that would be fantastic.
Having said that, the next round starts on Moday. Round 4: No Retreat, No Surrender. I have split the P90X workouts in half. No routine is over 40 minutes long. I'm going to bring it, just not as long. And I'm throwing in a Crossfit Workout Of The Day once a week, just to mix shit up, 'cause I is crazy like dat. The Crossfit WODs that I can do are limited because I don't have a barbell or rings, but I think that this is the way I want to go next year. Crossfit looks wicked, and is definitely the future. Oh yea, and there's a P90X sequel in the works, called P90X: MC2. MC stands for "muscle confusion", though the title is a play on Einstein's formula for energy. That'll come out next year. No shortage of stuff to do, but at the moment, with Summer here, and my motivation in critical condition, just getting in the room and doing the thing is the main objective. Knowing that I'll be done in less time that a normal episode of TV is a huge bonus.
So, just to do something positive, as round 3 draws to a close, I thought I would run through my own personal highlights of P90X, little moments that make me chuckle or give me a little motivation every time I see them.
1. Chest & Back
"Too many people, when they exercise, stop way before they should," says Tony. Every time I hear that I know he's talking about me. This workout isn't the same anymore since I saw the girl Marin in this video in a hard-core porn clip.
2. Plyometrics
"Jesus. I mean Jeepers."
3. Shoulder & Arms
Nothing about this workout is memorable. It's a solid workout though.
4. Yoga X
I don't do this workout, I do Fountain of Youth Yoga from the One on One series. Whenever Tony says "I love it here in Santa Monica California", I wish that I lived in Santa Monica California.
5. Legs & Back.
A lot of memorable moments in this one.
The controversial "off the charts, like chicklets" moment, when it is clear that the video has been edited to fit that comment in, solely because someone thought it was worth putting in. I don't even know what chicklets are.
Dreya doing chair pose and groucho walk. Is there something wrong with her ass?
Sophia letting go of the bands to fist bump Tony, letting the handles hit him in the face.
6. Kenpo X
I haven't done this for ages, but just watching whatshisname the Kenpo guy dogging it the whole workout is awesome.
7. X Stretch
Just Phil trying to do neck rolls. His neck isn't very flexible.
8. Core Synergistics
Adam saying he did 18 Prison Cell Pushups. Giving him the benefit of the doubt because he's not on the screen the whole time, the absolute most he did was 14. Why lie about that?
9. Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
"La Machina! That's Spanish."
10. Back & Biceps
The Arnold scream at the 38:10 mark.
11. Cardio X
Haven't done this one much recently. Can't remember much about it.
12. Ab Ripper X
Nothing funny about this.
This year's British Open was the most. Boring. Tournament. Ever. I didn't bother staying up to watch the last round because it was clear that nothing was going to happen. And nothing did. Some guy from South Africa won it. I've never heard of him, and now he's the British Open champion. It was just like the US Open when whatshisface won it. Golf is in all sorts of trouble. That's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket, and those eggs turn out to be the rottenest eggs ever laid.
Speaking of Tiger, another embarrassing performance. Playing well, putting bad, ho hum, swearing, throwing clubs around. Don't take it out on golf, Tiger. It's the only thing you've got left.
My highlight of the week? This question Tiger was asked before the tournament. "Tom Watson has said you need to clean up your image on the golf course. Many of us have heard you use the 'F' word, we've seen you spit, we've seen you throw tantrums like chucking your clubs. Are you willing to cut out all those tantrums and respect the home of golf?" Brilliant. Didn't matter what the answer was. It was "I'm trying to become a better player and a better person" BTW. His fall back line this week. And he couldn't cut it out, apparently.
The best golfer when I started playing golf was Seve Ballesteros. What a story. Grew up hitting stones with sticks on the beach near his house in Spain, a physical genius. He dominated golf for ten years, 79 - 89, culminating in one of the best British Opens ever in '88, which my mum wouldn't let me stay up and watch, and which I wouldn't see until three years later when I finally got my hands on the video that was going around the golf club. I remember rushing home to watch it. He has been struggling with brain tumours for a few years now, and has had many operations. He's really frail, and a bit different now, very emotional. They wanted him to come to St. Andrews this year to celebrate 150 years of the Open, but he couldn't. They did a really nice interview at his house though, and he kind of chokes up about his life and his destiny. He was an awesome golfer, scarily talented, famous for his touch around the greens and his freakish shots out of trouble. Man I wish there was someone like him playing now.
Apparently rainy season ended on Saturday. Something about saying a season finishes on a particular day rubs me the wrong way, but it does seem to be true. A couple of weeks of nice warm weather, then BANG! Heat like you wouldn't believe. I hope to get my bike back from the shop soon so I can go for a ride or two.
I've started watching Dexter. The great shows keep on coming. Definately the golden age of American TV. Even though he's a textbook psychopath, I totally get this character, though I wonder how it'll go after a few more episodes. It's hard to feel for a character that doesn't feel, don't you think? If the writers are good enough they'll be able to do it, I think. I do love the way his foster father raised him, not trying to change him but more teaching him how to function. It's an interesting approach.
Anyway, I feel like this blog has served it's purpose. It has helped me stop smoking and kept me motivated to do exercise, and I'll probably post every know and then. I'll keep in touch with the friends I've made through it. I'll keep working out. But I need to work on other stuff now, which is probably obvious.

Round 3: Day 110 - Fountain of Youth Yoga

Once, weekends meant golf, friends, good times.
Something to look forward to. A promise.
I took Friday off to go to William's school because they had a party for all the kids whose birthday is in July/August. It was fine, but there was a girl there who yelped like a dog the whole time, and it gave me a headache that lasted until last night (Sunday night). It rained all three days too, so no going outside. Will was mental, and Jo Jo was either yelling for food all the time or banging his head against the floor to make himself cry.
Anyway, back at work now...

Will and a party crasher at kinder

Round 3: Day 103 - P90X Stretch

Good weekend. Had a hit of golf at the driving range with Will and Nori on Saturday morning. He's playing golf with some work people and doesn't want to look stupid, so he asked me to give him some pointers. I tried my best, but I think he's still going to look stupid.

Grip it 'n Rip it

Then the family spent the afternoon at the library hanging out. On Sunday Will and i went to the English playgroup. A little more structure would be good, but Will had fun. Next time I think we need more toys and group games and stuff. Someone brought Operation (the Shrek version) which freaked Will out a bit. He was very, very interested in it, but he wouldn't try it. He would just walk around saying "if you touch the sides, his nose will go buzz!" He's probably still a bit young. I was actually looking at that on Amazon last week, so I'm glad I didn't order it. Maybe in a year or two. The place we had the playgroup is great. A converted hospital. Music, lots of games and crafts and stuff. Will loved it.

Old people!

Then lunch at Macca's, then home. Big day. I did Back and Biceps when I got home. A few improvements here and there, and I'm getting back to the numbers I got before the humidity hit, and it's actually a good, satisfying feeling when the sweat is dripping off me. In Winter I sometimes felt like I wasn't working hard enough because I wasn't drenched in sweat. Not a problem at the moment.
I've got my bike shaken (roadworthy examination) next weekend. Shouldn't be a problem. You have to do this every two years in Japan. Bike or car. Three years for new cars. It keeps old bombs off the road, and keeps Toyota and Nissan and Mitsubishi and Mazda and Honda ticking along, selling new cars. One of the pleasures of going back to Australia is seeing cars from the 80's, and even 70's, on the road. You do not see anything like that here. It'll cost me a few hundred dollars, though I'm half expecting them to tell me I need a new back wheel. We'll see. One problem I can foresee is this: You have to pay city tax every two years, and you need it for your shaken. It's fifty dollars, and I paid it at a convenience store a couple of weeks ago. So the chick at the desk stamps the receipt, and says "oops". She stamped the date as 2008. "It should be okay," she says, and hands it back to me. Yea. Thanks for that. The proper date is printed on it and everything, it has barcodes and stuff, so according to any scanner you care to pass over it it's okay, but there's this big ugly stamp that says it was paid three years ago. Hopefully no-one will notice.
So I'm doing overtime tonight. I've got nothing to do, but it doesn't appear that I have nothing to do, and that's the most important thing. How things appear. Since the boss pointed out that my department does the least overtime in the whole company, the amount of overtime my department does has increased by five! In just two days! Remarkable how busy everyone has suddenly become. Remember this when the guy at the shop tells you that the reason you are paying so much for your Sony DVD player, your Mitsubishi Lancer, your Ricon camera, is because the quality is better. It's not. You pay for all the overtime Japanese office workers do to appear to be busy.

Round 3: Day 100 - P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps

It's rainy season now, and apart from a day or two here and there, it has been raining a lot. And it's hot, low 30's. It'll stop raining soon, and then it will just be unbearably hot for a couple of months. Summer does have a special feeling here though. There are lots of festivals and fireworks, which I'm going to make more of an effort to see this year. I might even buy a yukata (a summer kimono, but not like you think. More like thin loose pajamas), even though I know I will look like a dickhead.
I've been looking at stuff that we can do over summer, maybe some new parks or pools or something. I have been looking at some blogs of people that come here to study. Okazaki has a pretty well-known Japanese language school that people from all over the world come to to stay for a few months. I went there myself for two months, and it was okay, but I'd already been here for years, so doing the whole tea ceremony thing and going to the sushi restaurant didn't do much for me. Mainly it's for well-off American and Canadian kids who like manga to come and experience Japan. It's pretty expensive. But anyway, a lot of them start blogs, and they talk about places they go to in and around Okazaki. They do a lot of stuff, and everything is strange and new, and they are single, so they definitely get out more than I do. But the overwhelming impression is that they would give anything to be able to stay here, and they study their asses off and have no fear of speaking Japanese. Me? X, X, and X.
I have to do something about my own attitude to this place. I should start thinking of myself as a tourist, and let go of my pride and be prepared to make mistakes and smile more and have fun. That's my mission this summer. To see more of this place, and to share it with William. Also what I want to start doing is presenting a picture of the day. I will start carrying my camera around and snap anything that takes my fancy. And hopefully I will do a few big rides over the Summer, and I will present some ride reports. Like I said, become a bit more of a tourist and less of a jaded, 9-5 wage salve immigrant.
My workouts have been going well, though my numbers are down and so is my motivation. I think it's the weather. The humidity just saps the energy out of me. It might take a few weeks to get used to it. The other night I did Yoga, and it was the strongest I've felt since I finished working at the factory a month ago. Got to back there in two weeks, though the boss has put in a request that we stay here in our own department because it's busy, but our boss is a pussy and they will tell him no. I am not looking forward to working there again. When I hear speeches from the president and the boss trying to gee everyone up and let's do our very best and all that stuff, I just think of all the sleepy, lazy Japanese people I work with and how I'm going to the factory to do the lowest job in the company so they don't have to.
Starting tomorrow (the first day after the Friday of a week in which a new month began) I want to concentrate on another couple of things. First, is diet. I want to cut down on the amount of chocolate I eat and coffee I drink. It's not a large amount, but it's become a habit, and I'm sick of it. They can't be doing any good for my mood. It doesn't help that, inexplicably, imported Coke cans have appeared in the vending machine upstairs. I cannot drink Coke out of pet bottles. Only glass and cans, preferably cans. So I had a can today. Very nice.
Update: Welcome to a Japanese Company
As you know, the English translating team has been selected to take it in turns to each go and work at the factory for two weeks at at time picking parts. It's a sucky job, and I'm sure all the Japanese guys in our department were relieved that it's us and not them. Why were we chosen? Because our group had done the least amount of overtime out of all the groups in our department ( which includes the manual group, Chinese translation group, parts list group, web group), and our department has done the least amount of overtime in the company.
We have all had a turn, and are scheduled to go round again. We said we were very busy, and maybe someone else could go instead this time? So the boss asked his boss and so on, and we had a meeting today.
That's when we found out that our department does the least overtime out of all the departments. You have to understand that this is a bad thing. It doesn't matter how hard or how efficient you work, all that matters, all that is measured, is how long you work. And the longer the better. There are guys that do 50 or 60 hours of overtime every month without fail. One guy I met at the factory does 100 hours a month overtime. Management pay lip service to "work/life balance" and we even have "No Overtime Fridays" (Japan's equivalent to "Wacky Hat Day" I think), but these guys are heroes. The amount of work they do is irrelevant. They are killing themselves for the company. Wow.
So the English group sat down with the boss. Here's how he explained it. We didn't have to go back to the factory. Yes! But there's a problem. There's usually four people in the English group, and there's a certain amount of work shared between these four people. Take away one person, and this amount of work is shared among fewer people, meaning more work per person. The problem is we still don't do overtime. Which is not exactly true, but anyway. We tried to explain that we all have young families, and we want to go home to help our wives, and we manage to do the extra work by organizing our time better, and working harder throughout the day to get the work done. I said that I know this isn't Australia, but if it was, our boss would think this is marvellous and would probably use us as an example of an efficient, effective group. But the boss said that when the personnel department sees this, they wonder if there really needs to be four people. I know the boss doesn't think this, but he's just saying that this is how it looks. So by helping out at the factory, which we were chosen to do because we appeared to be the laziest and least busy people in the whole company, we have effectively exposed ourselves as even lazier or less busy than they thought. It must be a source of amazement to these fuckers. I'm not sure which they would find more incredulous; how it looks, or that we don't know/care that that's how it looks. So, bottom line, we all need to do one or two nights a week overtime to show that we are busy, regardless of whether we are busy or not, and then people will leave us alone. This will cost the company tens of thousands of dollars a year, but hey, appearances are all that matter here.
I know this, but it is hard to except this as the reality. I keep thinking, well, perhaps they might take into account the volume of work we do, the quality of it, but no. The numbers don't lie. You can show them study after study proving that working long hours does not mean more work is done, of that it is done any better. They just won't believe it.
So we have to play the game. I have a question: Why do the Japanese people purposefully make their life harder than it needs to be? Answer: Because they are all insane.