Hidemi’s Rambling No.51

My partner felt unfair about the way Epson dealt with the recall of my computer. After a series of phone calls to complain and negotiate, he got a satisfactory solution. A free repair will be completed much more quickly than I expected, therefore, my complicated data and configurations for our new song are intact. Just in case, I made more backups. During the work, I couldn’t stop smelling smoke. Of course it was imaginary smoke, which came from my fear that the computer might catch a fire at any moment. What a small, nervous human being I am…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.52

I had a visitor for the first time in years. I seldom have one and so I was very nervous. Beforehand, I cleaned up my apartment thoroughly. As I went on cleaning, I got carried away and felt some pain in my back when finished. Back in May, I rearranged the furniture in the dining area of my apartment, and I hurt my back while moving a fridge. It hindered every move I made for a few days. When the pain subsided, I lifted my old albums and did it again. Since then, I had been careful for my back and it had gotten better. But I was less careful this time. I still feel a mild pain in my back today. I am afraid of living with my backache like this for the rest of my life. I definitely hope not…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.53

I have just come back from a grocery store now. They had a great one-day sale today. Since I couldn’t go out for it last week, this one was kind of revenge. I arrived at the store and guess what. The sale items were all sold out already. Revenge never works. I got completely upset and was involuntarily scribbling a complaint on a comment sheet at the store. It was a totally compulsive move and when I came to myself, I submitted it to the box. As I cooled down, I realized something. I got up at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon, had lunch, and by the time I was at the store, it was past 4 p.m. Maybe my lifestyle is a problem, not the store…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.54

The season finale of ‘Lost’ Season 5 was on air in Japan. Since my partner remarked that I resembled Ben Linus, I have felt an affinity with him. I even mastered to do an impression of him. In the season finale, there was a scene that Ben confronted Jacob. I was deeply moved to tears by that scene because what Ben said to Jacob was exactly what I have had in my mind for a long time. I completely understood how Ben felt. Does that mean I resemble him not only in appearance but also in character? Ben is a bad guy. What about me?…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.55

One of the biggest disadvantages to live in Japan is that you can’t watch the TV shows of US. Some of them are available but at least one year behind. The saddest thing is a sitcom. They are too unpopular to be broadcast. So are animations such as ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Family Guy’. Online broadcasting doesn’t allow access from outside US. ‘LOST’ Season 5 was on cable and just finished. Even on cable, it was one year behind and the season 6 will be here next summer. I will have to fret about what is going on there until then. In US, it has already started and they know how the hydrogen bomb went. Went off? Or what? I am left in this craving…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.56

I did the shopping at the mall and bought a summer dress. To save money, I get summer clothes in winter and winter ones in summer because they cut the price drastically for what remains unsold during the season. The summer dress with a cardigan cost only 350 yen, which was about $4. Ideal shopping, but on the flip side, I can’t wear them right away. Usually I need to wait for half a year until the suitable season arrives. And sometimes, I forget about having bought them by the time to wear in season. Am I really saving money…?

Hidemi’s Rambling No.57

After shopping, I had dinner at Starbucks. Their subs are my favorite, but the main reason to dine there is that restaurants in Japan are full of housewives who take noisy, ill-behaved kids along. They don’t pick a time and place. From an expensive restaurant to even a bar, kids are there. Some Japanese bars have a play room for kids. There is even a baby at a bar at night. Crazy. The safest place for me was a cafe. But, they came. When I enjoyed a sub and a holiday cake with a quiet, relaxing atmosphere listening to holiday music in the background, this kid invaded the place. His loud babbling and shrieking filled Starbucks and ruined everything. Starbucks was my last resort and finally, I have no place to dine in Japan…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.58

I love Christmas. So much. I am anxiously counting down to Christmas all year long, every year. At long last, the holiday season has come. I decorated the tree and my apartment joyfully. After the decorations were all put up, I got grabbed by a feeling of melancholy. Being in the holiday season means that it will be over soon. Even before Christmas Day comes, I lament for it to be over. How many days are there left to celebrate Christmas? Very few! A negative countdown has started…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.59

It was my long-awaited day of half-price takeout pizzas. Up to this time, I had missed the opportunity every month for various reasons, and I had to get one this month. It was a very cold evening with an icy wind blowing. From my place to the pizza store is a twenty-minute walk. I was determined enough to endure the cold for a half-price pizza. The place was tiny and packed with customers. I plowed through to the order counter, where the clerks were busy taking orders for delivery by phone. The phone kept ringing one after another and they prioritized delivery orders because they were for list prices. I held on there for ten minutes, waiting for the clerks to hang up the phone and take my order. That moment never came. I overheard that it would take two hours to receive a pizza. Other customers were waiting that long standing in a crammed store, doing nothing. I don’t have that kind of patience. I left the store empty-handed and walked back home in the cold for another twenty minutes. Getting a pizza at half price is such a hard attempt. My patience isn’t qualified for it…

Hidemi’s Rambling No.60

I finished sending out my Christmas cards. Japanese people don’t have a custom to send them. Instead, they send New Year post cards. I prefer a Christmas card though because a New Year card has some restrictions. For instance, it has to be arrived on New Year’s Day, or, you can’t send nor receive it when someone related to you has died the previous year because it is regarded as bad luck. I don’t make it time-consuming but once I start writing a Christmas card, I tend to take time decorating the card with stamps or stickers. Mostly, I would send them to my grandparents on both my father’s and mother’s sides. One by one I lost them and I have sent the cards fewer and fewer. In September, my grandmother on my mother’s side passed away. She was the last grandparent of mine. Now I have no grandparents and the number of Christmas cards I send is so small…