With a Stake

SATURDAY, AUGUST 21

Despite going to bed late, I still woke up early. It's very hot and it was just getting sticky. Also, I had my window open and I can hear the construction across the street as well as nearby traffic. The clincher was my mobile ringing.

Elizabeth got an offer to go to Kyoto, so she's bailing on me and Andrew for Hikone today. I'll still bike there, but it's so hot now that I'm procrastinating some until the heat is better. It's currently 94 in my apartment. Also, I chatted with Michael again, whom I'd promised I'd mention chatting with earlier in this blog, and he was giving me a hard time for neglecting to mention him. So, Michael, it's always good to chat and I'm glad I can help your procrastination.

I ended up pretty much spending the whole day on Skype. Not a “productive” day in the traditional sense, but it was very good to catch up with people. I finished off the day with a nice long chat wth my parents and my little brother, whom everyone had been telling me misses me, but I don't quite believe it. I had a Barney Stinson moment when I realised that my parents don't read my blog.

As soon as it was dark, I headed off to the hyaku-yen store (100 yen) to get myself a long garden stake. See, laundry is hung outside on a long pole strung between two supports on our back decks. Everyone ELSE has a pole and I don't. As it is impossible for me to shop anywhere but the hyaku-yen store, I picked up a 6 foot garden stake and have it outside now. I think it'll be just fine. I've been meaning to pick it up for a few days now, but with one major problem. It's a 6 foot stake. How do I get that home? Parker suggested carrying it on my bike like a lance, which I found funny, but realistically would probably end up with someone getting impaled. So, I walked after dark, so I would have less people staring at the funny gaijain and her stick. As it turns out, I overestimated Japan-- in this situation, no one stared. But I passed Parker on my way to the store and was surprised I wasn't biking. Apparently he was serious about the lance.

Outside the department store, last time, I noticed that there was a sparking noise every few seconds. I was confused. After much investigation, I discovered that there are two big boxes with neon lights in them that attract insects hanging from the ceiling. When the bugs go in, the electricity zaps them. Bug zappers. (Similar to mother's bug zapping tennis racket.) This time they were still there, zapping away.

Stayed up past 3am talking to my parents, who, unlike my brother, do seem to miss me.