badmigraine

Hang in there, Ocean. If my wife has her way (i.e., inevitable), I'll end up living permanenly in Okayama within the next few years. You and I can meet for thin coffee or weak lagers at that weird restaurant under the Seto Ohashi. Yum!

Thanks for the tip, Sunrise. So you weren't allowed to get (or renew?) a work visa until you'd handled the tax issue? At what point in the visa application process did they bring up the tax issue?

Wow, that's interesting. If you're resident in the ward as of Jan 1 2002, then you owe ward tax. The amount is a percentage of your 2001 income. You pay the tax in 2002. In my "friend's" case, he was residing in the ward on Jan 1 2002 so he'd ordinarily be liable for the ward tax. He quit his job and left Japan in mid-late 2002, just as the tax bills were starting to come thick and fast. He can prove he was living and working abroad for over 12 months, late 2002 until spring 2004. Does that sound like an out? Or would the game be to prove "not residing in Japan on Jan. 1 2002, w

Hey enders, my friend is thinking sometime this spring. Zooks, that's bad, really bad! I know the national tax and local tax guys sit together at the same table in the ward and prefectural offices. They have their act together from a workflow standpoint, but can't collect or enforce each other's taxes. Hence the kind personal visitors you received from the old ward office. Well, I guess my friend will be found out the same way. Maybe he better look for an autolock mansion to avoid those annoying personal callers. I'm sure he'll get embarrassing phone calls at work too. O

Can they nail you in one ward if you didn't pay in another? I have (ahem) a friend who left Japan in the middle of last year before paying all of his ward tax. Bills for it--over 700,000 yen--continued to be forwarded from Japan until a final letter arrived noting total failure to pay, and mentioning that the ward might pursue all available options to collect the money, including levying on property such as bank accounts. The friend did not fear. He was Living Large back home in his own country. He knew that he would not be extradited for non-payment of ward tax. He also had no Japan

Third time around for this thread, guys!

Look guys, here's my 2 cents on whether they popped open because snow was obstructing the closure: Here's _freak, a rabid cannonball boarder who's been a Flow fanatic for years, has an older pair probably ridden into the ground that never popped open for any reason whatsoever, and now he gets into a new Pro model and it pops open. He surely wiped as necessary and locked it the way he always does, the way he has 5,000 times before. And if it popped due to snow even after that, then it must be a defective, snow-hogging design. Not acceptable. This shouldn't happen to such an experien

I used to get a coffee, go upstairs to my computer, chat with Mogs via mail all day, then go home. Nobody ever asked ME if I worked there. In a way, I never really did. And I think that's how they wanted it. Never has an employer's asking so little cost me so much effort. Put another way, that was the hardest I've ever not worked.

Hey Plucks, great report and I'm sure the knee will be fine. I had a op myself last summer and the thing still works but has its limits...a bit of swelling in there can make all kinds of things feel funny or hurt wrong, but a few days later, all is forgotten and good again. Keep up the ripping good yarns!

Up to 1994, you didn't get any back at all. Things have improved, eh?

Yes nags, sad to say I am indeed a lawyer, and I mostly hate it. I always wanted to do something with my hands, and typing was not what I had in mind. Enders, as far as me getting the boot or laid off, it never seems to happen. In fact I usually get asked to help clean up the legal mess made by others, including HR, when they've improperly fired other people. I've made a career out of having the kind of job where there is endless unpaid overtime and weekend work, and no chance for future riches, and huge responsibility with zero authority, and dreadful stressful boring incredibly com

BigSausage, I have this exact problem about once a year on my Windows 98 and ME machines. A reinstall certainly fixes it, but you can fix it easier another way: Open MS Word (or Excel), go to the Help menu, then select "detect and repair". The machine fixes itself. That always works for me. Until it happens again, that is...

_freak, I've recently started watching it on Cartoon Network here in the US... I'd flashed past it over the months while channel surfing, but never stopped to watch it. One day I did, and within a minute I was hooked. This one is a real hoot! Maybe I'll pick up the DVDs...if ever I return to Japan, I think boxed sets of DVDs like that are a definite plus to maintain sanity...they exist for everything from All in the Family to Sopranos and even the latest mutant/x-file/sci-fi type show...even if it is media junk food, sometimes ya just need an evening alone with a bucket of popco

Anyone working at a company that is teetering on the brink of failure? How does that make the daily work feel, and what do you think you might be doing a year or two down the road? I seem to have a talent for landing up at companies with crumbling foundations and rotten organizational culture. I spent most of my 8 years in Japan at a famous automaker that wouldn't even exist now if not for lucky billions in foreign investment...the foreign investor must now regret its support as the company in question continues its inexorable decline into bankruptcy and dissolution... Now

If I get a pic of it, can anybody suggest a site where can I upload for free it so all can see? Ta.

I was up at the Salvation Army looking at used clothes with my sis this evening. And guess what they've got! A purple one-piece snowsuit with cinchable waist for only $9!! It's US men's size L. Darn, I am torn on this one. That would make a great impression here at Alpine Valley. If anybody on this board is really interested, I could pick it up for you and mail it. Maybe this post should be in the Classifieds thread, but the item isn't mine and I'm not looking to make any money on it. I just think a disgusting purple one-piece snowsuit should not rot on a hanger somewhere,

I'm still in the turdbrown one piece with stained cream flap collar and elastic cinched waist. Comfort and style, boys, it's all about comfort and style.

Ocean quoth Quote: never never drink Awamori on top of Paburon... You must be joking, sir. That combination works best for Mad Scientists and varnish removal! I don't even want to think about it. After an unpleasant accident involving 9 bottles of India Pale Ale and assorted cheap reds, I am on the wagon. And getting thirsty again...

I've been a Yahoo.com guy for a few years now. I paid $19 or something every year for extra mail storage and full send/receive POP access. The problem is, a number of places I need to send mail to don't permit Yahoo or Hotmail addresses due to the high spam level. So I had to keep my old GOL account active anyway. So to use the "free" Yahoo mail, I pay $19.99/yr. for necessary storage memory, and $60/yr. for a GOL Lite account. Oh, and about $450/yr. for cable modem service. At around $530/yr., that's some free mail service. Last night a Net newbie at my bro's wine par

Not really relevant, but watching a vid the other day I saw the actor who played Suzuki-san in the Nova commercial years ago ("The girl is crying...oh you dropped a handkerchief..."). Looks like he's still in the business.

There is a girl at Mogski's company who goes by the name "Hairy Legs". The hairs are so long, they stick out of the pantyhose all over the place, and you can see them matted down underneath the sheer nylon. Very nice!

I don't know about you guys, but I don't need to help out Bangoura Kabila. I'm waiting on a big payout from Bill Gates/Microsoft, because per their kind request I forwarded an e-mail helping check out the performance of Windows. Yep. The check from Bill should be here any day now.

Stoke...the word comes from the Dutch stoken, meaning "to stoke".

I've run out of drugs that amuse me or even work right on me anymore. WEED In high school and college it used to be great, made me laugh, love music more, prolong orgasm, etc. But over time it has ceased to have a positive effect on me. I get an immediate vise-like pressure headache, become very sleepy and stupid, and super-frustratingly bored realizing that I have shut myself down for the next many hours. It is awful. I sure wish I could go back to the old days when it was fun. And before you lucky ones rush to tell me that I have been smoking the wrong variety, let me assure you that

OK, I've waited this long but it seems nobody is going to say it...so I will. "Being trapped at work on a powder day." There. I said it.