kintaro

The only time I'm not working is when I snowboard or posting on this forum or sleeping (about 4 hours per night.) One thing I learned early on in life though is that working for somebody else (unless it's charity) isn't very satisfying.

SJ#4, I'd say most of us that do post probably do so for two reasons. We are bored with our jobs, lives, etc, but more importantly there are some pretty interesting discussions on this forum and the level of intelect (myself not included) is quite high. For the others I would suspect they log on, go through the process and do so for much of the same reasons but for one reason or another they don't have anything to say or don't know how to say it. And of course there are just some nuts out there (sorry nuts!) Or of course there are those that are simply felonious people with nothing but b

Do any work? I run Norton's 2006 professional and have it programmed to give me a total check on my HD on every Friday. Without fail it tells me every Friday that it has scanned around 13,000 files, detected 14 viruses, fixed 0 and deleted 0. What't the benefit? Does anybody have a more positive experiences with your virus/spam software?

Karaoke in an after business environment with clients is something I have never warmed up to. Karaoke with my wife or even mother-in-law can at times be fun. We aren't regulars but go maybe twice a year. BTW, It drives me insane how Americans pronounce Karaoke as Karioke. Hawaiians don't do that but the mainland insists that somewhere in the spelling there is an "i."

Dead Milkmen or Johnny Cash? That cracked me up man. A Ring of Fire and Bitching Camero in the same sitting. I love it!

My Aussie friend and I had a conversation about this recently. He's a doctor that gets bombarded with offers to try this or that drug. He doesn't go for any of it but the industry is very dynamic and creating things that are both unecessary as well as very promising. We both concluded that their greed makes them create drugs that need to be followed up by yet other drugs that counter the first drug....they want keep a recipe for a never ending cash flow. I think it's a sketchy industry but one that investors without a great deal of morrals can take advantage of. thursday, that w

I should have mentioned, I inherited the mango, lychee, and mikan tree. I don't really know if you call it a lemon bush but mine was definitely not big enough to call it a tree. I had sort of a bonzai looking avacado tree but it did produce. And the guacamole that came after is a bit of a legend in parts of Hawaii

Very true Ocean. Whenever possible, growing your own is the best. I've grown monkey bananas, mango, mikan, avacado, lychee, I had a lemon bush...they might not have been as good as you can buy in the shops but there is a certain pride in trying and growing your own food. That's just the fruits. My Veggie experiments are many (with many failures).

ger, no I can't either! Ishihara, Bush I'm perplexed as to why/how either received public support. If you insist on dismissing Ishihara as not mainstream how can you also acknowledge that he's the mayor of the nation's capital? Almost by definition he IS mainstream.

Japanese peaches, strawberries, and melons are the best! Hands down. I wouldn't deny prices reflect it but Japan farmers create some incredible fruits (and veggies for that matter). In Hawaii the poor can generally eat good fruits without too much consideration on the family budgit. Coconuts, papaya, guava,and mango all grow in abundance without purchasing restrictions. In fact, I used to live on a valley with a mango tree that produced so much fruit that I took up the sport of golf just to whack the fallen fruits into the valley. The alternative was to allow the cockroaches and mos

Bad example? He's the people's elected representative of one of the largest cities on the planet, not to mention the capital of this Nation! As to how he can successfully have a carreer in politics is exactly what you should be pondering. But OK, I have other examples. The past 5 (at least) prime ministers have insisted on visiting the shrine to honor the crimals of war. I firmly believe it's an act to tell the neighbors that we are still stronger than you and don't really care what you think about it. You know, Koizumi could easily visit Yasukuni in the dark of the night without

B/c I've figured out how things work. You haven't. It was a no brainer. Sorry for the off subject conversations foiks, but Peterson, could I venture a guess? Single, white male, 21-22, English teacher, japan is your first overseas experience? I'm just kidding Peterson. I'm one of the dodgy ones that you speak of. You got it all figured out.

I enjoy my time here Peterson, and have been here much longer than you. I'm not miserable at all but reality hasn't escaped me as it has you. Good luck with that. The authorities aren't out to get anyone in my opinion. Part of the beauty and tragity of Japan is that they don't mess with much at all. However, good luck with that judgment as well.

Peterson, so do believe you are an equal in this country? I don't know if I've ever encountered such a naive opinion. You know what they say about ignorance? Hell, the mayor of Tokyo is a bit of a self proclaimed racist. He doesn't whisper in small circles, he announces it to the press. I don't know Peterson, maybe you live in the forest with the animals and insects and haven't encountered any humans yet in Japan. We all search for bliss, don't we? Enjoy yours mate!

farquah, I've witnessed the same. I was driving one night about 2 weeks ago and the police stopped me after a night of eating Korean food (zero booze). He didn't have any modern day breathalizer (sp?) but rather asked me to breath on him..I told him what I had been eating and if he was sure he wanted me to breath on him. After I did, I saw his face clinch up and he waved me on. Drunk drivers, might I reccomend you keep a tin of kimchee in your car or better yet, don't drink and drive.

I hadn't even thought of that yet Thunderpants. Are parking violations counted as driving infractions in your countries? In the US it's just a monetary fee, not counted against your driving record. And I don't see why it should be. After all, I wasn't driving when I got my parking ticket.

That's interesting. I guess the new work ethic is trickling up North. I honnestly welcome the change.

Indosnm, really? That's kind of surprising. secretskier, I have no idea. I honestly didn't think parking tickets were issued in Japan. A standard US parking ticket is $25. The fee didn't bother me if the police are going to start doing their job I'll be very happy about it. However, I think it was an unlucky fluke. We'll see... My guess is they might have decided to work 1 day per month and then retreat to the confines of their kobans for the other 29-30 days.

I couldn't believe it, the Japanese police took a moment away from their koban sitting, manga reading, oocha drinking afternoon to give me a 15,000 parking ticket. I deserved it but it was just so ironic. I've complained for years about people parking their cars anywhere they wanted without police intervention. I had parked illegaly for about 5 minutes to buy some fruit at a street market only to come back to my car to find a ticket. Has anybody else ever recieved a parking ticket in Japan?

You can have all the opinions you want. They just aren't valid. The only thing you know about Hawaii is what you were able to see in Surfer Magazine or able to look up on the internet. Trust me, there is a greater depth to the place. You will never get it. It's that simple. And BTW, if you scroll above, you'll see I mentioned shark attacks...what followed was always a hunt for great whites. Forgive the Hawaiians for their ignorance, but I think they wanted to go after the highest profile killer in the sea to assure tourists that Hawaii is a safe place to visit.

Well, Hawaii is a little place mate, sometimes it helps to be from there to understand what goes on there. I wouldn't pretend to understand what goes on in Australia. It'd be foolish. I ate curry for dinner last night. It's odd, but I can't find that info anywhere on the internet. I guess some things just don't get posted. I can assure you le Spud, the year I moved to Japan (1998) a US mainland lady got eaten by a greeat white on the Lahaina side of Maui. I haven't seen the news on the internet. I assure you it happened. Go figure!

Hogwash? For someone who has never been to Hawaii your self prolcaimed exprtise is more than a bit annoying. Great Whites migrate from the Californian shores to Maui and Kaho'olawe every year. That is always where the attacks take place..about one a year. The hunts that follow are real. It is a mystery what they are eating but best guess is Hawaiian monk seals and honu. I see this on the local news every year, not on DVD. For your info spud, Hilo Bay is loaded with hammer heads and tiger sharks are prevelent off the shores of most of the islands. Great Whites are seasonal...so are w

In Tohoku, Sakunami's Ichi No Bo is my favorite rotenburo in all of Japan. It's in Miyagi-ken just before the Yamagata border. Beautiful!

Every now and then a shark eats a tourist in Hawaii. It's always followed by a savage campaign to hunt down and kill as many great whites as possible for about a week. They cut open their bellies and look for human parts (and rings, etc.). It's quite sad actually. And for the native Hawaiians who's aumakua (sort of a spiritual ancester in animal/fish or insect form) it's very rude. Stupidity! It solves nothing.

It might also be how you ride. I've noticed a difference in how I ride and how J-boarders ride. It's hard to explain but there is a certain level of visible caution with J-riders in my opinion.