Slippery Jim

Drag a big hunk of meat on a 5-meter rope behind your surfboard, and the shark will almost certainly go for that instead of you!

Fook that, mon! Fookin Mark Knopfler playin' that fookin theme from the Local fookin Hero flick, else it's all shite!

What's the price of an ABS backpack for back country? Seems to me if you want to surf with the sharks, it's your responsibility to do what's needed for self-preservation. I'd happily kill a shark I saw attacking a human -- even a snowboarder -- but killing one just to put its fin in some soup? That's disgusting.

Gordon Jackson, the all-time sergeant major!

Didn't I say that?

Naked? Ah, damn, too late

Road to Perdition was pretty good

``I can get you a toe...''

To be fair, the Chinese have as much a right to an ADIZ as any other nation. The point of contention is that they've extended their's to cover the disputed islands.

Oil and fish both.

Great views from up top there Fnj

Resort obviously will have different meanings to different people. For me, a ski ``resort'' offers lodging, lifts, related shopping and a choice of restaurants & bars/clubs along with some other recreation for non-skiers. YMMV. But I don't need a resort, just a good hill w/lifts, a warm bed and some place to get a decent meal & a drink or two. I preferred Niseko before it attained ``resort'' status.

Try Slippery Jim, my evil twin brother

I suspect the Cloud is at least as safe, or safer, than the shoeboxes full of 3.5 FDs I have stacked in the back of the closet,with no way of accessing any of what I'm sure was really, really important stuff a quarter of a century ago.

Fortunately, people too F'in delicate to ``drag their luggage down snowy streets'' are unlikely to hit the mountain when conditions are at their best.

+1 for Kagura Note that Kagura is NOT a resort. It's just a bunch of lifts heading up the mountain, with a couple of small Japanese-style inns within walking distance of the base. You'd want to stay in Echigo Yuzawa or at Naeba (which has a long gondola link to Kagura). You're not going to find Breck!

Google translate strikes again!

Not talking about self-employed, Gozaimaas, (been there, done that myself for a decade back in the day) but about starting a small business. That's a much tougher challenge.

Thanks for the scoop, Mr Wigs. I was just extrapolating off-the-cuff from Snowdude's numbers. Nice that it's a bit more friendly on the amortization. We also are all-denka, and I'm not so sure either that it's a plus, especially now. We didn't have a choice, however, as our condo was a joint Tepco/Tokyu project so the whole building is denka only.

worse?

Typically working longer hours, too! And nowadays you don't even have the satisfaction of being your own boss, what with every branch of your government doing its best to regulate what you do and when, where & how you do it. I think it speaks well of the ability of people to dream of making it big, that so many are still willing to start up a small business of their own.

Let's say you're saving 6man/year, Snowdude. At 300man it would take 50 years to amortize the installation cost. I've read that homebuilders here target a 30-year lifespan for houses. I'd say you made out, and Dumbstick's neighbor lost.