Not much to say about the first day in Japan because we got to Narita at 5PM (1AM Portland time) and after getting our rail passes and my rental cell phone, we got on a bus for Maebashi. Four hours later, we arrived at the train station in Maebashi and went out for dinner with our friends. The big surprise is that we were met by Dr. Kobayashi who is generally too busy to see us. It’s always around 10:30PM by the time we get to dinner but the okonomiyaki restaurant is open at that time.

I passed out soon afterwards. I saw an interestingly tiny car, on the way home, though.

I’ve been tired at the gym before and today was quite special. I’m thinking it might have been a good idea to take a nap instead, but I often think that when I go to the gym. But now that I look at it in retrospect, I probably do need a rest. Good thing I’m going to be eating instead of exercising for two weeks.

I usually don’t get very stressed out about my trips to Japan. I think it takes me about 10 minutes to pack, if you don’t count the time I spend deciding what sorts of electronic entertainment I’m going to pack in my carry-on. That takes another 10 minutes at least. Once in a while I can get nervous about traveling and sometimes it’s subconscious, keeping me from sleeping well the night before, but I know that as soon as the plane leaves the ground I just need my ID and my credit card and I’m OK. Other than that I don’t worry too much. This year I might be getting more stressed than usual because I had a couple of weird dreams. One I was in an airport transferring to my Japan flight, wondering why I wasn’t on my direct flight from Portland to Narita. Second I was buying Japanese potato chips with two co-workers, wondering why I was in Japan working stuck eating junk food instead of being on vacation eating something better.

I also remember some sort of dream where I was in a graveyard watching ghosts hover over their gravestones. I’m missing Halloween, but I’m not missing Halloween I guess.

Sometimes after going to the gym I feel kind of cranky. I figure this may be because of low blood sugar, or maybe it’s because I spent over an hour in a doctor’s waiting room for the second time in a week. Last time it was worse and closer to two hours, but it was in a specialist’s office where the news for the person before me could have been really, really bad. Today the doctor was pretty thorough and nice, so I wasn’t mad after all the waiting but my feelings of discontent might have just built up over the day. Or maybe it’s just because I’m tired and my blood sugar really was low.

The countdown for Japan continues. It’s an extra $120 for “Economy Plus” seating and for 11+ hours of flying I think it may actually be worth it. That’s x3 because I’m going with my sister and my mom, but why not? They have to sit for 11+ hours as well. And I don’t want my mom getting blood clots in her legs again. That’s worth a lot more than $120.

It’s almost time for my yearly trip to Japan. I was thinking about all the silly things I’ve bought there, like a knit/fleece and gloves with the iPhone touchscreen-capable fingertips. Those things are probably sold here (I saw North Face had similar gloves), but I realized every time I use them I think about my trips to Japan.

Other than that there’s nothing new except being kind of tired lately. Might be psychological or the weather dropping 20°F but I’m not the only one who has felt tired lately. I figure it might just be the seasons changing. Now if only I could sleep better (or have the sense to get to bed at some normal time), the tiredness might help out.

Honestly, I tried posting earlier in the week and it was, well, weak. I can summarize in a few words, tired, gym, up too late. Rinse, later, repeat. I didn’t actually get it put up onto the intarwebs for the three people who read it because MY COMPUTER LOCKED UP. Actually, it sort of locks up every time I reboot. It’s friendly that way.

We’re getting ready for our trip to Japan and it’s been pretty easy to get hotels in the past. The sites we’re used to let us reserve without pre-paying, and then we pay cash with whatever money we might have in Japan. I have some left with relatives, for example, from when I worked there back in the late 80’s. With the huge Japanese interest rates, I probably have 50 cents more than I started with. It’s just there because it’s a pain to transfer money back and forth and watch the exchange rates and much more fun just to decouple the finances in two countries to avoid frustration. My dad made himself miserable during vacations thinking about the exchange rate.

Today’s frustration was the new way one of the hotels (the Hearton in Osaka) deals with reservations. They require prepayment now, and so we had to call my aunt and the hotel multiple times to finally decide we would need her credit card to get the rooms in Osaka. After several more calls to Japan, we finally found out that the site allowed you to select VISA, MasterCard, Diners Club, AMEX, and JCB but only really took VISA and MasterCard. The error message was vague and told you that it was an invalid AMEX number, for example, rather than saying that they just didn’t take AMEX. We finally used my cousin’s credit card and we’re going to pay her back later. It’s nice that google voice is still allowing cheap calls to Japan because we made a lot of calls tonight.

Oh, and I punted the gym because of earlier stomach issues. Good thing, too, since I spent a lot of the evening trying to get hotel rooms in Osaka for three nights. What a hassle, but I figured it’s worth it because it’s vacation after all. And I love going to Osaka. I still have fantasies about living there again some day.

I stood out in the cold AGAIN, volunteering for the Portland Marathon. Got to call for one ride for a guy that didn’t look as well as the guy who had the ambulance called for him. I sure hope they’re both OK. But it was a complete mess this year. Ambulances weren’t being routed properly and medical staff were getting angry.

And I was pushing for AID06 to stay open longer. We’re supposed to be there until the sweep vehicle comes through to signal the official tail end of the marathon — or at least close to that time — but they were torn down 45 minutes early, an hour before the sweep. Turns out the truck driver read his schedule wrong and came to the wrong aid station, telling everyone to pack up 45 minutes before it should have been torn down.

So, basically, we could have killed people, and we insulted the slower walkers who need the aid stations more than the fast people. Hell, if you can finish the marathon in 2:27, then you don’t need any water. Get it after you’re finished. But if you’re out there for 8 hours, you’re going to need something to drink. Oh, and I didn’t get my instructions until two days before the marathon. What a mess.

An exciting Friday night was spent watching TV shows, some through closed eyes, while trying to stay awake. But I did finally give in to a week of little sleep and hit the hay at a sane time. When I got up I still felt like sleeping and I went to the gym and walked around like a zombie. I’d like to sleep in tomorrow but I volunteered for the Portland Marathon again and that means I get to set my alarm for EARLIER than a normal day and stand around in the rain for a few hours while waiting to see if anyone needs a ride back to the start point. Honestly, I hope everyone gets to finish the marathon safely but if they need a ride back, no biggie. There’s always another marathon.

And I’m sure there are many, many people who are looking for Steve Jobs news on my blog. I heard (through 3 degrees of Steve Jobs) that his family is doing well and I’m glad. I’m still surprised that I’m so upset about the whole thing. I don’t know if he cared, but he meant a lot more to a lot of unrelated people than I would have thought. I’ve heard several stories of other people, non fanboy people, who never met him who are broken up because of his death. Positive or negative, he did affect my life. Thanks Steve.

I wasn’t exactly not the happiest guy at work today. I had a knot in my back, core muscle soreness, and had a general feeling of malaise. I even thought of punting my Thursday trip to the gym but the knot in my back went away so I had no excuse that offset my exercise obsession.

I felt a lot better afterwards, but I know I need to get to sleep early to maintain that. But I’m up late trying to order my new iPhone 4S. I want an unlocked model so I can take it to Japan with me. Too bad I just got into the online Apple Store to find out that I can’t get one until NOVEMBER, after my trip to Japan.

Phooey. Time to hit the hay.

I’m can’t tell you why I’m so sad about a guy who I’ve never met, at least not if you don’t count being in the same room with him in the past. But Steve Jobs is responsible for a lot of my hobby of just putzing around with a computer, and I’ve been going to hear his keynote at WWDC for five years. I even got up at 4AM to get in line to hear his keynote this year, a keynote that didn’t start until 10AM. He looked a bit gaunt, and my friend who knows him told me to leave him alone. I didn’t understand what she meant then, but I think I do now. Like I said, I’m not sure why this is affecting me so much. I hope his kids are OK.

Other than that, I’ve just been busy at work. Nothing spectacular that I can point at and say, “Look at my accomplishments!” but I’m busy nevertheless. Busy enough that I have nothing else going on, but when do I ever have anything going on?

I work in a large company. Very large. On top of that I know a lot of people in Portland because Portland is pretty darn small. So I saw this guy in the hallway today and I thought I knew him. But when I tried to recall how, I realized that he just kind of looked like a friend’s dad. I thought I’d double-check, though and looked at his name badge (the kind of thing you have to wear in almost every high tech company.) His name was PAUL NEWMAN.

Yeah, not that Paul Newman.

I was staring at some very, very, very, very dry work documents today and I started feeling dizzy. It happens from time to time, but today it was especially bad. I got home, laid down for a while (on the floor, so I wouldn’t be asleep too long) and when I got up I just about fell over. It cleared up after I took a short nap (in the bed, I gave up) but sheesh. I’ve taken it easy the rest of the night.

I didn’t sleep all that well last night either. I can usually hold it together on a Monday morning, but I was giving the opposite advice to people asking questions. I did take it easy and avoided the gym again, which is fine by me because I’m feeling more tired than I am feeling fat lately. It’s a basic balancing of my neuroses and right now I’m OK with staying at home watching the Cowboys play the Indians on Monday Night Football, especially if I don’t feel like I can stand up for very long. I won’t have that excuse tomorrow, I’m sure.

Friday turned out OK. It only took me two-and-a-half hours to make it from Portland to Seatac and the traffic was fairly light. My interview at DHS was really quick and I’m now on a special list. Whether that’s good or bad is not quite clear yet.

Then I went to visit my friend in Kirkland, only 25 miles away, through hellish Seattle traffic. I’m always saying Seattle is sort of like Portland, it just sucks more and I hate to go up there and be proven correct. Again. Kirkland was an interesting beach town, though. Women in bikinis at the lakeshore and a fairly unique drive-in with passable burgers. THe best part was visiting with an online friend, and his 1YO kid. The trip back was much worse, of course. It took two-and-a-half hours to get through the Seattle traffic, and then less than two hours to get from Olympia to Portland. The whole trip was pretty darn tiring.

What was more tiring was Saturday night when my mom started coughing up blood. I called her doctor who said she was probably fine. Not exactly something that puts you completely at ease, but she does seem fine now. Not a restful way to spend a Saturday night.

Fortunately, today was fairly uneventful, and that’s the best I could have hoped for.