I tried to log onto my one of my banks’ online banking to find out what my bank balance is at the moment, to make sure it hadn’t accidentally gone into the red while I wasn’t looking. Apparently I’d fat-fingered my password one too many times recently, or whatever other bizarre ideas that pass for “security” in the mind of bank IT implementers, ( Read more... )

My bike boasts an exceedingly-generous under-seat storage area. Granted, it’s not quite as generous as the cavernous trunk in a Piaggio MP3, but I still find it plentifully generous.

Aprilia’s marketing bumf for the Scarabeo 400ie claims that it was designed specifically to hold an A3-sized briefcase, which is certainly a generous allotment of ( Read more... )

And after only about six weeks stuck in the shop, too.

For what it’s worth, the staff at the shop were a mixture of horribly-apologetic that it took such a ludicrously-long time to get my bike back to me (because, dammit, I ride the thing on a daily basis), and angry at Aprilia for taking such an absurdly-long-time to get what turned out to be a ( Read more... )

So apparently my right eye turning bright red overnight is, as it turns out, nothing to actually be concerned about. According to the ophthalmologist I went to today (after going to a general drop-in clinic who immediately disclaimed that they actually had nobody who knew anything about eyeballs on site so I had best go to the eye clinic which was ( Read more... )

I just nearly got killed! Or possibly only seriously hurt!

I was riding along on the little scooter, minding my own business enjoying passing all of the congestion on Sangyo-Doro. It’s a nice day today, and I was popping around to a local pâtisserie to pick up some little breads.

Then I saw a car going the other way quite fast, then heard a loud ( Read more... )

A rather-embarassingly-long time ago, the steering on my big bike just decided to sieze up one day. It was a pretty scary experience, because I was attempting to turn right (which is to say, across oncoming cars), and the bike decided that what it actually wanted to do was go straight. Forever.

Well, I used what (little) play there was left in ( Read more... )

A few days ago, I got a postcard from the driving school where I got my motorcycle license. It didn’t say much, just “Come out to the Bike Matsuri, September 20th”. So I went out there to check it out and see what was happening-I was expecting they’d just have a few tents set up with booths from nearby bike dealerships. Which is exactly what was ( Read more... )

Everyone has their own way of relaxing. Some people go out for a good run around their local area as a way of giving their mind a rest. Others like nothing better than to sit down with a good game of Dwarf Fortress to figure out the ludicrous intricacies of micromanaging a community and make it thrive (or die in an entertaining way).

One of the ( Read more... )

A few months ago, a Shimachu home center opened up quite close to us. Chie didn’t notice it, but I did, and I told her about it and she said, “Let’s pay it a visit!”

And then we spent ¥20,000 on cool stuff there.

We’ve been resisting the temptation, but we keep going back there. Getting home with our new stuff always makes the place feel like ( Read more... )

I have a hankering to go up to Irohazaka again. I went there a year or so back, and it was quite the adventure. The next time I go, I hope that the weather is nice, because even though going up and down it in rain, and fog, and dark, was exciting and all, in general I think that twisty mountain roads are better in good weather.

Fortunately for ( Read more... )