Archive for October, 2017

Never ceases to annoy/surprise me

Tuesday, October 17th, 2017

Here’s a little something in the category of “you had one job”.

I have often seen spelling, grammar, word choice and other mistakes in signage around Japan (to be fair, I’ve seen it a lot in Korea as well). It’s very common to see silly, non-sensical phrases strung together on paper notebooks, mugs, t-shirts, and bags among other things. You don’t usually see that kind of thing on big name brands, so I sort of get that – though it does amuse me.

Still, someone had one job, get a short phrase in English correct, and they failed.

However, you don’t have to go far to see large companies, companies with resources (even universities and colleges) making silly, embarrassing mistakes. A pamphlet for a former college of mine started with a large photo of the president and the headline, “A Massage from our President”. I never got one, by the way.

This past week while shopping with my wife in one of the upscale department stores here, I spotted an interesting mistake.

Here’s a photo to explain:

Another strange visitor in the park on my walk

Thursday, October 12th, 2017

I had a notice with a reminder of the video I posted last year of the sorry looking raccoon I saw while out on one of my regular walks in the park near my home, but I’ve continued to see a few odd characters there.

This past week I saw what looks like a tropical bird. It could be migrating (even in Kentucky and Tennessee while I was there you could see some of those from time to time). Or, it could be someone’s lost pet.

But this bird is definitely not the usual wren or sparrow I see.

The photos and video are just taken with my phone, so they’re not so great. Maybe you can see the little fellow though.

A summer adventure to Mt. Fuji

Thursday, October 5th, 2017

Summer was a little different for me this year for reasons I won’t get in to, but there were still some great moments.

One of the best things I did this summer was attempt to climb Mt. Fuji.

Yes, “attempt”.

I also didn’t know you could really “fail” at reaching the top until last summer when my wife’s group was turned back at the last moment by bad weather.

So, she went again. And made it.

So, she asked me to go.

We didn’t make it.

We started in the early afternoon and hiked and climbed all night with a 3 hour rest and short nap right before reaching the top. This was timed so we could reach the top at sunrise.

The wind was crazy strong near the top, and we couldn’t get to go all the way up. We were only a few hundred meters from going all the way. It was disappointing after going so far, but it was also still interesting.

We returned part of the way down the mountain and waited on the mountainside for the sunrise. The wind was really strong and it was very cold. We were told not to go to sleep because of the temperatures and we were waiting on an exposed part of the mountain. It was a little tough, but we were dressed for cold, wet weather, so not too bad.

The sunrise was spectacular.

Here’s a photo I took.