happylife

Unhappy DVDs

I'm uncommonly busy now because I have to watch three DVDs by tomorrow morning. The rental video shop in my neighborhood runs a regular campaign every Tuesday, in which we can rent one DVD for just 200 yen except brand new films. So I usually go to the shop every Tuesday and rent 5 to 10 pieces. Last Tuesday, I rent five movies and I have watched only two of them by now. There remain three more DVDs to be watched in twelve hours. I'm a little bit sleepy but I hate to waste money for the rent. It's my fun to watch movies but It's rather unhappy to be obliged to watch them.

Auction tips

Internet auctions are great system in which we can trade almost everything directly without retail stores. I often use Yahoo Auction in Japan. I'm really addicted to it. I participate in it more often as an exhibitor than a bidder. For me, it is a place where I can change my needless belongings to cash. Through my trading experience at Yahoo auction, I got some tips so that you can earn more efficiently. At first, the marketing research before your exhibition is very important. You should know the information about your competing exhibitors before hand, and do pricing a little bit cheaper than they are doing. You should take care of the title of your exhibition so that it is to be hit by the auction searching system. The shorter your display duration, the more effectively you can sell. Your auction must be closed Sunday evening. So, the best auction schedule is starting in Thursday afternoon and ending in Sunday evening. In this way, you can expose your auction to as many people as possible. You had better chose the emphasizing option in these two days. It costs a few hundred yen, but it corresponds as a very effective advertising. I sometimes edit my exhibition page by giving additional information of the item. It catches the bidders' attention very well. There's one more tip even after the auction is bid. When I make contact with my bidder using email, I often give them additional selling information; that is, if a digital camera was bid, I make him a proposal of peripherals such as a memory, carrying case, or battery. This method works so well that I can get additional income.

Strange?

Today I saw a strange young man in a cafe. He was sitting on a sofa alone with his notebook PC open. He was wearing a headphone with a mike and saying something. He was talking with somebody using PC phone system. He actually looked like talking with his computer and it was a very strange sight. I remember about ten years ago, when cell phones were uncommon, one day I happened to see a business man who use a cell phone in a train. He caught a phone call in a quiet train, and suddenly started to say, "Hello!" Although it is a very common situation now, but ten years ago, it was really a strange scenery and everyone including me in the train laughed at him. So, I think this young man talking with a computer is to be ordinary style in a near future. I feel strongly that I am under a huge current of new technology revolution.

Defected Apple

I have been using this iPod of Apple computer Inc. for two years. It is really a great product for people who love music like me. My iPod is 20GB version which carry more than 4,000 songs. It means that I can carry almost all my CD collections in my room in this tiny, white box. It is amazing! I think it is absolutely natural that this great product recovered Apple computer Inc. which was ever at risk of bankrupt. But I know the weak point of this product and company. It is batteries. Today I brought out an old iBook from my storage in order to sell at Yahoo auctions. Then I found that the battery of this computer was completely dead and couldn't be recharged anymore. My iPod also has a battery problem. It is discharged in a few days even if it is fully charged, and I have to recharge it every two days. Sure Apple has a great technology on creating cool things but it lacks a traditional technology such as on batteries.

Vending machines

Vending machines are very popular in Japan. The statistics says that there more than 5,500,000 machines running in this small country. We can see it even at the top of mountains or in the midst of rice fields where few people pass by.  It's very comfortable to get drinks or foods anywhere and any time with some coins. The machines in Japan are so advanced that they can serve hot noodle saying "Thank you." or they entertain us with its roulette games. I remember that when I visited Los Angeles more than ten years ago, I was very confused in the midnight trying to get something to drink. There was no stores open and there was not even one vending machine at the center of Down Town. I had to spend hours with sore throat before a cafe opened in the next morning. Sure, vending machines are convenient and comfortable, but in Vancouver, I was accustomed to live without them. And during this three-month staying in Tokyo, I have used a vending machine only once. So I don't think vending machines are indispensable. Thinking about the ecological impact, they are not always good things; they are just like huge fridges on streets consuming quite a little electricity.

Walking

This afternoon, I walked to the Takatababa station which is located about three kilometers from my home. I feel no pain both in my back and legs by now. I'm surely recovering. But it was a little bit hard excercise for me and I feel very tired. So I'm now taking a rest in a cafe having a glass of iced coffee. I'm thinking about reading around a bookstore and going back home before dark. My rehabilitation is now to be ended up. Instead, I need more excercise to get muscles back and reduce fats.

International phone

This morning, I made an international phone call to Lilly in Vancouver. She is the manager of my apartment. I was thinking about coming back to Vancouver before last Christmas but I couldn't. I told her the reason for my staying still in Tokyo and about the payment of the rent. It was the first international phone call via IP phone. The voice was so clear that she at first misunderstood that I was back and called her from my room in Vancouver. What's more, the calling price is as reasonable as local call in Japan. In different words, in Japan, the local call price is so expensive as international call!

McDonalds

I'm now in one of McDonalds' restaurants which has a wireless connection and I can connect to the Internet with my notebook PC. It's so comfortable that I can use my computer just the same as in my home. One problem is that there are no edible foods here. As you know, the hamburgers are so terrible that a film was made in the U.S. in which the director himself became an examinee and survive eating only the McDonald's dishes. The coffee is like a muddy water, and the flies are so oily that they can be used as fuel. So, I got the cheapest hamburger as a deposit and sitting against my computer without eating anything. I can't understand why so many people are gathering in this terrible restaurant.

Social networking

A few days ago, I was invited to a Japanese famous social networking site, and since then, I have been addicted to it. It is often said that social networking is the NEXT ONE to weblog. I really think so. "A friend of your friend is also your friend." Social networking was designed to prove this principle. You need an invitation from your real friend to take part in this community. So all the members of the community are connected with a long, entangled chain. I think it is a great idea. The only problem is that it doesn't yield money directly. But it is a small problem which will soon be resolved because there are so many energetic people coming together.

Post office in Japan

This is the sign of post office in Japan. Surprisingly there are more than 20,000 post offices in Japan and we can see this logo mark anywhere around in this country. This mark is so popular that it is included in the Japanese character code set for computer. We use it before seven-digit figures to show that it is a postal code. Anyway in Japan now, the post office is going to change. The government is planning to divide and privatize the post office because it is too huge and has a lot of problems. Japanese post office has three major functions: postal operation, insurance operation, and banking operation. It is actually the largest logistics system, the largest security system, and the largest banking system in Japan. It has also a great national brand and old people especially trust it. I don't know exactly whether the post office should be privatized or not, but if this logo mark is vanished and the number of post offices are reduced, I would have at least a sense of loss.