Just thought I’d update some old blogs.
FOOD
FOOD
We saw a new record for the price of two cantaloupes (in a nice box.)—about $265.
UNWELCOME SQUATTERS
Sadly, with the warmer weather the cockroaches have returned. We tried the smoke bombs but that hasn’t had much of an effect, so we have resorted to the “roach motels.” (And an occasional shoe.) As you can see the hotels are quite attractive, and we have had a number of roaches check in. But as you can also see, none have checked out. (Actually they have checked out, in a manner of speaking.)
OBTAINING A DRIVERS LICENSE
Last fall I promised you that I would update you in the spring when I took my driving test. (Well now it’s summer and no one wrote to ask, so either you aren’t reading my blogs or you forgot or you don’t really care, but I’ll update you anyway.) My driving has gone very well so far except for a pole that jumped out and grabbed our car as I pulled into a parking lot. 
As you may or may not recall, the first thing I needed was a Japanese translation of my Pennsylvania license. I wasn’t sure how to get to the JAF office (Japanese equivalent of AAA), so a man in our Alpha group agreed to take me. We left at 9:00 a.m. on June 30 and arrived at 10:20 a.m. (This is quite understandable as the office was about 14 miles away.)
The translating took about 20 minutes and $30. The return trip would take us close to the testing place, so I decided that I would take the written part of the test on the way home.
step one - go to the third floor and begin the paperwork
step two - go back down to the first floor and pay $24
step three - go to a different place on the first floor and take the eye test which
consisted of telling the tester which direction the opening in the
circle was pointing and identifying the colors that flashed on the screen:
red, yellow and “blue.” (Why not green? I have no idea. Those of you
who know and may have been concerned about my “color weakness”
problem, I did fine.)
step four - go back to the third floor and pick a date to take the driving test. I
chose Friday, July 3.
I needed to be at the testing center by 9:00 a.m. and having been told that the parking lot fills up quickly, I left home about 6:45 a.m. (After all, the center is about 10 miles and 56 stoplights from our place.) Anyway I arrived at 7:30 a.m. and just killed time until 8:30 a.m. when the window opened on the third floor, and I could let them know that I was there. Other people wandered in, one man was from Ghana and one from Morocco I think. One young man was Japanese but lived in Columbus, Ohio, and said he was taking the test for the fourth time.
Around 9:15 a.m. the “tester” policeman came out and got us (just 10) in order (I would go fourth), and he led us down to the course. (If you have Google Earth you can do a “fly to” 35 41 23.34 N,139 30 55.47 E and see it. You can also fly to 35 45 15.00 N, 139 27 12.83 E and see the roof of our house.) He proceeded to talk about what might have been important but I couldn’t understand him. The trip around the course is no more than 10 minutes, so it wasn’t too long until it was my turn to ride in the back seat and get a feel for what would be expected. (While driver #1 takes the test, driver #2 gets to ride in the back seat.) Driver #3 did a fine job and turned out to be one of the five that passed, and then it was my turn.
I started out of the parking lot and made my first mistake. Since we all drive the same course, I knew that I would be turning left, so I didn’t stop in a perpendicular manner relative to the white strip on the road. The tester proceeded to tell me at length about what I had done wrong. At least that’s what I assume he said since I couldn’t understand, but his many hand gestures told me that I wasn’t perpendicular. I proceeded through the course and thought I did OK, but when I was done he made some hand movements that made me think I might have swung a little too wide around a road hazard.
So it was back to the third floor to wait till everyone was done and when the names were called of those who passed, Townsend wasn’t one of them. (Neither was the fourth timer.) So I got my form, went to another window on the third floor, paid another $24 and came back and rescheduled for Monday the 6th. I found it ironic that I drove myself 45 minutes to the test site, failed a 10-minute test and drove back home.
(Daisy’s turn - While in the process of editing this, I noticed that one thing Donn had neglected to tell you was what a basket case he was between Friday and Monday! He’s never had a problem falling asleep at night, but he was awake by around 4:00 a.m. every morning, lost his appetite at times, and admitted that he’d been over that course in his mind more than times than he could possibly count, even with his math degree! We all have our own customized battles with trust!)
So Monday morning it was the same routine. This time there were only six of us but again I was fourth. We had a different tester and he looked much more stern. (Another guy that had failed with me on Friday said he noticed the officer had a cauliflower ear which told him that he was probably into judo and a “no-nonsense” type.)
This officer also led us down to the waiting area and talked and talked and talked and… I made very good eye contact with him but I didn’t have a clue. At one point I heard Nihongo and wakarimasen which means “don’t understand Japanese”. So I quickly said, “Nihongo ga wakarimasen.” I thought he was asking who didn’t understand Japanese, but I found out later that he was saying that if you didn’t understand Japanese you shouldn’t be taking the test! If you think about it, that was a rather ______ (fill in your own word) thing to say cause if you understood what he said, it didn’t apply, and if it applied you didn’t know what he said.
So I got into the back seat again when the third driver went, and she was pretty bad, so perhaps my driving looked pretty good in comparison to hers! Regardless, the course was the same as it had been on Friday so when it was my turn, I nailed it. (Well if truth be told, the Lord nailed it. I just went for the ride.) The tester was actually very kind and although he only spoke Japanese he would tell me which way to turn (migi-right or hidori-left and as each road is marked with a number he would say that in Japanese but hold up the corresponding number of fingers)
So now I’m a licensed Japanese driver. An interesting side fact is that even though I’ve been driving for 44 years, I have to have a “beginner” sticker on my car because I couldn’t prove that I’ve actually driven in the United States for at least a year. My renewal PA license was issued in ’06 but we got new passports in ’08 and that is the only way that they can tell that I’ve actually been in the country. They did say that if I can bring my old passport in I can have that restriction removed so hopefully I can do that soon.
As you may or may not recall, the first thing I needed was a Japanese translation of my Pennsylvania license. I wasn’t sure how to get to the JAF office (Japanese equivalent of AAA), so a man in our Alpha group agreed to take me. We left at 9:00 a.m. on June 30 and arrived at 10:20 a.m. (This is quite understandable as the office was about 14 miles away.)
The translating took about 20 minutes and $30. The return trip would take us close to the testing place, so I decided that I would take the written part of the test on the way home.
step one - go to the third floor and begin the paperwork
step two - go back down to the first floor and pay $24
step three - go to a different place on the first floor and take the eye test which
consisted of telling the tester which direction the opening in the
circle was pointing and identifying the colors that flashed on the screen:
red, yellow and “blue.” (Why not green? I have no idea. Those of you
who know and may have been concerned about my “color weakness”
problem, I did fine.)
step four - go back to the third floor and pick a date to take the driving test. I
chose Friday, July 3.
I needed to be at the testing center by 9:00 a.m. and having been told that the parking lot fills up quickly, I left home about 6:45 a.m. (After all, the center is about 10 miles and 56 stoplights from our place.) Anyway I arrived at 7:30 a.m. and just killed time until 8:30 a.m. when the window opened on the third floor, and I could let them know that I was there. Other people wandered in, one man was from Ghana and one from Morocco I think. One young man was Japanese but lived in Columbus, Ohio, and said he was taking the test for the fourth time.
Around 9:15 a.m. the “tester” policeman came out and got us (just 10) in order (I would go fourth), and he led us down to the course. (If you have Google Earth you can do a “fly to” 35 41 23.34 N,139 30 55.47 E and see it. You can also fly to 35 45 15.00 N, 139 27 12.83 E and see the roof of our house.) He proceeded to talk about what might have been important but I couldn’t understand him. The trip around the course is no more than 10 minutes, so it wasn’t too long until it was my turn to ride in the back seat and get a feel for what would be expected. (While driver #1 takes the test, driver #2 gets to ride in the back seat.) Driver #3 did a fine job and turned out to be one of the five that passed, and then it was my turn.
I started out of the parking lot and made my first mistake. Since we all drive the same course, I knew that I would be turning left, so I didn’t stop in a perpendicular manner relative to the white strip on the road. The tester proceeded to tell me at length about what I had done wrong. At least that’s what I assume he said since I couldn’t understand, but his many hand gestures told me that I wasn’t perpendicular. I proceeded through the course and thought I did OK, but when I was done he made some hand movements that made me think I might have swung a little too wide around a road hazard.
So it was back to the third floor to wait till everyone was done and when the names were called of those who passed, Townsend wasn’t one of them. (Neither was the fourth timer.) So I got my form, went to another window on the third floor, paid another $24 and came back and rescheduled for Monday the 6th. I found it ironic that I drove myself 45 minutes to the test site, failed a 10-minute test and drove back home.
(Daisy’s turn - While in the process of editing this, I noticed that one thing Donn had neglected to tell you was what a basket case he was between Friday and Monday! He’s never had a problem falling asleep at night, but he was awake by around 4:00 a.m. every morning, lost his appetite at times, and admitted that he’d been over that course in his mind more than times than he could possibly count, even with his math degree! We all have our own customized battles with trust!)
So Monday morning it was the same routine. This time there were only six of us but again I was fourth. We had a different tester and he looked much more stern. (Another guy that had failed with me on Friday said he noticed the officer had a cauliflower ear which told him that he was probably into judo and a “no-nonsense” type.)
This officer also led us down to the waiting area and talked and talked and talked and… I made very good eye contact with him but I didn’t have a clue. At one point I heard Nihongo and wakarimasen which means “don’t understand Japanese”. So I quickly said, “Nihongo ga wakarimasen.” I thought he was asking who didn’t understand Japanese, but I found out later that he was saying that if you didn’t understand Japanese you shouldn’t be taking the test! If you think about it, that was a rather ______ (fill in your own word) thing to say cause if you understood what he said, it didn’t apply, and if it applied you didn’t know what he said.
So I got into the back seat again when the third driver went, and she was pretty bad, so perhaps my driving looked pretty good in comparison to hers! Regardless, the course was the same as it had been on Friday so when it was my turn, I nailed it. (Well if truth be told, the Lord nailed it. I just went for the ride.) The tester was actually very kind and although he only spoke Japanese he would tell me which way to turn (migi-right or hidori-left and as each road is marked with a number he would say that in Japanese but hold up the corresponding number of fingers)
So now I’m a licensed Japanese driver. An interesting side fact is that even though I’ve been driving for 44 years, I have to have a “beginner” sticker on my car because I couldn’t prove that I’ve actually driven in the United States for at least a year. My renewal PA license was issued in ’06 but we got new passports in ’08 and that is the only way that they can tell that I’ve actually been in the country. They did say that if I can bring my old passport in I can have that restriction removed so hopefully I can do that soon.
So come on over. I’ll take you out for a spin and I’ll try to remember to keep to the left.
