I'm Up Early, Be Amazed

Well, my little vagrants left this morning. I got up and went with them to my main train station and saw them off. I am glad that Karie and Reid were able to hang out with me for a few days before they left but I have to say, watching them leave dealt me a swift blow of the lonelies. Now, I am pretty much the only one left here out of all of my friends other than Terri. I am glad she is still around but even she will leave me for a couple of weeks to go back to the States for a visit soon. Oh well, I will find something to do, maybe I will actually throw myself into my work and make a few new games for the kids to play...then again...maybe not.

Things I have learned from Karie and Reid's preparations to leave Japan:

1. No one actually knows how much your excess baggage is going to cost you to get home. We called Delta four times and got four answers. The thing that gets me is that the airlines whine about losing money but they fail at simple tasks such as standardizing freight costs for extra baggage. It makes you wonder what other stuff they goof up.

2. Ship pretty much everything but the bare essentials to your destination before you leave. This makes point one moot. For me, the phrase "ship pretty much everything" is a euphanism for "sell 95% of your worldly possessions again".

3. Charge all electronics before a 15 hour flight. Make sure your portable gaming systems have all of the needed games loaded on to them before the trip. For non-pirates, make sure you have all of your games in your backpack. Make sure all your music is loaded on to your MP3 player of choice, make sure said player is charged. For non-pirates, make sure CDs are in order or music legally purchased from the online vendor of choice is loaded on to your portable music device.

4. Make sure all utilities and services are cancelled or in the process of being cancelled by the time you hit D-Day -3.

5. Know exactly what your employer is giving you when you go to get your last check and milk them for all they are worth.

Seeing all of the stuff they were having to do to get ready to leave Japan was a double-edged sword for me. Part of me really wants to come back to the US now but the other part of me says its too much of a pain to leave. I think seeing how excited they were to go home has rubbed off on me a tad. All of the talk of cars to be purchased and pets to be brought home makes me want to go back so I can either buy back my Matrix XRS or snag a Honda Fit and then get a fat, gray, Persian cat and name him Mister Muffins.

For now I will chill here in the morning light, drink my OJ, and listen to some music.

In other news, I was the first customer at the post office this morning. They had yet to open and I knew I was early and had no problem waiting at the door. The office manager saw me standing there and opened the door to apologize to me for keeping me waiting and to re-assure me that the post office would be open soon. That is something I would not get back in the United States. Here, most businesses do their best to see that you are treated with the utmost respect and kindness. When I do leave here, I will miss that aspect of Japan.

Anywho, I am up so I may as well be productive. Later!