Random Thoughts of Randomness

[Frost of the Gloaming]

Hmmm might have to look for it to make up some BBQ sauce

 

 

 

[Guzzi]

I woke up today with the Baywatch theme stuck in my head.  That was pretty random. 

[Frost of the Gloaming]

Truth, I have never watched that show...... every other guy in school was drooling over it, I couldn't be bothered

 

It's amazing to think how much not having a TV growing up impacted your social life especially in high school when everyone was talking about "Hey did you see this episode of 90210, Dawson's Creek, blah blah blah" and having to answer "No" and have the rest of the kids in study hall blather on about it

 

and after 36 years I realized that I was old before I was old, "what did you do last night?" - " I came home from practice ate dinner, did chores in the garden and went for a trail run with my dog"

[Guzzi]

I feel you there Frosty.  I was never really interested in going out and getting drunk for no reason or going to discos (we didn't have nightclubs).  I spent my Friday nights crawling through the forest trying to sneak up on someone, or avoiding being caught myself, in adventure training exercises.  Or hiking out to remote bothys for the weekend, cooking on portable gas stoves and pooping in the great outdoors. 

 

I never understood those people that could spend £200 for the privilege of not remembering how they got home or why there's puke on their shoes.  

[Raincloak]

One major reason I enjoy being a grownup is most of my peers no longer go on and on about '90s TV shows, or bar crawls.

 

Another is that if I run into people who do, I'm free to hang out with someone else.  I was well past college when I finally started meeting the kind of nerds I'd always wanted to hang out with.  Turns out I wasn't a freak, I was just stuck with the wrong classmates.  Unfortunately, by my age a lot of people aren't very socially available, but I'm grateful for what I can get.

[Frost of the Gloaming]

NERDS!!!!

 

I'm just really at a loss of words right now.....I don't even know man, I just don't know

 

[Guzzi]

11 hours ago, Frost of the Gloaming said:

NERDS!!!!

 

I'm just really at a loss of words right now.....I don't even know man, I just don't know

 

 

Whadda I miss? 

[Frost of the Gloaming]

Nothing, I'm just going crazy......

 

 

[Raincloak]

It's an enjoyable trip, once you make peace with the destination.

[JupiterStar]

I hate this country sometimes. Like, really hate and love-hate. Today was both. 

 

Why does "Free size (S-M)" only go up to a 68cm waist in most shops?!?

 

How does anyone live here without developing an eating disorder when every clothing item, for men and women both, are designed for people with cartilage instead of bones? (For really, a semi-pro gymnast I knew here who is an XS in Australia fit LARGE here. LARGE. The hell.)

 

Why does the freaking amazing waffle stand by both train stations i pass on my MWF commute have amazing specials lately?!? First, strawberry waffles, now banana-chocolate, next month it's going to be honey-vanilla, WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE?!?

 

How do people eat all these delicious waffles and stay so freaking thin?

 

Why are there so many bikes and so few people who know how to ride them properly instead of steering with their knees while on cell phones/holding umbrellas/applying makeup/etc?

 

For that matter, how the heck does one ride a bike without crashing while on a cell phone/holding umbrellas/applying makeup/etc.?

 

Finally, why is "you have a small face" such a huge compliment here? How can I have a small face and big eyes at the same time? I don't even know what a small face is! If my face is small, how can my eyes be big if they are part of my face? It doesn't make sense! WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE?!?!?

 

...end screaming culture shock tangent. You'd think after 5 years I would be used to this. NOPE!

[Basement Cat]

Ugh! It feels like time is going soooo slowly. I want Summer to arrive already! We've been getting nothing but rain and cold here for the past few weeks and several areas are flooded. I want sunshine and heat, dang it!

[Frost of the Gloaming]

I'm cool with the destination, it's the valleys, and the blind corners that scare the shit out of me

 

 

 

[Frost of the Gloaming]

So a few weeks before we had our pool put in we had a few 80 degree days with the most being in the mid 70's since the pool went in the weather has been mid-50's and raining; that was almost a month ago

 

looking ahead at the 10 days forecast we might hit mid 70's late next week; wtf

[Guzzi]

2 hours ago, JupiterStar said:

I hate this country sometimes. Like, really hate and love-hate. Today was both. 

 

Why does "Free size (S-M)" only go up to a 68cm waist in most shops?!?

 

How does anyone live here without developing an eating disorder when every clothing item, for men and women both, are designed for people with cartilage instead of bones? (For really, a semi-pro gymnast I knew here who is an XS in Australia fit LARGE here. LARGE. The hell.)

 

Why does the freaking amazing waffle stand by both train stations i pass on my MWF commute have amazing specials lately?!? First, strawberry waffles, now banana-chocolate, next month it's going to be honey-vanilla, WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE?!?

 

How do people eat all these delicious waffles and stay so freaking thin?

 

Why are there so many bikes and so few people who know how to ride them properly instead of steering with their knees while on cell phones/holding umbrellas/applying makeup/etc?

 

For that matter, how the heck does one ride a bike without crashing while on a cell phone/holding umbrellas/applying makeup/etc.?

 

Finally, why is "you have a small face" such a huge compliment here? How can I have a small face and big eyes at the same time? I don't even know what a small face is! If my face is small, how can my eyes be big if they are part of my face? It doesn't make sense! WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE?!?!?

 

...end screaming culture shock tangent. You'd think after 5 years I would be used to this. NOPE!

 

Hahaha!  Your rant just made my afternoon.  

[Guzzi]

So, I need some pirate themed names for the kids and I'm open to ideas.  Their (non pirate) names are Zander, Reuben and Jessie. 

 

I was thinking of going with alliteration, Wrecking Ball Rueben, Zander of Zetland (that's the Norse name for where we live) and Jet Black Jessie, but I'd love to hear any some other suggestions.  Hit me with them please!

[Frost of the Gloaming]

The gloaming comes,

the day is spent,

The Sun goes out of sight,

And Painted is the occident

With purple sanguine bright

(Alexander Hume)

 

let me think about it Guzzi

[Basement Cat]

17 hours ago, Guzzi said:

So, I need some pirate themed names for the kids and I'm open to ideas.  Their (non pirate) names are Zander, Reuben and Jessie. 

 

I was thinking of going with alliteration, Wrecking Ball Rueben, Zander of Zetland (that's the Norse name for where we live) and Jet Black Jessie, but I'd love to hear any some other suggestions.  Hit me with them please!

Pirate names? Mmh...

 

Reuben: Wreck-It-Rube/Reuben? Red Reuben? Reuben the terrible?

Zander the Zetlander? The Terror of Zetland? The Grand Zand?

Jess the Best? Pretty Jessie? 

 

Oh well. Here's a pirate name generator. You can enter create a name from an existing one or a completely random one.

[WhiteGhost]

23 hours ago, JupiterStar said:

Why does "Free size (S-M)" only go up to a 68cm waist in most shops?!?

 

How does anyone live here without developing an eating disorder when every clothing item, for men and women both, are designed for people with cartilage instead of bones? (For really, a semi-pro gymnast I knew here who is an XS in Australia fit LARGE here. LARGE. The hell.)

 

I am a Medium back in the US but a XXL here.  Drives me nuts (and also means I can't find any normal clothes that fit.  My wife is at what would be called a healthy weight in the US but here she literally can only find clothes that fit her in the big&tall stores.

 

23 hours ago, JupiterStar said:

Finally, why is "you have a small face" such a huge compliment here? How can I have a small face and big eyes at the same time? I don't even know what a small face is! If my face is small, how can my eyes be big if they are part of my face? It doesn't make sense! WHY JAPANESE PEOPLE?!?!?

I get the tiny face "compliment" all the time too.  No one will take a picture with me unless I have my face way in front of theirs because the perspective makes the faces seem to be of similar size.  WTF?

 

Oh, and Japanese waffles are just awesome.  Full stop.

[Frost of the Gloaming]

I have issues finding clothes that fit here, I can only imagine over there....."Sir the tent maker shop is down the street."

 

Ha you know you are a nerd when......we are getting brand new printers in at work and I've already downloaded and looked over the Tech manuals, so when they do break down I'm already set to fix them

[Raincloak]

Reuben the Red, Zander the Zany, and Jessie the Joker?  

 

Re clothing issues and cultural sizing, one suggestion I found useful is to shop in the men's section.  The clothes won't be exactly the right cut, but they'll be bigger.  (This works better for more or less unisex things like shoes, obv.  And you do need to be aware of local norms re which genders can publicly wear which items.  From what I hear, Japan is pretty tolerant of crossdressing, but some countries aren't.) 

 

You can also get clothes made/altered to order by a tailor, and if you take a vacation to a cheaper country or even just visit a local ethnic neighborhood, you might find some very reasonable prices for this service.

 

[Frost of the Gloaming]

Holy crap Tomu-san, we were talking about a sub 2 hour marathon a few pages back and broke it down that they had to run a 4:34 mile for the entire thing, well last night I went to the track and managed to run a 1:13 400m (quarter mile) or a 4:52 mile for just once, I can't imagine trying to go faster for another 25+ miles....they are insane!!!

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

6 minutes ago, Frost of the Gloaming said:

Holy crap Tomu-san, we were talking about a sub 2 hour marathon a few pages back and broke it down that they had to run a 4:34 mile for the entire thing, well last night I went to the track and managed to run a 1:13 400m (quarter mile) or a 4:52 mile for just once, I can't imagine trying to go faster for another 25+ miles....they are insane!!!

 

 

Holy crap, that's like a dead sprint

[Frost of the Gloaming]

pretty much

 

 

[JupiterStar]

On 5/12/2017 at 4:41 AM, Raincloak said:

]Re clothing issues and cultural sizing, one suggestion I found useful is to shop in the men's section.  The clothes won't be exactly the right cut, but they'll be bigger.  (This works better for more or less unisex things like shoes, obv.  And you do need to be aware of local norms re which genders can publicly wear which items.  From what I hear, Japan is pretty tolerant of crossdressing, but some countries aren't.) 

 

You can also get clothes made/altered to order by a tailor, and if you take a vacation to a cheaper country or even just visit a local ethnic neighborhood, you might find some very reasonable prices for this service.

 

 

Yeah, sadly, in Japan the men's section is not much better than the women's in terms of size (like, only one size difference, a men's L is a women's XL, basically). And the gender roles are very rigid, so unless you identify as trans and fit very cleanly into Feminine or Masculine (or are a TV comedian), cross-dressing is not really acceptable, especially not at work. Plus, rigid gender separation means there isn't much unisex clothing, even the basics  Tailors are everywhere but it's sooooooo expensive getting things made from scratch (since most of them say it's too difficult to make clothing bigger, for obvious reasons), it ends up being almost as much as traveling internationally would be. Japan doesn't really have ethnic neighborhoods....so basically, what I do is when I take my once-a-year trip outside of Asia (since the only affordable countries to fly to from here end up have super-expensive visas or have the same problem with sizing), I get as much as I can afford after my $1000 plane tickets, and bring it back. But sadly, that doesn't do much when I get told that work wants me to have a white skirt suit for ceremony days and I only have a black once and need it in two weeks. Stupid Japanese clothing sizes. But, I've been here 5 years, I complain about it but I'm used to it. Thank god for Uniqlo online's super "plus-sized" collections, the oversized tops trend, and mock-gauchos making a comeback!  

[JupiterStar]

15 hours ago, Frost of the Gloaming said:

Holy crap Tomu-san, we were talking about a sub 2 hour marathon a few pages back and broke it down that they had to run a 4:34 mile for the entire thing, well last night I went to the track and managed to run a 1:13 400m (quarter mile) or a 4:52 mile for just once, I can't imagine trying to go faster for another 25+ miles....they are insane!!!

 

 

 

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh, do their feet touch the ground? Yikes!!!