Saturday

In a way, it kills me not to have internet at home. On the other hand, though, it's nice not to be constantly sitting in front of my computer. Right now, I mitigate by hitting up my local Seattle's Best Coffee's free wifi. Granted, $4 for a latte is still $4 for a latte, but if it gives me the chance to update my podcasts and check for computer updates on a weekly basis, that's not too bad, right? It's still cheaper than the monthly internet fee. I do plan on getting internet, but there are a series of other hoops I need to jump through first. The main one is that I need to wait until I get paid and actually have a little bit of cash in the bank from which to pay my bills. I have managed to open up a bank account, obtain my alien registration card, and other odds and ends that are necessary. All-in-all, aside from still having no furniture, I'm mostly set up.

It's supposed to rain today, but it doesn't yet look like it will. Of course, it's only 10am and the whole rest of the day stretches before me, but it just doesn't look like rain.

Even though I'm internet-free, I do have a cell phone. I opted for an iPhone, which has been so far fantastic. When I get lost, I can open up Google Maps and pinpoint my location. I can use it to check my email on the weekends (although it's a bit tough to try to type using the touch keyboard, but I manage short missives fairly easily). It has a camera and video that make it exceedingly simple for me to update the blog (the fruits of which y'all are reaping).

Japan is good, and I'm doing well.

Oh...I thought I had totally ruined my brand new pot last night by burning the crap out of the bottom while steaming some pumpkin (all the water boiled off). While the pot was burning itself, I couldn't figure out what the weird smell was or why my gas burner was acting funny and kept switching to a lower flame. Yep. Duh, me, right? However, after the pan cooled down (I put it on my cutting board and now have a nice black pot-shaped circle on it) I did what I could to wash it out. Then I poured some hot water in it, put in a dryer sheet, and let it sit over night. This morning, I easily scrubbed out the rest of the burnt bits. Hopefully, the pot itself is still okay. At least it's now clean and shiny again! (Although the silvery outside is now a more golden color.) Heh. Adventures in cooking with gas.