How One Tire Almost Ruined The Day

 Tuesday and Wednesday, I go with Mikey to the other city to teach.

It's a 40-minute drive, if we are lucky and there's no traffic or bad weather. We leave a little early just to be on the safe side.

Wednesday's schedule is tight. Mikey has a class at a different community center from 5pm to 5:50, and his next class is from 6:10 at the usual community center.  To make sure that the kid isn't left waiting around if Mikey is late, I go to the usual community center and wait for him.  It helps relieve the time pressure off Mikey.

Yesterday, however, all our great plans came crashing down!

We left here at about 3:30, stopped at a store to pick up a couple of things and noticed that the rear driver's side tire was flat!

Flat Tire

I suggested going to a nearby gas station and putting air, then getting a new tire the next day. 

We stopped at a gas station, the staff tried to put air but the tire wouldn't inflate!

So we had to go to a repair shop and get the tire changed!

We got to the repair shop at about 3:50. Fortunately, it wasn't busy; out of 7 bays, only two were being used, so our car got seen to very quickly!

Fixing The Car

It didn't take long. We were back on the road about 4:15, but that meant that we didn't have time to drop me off and then go to the other community center, so I went with Mikey. We managed to get back to the usual community center just in time!

The repair shop suggested changing out the other tires. I told Mikey he should do that before winter. Mikey said that it's before winter now! Which is true, but it still feels like summer!

A few photos from yesterday. The clouds over the mountain were really incredible.

Looks like the clouds and mountains are one

I managed to see the full moon. Apparently, Monday was the best day to see the harvest moon, but it was too cloudy that day!

Lovely Moon

No More Zero Days

 The other day, I came across a video about motivation, or making good habits, something along those lines. I was only half watching as I was trying to tidy my room at the same time!

But one point that really caught my attention and has had me thinking for the past few days is the idea of not having a "zero day". You know those awful days where nothing on your to-do list gets done, where you haven't worked on your goals, or just getting things done!

I've had a lot of those days recently! My sleeping habits are all over the place; I'm more awake at night than during the day! I tried to change that, but realised that most of the time I'm sleeping in the day because I just don't want to do things, I don't want to clean or do the garden, I know I have to, but don't want to! It's how depression shows up in my life, not sad, but just no desire to do things! I think I'm still digesting Hannah's situation and, of course, worrying about her!

Also, I feel rather useless at the moment. I've been working since I moved to Japan, usually 6 days a week, now I'm down to 3 classes a week! I know I'm at the age where I should retire, but I have no money! I don't mind that everyone (except Hannah) pays for things here, but I want to travel and buy things for myself, so I need some money!

Also, I worry about my mental health! I don't want to end up old, relying on others for everything. I remember seeing my mother-in-law in the old people's home, just sitting or lying in bed. She never had any hobbies, she didn't read or watch TV much, as she got older, she didn't really have anybody to talk to, all she had was her work, and when she couldn't do that, she stopped, she just existed, not really living! I don't want to become like that. One way to keep one's mind sharp is to read and study!

This is where the idea of no zero days comes in!

I set goals, make plans and then don't follow through. Some days I do okay, some weeks I even manage to do what I plan to do and make my goals. Then I have days and even weeks where I haven't done anything, and everything seems so overwhelming that I just want to give in!

The idea behind no zero days is that even if you can't meet your goal, you can do something. For example, your goal is to do 20 push-ups every day, but today you don't feel up to it. So instead of doing nothing and having a zero day, you do one push-up. Or you have a book that you've decided to read a chapter a day, but today you don't feel like it, so you read just one page; again, it's not a zero day!

I like this idea! Sometimes, actually many times, I feel almost paralysed by all the things I feel I should do, like the chores, gardening, preparing for my few lessons I have that I don't do anything, leading to lots of zero days! But on those days, I can do one small thing, then it's a productive day and maybe doing a lot of little things will lead to better days!

I hope you can understand this. Sometimes we push for perfection, but just being able to do something every day is powerful!

Just a cat photo to finish!

This is what greets me in the morning when I go into the kitchen!

Another This And That Post

 The typhoon isn't coming our way, at least according to the latest news, but I know things can change again, so I'll keep on checking! The last forecast I saw it was going to be parallel to Japan and maybe make landfall in Shikoku!

We are still having summer weather here! The forecast says the highs will be up to 30 °C this week, again. I was looking at the UK weather, it's cold, my hometown will see highs of 11C. I'm tired of this heat. I really want nice, cool weather!

I know I complain about the cold weather, especially in this house, but it's so much easier for me to deal with!

Hannah and I have a little ritual in the mornings. I send her cat photos, and most mornings she sends photos of her breakfast!

A couple of the photos I sent to Hannah

Today she called me at lunchtime. When she calls near a meal time, it's usually to ask about cooking. She can cook, but sometimes isn't sure about things! 

Today, however, she called because she has a new professor, a British gentleman.

He's been in Japan for 35 years, I've been in Japan for 34 years!

He's from Birmingham, I'm from Wolverhampton, just 12 miles away (about 19 kilometres).

His daughter is 24, also Hannah and using the same kanji (Chinese character).

And his brother has epilepsy, the same as me!

Talk about coincidences! 

Typhoon?

 We have been lucky this year, as most typhoons have missed us.  

A lot of the typhoons this year have been closer to the Philippines; therefore, southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and those areas got hit very badly.

The few that started south of Japan hit the Kanto area, around Tokyo.

I really thought we would not get any typhoons this year. We've had more than enough rain and thunderstorms!

Then I saw the weather forecast this morning. A massive typhoon is forming south of Kyushu! I watched a rather detailed forecast that stated that south of Kyushu, the sea is still hot, about 30 °C!  Usually, once the sea is over 28C it's possible for a typhoon to form!

Of course, it's still in the early stages, and the forecast wasn't sure which course it would take, but it's so large that wherever it goes, we will get the edge of it!

The red dot is about where we are!

On this map, the eye is passing south of Kyushu. The red circle indicates the area of the storm! I guess we should prepare and just hope that it isn't too bad!

The weather is rather strange! It's October, but still hot. We had a few days of cool weather, about 28C. But the forecast for the next few days is back to 32C!  I even had to put my air conditioner on today!

If it's cool in the morning, I'll try to get out and clean up some of the stuff that could get blown away. At least here I don't have to worry about neighbours! 

I went shopping again today. I didn't buy so much the other day, so I needed to run out and pick up a few things!

As we were pulling out of the drive, I scared Mikey! I turned toward him to tell him which store I wanted to go to and saw this hitchhiker, and of course, screamed!

It stayed there for about 40 minutes. We parked, and when I came back to the car, it had gone!

I still don't like those things!!!!

Feeling A Bit Better

 I think my moaning post yesterday was a lot of frustration.

We've been in this house for almost a year, but things aren't really sorted.

I'm not sure if paying for renovation is worth it. The bones of this house aren't that good. The other day, David tried to put a shelf up for the cats, but found the wall was too thin to take the weight of the shelf. These are the load-bearing walls, so they should be more solid!

We've also figured out why some of the floors are soft and give way when you stand on them. My mother-in-law only used two rooms, her bedroom and the kitchen/dining room. The other rooms were closed up. In Japan, the humidity can get very high in summer, up to 80%. Even in the bedroom she was using, she never ran an air conditioner, which would help to dry out the rooms. So maybe the floors are rotting because of damp. My room and Christophers' rooms are the worst, but even David's room has a few soft spots. 

I'm wondering what would! Be best. Try to renovate here or rebuild. I would love to rebuild, but the cheapest would be at least 20,000,000 yen ( about £100,600), which of course I don't have. 

Renovating wouldn't be cheap either. Just to do the toilet, bathroom, and kitchen could cost up to 4,500,000 yen, just over £2,000.

I have no idea how much it would cost to replace the floors, plus we need to extend the dining/kitchen room so we have a living room!

There's just a lot to do, but no money at all. This month, food prices are going up again. Over 3,000 items will go up by about 20 yen. That might not seem like a lot, but just 5 items means an extra 100yen on food!

I just don't see a way forward. I can't get a mortgage, no income and age. David or Christopher might be able to, but it's risky.

The best is to spend money to change the name of some of the land, then try and sell or rent it! We wouldn't get much, actually, it probably won't sell, this is not a popular area! There's land for sale near here that has been on the market for over 10 years!

So I'm fed up and rather frustrated, it always seems like one step forward, 10 back!

Just to add to my misery, we had the most incredible storm this afternoon. 

This was just the beginning. We ended up with a very close thunderstorm. This is not my image of October; this was like a summer storm that we get in August!

Just Moaning

 Not a good start to the month! 

I spent yesterday evening psyching myself up to do something in the garden today! I kept telling myself that even 15 minutes would make a difference. I went to bed just after 10pm and had an excellent sleep until just after 2am. I woke up coughing and choking; my allergies had kicked in. I took some medicine, but it doesn't work right away, so I sat on my bed sneezing for three hours. I was undeterred. I know once the medicine kicks in, I'll be okay for a few hours, I can still do the garden.

I got up at 5:15am to make a lunch box (obento) and breakfast, only to find out that it was pouring down with rain. 

By the time I had done a few chores, I was feeling really rough, headache and a low-grade fever, which happens every time my allergies are bad. David made lunch, but I wasn't hungry, so I went to bed for a bit!

A couple of hours later, I could hear the cats fighting, so I went to investigate, only to find that the bathroom door was open and the screen on the window was open a bit! Three of the cats had gotten out: Mama Cat, Fluffy and Toast.

I know that most cats can survive outside, but my cats have always been indoor cats. Mama Cat is okay; she comes back when she's hungry, but Fluffy and Toast are more vulnerable!

I went out and managed to get Mama Cat and Fluffy back easily. But Toast kept running away. I spent almost an hour trying to get him back. I had to give up as I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes, and my back and legs are really painful.

Toast in the storage place

I really don't want to live here. It's so hard to do anything that needs doing. I have a few hours in the morning to do chores as David sleeps after lunch. In the other house, I could space out the chores over the day as David was sleeping upstairs; this house is all on one floor.  I can't run the vacuum cleaner or move things, as it makes too much noise. David is already too tired from working nights. So he really needs to sleep.

The garden is too much to take care of, even with all of us having a go, it doesn't get done. I have the most free time, but my health isn't good enough to do enough to make a difference! Pulling a few weeds helps until it rains and they come back!

David wants to start an English school here. I've encouraged him to try, but I honestly don't know if it will work or if we'll spend money on leaflets and other advertising and get no one. I've signed up for some online teaching programmes, but nothing as yet!

I'm feeling discouraged! It all seems so hard, and at my age, I would like things to be a bit easier. 

I hope things will get better, but at the moment I want to sell up and move back to the other city!

The Beginning of October.....

 Brings lovely cool mornings and evenings.

Spiders and spider webs, all over the garden. Just going to the car, I walk into one or two!

These are everywhere

And sneezing, snuffling and coughing, my seasonal allergies have started! 

Christopher started work on the first of October! Which means my schedule has changed, I have to get up early to make breakfast and a lunch box for him. I know he's an adult and could do it himself (and sometimes he might have to), but I feel I should at least do that!

I'm hoping that getting up early will help me get things done! Especially the garden. I took a little video this evening. I have been ignoring the disaster, but it looks like I'll have to go out and make a start. Everywhere is totally overgrown again. I know that happens, but I wish it would happen more slowly!

Now that the intense heat of summer has basically finished, I really want to make the most of this month. 

I feel overwhelmed by everything that has to be done, but just sitting in my room isn't going to change things. I think the best is to just pick a spot and start working on it, bit by bit. Even just 15 minutes a day, I should see some results, shouldn't I?