Finally

 After a week of frustration, I finally got my Payooner account approved, which means my Etsy shop can be launched. I have a few other things to do to get it up and running. I hope by tomorrow I'll be able to put a link to my little shop.

Payooner is the company Etsy uses for money transactions, so, of course, it is very strict about verifying who you are. I understand that it keeps the company and its customers safe. But at the same time, it was so frustrating trying to find the documents that they would accept as ID.

The first problem was that a photo ID was needed. The only choice was a driver's license or a passport. I have a "My Number Card", which is a new ID issued by the Japanese government. This started in 2015 as a basic ID. Now your national insurance is embedded in it. Makes things easier as I only have to carry that card. I thought that the company would accept that as ID, but no! The way the webpage is set up is that it gives you a choice of two things to submit for ID. My Number Card wasn't a choice. I had to use my passport, which took a few hours to find. My fault, but still frustrating.

The next problem was address verification. Again, limited choices, utility bill, tax form or bank statement.

In Japan, to show proof of residence, you can get a form from the city hall called a Juminhyo. But there was no box for that. I had one utility bill with my name, but that wasn't accepted. I tried to use the bill I have for my National Insurance payments, but that was rejected.

This morning, David took me to the bank, and we got a printed statement, which took over an hour to do. One problem was that I had the wrong Inkan (see this post about Inkan Jackie's Japan Journal: Traditional Japanese Seal, Inkan ), so I had to change that first. Then, trying to explain why I needed the statement with my name and address on took 3 different clerks! But we got it done.

When I came home, I entered the bank statement, and finally, they accepted it, so my store can open!

Last night I was about to give up. I felt so frustrated and a bit angry. All I want to do is make a bit of money. I still want to get students, but I honestly don't know if that is possible. Teaching online is hard for me; I will do it if there is no other way, but I would prefer not to. I really thought that setting up a little shop and using AI, I could create a line of merchandise that people would like and buy. I never expected it to be this hard, though.

The banner for my shop

This is the banner on my shop. I like it and the name Jackie's Neko Tales!

Another Crazy Night

 The storm I posted about yesterday actually got worse overnight.

The rain was so heavy that I had to put the volume up on the TV. I gave up watching after half an hour! I spent time reading instead. 

I finally went to bed just after 11 pm. Just as I dozed off, my phone started to alert. A level 3 alert was issued for this area; the alert was aimed at the elderly to evacuate before the situation gets too bad.

In Japan, there are five levels of alerts issued.

Level 1 is an early warning information; you are advised to check the latest weather forecast.

Level 2 is an advisory; at this point, caution is needed. You should confirm your evacuation site and route.

Level 3 is a warning; danger is approaching. The elderly, children and the disabled should evacuate now.

Level 4 is a danger warning; everyone in the at-risk areas must evacuate.

Level 5 is an emergency warning; the disaster is already occurring. Take immediate action to protect your life.

I tried to get back to sleep after, but either a police car or a fire truck was patrolling. It kept going up and down the road with lights flashing and a loudspeaker, saying something!

David came back from work just before 1am. He was covering somebody else's shift, working 6 pm to midnight. He said the road outside the house was like a river! He had planned to go to a supermarket on the way home, but the area around the supermarket was flooded, and he didn't want to risk his car.

The rain has stopped for now, but it's very humid and sticky. It looks like it's going to rain from tomorrow for three days, then get very hot!

This afternoon, I went out to check on the blueberries. 

There are still a lot on there, I was worried that they had been blown down by the wind yesterday.

I managed to pick a few.

First blueberries

I hope to get more. I think by next week there should be a lot to pick.

An Invasion, An Earthquake, A Storm And A Mistake

 Have made the last couple of days very interesting!

We had a couple of nice days after about a week of heavy rain. I did a load of laundry on both days as the forecast was for another week of continuous rain. 

I managed to wash a few of the heavier blankets that I want to put away for the summer. I went to fold one yesterday and noticed a lot of black bits on it. At first, I thought they were seeds that got stuck on the blanket, which happens a lot, so I picked it up to take outside to shake it clean. When I picked the blanket up, the black bits began moving, definitely not seeds. I called for David, of course, I can't deal with bugs, which these black bits were. I thought they were ants as they were the right colour and size. David took the blanket out and gave it a good shake. When he bought it back in, he said that they weren't ants but baby praying mantises! I spent ages checking the other laundry, my bed and the floor to make sure there were no more. My room was invaded by praying mantis babies, not nice at all!

This morning, Hannah sent a message saying that there had been an earthquake in Miyazaki. The epicentre registered an M5 quake. Miyazaki is about a 3-hour drive from where we live, but it registered an M2 here. The whole island of Kyushu was affected by the quake; most places were just small jolts, but it's a reminder of how powerful these earthquakes can be.

I didn't feel the earthquake because the house was already rattling a lot. We've had the most awful of storms the past 12 hours or so. Heavy rain and wind, almost typhoon-like!

Mikey and I had to go to the other city to teach, actually, only 3 out of 7 students turned up!

These are little videos I took on the way to the city!

The last video is just as we are entering the city, you can usually see buildings in front, but today the visibility was very bad!

And the mistake was rather stupid of me! I was rushing to get ready to teach. I grabbed my roll-on deodorant and put some on, put on my T-shirt, then sat down to sort out the teaching materials. As I was doing this, I became aware of a burning sensation under my left arm. I have no feeling on the right side because of the mastectomy.  I took my T-shirt off, thinking it might be from the detergent, but then I could smell the muscle pain relief rub I use for my back. I had picked that up instead of the roll-on deodorant.

Left is the rub, right is the deodorant.

I hope the next couple of days are better! No more insect invasions or earthquakes, please! I think the rain is set in for a few days, though! And no more daft mistakes!

June

 Half of the year is finished!

That's hard to believe, it's gone by so fast!

June is a hard month for me! Emotionally draining, Hisao's birthday at the beginning of the month and Mom's passing at the end.

It's also one of the most physically draining months for me. The heat and humidity start in earnest this month, which saps what bit of energy I have. This year, however, it has been a bit cooler, and the few hot days we've had, the humidity has been low, which really helps!

After the ephinay I had the other week, I decided that it was time to start doing, not just collecting ideas or thinking about doing things, just get on with it!

To that end, I started to use Printify to make designs for T-shirts!

My plan was to design a few T-shirts, open an Etsy shop, and start selling. According to all the gurus I watched and read, it was an easy thing to do! 

Not that easy! Designing the T-shirts was the easiest part. I've learnt a lot by trial and error. I'm still figuring things out, but I'm actually enjoying the process.

The difficult part was setting up the Etsy shop and signing up with the company that handles the financial side of the business.

Because Etsy is a USA-based company, there is a field to fill in for your state tax. I'm not in the USA, so any sales I make I'll have to report on my income tax form next year. But that field needs something in it so you can click continue. For about 2 hours, I tried different things, I asked Etsy for help and tried AI. In the end, all I had to do was place the cursor there and click on the box! The site recognised that my address and IP address are outside of the USA, so it automatically moved me on!

Two very frustrating hours!

The other problem was the finance company. I understand that they need to be strict about ID, etc., but again very frustrating. There were only two options for ID: a passport or a driver's license. I don't drive, so I had to use my passport. The problem was I had no idea where it was! Took over 3 hours on Sunday to find it! Yesterday I had to send photos of my passport and a selfie to see if it's really me. I then had to scan a document to show that my address is real. The site said a tax bill or utility bill with your name and address on it. The problem is that here everything is in David's name. I did find a bill from the last house that was sent here with my name on it. After all that, I have to wait for at least 3 days to see if everything is alright!

Just one more step and my Etsy shop will be up and running!

I hope I can make some money from it. I'm not expecting big sales, but enough to get things done. I think teaching English is not going to work here, as I said before, it really is the countryside, and the elementary schools are closing down, just no kids! I would love to get a few adults, some ladies, but I'm not holding my breath!

I have a little trip with Hannah next month. I thought I would have more money by now, but I don't, never mind. I was watching a video of two young men exploring Tokyo. They went to a yaki-niku restaurant, where you grill the meat yourself at the table. The meat was Wagyu beef, one of the best types of beef in Japan. They had two plates of beef and some side dishes. As I was watching, I was thinking of trying to find that restaurant, as it's something that Hannah would like. That's until the bill came, 2,3000 yen, about £107, for one meal, that's way out of my budget.

Just a photo of Sam to finish with, nothing to do with this post. He's just cute!

Today Was Hot

 Today has been the first really hot, uncomfortable day since the middle of May. I had to run my air conditioner for a couple of hours this afternoon. It's going to cool down again from Wednesday, more rain is forecast. I don't know how accurate the monthly forecasts are, but it looks like July is going to be very wet but not extremely hot, the hottest might be 34℃. That's still hot but better than the 38℃ that we have had in the past.

I've spent the day just messing around. Actually, I got a lot done in the early morning, but then my energy just dropped. I'm still not sleeping properly at night. No matter what time I got to bed, I still wake up after about 3 hours of sleep. I try to fall asleep again, but most nights I'm just lying there, tossing and turning. I keep a notebook and pen by my bed so I can write down anything that is bothering me, any thoughts or ideas that I have. I thought that by getting the ideas on paper, I would be able to relax and sleep again. Sometimes it works, most nights it doesn't! I try reading, which sometimes helps!

This morning, I woke up at 3:30 am and tossed and turned until 4:30 am; at that time, I gave up. My alarm is set for 5:00 am. I spent time reading. I've just started "Pride and Prejudice ". 

At 5 o'clock I got up, cleaned the kitchen, made obento, started lunch, made breakfast and did the laundry!

I was so happy to get a few things done. I planned on tidying my room, putting away the heavy winter blankets and sorting out the clean laundry.

That was the plan. I sent a message to David to pick up a few things that we need. He usually shops on the way home from work. On the list, I asked for oil and sesame oil. I wrote "Oil, sesame oil". When I went to cook lunch, I noticed the sesame oil but not the cooking oil. I asked David if he had bought cooking oil, as it was on the list. He said, "No, I thought you were doing a James Bond thing, the name is Bond, James Bond. Oil, sesame oil" 

After I sent the message, I was sleepy. I thought I could doze for an hour, which was at 7:30. I woke up at 11 am. Never mind!

I've been playing around with AI again. Yesterday I was listening to something and doodling at the same time. As I said, I have no artistic ability, but I enjoy doodling. I wondered if AI could do something with my doodle.

This was my doddle, kind of childish!

This is what AI did with it.

I might print this as well!

I'm still setting up my Etsy store. I will figure this out, one day!

Almost Done

 Yesterday and today, I have spent hours trying to set up my Etsy Store.

Over the past couple of months, I've watched a load of videos and read numerous articles about print-on-demand marketing. All of these videos and articles said the same thing: it's so easy to set up, you can do it in a couple of hours. Yeah, sure!

The biggest problem I ran into was setting up an account with the company that handles the money. I had to send my email, and they sent a verification code, standard procedure. The problem was that when I left the page to go to my email, the original pop-up where I had to enter the code would disappear. I tried 3 times, with the same result. I realised that I should check the email on my phone and then enter it. But after three attempts, I was told I would have to wait an hour before trying again. By that time, I was so tired and frustrated that I decided to wait until today.

Today, I managed to get part of the information entered, then the company asked for ID, either a driver's license or a passport. I don't have a driver's license, so I had to find my passport. That took over 2 hours of moving boxes and emptying drawers! My passport will expire later this year, so I'll need to buy another one. I hope it's okay to use! By the time I had found my passport, the page had closed, so I'll have to try again tomorrow.

One thing that was holding me back was the name of my shop. I tried a few different AIs that are recommended for making business names. I wanted a name that reflects both this blog and my cat blog. I'm starting off with T-shirts that have a cat/Japan theme. I want to make some that are just Japan-themed in the future.

The name I came up with is Jackie's Neko Tale. Neko is Japanese for cat! I went to ask David what he thought. He, of course, misheard. What he heard was Jackie's Naked Tale! Typical.

I've uploaded a few T-shirts, but the prices are wrong. I need to figure out how to change that and get the payment system set up. I hope that by the end of this month, it will be up and running!

I really hope that this will work out. I honestly don't know what else to do to make money. I really need to invest in the house. I need someone to come and check that the structure is sound and that paying for some basic improvements is worth the money. I know that I live very far away from where the earthquakes have been happening the past few months, but every quake that hits reminds me of how vulnerable this country is. There is always the possibility of having another big one here. I would love to have the house earthquake sound. I don't know if that is possible, but it's something that I want to investigate.

If you've read this blog, you will know that I don't like insects, but for some unknown reason, I can tolerate spiders!

I was sitting on my bed last night when Christopher sent this photo.

Christopher said that it had just walked over his face!

I was having a good laugh until I felt one walk along my neck!

Prompts

 I have no artistic skills at all! One time, I drew two stick figures to teach "He is" and "She is" to some kids. The kids just looked at the drawing and asked what they were. I explained that one was a boy and the other a girl; the kids laughed! 

To make the T-shirts, I'm using AI. I wish I could draw or paint, but I can't. I understand that people, especially artists trying to develop and sell their art, see the use of AI as cheating. I guess in a way it is. But it's not as easy as I thought it would be!

The image I have in my head, and what AI comes up with, often times is very different. Sometimes better, many times so far from my idea that I don't know what went wrong.

For example, I had an image of a cat peaking out of a cup. I wanted a cartoon/anime style, but I didn't specify that in my prompt.

First try, I didn't specify anime style.

This was the image I had in my mind, cute anime style.

I might use both of those images, and also go back and change the colour of the cat.

I've come to realise that the more detailed my prompts are, the better the image. The use of nouns, adjectives and adverbs is important. I've come to realise that my vocabulary has become very limited because I don't really need to use it in daily life. 

I was playing around this morning and came up with this.

I can't use it because of copyright infringement, but I might print it out for myself.

Another thing that is holding up launching my store is thinking of a name for it. My niche is Japan and cats. I don't want a name that narrows things down too much. I might try other merchandise as well, so a name with T-shirts in it is out. I've asked AI, but the suggestions don't inspire me! If anyone has any ideas, drop them in the comments!

I just had a little walk in the jungle, I mean, garden! 

The stream that runs behind the storage shed is very noisy; I can hear it from my bedroom.  I decided to go and check on it. Even though it's very deep and concrete-lined, it has overflowed a few times. I was surprised that there wasn't so much water, but very fast-moving!

I took a video, it's a bit jumpy as I was balancing on the wall, and I have a very bad sense of balance, plus I was being eaten alive by the mosquitoes!

I checked on the blueberries, almost ready, a few more days, maybe!

Blueberries almost ready!

The hydrangeas are massive this year. I love this deep purple colour.

And I finally have a little green pepper growing!

I hope they continue to grow.

I had better get back to designing T-shirts.