Thunderstorms

 Thursday and Friday, we had awful thunderstorms!

Thursday's storm was a bit strange. A lot of thunder but no rain. Mikey went to the local shops for me and sent this photo.

Rain!

The rain was very localised.

The sky in the evening was very dramatic as well.

The sky over the mountains.

The opposite direction.

Friday afternoon's storm was crazy.

Started at about 2 o'clock and lasted a couple of hours.

This time, there was a lot of rain and very close lightning strikes.

I'm not sure what got hit, but our power went out. I don't know if any of the neighbours lost power; we just had to reset the fuse box. It sounded like an explosion; my poor cats were freaked out!!

I took a little video from my window. I don't know if the microphone picked up the thunder, but it was very loud.

Losing power wasn't that bad- no air conditioner, but after the storm had passed, we could put power back on.

Not so lucky with the Wi-Fi.

The one box that brings the signal into the house was fried. It was an older mold so maybe on its way out already, but the electrical surge finished it off!

I always thought I could survive without the internet. I'm from a generation that didn't grow up with access to everything online, 24 hours a day. I was so wrong!

I had to cancel my evening class. My phone still had some data, but not enough for a lesson. 

I had no TV, as my TV is for streaming services only; I don't have an antenna or satellite. I have books to read, but of course nothing I fancied reading! I did read for a bit, but I had planned on doing my lesson, watching TV, reading and going to bed. It felt very strange not to be able to do those things.

David ordered the machine, which is why I can write this now. Took less than 24 hours to get here! I'm glad David knows what to do!

I've seen a lot of influencers talk about going screen-free. There's a trend to bring back hobbies such as knitting, crocheting, sewing, gardening, etc. The idea is to get away from screens to stop doomscrolling. I always thought that I didn't need to do that; I always felt I could survive and thrive without my screens, but after last night I realised that I'm just as addicted to screens as young kids are. 

I think I'm going to set up a study plan for the next few months. I did last year for the last couple of months of the year; I think I'll start earlier this year!

What do you want to study for the next 4 months?

Busy Few Days

 Tuesday and Wednesday are always busy; they are the days that I go and teach.

Once a month, Mikey and I do a volunteer class. It's a bit of a challenge for me as it's a large class, maybe 20 people all together. I prefer smaller classes, but Mikey is in his element! As I was going in yesterday, one of the ladies stopped me and asked if I could help with a document she had. The document was the death certificate of her great-uncle, who had passed away in the USA just over 100 years ago. My student said that she wanted to understand the death of her great-uncle and to be able to share it with younger family members.

It was rather difficult to read the document. She had a photocopy of the original death certificate; it was faded and looked like the original one had been folded many times, making creases through some of the important information. Also, trying to read the handwriting was difficult.

Between Mikey and me, we figured that the cause of death was some sort of pneumonia. He died in 1919, just after the Spanish Flu pandemic. I'm wondering if he had the Spanish Flu before and was therefore weaker than he would have been. Of course that is speculation. He worked as a labourer, maybe on the railroads. After the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, railroad companies turned to Japanese immigrants for labour. These immigrants were known as Issei and worked on the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railways, so he was in the right area.

I found it all very fascinating and a little bit sad. This young man had gone abroad to help his family out, but ended up dying alone in a foreign country! The student we were helping was so happy with the bit of information we could give her.

One of my evening students spent part of her summer holiday volunteering in the earthquake area. She's in the last year of high school. Her mother has some position with the city; I have no idea what, though. My student and her mother went to Costco to buy supplies, using money that had been donated. My student said that just one trip to Costco cost 150,000 yen, about £700; they made 3 trips to Costco. After getting the supplies, they drove down to the disaster area and spent time at a warehouse making care packages and then taking them to the different evacuation sites.

I think the experience was an eye-opener for my student. She lives near where we teach, so she experienced the earthquake, but there was no real damage here. The quake was M7.1 at the epicentre, but here about an M5- still big and scary, but buildings didn't come down. She was surprised to see some of the older houses that had been flattened. 

Some of the photos from my student.

She was amazed at the resilience of the people there and the "shikata ni" no choice attitude. Even while enduring life in evacuation places, with no real cooling system, needing a shower and some privacy, people were still rather cheerful and very grateful for the small care packages they received.

I told my student that this was the closest I've been to a natural disaster, and I don't want to get any closer.

As much as I enjoy my couple of days of teaching, I'm glad that it isn't every day, like before.

Just those two days have left me feeling tired; also, the fact that I got hit with very bad allergies yesterday doesn't help at all. Also, the heat hasn't broken here at all! Every day is over 35℃; that's hot. The humidity isn't too high, which helps!

Another Earthquake!

 The big earthquake we had at the end of last month was south of Kumamoto City, about a 2-hour drive south of here. Because it was a big quake- M7.1 at the epicentre and an M5 here- we have had aftershocks; most are small, but still a nerve-racking experience!

This morning, however, there was an earthquake just an hour's drive north of here. 

This one wasn't that big, M4.4, but rather shallow. Where we were was an M1; where Hannah lives, an M2.

This is worrying. The area where the earthquake was this morning is part of another fault line that runs through a densely populated area. Japan is 70% mountains, so cities were built wherever possible. At least with more modern buildings, the risk is minimised. Even though earthquakes freak me out, even the small ones, I would rather be in Japan than any other country that experiences earthquakes! Just looking at what happened in Colombia and Indonesia, which experienced massive earthquakes after the Kumamoto quake. Some houses came down in Kumamoto, but they were older buildings that hadn't been renovated up to the latest building codes.

I know that these quakes are going to keep happening, that it takes time for the faults to settle down. I also know that the pressure builds again until another quake releases the pressure. I understand the basic science behind what is happening; I just wish it wouldn't!

I'm trying not to think about it too much; if I do, I become paralysed with fear. My kids keep telling me that there is nothing you can do about it; if an earthquake is going to hit, it's going to hit. Sitting and worrying doesn't change that!

Instead, I'm trying to figure out why I haven't sold any T-shirts as yet.

Here are a couple of my latest designs!

These were designed with free AI, but I think I might have to pay for an AI service. Just to make the bottom T-shirt took almost an hour! I knew what I wanted but had a hard time explaining it to AI. I should learn to draw, might make things easier! 

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good AI service that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

David's Birthday

 Today is David's birthday; it's also the Obon holiday, one of the main holidays in Japan.

Obon is Japan's summer festival when families welcome the spirits of their ancestors back for a few days, usually between August 13 and 16. A lot of people return to their home town to visit relatives and their ancestral graves.

When David was young, we had to visit my mother-in-law's house for lunch. The other relatives would come; we would have a nice lunch together, but I always wanted to leave early so we could celebrate David's birthday. I felt sad that David had to share his special day. My mother-in-law was all about showing off; she would spend a fortune on the lunch and special decorations but never gave David a present! I wanted the day to be about David, as the other kids' birthdays were just about them. I found out recently that David thought all the fuss was for him and didn't understand why we didn't go to my mother-in-law's house for the other kids' birthdays!

A few photos of David through the years.

He broke both of his arms, 6 months apart!

On one of our trips to the UK.

With Hisao

With Hisao, Mikey and Christopher.

With Fluffy.

One problem with it being Obon is that buying sushi, David's favourite food, is hard. If you don't order it or go to the store very early, you aren't going to get any. One tradition I try to stick to is getting the birthday person's favourite lunch!

This year I decided that going to Costco would be the best. I thought I could get sushi and something else for lunch.

Big mistake. I did get a lot of good food, but it was crazy busy! Busier than Christmas! Just trying to navigate with the massive trolleys took a toll on me! 

In the end, I couldn't get any sushi; the queue for the sushi was so long, I overheard one woman say that she had to wait 20 minutes to get sushi! In the end, I got a nice pack of sashimi! Plus pizza, cooked chicken, some bacon, tomato wraps and salad.

Nice lunch

We ate, laughed and celebrated!

I'm glad that we could all be together for David's birthday. I don't know how many more times we will be together like this. 

It's been a nice break this week: no lessons at the community centre, having Hannah here. Tomorrow, Hannah goes back to her apartment. Things will be back to normal for a while!

New Kitchen Cabinet

 Again, new to me!

On impulse, David, Hannah and I dropped into a recycle shop, one of the chain-store type. I've seen branches in most cities in northern Kyushu; I don't know if they have branches nationwide. The name of the store is 2nd Street; I think it's a good name for a recycle shop.

I find that the goods there are usually expensive; some things are cheaper new. But when they have a sale, the prices are very good! Hannah always does well on their sales!

Today Hannah picked up a very nice blouse for just 500 yen, about £2!

David and I had a look at the furniture. I wanted to buy a better cupboard for the kitchen. There were some lovely pieces! We spent ages debating what to buy, what would fit in the area that we were thinking of and what would be big enough for everything that we have!

I really didn't want to spend a lot of money, as I hope to remodel the kitchen, so this would just be something temporary. This is the unit we went with in the end.

The plastic box has flour, pasta and cornstarch in it; there wasn't enough room in the cupboard for all that. I would love to get a nice bread bin but that can wait a bit.

It cost 5,000 yen, about £23. I checked on line, new it costs about 3,2000 yen, about £150. I think I got a good bargain. 

Of course, Fluffy had to inspect it; it passed her test!

Inspector Fluffy.

Tomorrow is David's birthday. I'm going to Costco to buy something nice for lunch! Since everyone is here, we can celebrate both David's and my birthday at the same time!

But I'm wondering if I want to celebrate my birthday! I think I'm getting too old to celebrate birthdays!

Summer Fatigue.....Natsubate

 I've been feeling awful for the past couple of days. Extremely tired, no appetite, nausea and dizzy. Looks like I have summer fatigue, natsubate in Japanese.

Yesterday Hannah and I met some friends for lunch; that was nice, just chatting and laughing, but I had no appetite. I ordered a sandwich but couldn't eat all of it. I bought it home but just ate the chicken filling! Last night was rather cool, which meant the cats had the energy to fight all night! I fell asleep at 4:30; my alarm went off at 5 o'clock.

Today I'm exhausted; I couldn't eat lunch, and I couldn't get all the chores I planned to do either. I just feel so blah; I can't focus on reading or even watch TV! Just writing these few sentences has taken ages as I've made so many mistakes!

I'm rather upset with myself, as it has suddenly gone a bit cooler. Today was just 33℃. Still hot but a lot better than last week when the tempretures were hovering around 40℃.  I know that at 33℃ I can actually work away from the air conditioner for a while; I planned on cleaning the corridor floor but never got round to it.

Never mind, this will pass, and my floors will still need cleaning!

How do people survive without air conditioning? I've been running mine 24/7 recently! I don't want to see my electric bill!

Just a few photos Hannah took last week: a beautiful sunset.

I think she took these on her way here!

I'm going to fight with AI; I'm still trying to design some T-shirts. Some of the designs I've made are really nice, but they don't look good on T-shirts. I'm wondering if I can make digital products for people to download and print themselves!

I think this would make a cute card or small wall poster!

More to study!

Why Is It So Hard?

 My health challenge got derailed, big time!

I know what to eat, I know what exercises suit my body, and I can do, but........!!!!

It all feels too hard!

It's August 9th today; out of those nine days, I've been able to stick to my plan maybe 4 days! The other days I'm eating the wrong things; white bread and snack bread are my big downfall, but I'm not eating that much. I think I'm suffering from natsubate, summer fatigue. I have very little energy; all I want to do is sit and watch TV, not good at all. My appetite is low, but I want all the things I shouldn't have: a sandwich, snack bread or ice cream; none of these is good for me.

Also, it's hard to get energy to cook or prepare meals. Even with the air conditioner, I just can't be bothered to prepare something for myself. I make breakfast and obento. I make lunch for whoever is at home, but dinner is usually self-service; whoever is here gets their own dinner, usually leftovers. If I'm making for others, then it's easy to make something for myself, but if it's just me, then I grab whatever is easy!

As for exercise, I try most days, at least to do some stretching. At the moment, I'm in a lot of pain because of a herniated disc in my neck. I've been spending hours on my computer making T-shirt designs, but that has put a lot of strain on my neck! I've been wearing my collar a lot to support my neck; it helps, but I do need to go to a doctor or chiropractor. I hope to go after next week!

I need to get my act together! I need to lose this weight and feel better in myself!

I want to shop for nice clothes, but the only place I can buy anything is online, which is alright. I love going shopping with Hannah and seeing her try on different outfits. I want to do that again!!!

I was looking for some photos to put on! I realised that since having Hannah, 24 years ago, I haven't been under 90 kg! Getting under that would be a big achievement!

I'm being brave!

This is me at my highest weight, about 110kg!

I can never get back to that; I couldn't walk for more than 5 minutes without being in pain!

Back to the plan!!!

Any tips?

Shopping

This morning I decided to go shopping in a small town which is in the opposite direction from where I usually shop. Even though it's hot, being in the car with the air conditioner blasting made for a nice ride.

Where I usually shop is toward the city and the built-up area; this was toward the countryside. Hannah was with us, so I asked her to take some video.

Part of the drive is through a small town, where some of the buildings come right up to the road; there's no pavement, and some places don't have any front garden or space between the building and the road. I always feel that it's a bit scary to step out of a building right onto the road. 

I want to get a video of the view. This is the road that runs off from the road we are on. I never think that our elevation is so high until I see the view. When we drive up here, it doesn't feel as if the road is going uphill; maybe if I walked it, I would feel it more!

I went for basic groceries; we are always running short on something! David shops on his way home, but I prefer to buy fresh vegetables myself. Recently, there hasn't been a lot of lettuce in the shops; I wonder why?

On the way home, we stopped at a recyle shop. Most recyle shops in Japan are like chain stores; every city has the same ones. I like to find smaller, unique ones, which is what we found today. I'm looking for a kitchen cabinet. I've seen some lovely ones, but they are very expensive. I'm hoping to eventually be able to completely remodel the kitchen, so I only need something for the next year or so; therefore, I don't want to spend a fortune on a new cabinet. 

The place we stopped at didn't have what I wanted but did have a lot of lovely stuff, a real mix of things! Old rotary phones, different Japanese dolls, even a Japanese sword, but I think it was a replica. I picked up some lovely towels, 2 big bath towels and a set of dish clothes for 300 yen, about £1. They are all good quality too. In Japan, towel sets are given as gifts; they are expensive and very good quality. I think that people get a lot of these gifts and never use them. I remember when my kids were little, they all got sick at the same time. I was telling one of my students that I was running out of towels. I kept washing them, but because of the weather, they didn't dry quickly! The next week she came with a load of really nice gift towels; she said that she had so many that she would never get round to using them all! They were such good quality that we used them constantly for about 20 years before they got holes in them!

The towels I bought.

While I was out, Christopher made lunch.

Cold soba.

He made cold soba with an unusual dipping soup, a duck-flavoured soup. The soup had a lovely smoky taste. I really enjoyed this lunch! Christopher had eaten this soba with his friends once and found the noodles and soup at Costco, so he bought them! I think in the winter this would be nice as hot soba!

Yet Another This And That Post

 I have writer's block!

Or a boring life at the moment, as I have no idea what to write about!

Part of the problem is that I don't get out much; the heat makes it almost impossible to move from my room! I feel as if my life has become very small, just this room, my computer and TV.

I'm keeping myself occupied by making T-shirt designs. I need to learn how to draw or design, as using AI can be very frustrating. 

I decided to use this picture I made.

I asked AI to change the cat; it asked: "What cat?"

But after a lot of back and forth, it came up with this image.

This is nice, but it looks like a photo stuck on a T-shirt. I want it to look more natural.

I have a few pictures like this now, as my prompts aren't very effective. Can I sell them as cards or wall art? Something else to explore.

Hannah is home for a few days. She asked if she could come back for a while. I asked why; she said that she misses the cats! I thought she would say that she misses me or my cooking! Last night the cats were fighting, so I kept telling Hannah to see to them; she misses them, so she can take care of them.

AI has just finished making a design from that picture, only took an hour of back and forth. I'm using free AI at the moment; I hope I can get a paid subscription soon!

Here is the finished product.

The AI on the site that I'm using to create the T-shirts makes a title for each product. The original title for this was "Wolf Silhouette Looking At The Moon"; it's not a wolf!

My Brain Is Melting

 At least that's what it feels like!

It's been so hot here! Monday was 40℃ in the city where we live. We are slightly elevated, so here it was 39℃, no difference really!

Every day, though, the temperature is above 35℃. It feels relentless; we had a few showers on Tuesday, but that made things worse. I felt as if there was no air outside!

The people who live at the epicentre of last week's earthquake are experiencing the same weather, but they have no power and no running water. Help is getting there, but one problem is that kilometres of downed power lines will take time to put up again!

In Kurume City, there is a 3-day summer festival that ends with an incredible fireworks display. This display has become so popular that there are now two venues along the river, two separate displays. This year, however, the display was cancelled as there weren't enough firefighters; a lot were sent to help in the earthquake area.

So why do I feel as if my brain is melting?

The past week, I've had a few misadventures with time and language that I can only attribute to a melting brain!

Monday, early evening, I was so exhausted from going to my friends, then cleaning my room and organising my new desk. About 5:30, I decided to close my eyes for a bit. I had a headache starting and thought that resting for an hour would be better than taking aspirin. I woke up at 6:30, in complete panic. I went to Christopher's room, knocking on the door, saying that I was sorry I hadn't made breakfast, but I still had time to make an obento. Christopher just looked at me. He said, "Mom, it's still yesterday", which doesn't make sense! I looked at him, the told me that it was still Monday evening; I hadn't overslept! I looked at my phone, and sure enough, it was still Monday. I thought I had slept from 5:30 Monday evening to 6:30 Tuesday morning!

I'm also having problems remembering English words. For some unknown reason, I remember the Japanese word but not the English word. That is very weird, as my Japanese is not that good. The other evening I was talking to one of my students about discrimination, but I couldn't remember that word; the Japanese word sabetsu came easily to me! 

Am I losing my mind? Is this the beginning of dementia? I don't think so; I think it's just a mix of being exhausted because of the heat, feeling anxious about a lot of things and trying to do too much at once! I am aware that at my age there could be early signs of dementia, so I'm reading about that and how to avoid it. I always think of my hairdresser. She's in her 80s but is still working and has a lot of energy. She eats healthily, she exercises, and her work means she is standing all day. She is always learning new things; recently she took up the piano! Because of her work, she has social contact every day. These are all things that are recommended to keep your brain functioning well. I want to have that kind of life; I don't want to be that old lady sitting in a chair, drooling and staring into space! This is part of my motive for my health reset! Also part of the reason I've started my Etsy shop; there's a lot to learn!

I've been busy making more T-shirt designs. It's fun, but some of the designs don't work on T-shirts. I'm wondering what to do with these pictures!

I used this photo of my cats for the above picture.

I'm wondering what to do with these pictures.

I've been trying to add my Etsy Store as a hyperlink on the sidebar, but it just won't work.

So here's the link.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JackiesNekoTales

Have a look. I need to start making sales!!!!

Being Hyper Vigilant

 According to my journal, this time last week I was wondering about new designs for my T-shirt business and how to get people to my Etsy shop. 

I jotted down that I was worried by the 10-day forecast that was showing extreme heat and wondered how to get to my lessons; the air conditioner in Mikey's car doesn't work, and I was worried I'd get sick just going to the next city.

At 4:27 pm last Tuesday, all those thoughts flew out of my head. 

My phone alarm went off, then the building started to move, a lot.

I looked calm; Mikey was teaching young kids, just 5 and 3 years old. I didn't want to scare them by panicking, but internally I was having a meltdown!

Since the initial earthquake, we have had a few aftershocks, which is normal. Only one big enough to sound the alarm on my phone, but a lot of smaller ones.

The first night family and friends sent me messages, asking if we were alright. I'm deeply grateful for those messages and the concern of people but everytime my phone beeped I wondered if it was the start of another alarm!

The past week I've been hyper vigilant. Every creak of the house, everytime a heavy truck goes by I wonder if it's another earthquake. I look at my phone wondering if it's going to alert and say "Earthquake, earthquake" in it's rather posh voice. I'm nervous all the time! The other evening one of the cats slammed into my door and I jumped off my bed! 

This is exhausting, I don't sleep very deeply as a rule, the past week my sleep had been very light! Saturday night we had a few after shocks. One at 10pm, I called Hannah, we were tryng to figure out if we were imagining things or not. Hannah and I have decided that if we feel an earthquake then we will call each other, Then at 1 am and 4 am. I felt the1 o'clock one but not the 4 oclock one!

A week later and I'm exhausted but a bit calmer. I keep telling myself that there is nothing I can do to stop an earthquake, I wish there was but there isn't. I can prepare, I can advise my kids, but they know more than I do, from 1st grade kids are taught about earthquakes, what to do and how to prepare. What else could I do?

The weather is extreme. Yesterday where I live hit 40℃, that's crazy.

This was my Google Hub this morning.

7:14 in the morning and already 31℃. It has just started to rain but I don't know if that will help cool things down or make it humid.

At least I can stay in a room where I have an air conditioner. The cities at the epicenter of the earthquake have no power and no water, it was 40℃ there as well the past couple of days!

I know earthquakes are part of life here in Japan. I wish I could deal with them better. I'm better this time than 10 years ago. 

If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, sorry, Grammarly isn't working!

My New Desk

 I should say new to me!

One of my dear friends is going back to her own country early next year, so she is starting to get rid of things that she no longer needs or uses. She already gave me a load of books. Yesterday I got to pick up a desk that I had admired for many years!

My old desk

The desk I was using was one we bought for Hannah; it was alright but very small. Also, I had a load of books balanced on the shelves, not very safe!

This is the desk my friend gave me!

I love that I have space for my books and that it closes up. I don't usually let the cats in my room, but sometimes they get in. With the desk closed, they can't get to my computer- one less worry!

The desk area itself is bigger, which means I have more space to study. I like having my books spread out when I study; this will help a lot!

Mikey took me; we had to use David's car, which is bigger and has an air conditioner that works!

The drive there was nice; I enjoy seeing the countryside, but I wasn't enjoying the road- very bumpy!

On the way back, Mikey started to laugh; he told me to take a photo of a shop sign.

This is a recyle shop. The name of the shop is "Treasure Factory", which you can see on the building. Unfortunately, the name didn't fit onto the sign. So it got shortened to "Treasure Facku"!

I had a lovely day, talking with my friend and having a nice ride out! 

I'm desperate for the heat to break. The garden is now called the jungle; I have to get out and start cutting down the trees, bushes and weeds as much as possible. I thought about going out this morning, but at 7:30 it was already 31℃, a bit too hot to work in for me!

You can hear the insects; it can get very noisy!

I'm still working on my T-shirts, but running out of ideas for quirky, cute designs! If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

Challenge

 After writing yesterday about how I wanted to restart my diet and health quest this month, a friend sent me a challenge, which I've taken up!

The first thing is NO white food, no rice, bread or noodles! That is going to be hard. Last time I managed to lose some weight, I stopped eating carbs at breakfast and dinner. I would eat some at lunch, but a very small portion. I know it's more psychological than physical, but I can't envision a day without some type of carbs. Today I made fish, scotch eggs (because I wanted to put one in Christopher's obento tomorrow), salad, rice and soup. I had everything, but only one scotch egg and a small portion of rice.

Looks like a lot, but most of the plate is taken up by salad and fish.

For later, I have some blueberries and yoghurt in the freezer to eat.

I've decided that at lunchtime I will have fewer carbs each day until I'm not having any at all. I can't just stop eating carbs; I know if I do that I'll feel deprived and then stuff my face. As I said, it's psychological!

My friend also challenged me to walk 10 to 15 minutes after every meal. I don't have the confidence to walk by myself in the heat. I'm going to walk in my room or in the dining area, where the air conditioners are. I would rather walk outside, but the heat is scary! Today it's 37℃; the rest of the week is going to be about the same! I know I walked in the heat in Tokyo, but I was with Hannah, and there were a lot of people around; if I did get sick, then it would be easy to call an ambulance. Here I could collapse and be found for ages! So, I'll be walking in the house until the weather changes!

I need this challenge; otherwise, I'll just be doing the same thing but expecting different results. I guess it's time to get real. I'm not getting any younger, and I don't want to be old, fat and infirm. I want to be old, energetic and able to do things by myself (except dealing with bugs!).

So I've started today. I refused a cookie that David offered me. I ate my lunch, am thinking about eating my yoghurt, but I'm not hungry. I have some boiled eggs to go on a salad for dinner. I need to do some exercise later, but I think for day one I've done alright!

Can I keep this up? This is always my problem: being consistent. I would love to end this year under 90ks, so I guess I don't really have a choice!

I'm sure that I'll be moaning a lot! 

Wish me luck, and send any ideas or encouragement in the comments!