Entries this day: Dream_Natalie Today amber

Dream Natalie

8:05am JST Sunday 2 November 2008 (day 14102)

Overheard a woman talking on her cell phone as we walked out of the school into the U-turn pickup area. She said she was meeting Natalie, so I asked if she was meeting Ntalie Ferris.

The woman didn't know her Natalie's last name, but I didn't give up there. I askd about the nature of their meeting. "What does Natalie like to do?" I asked. "My Natalie likes salsa," I offered, after hearing they were going to meet for yoga. "I guess we know different Natalies."

I kept hanging around, though, basically wanting to expand my people skills. I asked how they had met, but I don't remember the answer. Her Natalie arrived in the area and called to complete the visual connection.

We saw her on the other side of the U-turn, and walked over to meet her. After they said HI, I was like, "HI; I'm Rob," and "I was wondering if I could join, if that would be okay."

Natalie asked her two students what they thought, and when they said it would be okay, I asked how much she would charge for one lesson. Natalie said, "ten dollars, so I guess that's 1000 yen." Ah; she hasn't been in Tokyo very long.

I said, "excellent; I'd like to join," and as a joke, I gave her 1000 Vietnamese dong. None of them noticed, but the original woman I had met said, "it's actually 10,000 yen."

Natalie put the 1000 dong in her wallet, and I was like, "wha?" in my mind, and then said, "Okay wait; I have a little problem." I first turned to Natalie, "you said 1000 yen, and as a joke I gave you 1000 dong. I figured the others would notice immediately and then i'd give you the correct amount."

I then turned to Natalie and the original woman. "But she says now that it's 10,000 yen, and I must admit that at this time I choose not to pay that much for a lesson, but I would like your card, so I can pay that much in the future."

Today

5:20pm JST Sunday 2 November 2008 (day 14102)

I've definitely officially started on preparation for filming the construction of Marble Track 3. I've been making a wooden cradle thing for my camera so I can take it with me during the day and take pictures with it at home. Only problem is with the focus mechanism; it doesn't seem happy to focus multiple times in a row on close-up stuff, such as, for example, my marble track.

SO, I might have to get a new camera for this operation. Anyone have a hand-me-down digital camera? I don't need huge high definition. Just focus. There's a 20 percent chance I'll try to take this camera apart to clean it, though that didn't help when Hitomi's camera had the same problem. I took that happy snapper apart down to the bare cogs and everything looked clean and fine to me. Put it back together and it only worked as well as it had before I took it apart.

What's causing this rubbish focus?

Since when did I start saying "rubbish?"

Today's the day I chowed lunch at the kaiten sushi shop near my house. Little sushi plates pass by each seat on a little conveyor belt. Quite a nice lazy way to eat. I mostly got salmon (salmon) and a couple of maguro (tuna).

amber

1:15am JST Monday 3 November 2008 (day 14103)

HI Amber!

My name is Rob; I sailed on PB's 49th and 52nd voyages, and have a Google News search query for
related terms, so I saw an article about your upcoming voyage as web reporter!

I decided to stalk, ahem, er, find you online, and success! Here I am, writing you this note.

But that's not why I'm writing. ;-) I'm writing to ask if you'd be so kind as to put me on your
outgoing emails list, if in fact you have one. I sent "Rob Updates" during my voyages (and
subsequent travels) (*), and enjoy staying in touch with the lovely PB life, if only
electronically. (**)

(*) http://robnugen.com/travel/pb/49/

(**) I'll be at the GET Challenge in mid November, physically, not electronically. Woohoo!

Have a great day!

- Rob!