• Daily Life

    Getting Real

    The year pretty much starts for real from tomorrow, having had the new year break, punctuated by a week of work, followed by another long weekend to mark Coming of Age Day. It’s gonna be a hell of a busy year. I’ve got work, which is a delight, providing stimulation, enjoyment, companionship and motivation. And with the need to obtain qualifications for my role, there will also be school should my trial period end and a position be offered. I’ll also be expected to shoulder a bigger load and take on more responsibilities. And that’s on top of a two-hour,…

  • Daily Life

    Orifice Politics

    I’m not religious, but I thank God every day for giving me the amazing colleagues I get to work with. I’ve got to admit that apart from only two very short periods, extraordinary people have surrounded me throughout my working life. But the cooperation, support and elevation my current workmates give me is unprecedented for me through nigh on five decades in the workforce. I’m really having the time of my life trying to learn my way around my new role, and am brimming wit gratitude to both my employer and my colleagues for doing everything possible to help me…

  • Daily Life

    Darkness Deathtrap

    This morning reminded me that I am a potentially lethal presence on the Tama River Cycling Road. It was cold, wet, dark and raining. And I realized yet again that I am basically blind in those conditions, being unable to see. I’m not helped by only using an 800 lumen light on the track instead of the 2,000 lumen light I had used up until last winter, but which is no longer financially tenable to maintain. Luckily, I made it home safely and was rewarded to see a lush garden basking in the bath it received in the first rain…

  • Daily Life

    Grinding Again

    Work has resumed for 2025, so I am back at the grindstone. I love my company immensely, and my aim this year is to be a great co-worker in a team that contributes to fantastic results for our employer. My teammates are enormous in drawing out every skerrick of talent I may possess, and I hope to be able to do the same for the people I get to work with. And while I’m doing that, I want to enjoy every moment I get to spend on a bike, even if it is as dark and bloody freezing as it…

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    Isle Idyll

    On our sole shared, obligation-free holiday over the 2025 new year period, Mrs. Kangaeroo and I headed off for a day out to a nearby island. We headed to Enoshima, a short trip from our home and site of the sailing competitions for the 1964 and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. One intention was to pay a new year’s shrine visit, which is a customary Japanese tradition. Another was to enjoy the ocean. My new year hadn’t been the greatest. On Boxing Day, I bent over to pat Oreo, a neighborhood border collie, and my back went on me. It remains…

  • Daily Life

    Croc Of Spite

    January is the coldest time of the year in Japan, and the Fountain of Strewth has turned to ice and the Croc of Shite is more a Croc of Spite as ice drives it to the bottom of the fountain until the morning sun thaws it, almost as a reminder of the harshness of the winter. With the still short days, the lengthy dark periods make the cold seem colder. But this year seems to have been a return to the past. The two most recent winters have been comparatively warm, but cloudy. Cold, wet, dark winters are common in…

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    Three-Day Monk

    One of my favorite phrases in Japanese is mikka bozu, literally a three-day monk, and it’s a term used to describe the length that most people can maintain their resolve. I’ve got to admit to being an archetypical example of the concept. Having accumulated a huge spare tire and found an exciting new job following a tumultuous few years, I was full of determination to achieve lofty goals when the new year rolled around just two days ago. I’ve set exercise goals to lose weight and live healthier, in addition to setting professional targets to make the most of the…

  • Daily Life

    Stunning Start

    The 2025 new year has kicked off in a maginificent manner. We have had unseasonable warmth and the return of once customary brilliant winter sunshine. I started off with a flurry of enthusiasm, too. My year started with an extremely early rise not long after 4 a.m. I quickly showered and got on my bike. Even though I weighed myself for the first time in many months, and didn’t like what I saw, I was still feeling keen. Once my mind started turning over, it was already too late to turn my back, and I was on my way to…

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    Back Attack

    Continuing a run of at least four new year seasons, I’m ailing yet again. After a cold, covid, the flu and another cold, this new year I’ll be welcoming in with a case of lumbago. Worse still, I owe it to a case of hubris, having twinged my back by bending too quickly to pet a neighbor’s dog because I fancied myself as having something of a magic touch with pooches. The immobilizing pain over the past few days has become a constant reminder to be a bit more thoughtful in my actions. One benefit has been slowing me down…

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    Wrapping Jacarandas

    On Christmas Eve, I thought any wrapping I’d be doing would be presents, not bloody jacarandas, but between a hectic time at work that was exactly what I found myself doing. Amazing (and incredibly patient) Alex Endo, who created our Aussie garden at Kangaeroo Corner, wanted to protect the tips of the tree’s branches so they could be protected from the frost and increase the likelihood of flowering. Our jacaranda hasn’t flowered for three years now, and we hope that next year will see it flourish florally. Alex also let me know that I am wasting my time waiting for…