• Daily Life

    Simply Spectacular Cycling Sunrise

    September 12, 2023

    I’ve got nothing to write about, other than being extraordinarily lucky to get consecutive days of glorious sunrises over the Tama River. I’d take a decent camera to get better photos except it’s still hot and the sweat would destroy the DSLR’s parts as happened with my other cameras. So I have to be satisfied with just the mobile phone, which doesn’t take good shots, so what’s visible here is not a patch on what I get to see with my own eyes. Related posts: Tour de Kagoshima-Kyoto Day -1A: Tama Hills to Haneda A Pheasant Start to the Morning…

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    Glimpses of Gloriousness

    September 11, 2023

    For a few seconds this morning, I got to have a couple of glimpses of gloriousness. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed Tokyo’s outer suburbs have had some amazing sunrises and sunsets. The old sayings about red skies in the morning and night seem to have been put to bed as we’ve had many days with both and rain either turning up or not falling in contrast to the conventional wisdom. Due to timing, I’m lucky enough to be out on my bike on most days now as the sun appears in the sky. This morning I was…

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    It’s Not How Old You Are, But How You Are Old

    September 4, 2023

    I’m old, but like to think I do all right. However, it’s getting increasingly harder to kid myself. I can’t hear, can’t see, can’t chew properly because my teeth are going or gone, can’t remember anything and can’t learn new subjects no matter how hard I try as nothing sinks in. I wake up to pee several times a night (which is still better than not waking up to do so), barely sleep and feel constantly harangued and harassed by life. Arthritis in my hands is agonizing and makes nearly any task gargantuan, not to mention turns cycling, my sole…

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  • Daily Life

    Life Gets In The Way

    September 2, 2023

    I’ve never been good at dealing with life on life’s terms, and being a selfish and spoiled type, easily get down when I don’t get what I want. I got to experience that side of me again this week. My boss finally pushed through the severe pay cut she has been aiming at for the past couple of years. I’m now down to about 60% of the wage I was hired at a decade ago, with less than half the paid vacation, a much-reduced medical plan, no allowances and footing the bill for the company to produce the work it…

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    Far Canal! Had No Idea Boating Is This Much Fun!

    August 29, 2023

    Tokyo is a city built on rivers and streams, and much of its history is built around waterways, yet it took until last weekend to finally enjoy a really decent yakatabune boat ride. I’ve been here for decades and been on cruises and even ridden in yakatabune, which are long, flat boats with tatami mat rooms used mostly for sightseeing cruises, but I hadn’t really cruised on one. I’d always associated them with geisha asobi, parties with geisha, and raucous, bawdy boat trips (and a look at the cruise options available will show that I’m not wrong), but that’s not…

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    Lady of the Lake and More Lucky Rides

    August 22, 2023

    Not much has happened, certainly nothing to really write about, but I have been very fortunate to get some amazing skies that make tremendous backdrops for bicycle photos, including these shots of La Cangura beside a little pond near the Tama River, which evoked an image of the Lady of the Lake from the Arthurian legend (at least for me). Futile attempts to revive the fertilizer-burned lawn have caused greater frustration. And so has taking care of the bird, which is going through a hormonal stage. Of course, my boss at work is somewhat similar, so I never know which…

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    Stop that Pigeon!

    August 15, 2023

    Lots of serious stuff is going down at the moment, yet the biggest gripe in my mind is how to deal with a bloody pigeon. One of my escapes has been the garden at Kangaeroo Corner, and one of the areas of which I had been proudest was the flourishing lawn. Except, it’s no longer flourishing. In May, I went heavy-handed on the fertilizer in the expectation of warm, dry weather followed by the rain and warmth of June and July. The rain barely came and the heat was dry and blistering. I didn’t realize that I needed to compensate…

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    Sunflowers in the Rain

    August 9, 2023

    Fortune smiled favorably on me this morning, too, as I got to ride out to a nearby sunflower field and get some awesome photos. There’s not much I can elaborate on, other than to say the field was a spectacular sight. There were lots of people around, even though the dawn had only just broken, so I rushed in and out before I became too much of a nuisance with my bike around, too. Also got blessed with some wonderful spurts of rain that I hope will rehabilitate the lawn at Kangaeroo Corner, but was distressed to discover the first…

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    Bested by Busyness

    August 8, 2023

    Little things in life have kept me scrambling and stumbling in such a way it’s hard to get much else done. Work is always much busier in the warmer months. This year has been particularly demanding as our tyrant boss drove more staff out of the door and their tasks were often imposed on me. Early morning starts have been the norm and I’m often exhausted by the time the sun sets. Health hasn’t been great and the teeth I neglected for decades have come back to haunt me with a vengeance, which will result in two more of them…

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    Fat-Arsed Friend!

    July 23, 2023

    Fortune blessed me with lots of wonderful reminders of how lucky I am yesterday, including through a fat-arsed addition to Kangaeroo Corner. We held a garden party for close friends and family, hoping to show off Kangaeroo Corner. A harsh summer, untimely rains and, I think, excessive intervention on my part, have destroyed the lawn, but much of the rest of the garden is thriving. And now, courtesy of a dear mate and former work colleague, there’s a new addition to Kangaeroo Corner in the former of Fatso, the fat-arsed wombat. I don’t know the incredible lengths she went to…

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