1. Picnic, Kamogawa Style
Last Thursday Bob, the kids and I escaped the stuffy confines of our house and trekked down to the Kamo river. We had plans to meet one of Bob's fellow professors (and her rescue dog Jack) for a picnic.
We made it out of the house in good form. A few complaints here and there about shoes and hot weather and walking, but otherwise in good form.
It is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from our house to the closest Starbucks, where we had planned to meet Pascale and Jack. They were waiting outside the Starbucks, Pascale sitting at a metal table, Jack looking highly concerned beneath the table at her feet.
After general introductions, we collected Jack and walked a few more minutes on to the department/grocery store "Vivre", where we were going to pick up some obento for lunch. We took turns going in the store, since Jack, unsurprisingly, was not allowed to grocery shop.
Another 5 minutes walk and eventually we made it down to the Kamo River. The Kamo River is a lovely spot--wide banks with bike paths (paved with alternating patches of concrete pavement, asphalt or sand, depending on how close you were to a bridge or central part of the city), benches, grassy areas for sports and even water fountains and faucets here and there. Except for in the middle of the night (I am assuming), there is always activity by the river: joggers and walkers, bike riders taking shortcuts, people kicking soccer balls, school field-trippers, picnickers, rehearsing dance groups, skateboarders...you name it, it is probably there.
We settled ourselves on a flat series of concrete benches, pulled out our bentos and began eating. Jack, the star of the day in our dog-starved eyes, started out timid and shy, edging at the end of his leash so that he always kept Pascale between himself and us. Eventually Aya and Patrick were able to lure him out of his timidity, as they took turns running him up and down the banks of the river (although most of the time it looked more like HE was running THEM).
After a few turns of running, as well as a couple of leaps into the river itself, Jack returned panting, what could only be called a smile across his face. Pascale was thrilled, since Jack was a rescue dog she had adopted from ARK, a Kansai-based animal rescue agency in the hills outside of Osaka. She said he came to her with a lot of shyness and fears, so it made her happy to see him warm up to us.
And warm up he did. Once we finished eating, Aya took Jack out again to walk along the river banks while Bob and Patrick tossed a football back and forth. Suddenly Aya hollered, the leash contorted around her arm. The end of the leash flew out of her hand and Jack took off like a bullet, dashing madly (and incredibly rapidly) down the riverbank. Patrick and Bob immediately gave chase. After a considerable distance of flat-out running, Patrick leapt upon the end of the leash and caught Jack. All three of them walked Jack back to Pascale and I. And while my family panted and wheezed, Jack sat down next to Pascale, very proud of himself indeed.
With Jack's leash wound firmly in Pascale's hand, we collected our bottles and plastic obento containers and headed back out with the satisfaction that Jack would sleep well that night, and Patrick would be able to cross his PE off for the day.
2. Persnickety Appliances
We had not one, but two appliances fizzle out on us this week. The first one was one of our room fans, which simply burned itself out with its efforts to keep us cool. Luckily, Bob was able to find the receipt, so replacing it was as simple as having Bob walk the fan down the street to the store from which he bought it. And presto! We have a new fan. Easy as pie.
If only our second appliance was as accomodating....
The other appliance is not so easy--or affordable--to replace. Our washing machine decided to also give up on us. I had just put a load of wash into it, sprinkled in the detergent and turned it on. It got through most of the wash cycle when I heard a cacophony of buzzing and beeping erupting from it. I went into the laundry room and the control panel of the machine was glowing with blinking lights and flashing buttons. I turned it off and reprogrammed it to begin the rinse cycle. It got through the rinse cycle, only to repeat its previous buzzing, bleeping and flashing. At which point no amount of button pushing would bring it to life again, aside from a few very angry loud beeps.
So there I was. Washer full of clothes. Dead in the water, so to speak.
I wrung out all the clothing, one piece at a time, then used a plastic bowl to dip all the water out of the machine tub.
Then I tried to think outside the box. I got on my computer and looked up english translations for Japanese washing machine buttons. And, as I expected, someone somewhere along the line had created a document that showed all the washing machine button characters and their English meanings. I printed out this treasure trove and toted it back into the laundry room.
No go. I got the machine to scream at me a bit more, but I was nowhere close to having a functioning machine yet.
So I got back on the internet and looked up the company name and serial number, to see if there was an English owners manual. And lo and behold, I found an owner's manual in English for a model very like ours.
Still no help.
By this time Bob was on the job. He poked at the machine for a bit and got it to repeat the blinking and beeping, of which he took a video on his iphone. With evidence in hand, Bob walked to the (overpriced) appliance store on the corner of our street, and showed the video to one of the repairmen who seem to be ever-present outside the shop. The repairman informed Bob that the problem was most likely the computer, and that it could cost more than the machine is worth to fix it.
And so here we sit. Surrounded by ever-growing piles of dirty clothes and a broken washing machine.
Never fear however! With Bob's next paycheck will come the means with which we can buy a shiny, new washer. Or maybe a shiny used washer. I honestly don't care which, as long as it is a shiny FUNCTIONING washer.
...And so, you now have the highs and lows of the week behind us. I have high hopes for the coming week, including a functioning washing machine, a meeting with a volunteer Japanese teacher for the kids and, a planned experiment to make my own taco seasoning powder, recipe courtesy of a certain lovely friend of mine back home who keeps me supplied with notions of how I can hopefully quell my yearning for Mexican food.
No comments:
Post a Comment