Probably followed by another week of hell….then maybe one more.
I am dreading March and it’s only February but I have a history of dreading March.
It will all get done though, well the important part of “all” at least, I can finally smell it.
The great thing about times like these is that you finally remember all those passions and dreams and projects that get pushed to the back of your head when you actually do have time to work towards them. Now if I can remember to write them down this time…
Anyway, funny thing that I realized this week (well I had known about it for a while but thought it was hereditary until being clarified last weekend) - I totally break toilet seats. When I was a kid, I always sat on the toilet sideways. In both the ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ washrooms, the counter and sink were right next to the toilet. I would sit sideways so that I could conduct experiments with various bathroom products in the sink. Growing up, I didn’t lose the tendency to approach the bowl from an angle necessary for sideways sitting. My attack has always been one from the side with this final twisting motion to keep my legs at 12 o’clock. That added torque causes the seat’s bolt-and-nut assembly to loosen and eventually, the bolt-and-nut assembly’s plastic housing becomes worn and the seat can no longer be tightly bolted down.
This has happened to every toilet in places I have lived in for longer than six months. OK so that’s only 4 toilets but statistically, there is a high probability that if I don’t change my entrance, I’ll ruin more seats.
Don’t worry, it’s unlikely that I will break yours. The damage only occurs through repeated exposure.
week of hell
In a New Box. » Blog Archive » drum roll please… said,
[...] I think that this is what most people want to know about my experiences in Japan: what is the apartment like? Here we go! Some initial background information - I live on the 3rd floor of a 3 storey building that is about 3 blocks away from the Tokyo bay water. The building is labelled a dormitory, but it was built as an apartment so there are not shared spaces and kitchens like you might find in a dorm. The only thing we share are laundry rooms and there are two clothing washer/dryer sets on each floor. Quite the relief! Some of you may know that it is not typical to own dryers in Japan. You can see a lot of clothes hanging out of windows and on balconies. But I guess in the summer, the humidity makes it hellish to get your clothes dry. So I am lucky : ) Here is a picture of my front entrance: The blue door makes me happy and by May there should be a fridge in that little area to the left of my door. On the left is my kitchen and here is another view of the kitchen: Well, sort of. You can see that I have a small sink and a hot plate. Next to the counter is my hot water heater. All the rooms have their own heaters so I can`t blame cold showers on other people anymore. Yay no more angry showers! I hope no more cold showers either. The heater seems to work fairly well and it only has to pump water to here: This is my bathroom - through a door on the wall opposite of my kitchen counter. I have a shower and tub but the tub is shorter, maybe only room to sit down in. Both faucets (or taps…which one is which??) are controlled from the same tap (or faucet?). There is a dial for hot to cold water, and another dial to switch from sink faucet, to off, to shower. Neat right? You know what is cooler. Check out my toilet: Notice the angle. I might not break this one. You can also choose between two types of flushing, “big” and “small” - great for water conservation. Here is my bedroom area: I have a single bed which is surprisingly the longest bed I have ever slept in, and a long desk. Behind those curtains is a sliding patio door onto my balcony. My view - another apartment building. Finally, a picture of my bedroom taken from the other side: You can see that I have a lot of storage: shelves, drawers (under the bed two) and two very large closets. I think that I may need to buy more things to fill everything up : ) I really like my new home, but it does feel a little strange. I didn`t really bring any decorative items so I have nothing to meg it up. This is exciting in some ways because it gives me a clean slate to work with. But I`ll have to watch out with buying too much. Don`t know how I will get it back home! I think that I might start knitting again. There are plenty of knitting shops around - went into one last night but the clerk was this old man who was giving me the most suspicious look. I think I was making him uncomfortable so I didn`t stay very long. This weekend though, I will go to another one and get some supplies. I will knit myself tapestries and danglies to hang on the walls and it will be beautiful. [...]
