working stiff

K,

So much has been happening, but right now so little of it seems post-worthy.

I started my job, training last Thursday, worked 3 days 10am-4pm at the training, spent 2 nights 7:30pm-midnight shadowing people - well, actually, on Tuesday they stuck me with Cleveland/Columbus/Cincinnati, so I guess technically I actually wasn't shadowing that night. At first I was really hype about trying to get things into the system, refreshing the CAD pages (where the incident reports pop up) constantly and fretting about whether I missed anything on the police scanners. Then I looked around at people playing scrabble and goofing off on facebook, and just decided that maybe I shouldn't be taking this quite as seriously.

So, my job must be the opposite of yours, lol. We should do some kind of impromptu study into the differences in feelings of accountability and corporate loyalty in Japan vs. America! Haha, but for now at least maybe you can understand why I expect office workers to be goofing off all the time.

Over the weekend, Kim and her friend Talia dragged me 3 hours up to the Delaware water gap, where we hiked four miles up the Appalachian trail with giant packs on our backs to a backpackers' campsite. The trail was rocky as shit, and all uphill on the way in, pretty steep in places. I thought for sure that I would be straggling behind and gasping for breath since, unlike Kim, I haven't dropped 35 pounds hitting the gym everyday for the past months and, unlike Talia, I am not 'bout the size of a button and hiking a trail I've hiked a dozen times before.

You would have been impressed with me, Keiks. Someone told Kim that an experienced Hiker could make the four miles in an hour, and if you were really out of shape you might take four hours. We did it in only 2 hours, with a break for lunch!I was fucking killin' it, man. When you first start out, you get winded easily and I took a few breaks after the first few big hills. But once I got into a pace, I was fucking unstoppable. A lot of times I had to pause and wait up for Talia and Kim.

When we got to the campsite, we pitched our tents on this platform right on the side of the mountain with a view of the whole damn valley - it was gorgeous. Then we hiked out to the nearby pond where we got some extra water from a stream and Talia treated it with iodine, in which we would later boil our dinner (some kind of Indian-like pureed spinach with curry cheese and wild rice from TJ's that came in boiling pouches. Delish!) At the pond, we climbed up onto a cliff with a killer view and played Uno and Egyptian ratfuck (which I've been obsessed with since I learned it at my birthday party.)

That night, Talia and Kim took a walk on the trail to warm up before bed and I laid on our platform and watched the stars come out.

On the downside, I didn't get the hang of copping a squat to piss right away, the outhouse I had to shit in was like a one-room hell, and Kim surmises that that might be where I picked up the three deer ticks that were feasting on my blood when we got home the next day. More later on whether or not I have lyme disease. Also, I slept about a wink that night. I don't do well without an actual bed and pillow. Kim says maybe next time we can hike to a hotel.

But overall, inspite of the bruises from repeatedly twisting my ankles and falling on the campground (though not once on the trail) and the tick's head still embedded in my thigh, I hiked 8 fucking miles of rough trail in two days and I am so proud of myself.

Tonight I start my first 8 hour shift at work. I hope I can survive the boredom and overwhelming sense of hopelessness that is sure to overcome me after about the fourth hour of being stuck in that florescent-lighted room of buzzing police scanners and ennui, when I realize I'm only halfway done. My friend Roberta, who I worked with at the Franklin Institute, and who I just found out works there, too, says people fall asleep at their desks all the time. She's also been posting bulletins on Myspace for months before I even started working about how she hates the job.

Wish me luck, and for the love of god, dude, show up on facebook sometime between 8pm and 4am my time. On the flipside,

-Bito

Ladykiller

Bito,

Man I miss stumbling around the city of Philadelphia drunk w u!!! and not knowing how u and stephen made it home before me and jessye when we were power walkin to get to mota first!!! lol!!! Ahahaha good fuckin times yo.

I'm glad u had a blastful Sunday OUT!! I had a fuckin awesome night as well, but a strange night. I was not drunk. Aite let's call this girl, Monica lol. We met up and went to a random restaurant that I had made a reservation coz she was comin back from Tokyo n it's usually a 15 ~30min wait here on wkends n holidays. I had picked the place out according to her request re: a dark place, coz if it's too bright it's hard to relax. lol. So the food n drinks were aite, but the mood was perfect I guess:) U don't understand how weird it was to meet up w her at first, n talking about highschool. But everything was just right, like we were reacquainting w eachother n we like hit it off.

Then she called her friend to find out where the lesbian bars are at. Apparently we were right in the gayborhood lol. So we literally went next door n found a lesbian bar. Had a drink and had everyone staring at us... and we were just saying shit in English like "Let's just go after this drink... did we come to the wrong place?" Come to think of it I'm thinking, they were just staring at the caucasian girl speaking in Osaka dialect lol.

And we finally made it to the girl party. The place was packed n I would say a productive party for girls to meet... but it's always the music!! is the biggest problem. They play shit u can't dance to... why? Most of the time we were people watching which was a lot of fun. I saw some people I met last month, and they all looked at Monica like I was with a goddess... we got a lot of, "are u guys together?" and she got a lot of, "are u straight?" I was just thinking, can't they think of anything interesting to say? lol. oh well, so we got sick of the music so left at 2 and went to play pool at "Sam&Dave" a typical foreigner's club. They play descent music tho. So we played pool, and she went on the little stage n showed me her pole moves!!! ZOMG, is all I have to say. really.

Anywho I didn't get drunk eventho we were constantly drinking. I just stayed w vodka tonic. I guess it was a good move to go to Sam&Dave where there were mostly guys lol. Coz we kinda just stuck closer together, to chase the guys away hahaha!! But I know I wasn't drunk coz, I was so nervous touchin her. We stayed till 5 n went to grab a bite n got on the train.

So that was briefly my night... I feel like I didn't have much to say about the girl party:( sorry. Had I gone alone, maybe I'd have more to say?

So I took a nap after I got home but forced myself up so I'd be able to sleep tonight so I am so sleepy at the moment. I apologize in advance if this post is crappy lol. There were hilarious dancers on stage at the girl party, I wish u couldve been there to see them!! lol

I hope this suffices for ur tit. lol

love,

-K

PS: Kim, i love mushi cakes too!!! hahaha fyi, she looks like a white woman but is pretty japanese inside:) interesting, isn't it?

queer stampede

K,

I wanna know about the girlparty! I miss those days at Sal's...

Yesterday I was feeling mucho apathetic about life, but it was Sunday OUT, the last day of equality forum and I turned to Ste and informed him that we owed it to ourselves to go mingle with the other queers. Then I called Sofie and told her the same thing. Then I took the two bottles of Nantucket Nectars left by Zayne's crew the night before, dumped them out halfway, and refilled them with the vodka left by same crew.

That's how we found ourselves sitting on a curb at 4th and Market at 4 in the afternoon, trashed and judging people's fashion choices. And staring at the infamous fag hag girl in the black dress with the great body. "Oh, black dress!" <---Quote of the day

Where it gets fuzzy is how, after a slice at SOHO, we ended up doing kamikaze shots and more drinks at TOC (hithertofore to be referred to by Sofie's apt nickname, "Tired Old Queers: The Bar," or "TOQ.") and then stumbling over to Sister's. Shit was hoppin yesterday! At some point I was boycotting one of their shitty DJ's shitty songs, just leaning up on the speaker and this chick comes up and is like "Why aren't you dancing?"and I told her I was boycotting the song, but then she like, FORCED me to dance with her...then she told me I couldn't dance and I told her that was fucked up and then her other friend was like "Oh, don't worry, I'll just dance behind you!" Haha and then I was sandwiched. I want to say they were both cute, but honestly between the vodka and the dark dance floor, the only way I recognized the chick when she started talking to me about music at the bar was by the way she smelled.

Later I tripped over someone and it turned out to be Shalimar. (I fell on my ass but didn't spill a drop of my beer - that's talent.) I was too drunk to remember that I don't like Shalimar so I was all "Hey, long time no see!" Haha, and then this morning I remembered she used to grab my gf's ass...dust under the rug now, I guess!

Anyway, long story short, my fucking legs are sore from dancing and my toes are all blistered...it's been a long ass time since I wiled out like that! It was a hella crazy night...so tit for tat, bitch, where are your stories???

-Bito

I can smell excitement!!!

Bito,

First of all, Happy 23rd Birthday!!! And, congrats on the job!!!! Sounds like you're on your way to grasp many exciting things. Believe it:)

I certainly appreciate ur advice about hooking up w my boss n not. lol

And not to worry, I happen to think it's a really bad idea to sleep w ur boss as well. What's the harm in enjoying a little palpitation during work?? hahaha. It's just amazing how people can take ur breath away sometimes;) and u know what's greater? Is when u know u have the same effect on them.

Anywho...I grabbed sexy mama out for some drinks last week;) She briefly walked me thru her past n how she ended up where she is now. Sake kicked in n I came out to her lol. Just as I expected, she didn't seem surprised. I was going to ask her if she was interested in goin to the girl party w me, but the other girl said she wants to go so I'm gna take the risk.

She told me she's heard all about me in high school... that I kissed Karin etc. I didn't think kissing a girl was a big deal for teenagers lol. She said she doesn't have experiences kissin a girl when she was a teen so she envies me lol... I guess I might have more to talk w her than I imagined. I'm kinda nervous meetin her after all these years. But if this means more friends that I can be open with, I'm happy n excited:)

Half of me is excited coz I think she's hittin on me... but the other half tells me, let's not be too cocky. lol She's definitely a fun girl so it should be a fun night.

So your job, i imagine u can work from home right?? or do u need special equipments? I think the previous science experiements were interesting. Can't wait to hear about traffic reports!! Health insurance is still keeping me interested:) So many interesting customers:) Can't really share but maybe someday over a long island icetea;)

Any road trip plans for the summer?? Since I am living at home, I plan to save 1/3 of my salary every month which is roughly $1000. I think a trip to Amsterdam will happen surely;) Funny thing is no matter how much you make... it is so easy to spend it. I gave 1/3 to my parents n some to my brother... n can't remember what I spent the rest on ... just clothes n drinks. So obviously saving is not my priority this month, but it feels like I can finally breathe.

Hopefully I'll have lots to write about tomorrow night....

Say hi to 1722!!!

-K

P.S. I miss u too Zayne!!! Have a safe trip to Egypt!!!

sorry for the lapse bro!

K,

Apologies for the lack of blogging - I went from feeling like there wasn't anything to blog about to feeling like there was too much and it was overwhelming. I've been unusually busy (you know, for me, anyway) these past couple weeks.

So I'll start off with some recent news and work back:

1. It's my birfday!!

2. I got a job!! I went on two interviews this week, the second one was yesterday morning, and then yesterday afternoon I got a call from the guy saying they wanted to offer me the job!It's a traffic editor position at traffic.com, which basically means I'm assigned to monitor 3 cities and I listen in on police scanners and watch internet tickers and stuff, then I collate the information and post on the website every 60 seconds. I work nights, about 8pm to 4am and I get $12/hr for the first 4 hours and $15/HR for any time I work between midnight and 6am. Right now they're waiting for my criminal background check to come back and I'll start the next day.

Saturday was my birthday party...I had everyone come up to my rents house to eat and play games...my dad made pulled pork sammiches (SO divine!) and broccoli cholesterol and grilled veggies, and my mom made a red velvet cake. We played some Rock Band and I learned how to play Asshole and Egyptian Ratfuck (card games). Stephen, Zayne and Sofie left early with my brother and I stayed later with Kim, Brian, Jessye, and Brian's brother Danny. Afterwards we had a drink at Dahlak and I stayed at Kim's place.

The night before that, Sofie came over and we started drinking, then Stephen joined in; all told, we drank two bottles of vodka and a magnum of champagne before going to Stephen's room and doing drunken sing-alongs to showtunes while Ste played keyboard. Then me and Sofie started replacing key words with "ass." Example (from "My Fair Lady"):

"I could have assed all night!
I could have assed all night!
And still have begged for ass!
I could have spread my ass!
And done a thousand things!
I've never done with my ass!"

Previous to that, I would call 4/20 a success, though it just couldn't hold a candle to last year...remember laying on the roof for hours with Emilia? And the stinkin' train tracks? Haha, good fuckin times...

Kim's bday party was a success, but due to rain there was no performance of Midsummer...instead, we had the party here at 1722. I was in charge of making punch and I chose to try out a new recipe...a fucking TUB of "Long Island Pink Lemonade." It consisted of a bottle of Sauza Silver tequila, and bottle of Seagram's gin, and bottle of Smirnoff, a bottle of Bacardi, 2 gallons of Wawa lemonade and a bottle of Cranberry Juice. Then we floated frozen berries in it. People kept telling me it was delicious and they were unexpectedly drunk - I was so proud!

Anecdote: In the morning, Brian and I went out, did the grocery shopping, then stopped at Wawa for mixers and because Brian was really hungry. We ate our sammiches in the car outside the liquor store and then I locked my fucking keys in the car...So instead of calling AAA, Brian was like "Well my cousin Kate is driving down, so she can just pick Stephen up and drive the keys down to us." So we wait and wait and we're wondering why it's taking so long for Kate to get to 1722 from 15th and Bainbridge. Then Stephen calls and says "Well she's here, but she doesn't have a car. She took the bus in." And then Brian was like "Oh. right." So we called AAA anyway. LOLZORZ.

The next Friday it was BEautiful out! So me n Ste n Sofie and Brian went to Ocean City. We chilled on the beach, me and Brian built a giant turtle sand sculpture, and then we went to this restaurant and speculated that our waitress, "Currie," was on coke.

Anyway, I've had an eventful few weeks I guess! Sorry again for not posting. Dude, hitting on your boss? 2 thoughts:

1. The MAC machine is BACK!!!
2. Dear god don't sleep with your boss.

Watch out for the other facebook chick, but you know at least she seems to be out or whatever...Always wishing you safety and good luck, lucky child; you've only been home a few months so my advice would be take it easy and don't jump the gun on the hooking up with people anyway...give things time and let them develop and you will know what you should do.

Brotherly Love,

-Bito

Who's the slacker now???

Bito,

What's been good??? How was Kim's b-day and Midsummer performance?? You don't wanna update me on anything? JK.

So I have a 4 day weekend!! actually it's 3day coz I worked Sat but I got 5day wkend next wk too!!!! isn't it sweet?!!! it's called Golden Week in Japan:) hells yeah! Plus got paid on Fri. I like jumped when I saw my pay check. My 1st salary, and they paid me for the whole month even tho I only worked for 3 weeks. I love my company lol.

The boss took us all out for dinner one night, and lunch at Hard Rock Cafe too. And in May, we are attending a gala coz he bought a table. I'm thinkin, he's fuckin cool!!! It just reminds me of Rachel on Friends!!! when she's trayna play hardball w Danny the Yetty, and also when Phoebe vs Monica Chandler were tryna find her a date lol. Awe classic Friends:)

I have to wear a dress tho lol. I think I'm going to wear a Thai dress. The charity is for Cambodia, but that's close enough lol JK. So the ladies were like talkin about bringing their partner/ date. The almost 40yrs old lady, let's call her sexy mama. She doesn't have a partner at the moment, and of course I'm not gna bring a date, so she was like "Keiko san, should we go as a couple?" LOL!!! I was like, "I guess I could wear a tux if you want me to." She is alwasy teasing me, I have a feeling she sees right thru me...

The other day, we were talking about age difference and I started talkin about how many Asian women look younger than their age, and sexy mama was staring at me so I asked her if I said something wrong. She said, "No no, I just really wanted to listen to what you're saying." She was also staring right at me when I was talking about how I'm attracted to people who are settled and stable lol. When I got tipsy at dinner, I just started blabbin about how attractive I think she is and I even said "You're like shining, you have a beautiful glow," which made her blush lol!!! So to sum it up, I'm flirting w my direct boss!!! lol

I'll let u know if anything interestin happens...that is if u wanna know lol. We exchanged cell# so we can play during our long wkends, but I actually don't know what to do lol.

On the other hand, there's this girl from high school that I hardly ever talked to (she was a year younger and was in soccer but never had any relationship w her beyond school) suddenly messeged me on japanese fb. I made my profile pretty obviously flamin so I could meet lesbians so I'm just wonderin why she's messegin me out of the blue after all these years. She's the kinda girl I can't imagine I'd have anything in common with... n she wants to go drinkin w me. At first I was like excited coz she's pretty hot (caucasian & japanese mix) and she had pix of her on a pole... maybe she's a pole dancer now??? AND maybe she's gay now???
N then I was like wait a minute... what does she want from me????? Remember Alex/Shakira? This girl reminds me of her (physically) lol.
She invited me to some hiphop event tonight...not sure if I'm up for it yet. But when I told her I want to go to Ladykiller, the girl party, she was like "I've been there!!"
Something tells me that I've tasted this poison before... u get me??

Anywho... I'm just trayna stay out of trouble. Please pray for my safety.

Ok bro, your turn. What's up in 1722?

Sending my love,

K

Bito,

Unfortunately there is no downtime at work. Everyone is a hard worker, and there are many many things to get done. This ain't America bro. I mean if you had health insurance and filed a claim, wouldn't you want it to be processed quickly so you can get your money back? We have to processed claims, applications, and renewals etc. that comes into our office so we can wend it over to New Zealand for assessment etc. We are a really hard working team and we kick ass:) Customer service is superb in Japan... Also, the first three months is like a trial period for me and the company to see if we like eachother.

And I like my team so much, probably because they are hard workers but also just fun to be with. Like on Friday, (I've told you already) my boss popped open wine bottles at 4pm because it's Friday, and also sort of like a bonvoyage type a thing coz he's goin to the Dubai and UK offices for meetings.

Anyways, I just got back from Saturday School with the kids:) Still tryna negotiate a higher pay since I've graduated college and have worked many years with the summer program etc. The guy who manages the salary is new and doesn't speak much English so it's hard to convince a clueless person. The department coordinator and the program director supports me, but I actually gta talk to the general manager...which is difficult because he's never at his office lol. He's basically wackin off...neways enough bout that.

So I've practically ran the whole week. Just got up and went to work 6days straight...and am exhausted, but I feel great! I'm so stoked I get to sleep in tomorrow!!! I really want it to be the end of the month, and meet my first salary!!! lol.

How was your meeting w Drake? I am sure she had lots of good advices for you.

Your science experiments sound interesting! Hey, it's something to do and you're meeting people;)

The ladies at my work are awesome eye candies too lol. Now you can understand why I enjoy learning about insurance so much! hahaha. mmm all I have to say is, it's nice.The oldest lady, the one I met at the bar, said she's almost 40...just right lol. Anyways I gave her a quick back rub and she was like, "Let's do this everyday." I was like anytime lol. Anyways I'm the youngest so they tease me a lot, and I kinda enjoy that.

Man, I'm always talking about work coz that's really all I did this week... but once I get used to it and actually get my salary, I'll make sure I get a life hahaha:)

Let me know how Kim's b-day went!!!

-K