Touchdown! Oooofff!

Any landing that you can walk away from is a good one! The same can be said about moving - yup, yours truly has arrived safe and somewhat sound in the Chicago area... It was not fun, to say the least; all that they say about your possessions owning you? Yeah, its true... Anyhow, the rent-a-Falcon got loaded on Monday (in record time), drove all night (just me and the other long-haul truckers - the Brotherhood of the Road, man!), got to the Chicago area early Tuesday morning, unloaded the beast, turned it in, then collapsed in a dirty, dishevelled heap (Holy Logistics, the salt rings on my t-shirt coalesced into an image not unlike the one on the Shroud of Turin - it was uncanny!). Many thanks to the Sherpas of E-Town for their support! Now, I'm waist deep in stuff, looking for marked boxes that have the mission critical items (where is that electric kettle so that we can make some coffee?). Socks do not match, key stuff is on the lam, and I am not certain that I want to move again before, oh, let's say... 2112? Another Life, indeed! On a positive note: the neighborhood is nice, and there is heaps of stuff to see and do (much more than semi-rural North central Kentucky).







In other (non-moving themed) news, I had a job interview today(!)... Fast enough for you? Actually, even I am shocked by the rapid turn of events. Watch out - I'm on a mission to break that Kessel Run record... (yeah, whatever, Solo).

Packing it up - packing it in!

Howdy folks! The old apartment is in a shambles - boxes everywhere. The more that gets packed, the more it seems that extraneous stuff starts to pop up everywhere. No sooner does a room or shelf get cleared, then little things start appearing in places that I could have sworn were emptied out. It is like my apartment is spontaneously generating stuff (hmmm... so, it is not only Nature that abhors a vacuum...) . Where did all these clothes hangers come from? Why can't one of the lost Czarist Fabergé eggs randomly show up (not all eight, just one...). Anyhow, the place is a mess, and I have to fly out this weekend for the Reserves (yeah, still protecting the country one weekend a month). The big push will come next week - gotta load the truck and make the long haul north. In the meantime, I hope that you are all enjoying your summer, and if you should happen to need some extra clothes hangers, please let me know - I got plenty to spare.

Kamata koshin-kyoku 蒲田行進曲

Waaaay back when (oh, sometime around Tuesday, 18 April 2006), in the early days of this blog, I was searching for a site that played JR (Japan Railway) station music. Well, two years, and several million dollars later, I found it - here is the holy grail of JR East Japan eki (station) platform tunes in all their midi-esque glory: http://www.hatsumelo.com/line/ . Please note that the site is mostly in Japanese, but each train line's name is also written in English (romaji). And, if that wasn't enough, they also put a representation of each distinctive train next to their respective line (very helpful, especially if you navigated Tokyo sen by their color) . Too cool.


If you look at the list, Number 4 is the Keihin-Tohoku Line. Click on that stylish blue train, and you come to this page: http://www.hatsumelo.com/line/keihintohoku.html .


If you count down the station list from the top, Kamata 蒲田 is number thirty. Click on track number Four (4)

Yep, that music brings back memories - enjoy!

That's no moon... It's Chicago!

Yikes and away! True to form, many things have happened since our last installment - in fact, if this was a serial, you guys probably would be scratching your heads and wondering what the heck happened to the previous... oh, I don't know, maybe thirteen chapters? Luckily, though, if you have been peering in on this blog periodically for the past year, you know that Another Life (TM) is an on-going thing (albeit, with great big Evil Knievel-esque gaps the size of the Snake River Canyon)
But I digress... the Big News: your very own Ushiku Person is pulling up stakes and heading north to the City of Broad Shoulders - Chicago! Yup, got the new digs and everything. Why the "sudden" change? {flips back to Episode XII for back-story} As you know, my original reason for coming to Kentucky was to find new opportunities. Although there is work, the jobs that everyone has been talking about and waiting for are still on the horizon (at least until 2010). I have applied for... everything, but it looks like there is going to be some down time, so, in the near future I will be up in Chicago looking for new opportunities.

Right now I am back in E-Town getting ready to load up the Rent-a-Falcon. Too bad I'm leaving, but good things await up in Illinois (I will miss Kentucky, and wouldn't you know it, but the watermelon seeds I threw into my micro-garden are actually springing up like gang-busters?). Oh yeah, by the way - I put in a small garden by the apartment door (I gotta post more...). In any event, I will keep you informed of the new triumphs and tragedies that hover above Another Life: Chicago !

I hope they have that Capone-thing under control...