Ups and Downs

Life is always a series of ups and downs, but it's not so often you get so many on one day.

I started the day with a big spring of energy and cleaned out the shed. That was a job I started when I pregnant with Erica, and it was a hard slog with my belly and general level of exhaustion. I plugged away at it however, and got the shed into a usable, relatively well-ordered space, by putting in half an hour to an hour's worth early in the morning, while it was still cool and before I ate anything, so as to avoid morning sickness. Nevertheless, it took several weeks to achieve!

So I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I got the WHOLE shed emptied - it was clear by 11am. I only had to sweep it and deal with the piles of stuff now dumped all the way down the path to the front gate.

Downer No.1 came in the form of Kanji's health. He needs to go back to the doctor for a recurring problem, but was being typically male about it, and skipped going as it wasn't hurting 'right now'. It started to hurt after lunch though, much to his regret. I hope he didn't pull the same trick today!

UP again after a meeting at Keio. Anyone who's ever worked there will wondering how that is possible! On the phone Etsuko said something about a new class, and they needed to know my schedule today as they had to phone 'the company' by 5pm. I got excited about that, she didn't say 'the school' or 'the kindergarten' she said 'the company' which means a nice cushy company job. As K didn't go to the doctor, he was home to watch Erica, so off I went just after my early lunch. The company is Panasonic, and it's only a 10-hour stint, but it's still a nice autumn bonus.

The GOOD news though was I got the OIT job back. The college I had been teaching for ten years before being summarily dismissed last autumn as the college chose to make a contract with another English school. For reasons I am not sure about yet, our school got it back this year, so I have a job again!

Back down again in the afternoon as we learned Baachan broke her wrist! She slipped and fell - in the entrance way to a hospital of all places. She was there for her cold, so she continued that appointment, and the doctor wrapped the wrist up for her. The next day, after a painful sleepless night, she went back to the doctor for her cold, and he x-rayed it for her and discovered the break. THEN she went to the orthopedic hospital to get it set.

Japanese medical systems points to ponder:
- going to the doctor every day for a cold
- not being treated by the doctor as it's not his area of specialty

Japanese medical system plusses:
- as a senior citizen these three visits probably didn't cost her more than $50.