Life's annoyances

On Sunday, I thought I had the VCR hooked correctly to the satellite
receiver unit to tape a couple of programs off a couple of channels. It
was only after wasting my time that I find out that somehow I had
switched the color coded cables for the video and an audio channel and
ended up not getting anything I had waited all week to get.

I figured out I could run the video out into the VCR and then the box
that takes those signals and turns it into RF could be plugged into the
output from the VCR. That way in the future I'll know it's hooked up
correctly.

Also my grandfather's old cat is very senile. I'm just waiting for him
to get old and not be here anymore. If I don't block off access to my
room with something he won't try to jump over, he'll sneak in my room
without me knowing and pee in a couple of spots in my room on the carpet
or any newspaper lying on the carpet. I treat these spots with a dousing
of vinegar, but not before I grab him and rub his nose in the deeds he
left behind (both of these were still wet) and impress upon him the
dangers of doing what he just did and that anything other than the
catbox is just not an option. Period.

The catbox is clean and deodorized. He has no excuse. I won't take his
old age as an excuse either. Family members keep suggesting I have him
put to sleep. Thing is, I want to do for him that my grandfather never
did for us, except in the case of Ariel, the dog we had from puppy until
what I consider an early death due to changing her to food she was very
allergic to and instead of just simply changing her back, everyone
decided to medicate her seizures.

My grandfather, for much of my early life, never let us keep a dog for
long. Even the golden retriever my mom had was kept out at my
grandparents' house. But there was the tall female beagle one aunt gave
us who subsequently got pregnant and had a litter of puppies. But no, we
couldn't keep her anymore. I was walking home from school one day to see
my mom, grandparents, and our dog being whisked away and I got yelled at
to go straight home. I hadn't walked that far off school grounds when I
saw the car go past. That does things to a kid, but my grandfather
didn't care. Even the puppy I got to pick out I was also forced to give
her up before we moved in town.

But even then we had dogs again. When I went away to college after high
school, my grandfather was once again the reason my dog at that time was
also whisked away to the dog pound.

Until my younger sister got her Molly-dog, we had never had a dog from
puppy until it died. Plenty of cats, but never a dog. We cried hard when
Ariel passed away because she just loved us so much. My younger sister
and her Molly got really attached, too.

So, in spite of Grizz peeing where he shouldn't, I desperately want to
try to give him a life in his old age. He's picky and stubborn, a bit
like my grandfather. His friend Marmalade will likely miss him because
he doesn't get along with Negi at all.

In Memoriam: Becki Doland

Tonight while bored, I was browsing through Genvid's forums when I found a post about a 30th Anniversary DVD release of The Sea Prince and The Fire Child, a classic Japanese animated film from the 1980s. It reminded me of a friend named Becki Doland who had a decent but rather unofficial copy of a dub version of it on VHS, and how some years ago while visiting with friends I got to see it. She absolutely loved the film and went to great lengths to track down the copy she got. She really wanted it on DVD.

Then I saw that an official DVD release happened just a few weeks ago. Right Stuf has it for about $15.

I wanted to tell Becki, perhaps fire off a letter (since her computer, last time I saw it, wasn't working right and she basically dropped off the net) and let her know.

That's when I began an online search to confirm the address I pulled off  a CD. And then that's when I began seeing search results for her obituary. She passed away on January 30th of this year. She was only 34, 27 of them spent battling some form or another of kidney disease. She once told us she was not only adopted, but was the first patient at the Cleveland Clinic to undergo a double organ transplant (kidney and liver). Her diminutive stature was likely due to her early fight with what I remember her saying was a genetic problem.

Damn. Why couldn't that DVD have happened any sooner!?!

My friends and I first met her through email messages posted to the group of an old anime club she had attended a couple of times. She lived in Brunswick, which is quite a drive from Canton. If I remember right, she went with us to Anime North beginning in 2000, and ended with Anime North 2004. She was quite a sparkplug. She had been to Anime Expo and Ohayoucon as well. Her presence (sp) made for quite an experience. I remember one year at Anime North buying a Candy Candy DVD which made her mad because she wanted it, and on pure adrenaline got up and walked away from us without the aid of her wheelchair. Considering more than a few of her joints were some metal replacement and that usually meant a lot of pain, that was quite a feat. She eventually calmed down and found the vendor had another copy of the DVD which she was able to buy the next day.

I had the chance to buy some items from her, like the original Ojamajo Doremi Peperuto Poron from Japan, not the lousy crap Bandai put in stores from the horrible 4kids dub. She still had quite a few things from her trips to Anime Expo that I drooled over. She was there in 1998 dressed as Sailor Saturn, complete with glaive. I have a copy of the video she got from doing that. I think I finally sent off a copy of the Anime North 2004 Masquerade DVD either last year or earlier this year. This was a DVD she couldn't get to play because a paper label got slapped on it, and I finally got ahold of a system with a DVD reader that pulled it off perfectly and I made a backup copy and sent it to her (after removing the label, of course).

She was also known among us as the Goddess of Parking because she had the blue Handicapped tag we could hang from the rearview mirror, something which enabled us to find those 5 Japanese music CDs one year, and it took me until earlier this year to finally identify the last unknown track on the Mystery CD.

We didn't get to know her for long, but I am still thankful to have met her.



By some odd coincidence, I found this in a PDF (yes, I edited the cap, but the words not in Anime Ace font are untouched) from a Medina County hospice PDF newsletter. Here's her name and the name "Campanella" below it. Sure, this is a coincidence, but consider the fact that The Blessing of Campanella was an anime that ran this summer and a videogame with the same name is also coming out. I had no reason to pay attention to this anime at all, but I did. Was this some sort of sign that Becki would have liked it?

10 Unanswered Questions?

I'm going to do this for shits and giggles, but past experience has
taught me that I should never do these kinds of things.

>1. What is the meaning of life?

42. We don't yet have the question to go with that answer.

>2. Is there a God?

No, because proof denies faith.

>3. Do blondes have more fun?

Well, I'm not a blonde and I'm not having much fun, so I'd say yes.

>4. What is the best diet?

One that keeps you alive. Some say the Mediteranean (sp) diet is best. I
prefer Japanese.

>5. Is there anybody out there?

Well, the universe being infinitely vast and all, there's no chance for
anyone ELSE out there, let alone us either. The entire population of the
universe is actually zero. There's also no money, imports, or exports.
Consult The Guide for more information.

>6. Who is the most famous person in the world?

The guy who unclogs toilets.

>7. What is love?

A song by some guy.

>8. What is the secret to happiness?

Sex and Money. Though some people with money aren't always happy, the
sex makes up for that. The 2 are very related in many ways. I know if I
had money, sex would be there soon after, and having both would make me
happy.

>9. Did Tony Soprano die?

Probably. We'll exhume the body someday to find out for sure.

>10. How long will I live?

What does the expiration date on your birth certificate say?

A Year Ago Today, 9/15

Mom had the first of two planned surgeries to correct cataracts in her
eyes. I remember her having to put eye drops in one eye that they were
going to operate on, but they told her the wrong eye. So instead of the
eye she was putting drops in, they operated on the other. She described
it as looking through a yellow mist.

She was waiting for the availability of that year's flu shots. The H1N1
flu was going around. She didn't want to catch it. She usually got her
flu shot as soon as she could every year.

She was telling the people at the hospital that they were Awesome and
afterwards telling her friends how the staff put her at ease. The doctor
told a few jokes. There was a delay in the actual procedure because they
had to put the drops in the eye they were going to work on and gave the
stuff a chance to do what they were supposed to do.

I wish I could remember the stuff she said about the whole experience.
She was so worried about it all, but it ended up changing her life.
After things healed enough, she found she could see without glasses for
the first time in over 40 years. She said it takes getting used to
trying to take off her glasses to see up close and she's not wearing
glasses. I even shopped for her to buy some reading glasses since the
replacement lens fixed her vision but only up to a point. The doctor
said she would need something for the up-close stuff.

I'll have to ask my younger sister to see if she remembers more about
what mom told her about that first cataract operation.

This next month is going to be hard to get through. I see the stuff
around me that got left behind and I cry. My mom should be here and
she's not and it's not fair. I keep telling myself that she's just in
the hospital and I keep wondering when she's coming home.

I was hoping the pain would go away, but it hasn't.

Report on Loose Socks v.0.1

I have been going through my saved Email messages on the terminal and
found this gem which I am posting to my blog.

------

This is a short essay on Loose Socks, the socks in fashion with Japanese
school girls. This is before I do any translation on actual quotes of
loose-sock-wearing girls from one magazine article I have.

According to my source, they are available in at least 3 different
sizes:

Normal length - not sure on the length, but it's about 609 yen

Long length - about 60 cm, 735 yen

Super Long length - about 90 cm, 1575 yen

The Normal length is called "Cute Style" made by Chu Chu Anna in Japan.
The care instructions warn "Do Not Bleach" though with these being white
socks, it's a wonder to me why not.

The Long Length is made by "St. Bearding House". The socks are a Cotton,
Acrylic, Nylon, Polyurethane blend. This pair is a King Original made in
Japan.

The Super Long Length (also known as Too Long Length) are 90 cm, and are
the most commonly seen style. These wonderfully long socks go right up
the shin, and can practically go up over the knee. These are the right
pair for the proper baggy or "loose sock" look. This pair is called
"It's Art" and is officially labelled as "Loose Socks" by Elegan Co,
Ltd. Yokohama, Japan. One sticker even boasts "Best Quality / Good
Feeling Loose Socks". I'm not going to argue that!

Instructions with these socks include how to wash, what not to wash them
with, and how to keep them up. The fact that these 3 pairs of loose
socks do not have elastic is also indicated in some way.

How To Keep Them Up -

Wearing shoes plays an important part in keeping these socks up, as does
some kind of Sock Stickem. 3M could make something for these and make a
mint.

I actually asked a Japanese school girl in Japan how to keep these socks
up and she tells me:

"In order to keep loose socks up, we use a kind of glue called "Sock
Touch"."

She drew a series of pictures. Get a small ball (or dab) from the
container, pull up your socks to the height you desire, then roll them
down a bit. Smear the little ball of stickem around your leg where you
intend to keep the socks up at, and then roll up the edge of the sock -
"Stuck!"

Without any translation of the article I've seen, it seems school girls
who wear the long loose socks take pride in the fact they can get theirs
to look perfect. Until I actually do some research on their answers,
this is all I can report.

-end of paste-

So I've been thinking...

This latest bit has had me thinking a lot in the past week. I just
wonder if I can understand it a bit more.

If you don't agree with something said about you (ie negative
criticism), is it illegal?

If it hasn't caused anyone harm, can someone still be sued because of
it? I would believe a burden of proof is required here.

What if the person who wrote it had good reason to believe it was true
at the time it was written? This is a plausible defense.

If you feel someone is saying negative things about you or your group,
company, etc, at what point do you just simply defend against it in your
own way in a professional manner and hope nobody takes the negative
comments seriously as opposed to threatening with legal action or
"other" methods?

In my mind, there is a difference between saying / writing negative
comments and untrue things, and a difference between saying them
intentionally and saying them because at the time that's what one
believed to be true until further evidence turns up.

And then there's the terms regarding saying untrue things (slander) and
writing them (libel), and just plain negative comments (which I call
Criticism).

You can't be sued for criticism. Most of the time you also can't be sued
for expressing an opinion. The words "I feel" or "I think" also apply
here.

I wish I had the capability to sue people for saying untrue things about
me. But at the same time I already have the skills to act professionally
when people express negative criticism. I can take it as a means to
better myself or to respond as to why the negative comments / criticism
is unwarranted. It's also the other people's responsibility to read that
response and act accordingly. Most of the time they have only their
point of view. They should be willing to understand the other side of
the situation.

It's really sad when they refuse to learn how to act professionally.
Maybe a class in Business communication is required.

Case in point. One day years ago while working at the restaurant, I had
woken up with a really bad pain in my back. This limited my capabilities
for the day until I could find some way to get my back into shape again.
One of the shift supervisors didn't like me, and even though I told her
that my back wasn't in the best of shape and she would have to pull a
bit more of her own weight, that still didn't stop her from ignoring
what I had told her. So while trying to take care of something, she
yelled at me from the front line because I hadn't acted fast enough for
her. I got mad and kicked a trash container across the back line floor.
She had a couple friends in and "encouraged" them to complain on the
toll free comment phone number.

A few days later they were back in, so was the annoying shift supervisor
girl and my boss. I explained to her friends that "we discussed the
incident and we agree it was unfortunately not handled in the best
manner possible." My boss was impressed by my response. The girls
accepted this statement, but nobody noticed that I did not apologize for
the incident in any way. But the annoying coworker never did that sort
of thing to me again!

I found out a few years ago she went on to get a nursing degree when her
obituary was printed in the local paper. I thought OMG. She must have
gotten cancer or something. I didn't wish for that.

Oh well. Things happen.

An annoying aggravating inconvenience

I don't know what my sister is doing now. Apparently there's some GFI
outlet that needs to go in somewhere in the basement. Only thing is the
circuit that powers most of the downstairs (TV, computer, much of the
kitchen) she feels the need to switch off. Upstairs, the bathroom, one
outlet and some part of the kitchen (fridge) are on other circuits.

This means I can't watch TV or use the computer that's on that circuit
while it's off. I hope the router retains the settings.

Anywho, I've waited PATIENTLY for an HOUR. I don't think she planned
this out very well. I know you can install light fixtures and switch out
outlets without turning off the electricity. I've done it and it's
simple science. Just don't touch both wires at the same time. That's all
there is to it.

I don't know what she is doing. Most people, say if they're putting in
an entirely new outlet, usually get said outlet and box in place, run
the wire from the outlet, then if they need to, switch off the circuit
to connect the wires. Much less down time than what I'm putting up with
now.

It pisses me off over inconveniences like this. Yes, she told me that
she was going to do this, but all I thought it was some simple outlet
installation switch out or something. You don't need to turn off the
power. This is bad planning what she's doing now.

She knows I'm annoyed. It might not get her to finish any sooner, but
maybe in the future she'll consider others and plan better.

Ferengi Nosed Over Priced Dvd Guy

Came home early from Kitsunecon

After doing the cooking panel, I was really tired and in some pain, and
I also decided I had enough fun for the weekend so I came home early. I
was looking forward to Sunday Afternoon as my return window. As it is,
Kitsunecon is an anime convention waiting to be discovered and possibly
grow.

The dealers room needed more dealers and more variety. Asian Invasion
was cool being there. There was one other lady in another corner selling
all sorts of nice useful items and some cosplay. I think she made some
money. The Overpriced DVD guy made a sale, and he tends to show up
almost everywhere.

I had hoped to find some "I"s that I don't have or even Eiken books I
missed. I figured I spent enough and that wasn't going to change. I came
to do a good cooking panel at last and I accomplished that. If I get a
chance to do it again, I'll try to do only 2 things, maybe 3. Still, I
managed to make some food that was well received. All those who missed
it, too bad. I really should have taken some more Ibuprofen just before
the panel began. My organized preparation made it easy to get through
what I wanted to do.

As it turns out, coming home early was a good thing another way. My
younger sister who I asked to look after Melody, apparently unlocked the
deadbolt on the back door, so anyone who wanted access but not approved
by me while I was away could get in to the basement, for example, even
though there was access from outside already. The basement door was
unlocked from inside, too. Shows who I can trust. Both people I asked to
watch after our dog claimed allergies. I need to find someone else I can
trust who won't give access to people who don't freaking need it and
take advantage of when I'm away.

It's the principle of trust.

Anywho, Rant over for now. I'm sleeping in. I got a picture of that one
dealer with the DVDs to post. I managed to get a photo of only 1
cosplayer. And that Robert Axelrod who was supposed to appear? He may
very well do that for Sunday. I don't know. There were some other guests
who did appear, though. There were some last second changes made for
whatever reason. I hope they can find slightly bigger facilities and
better promotion. This was sort of like Anime North in its 2nd year.
Just don't grow too fast.

Kitsunecon Day 2

Cooking panel: Mission Acomplished. It was very well received, with the Takoyaki and Taiyaki with chocolate Gnutella being a big hit. It took longer than I am used to when cooking these things with the little electric burner I used, so I barely got to doing the California sushi rolls when time ran out. I filled the 2 hours I was graciously and generously given. The Okonomiyaki was enjoyed but didn't get to cook up the entire batch I mixed up.

I'm hoping to be able to do another cooking panel, possibly with help, as well as a 2nd burner or an electric griddle for okonomiyaki. The only thing I didn't do was CURRY. Oh well. I guess it's better to be over prepared rather than have to strain and fill 2 hours of panel time with 30 minutes of content.

Got to see Adam again, though it was just a wave at the door. I wish he had come in to see the panel. Also got to see more of the Spatula crew that I miss.

The most interesting vendor in the dealers room is the one selling $1, $5, and $10 mystery goodie bags.