Category: Exploits

An ATM ate my bank card and the screen flashed OUT OF ORDER in incredibly annoying red letters. I socked it pretty hard and it spit my card back out, then it resumed normal operation. That was pretty much the best thing that happened today (besides finding a really good fried chicken vendor downtown).

I’ll be heading into Bangkok again for a few days… This time for fun.

We’re leaving for an (early) weekend trip to Bangkok, on a mission: To find me some wheels!
Wish us luck.
UPDATE (FEB 5):
Mission Accomplished! We are in the finance approval/transfer process and if all goes well, we’ll be picking up the new ride in a couple weeks – it is so sweet!

Just a quick observation today: When any random group of expats gathers overseas for a social event – be it a holiday, a sports event, or even just a quick drink at the local watering hole – why does there always seem to be at least one TOTAL FUCKING PSYCHO among their numbers? You know who I mean, the asshole who likes to get in the middle of conversations he couldn’t hope to begin understanding, and wants nothing more than to prove his conviction in his simpleton viewpoints by punching someone in the face… And why does the psycho always seem to be from the same country as you?

A word to the wise: Don’t post to 2ch when you are in Laos. Pass it on.

We beat all odds and experienced the best possible weather for our trip, right when the typhoon should have been beating us up – it was like we somehow squeezed into a good weather belt. Anyway, photos are forthcoming and many thanks to my pal Hirata for setting us up. ????????

Well it’s not exactly going kayaking into a typhoon, but we are going out to Wakayama and will check the conditions tomorrow morning before deciding whether to set out or not. I just don’t have enough time left to reschedule.
Then again, I’m not gonna drown myself by being stupid, either.

Surf’s up, dude!

I just scared myself real good.
I thought I’d lost my wallet.
The thing is, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen it, and I hadn’t used it for a couple of days. My heart sunk further and further as each place I searched turned up empty… I was really fucked becuase my wallet contains really everything I need to survive in modern society. Driver’s license, gaijin card, bank card, postal savings card, credit card, health insurance card, hospital card, dental clinic card, latest bank statement, a million membership cards, business cards, a few vital phone numbers jotted down on a waxy napkin, pictures of my wife and family, spare key for my car, a ball of pocket lint, my company’s pocket calendar, and a partridge in a 20th century pear tree.
To apply for replacements of all that shit would have taken longer than I have in Japan, starting with the driver’s license and gaijin card in order to be able to prove my identity at the bank, since all the cash I have on hand is the kind that jingles, in my piggy bank (actually the cardboard tube my primo bottle of Cazadores came in). I was in a sweat looking for that goddamn thing, believe me. And then I called Nam, because that’s who I always depend on when I lose shit – wallet, keys, keitai, my glasses (that’s the funniest one cuz I cant see SHIT w/o my specs). Of course, she wasn’t answering her cell in Thailand, which made me despair even more.
Anyway, after a whole hour of searching, I finally was about to give up and go file a report at the police station, and then I spotted a familiar shape underneath a car rag that I had moved today when sorting out shit in preparation for my big move to Thailand. At once, my heart jumped and I threw the evil rag aside to reveal my dear, dear wallet. Oh how I love you. I am so happy now.
Funny how things can turn in an instant. Sometimes life is sweet: