C. Buddha's Hasty Musings

So I’ve been watching the price of things, all kinds of things, here in Thailand. One of the bargains I noticed early on was for Japanese-made mobile phones other than Sony-Ericsson. In Thailand, Nokia is the absolute king, which is probably responsible for this trend (Sony still has brand power here so this explains their exclusion above). In fact, LG and Samsung cellphones are also more popular and expensive than their Japanese brethren, which I feel is ridiculous when I compare the products, yet am more than willing to take advantage of.
I picked up the black Panasonic VS6 for a little over 5,000 Baht ($140) last week and liked it so much, I went back to get a matching red one for Nam’s birthday. There is not much to say about this phone except that it totally kicks the shit out of the equivalent Nokia in every aspect – functionality, quality of build, photo quality, features, ease of use – at half the price.
I may be biased, but every cell phone from a non-Japanese manufacturer I’ve ever used has had an overly complicated (or overly simplified) user interface, making simple tasks long, drawn-out affairs. I’ve worked with the cell testing groups at factories in Japan and know that at many companies, each phone’s UI is tested by an army of 500 temp workers maintained exclusively for usability trials. They may very well have similar testing in other countries as well, but I doubt it is on the same scale. Anyways, an added bonus of this phone is that if you are used to using a Japanese keitai interface, this phone will be very easy to operate.
To answer the questions in my previous post, this phone seems to be available in the states (random shop link), but being GSM will not be available for use in Japan (it can be purchased in Japan for usage overseas in GSM countries, though – google jp link)

So here’s the deal: I got the university job and started yesterday, I’ve taught three classes so far and will be teaching Tuesday through Friday, 18 hours a week. I was assigned an office (shared with four other teachers) and a desk yesterday; today I was greeted at the door by a large, dirty dog who tried to schnozz my crotch, but was blocked by my Sweeping Dragon knee-block (I have two younger sisters and a younger brother, this particular defense is the sole reason my powers of procreation lasted past age 12). Later, I tried to pet said dog on the head, and he snapped at my fingers… I think we understand each other now.
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What was that thing about “sleeping dogs” again?
Well, I won’t blog about work so much because I haven’t signed a contract yet, and also this job is inherently different from what I was doing in Japan. I feel I have to watch what I say because there are so many eyes on me now… like, I shouldn’t fucking curse so much, you know?
Meh, it’s all or nothing for me, you know? Either say what I mean, or blog anonymously. So, no real plans to change the way I do things here; I’ll just be open about it and see what happens. At my previous job, I actually had a blogging clause written into the contract. I kind of decided to never mention my company’s name on the blog, and it worked out well I think. I mean, there was the whole pink shirt issue, which pretty much made my company look like a bunch of idiots, but hey – that’s what the people who made the decision were.
One thing I will say about the new workplace is that I like the outdoor amphitheatre-sans-roof right next door:

“I am an opera singer”