Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Got up at seven o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Today the maximum temperature was below 100 degrees F.
The white girl who stood before me in the queue to pay bought two glass plates at Lowe's this afternoon. Not me.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.5 degrees C).
Friday, July 3, 2009
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza and a dish of salad for dinner. Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.5 degrees C).
Watched a DVD of "Dune (1984)" at home this evening. This is one of my favorite movies. David Lynch made a screen version of Frank Herbert's inspired novel "Dune" in 1984. It seems that making a film adaptation of this long SF story was difficult in terms of the length of time and the magnificence of those days. Its screenplay was well written so as to be suitable for the limited running time of a movie. The film sets and costumes were very artistic and luxurious. The film music is splendid. The director's distinctive senses were incorporated everywhere in this film. There are several impressive lines found in this movie, such as "Travel without Moving", "Fear is the Mind Killer", "Long Live Fighters", and "Sleeper Has Awaken". Unfortunately, however, this film wasn't a success at the box office. It's probably because the original novel is intended for male readers mainly and this film isn't for all people but for connoisseurs. His uncanny sensibility in a screen image dealing with an abnormal mentality of deviant characters isn't for ordinary people. Indeed, the ingenious direction of an overstated villain brings the innate goodness of a hero into prominence.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Today is Independence Day. Got up at nine o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day. Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (39 degrees C).
In spite of my invitations several times, my mother has never visited the US because she has problems with foreign languages. She's simply afraid of traveling to a country where she can't make herself understood. Both my sister and her daughter have lived with my mother for nine years. Unfortunately, neither has traveled abroad and can speak English. My wife's mother once visited Austin, Texas in March 2003 though she can't speak English, either.
BTW, my wife's maiden name is Kobayashi. Needless to say, a fast eater isn't a relative of hers.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Got up at ten-fifteen in the morning. Went shopping at Whole Foods and HEB grocery stores this morning. The white girl who stood after me in the queue waiting her turn to pay bought a gossip magazine at the HEB grocery store. Not me.
Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-European meal for dinner. Made backup copies of computer files to the external hard drive this afternoon. Today the maximum temperature was 103 degrees F (39.5 degrees C).
In my diary, subjects about nuclear weapons have been written several times because they are hot issues these days. However, any topic about nuclear weapons has never been brought into my conversation with Americans in my life, except a case, simply because it seems to me that they don't want to hear it. Bringing an unwelcome topic into conversation should be an exhibition of bad manners. The only exception was that, at a cafeteria on a hot day in hurricane season of 2005, an American suddenly told me like this:
An American: A strong hurricane is heading to the South Texas area from the Gulf of Mexico. The US Army should use nuclear bombs to blow a hurricane. Do you think that this is a good idea?
The following is my reply:
Y. Shiho: It's uncertain whether the blasts from the nuclear bomb explosions are strong enough to blow a hurricane or not. However, if the US were to detonate nuclear bombs around the center of a hurricane brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, either an upgraded hurricane or a downgraded tropical depression should bring radioactive contaminations here. When lethal radioactive fallout rained down here, it could be seriously harmful to your and your family's health.
The issues of the unclear bomb seem to be rather sensitive in the US in terms of politics, faith, and education. It's understandable. However, these issues should be much more sensitive for the Japanese. What an insensitive choice of the topic of conversation that was! What Dr. Strangelove says in the movie is more logical, though both jokes are basically absurd.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Read a technical paper. Today the maximum temperature was 96 degrees F (35.5 degrees C).
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-European meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 99 degrees F (37 degrees C).
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 105 degrees F (40.5 degrees C).
My computer has frozen several times for the last couple of days.
Watched a DVD of "Blade Runner, The Director's Cut" at home this evening. This film brings to the screen the classic SF novel satirizing human society of P. K. Dick's, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" At some points, the version of this movie called the director's cut, which R. Scott edited of his own accord afterward, is superior to the original version that was released in 1982 and gave me visual pleasure in the theater in my teens. Remarkably, the dramatic images that were filmed by the use of special effects without computer graphics almost thirty years ago still haven't faded. This is one of the most acclaimed SF movies ever created.
In this movie, in order to alleviate traffic congestion in Los Angeles in 2019, a car flies at a certain altitude and it's parked on the roof of a building occasionally. The screen image that shows many cars flying through dips between the roofs of skyscrapers soaring high above the center of the city is very fantastic. However, this isn't a good idea and will never come true.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
Friday, July 10, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (39 degrees C).
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Got up at ten o'clock in the morning. Went shopping at Whole Foods and HEB grocery stores this morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of Central Market pizza for dinner. Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (38 degrees C).
One of the real estate websites, the bookmarks of which are kept in my web browser, was down or my access to there was blocked today.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Got up at nine o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day. Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.5 degrees C).
Monday, July 13, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, pieces of Uniekaas Robusto cheese, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. People don't become obese as long as they can manage to have an adequate diet in terms of both quantity and balance. Just abstain from gluttony. My weight is still 147 pounds. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 103 degrees F (39.5 degrees C).
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, pieces of Uniekaas Robusto cheese, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 103 degrees F (39.5 degrees C).
According to the Cobuild dictionary, a computer hacker originally means someone who uses a computer a lot, especially so much that they have no time to do anything else, and it more often means someone who tries to break into computer systems, especially in order to get secret information. The latter of these two computer hackers is one of the most typical computer criminals and it's also called a computer cracker.
Recently, computer criminals have been very active behind the scenes in international and domestic affairs. Unfortunately, some computer criminals have consistently targeted my computers for the last several years. The computer criminals who call themselves friends, administrators, etc. are unwelcome.
Have never tried to break into any computer system in my life. Have never logged in to any computer system without using the password given to me. Have never logged in to the computer system that my account isn't retained in, either.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (39 degrees C).
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Read a technical paper. Today the maximum temperature was 103 degrees F (39.5 degrees C).
Tattooing has more and more gained popularity in the US. Astonishingly, a tattoo fashion one often sees in the streets in the US these days is Asian style. It feels strange somehow to see an American who ornaments his/her body with Japanese tattoos. Very different from the US, however, tattooing is very unpopular in Japan. Needless to say, there is no tattoo on my body.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.5 degrees C).
As written in my diary on July 5, it has frequently surprised me that the American people at large display their lack of knowledge of exposure to radioactivity though it seems to me that one of the most expert intellectuals in the area of nuclear weapons in the world should be found in the US government. In most of the popular novels published and movies released in the US recently, a nuclear bomb is treated as just a high-power bomb. These novels and movies ignore one of the worst hazardous parts of nuclear bombs, that is, the effect of radioactivity on the human body. For example, see "Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears" and "Frank Herbert's Dune".
Of course, there are always exceptions. The US TV drama series, "24, Season 2" dealt with this issue seriously. The UK animation movie, "When The Wind Blows" calmly relates the fear. Although his jokes aren't elegant, "Dr. Strangelove" gives a matter-of-fact. Hope that the US government will maintain a considerable number of authorities well versed in things about nuclear weapons, especially its riskiness.
BTW, a younger brother of my wife's gave her DVDs of Seasons 1 and 2 of "24" sometime in 2004. We watched them at home.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza and a dish of salad for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day. Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.5 degrees C).
Obesity isn't well thought of in Japan. Even former sumo wrestlers customarily take off their weight in order to help reduce serious risks to their health after their retirement from the sumo world. However, it seems inevitable that the appearance of most middle-aged people on average deteriorates because of the so-called middle-age spread.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Went out shopping at Whole Foods and HEB this afternoon. Today the maximum temperature was 99 degrees F (37 degrees C).
Recently, people who are healthy but out of shape have started over again coming near to me and giving me a cough. Not me. My figure is still kept well, and my persistent cough from either overwork or poison stopped about 4~5 years ago.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Read a technical paper. Today the maximum temperature was 98 degrees F (36.5 degrees C).
Went to a nearby post office to send a letter this afternoon. It seems that members of the Asian groups and American groups who have been following both my wife and me for the last several years waited for me at a local post office. They are still encroaching on our right to privacy by either wiretapping our conversations or hacking our computers. Who are they? They are composed of Korean, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, and well-padded people in Austin Texas. There are always Japanese agitators behind the scenes.
A white color Pontiac that either a Vietnamese man or a Korean man drove tailed my truck running at regulation speed on the way to my house. They are still playing such a boy's and girl's game. This time, the license plate number of a Pontiac isn't disclosed in my diary.
Talked to my mother on the telephone. She misunderstood that a company had been tracking both my wife and me down for some reason. The truth is that some ethnic groups and communities have hanged around us in order for various interests.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (38 degrees C).
My wife found a topic in the current issue of Forbes magazine and let me know about it. The topic reminded me of a strange past event. The following story was told by my wife:
In the early summer of 2001, a Japanese man recommended an Asian restaurant in Austin Texas to me. When my first visit to an Asian restaurant took place a couple of months later, the first thing an Asian chef said was, "There is a brothel an Asian owner operates in Austin." Within a minute after he saw me first time, he came out with a crazy suggestion. It might be just a joke, hopefully. My answer was, "No, that's not necessary."
When the Japanese man who recommended an Asian restaurant heard this happening from me in the summer of 2001, he said, "Let's go!" He also came out with such a crazy idea. My answer was, " A wise man keeps clear of danger."
It seems that the customers who an Asian brothel is primarily targets at are both American and Asian, especially people who come from their homeland on an overseas business trip. The Japanese man who recommended an Asian restaurant left Austin Texas in the autumn of 2001. It's uncertain whether he found out the address of a brothel and went there as a customer those days or not. The address of the brothel is still unknown to me. The existence of such an illegal activity is still unclear.
My wife said that not only Asians but most other groups and communities also have such a place probably. The Japanese man who recommended an Asian restaurant might be one of the Japanese agitators. She may be right.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.5 degrees C).
This diary is written using Microsoft Word 2001. In order to create documents at home, the CD-ROM of Microsoft Office 2001 was purchased online and installed on my first computer, that is, Power Mac G3 Blue & White in 2000. It's still in use on the Classic OS 9 in iMac G5.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-European-style meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 96 degrees F (35.5 degrees C).
Friday, July 24, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza and a bowl of salad soup for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. The OS 10.3 and several applications including the Classic were reinstalled on iMac G5 together in order to repair three damaged applications this evening. All three damaged applications were recovered. Today the maximum temperature was 99 degrees F (37 degrees C).
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Got up at nine-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (39 degrees C). The release of the OS 10.3 was updated up to 10.3.9 after downloading packages. The reinstallation of Microsoft Office 2001 from a CD-ROM on the Classic environment did not fix a Word problem. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Got up at ten-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a hamburger meal for dinner. Went out shopping at Whole Foods and HEB this evening. Today the maximum temperature was 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
My visits from Japan to Italy (Rome), Mexico (Merida, Cancun, and Mexico City), the USA (Los Angeles), Russia (Moscow), Greece (Athens, Mykonos, and Peloponnisos), and China (Hong Kong, Guilin and Guangzhou) for sightseeing took place in 2006,1996,1996,1995,1995 and 1990, respectively. Have lived in the USA since 1997 until now for more than twelve years. Have never visited any other county, so far.
As written previously, all my desires are a pleasant life in a luxury house located in a safe place together with a wife of mine for several more decades and our own healthy children. It goes without saying that possession of either a harem or lovers isn't my wish at all. The word "unfaithfulness" is not in my dictionary.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (39 degrees C).
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner. Read a couple of technical papers. Today the maximum temperature was 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner. Read a technical paper. Today the maximum temperature was 96 degrees F (35.5 degrees C).
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. It's rained for the first time in many days in Austin. However, it wasn't enough to soak into the ground by the depth of tree roots. Read a technical paper. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. My iMac G5 was suddenly shut down without any warning several times. Today the maximum temperature was 97 degrees F (36 degrees C).
Friday, July 31, 2009
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner. Today the maximum temperature was 98 degrees F (36.5 degrees C).
