Well, hello there! Thanks for stopping by! Surprised to see something new up here after no updates for seven weeks? I know I am!

My apologies for the very long silence. Contrary to speculation, I am in fact still alive (thankfully, the reverse culture shock I’ve experienced thus far has been of the non-fatal variety) and I certainly did have the intention to resume blogging again once I had had a chance to settle in a bit in my new country of residence.

To be honest, though, I haven’t exactly been up to all that much over the past month and a half. However, for the sake of trying to put some new content up on this website, here’s a brief rundown of what’s been going on since I last posted:

I left Japan!
Well, duh. Although we had always planned to return to North America, it was definitely hard for Judy and I to say goodbye to our home for the past five years. Sure, I took the piss and ranted and raved on this website, but I really did enjoying living there and will always cherish the memories I made and the experiences I had. I definitely miss the place and look forward to the next opportunity to go back. Now, ceasing with the retch-inspiring sentimentalism. . .

I went to New York!
Arranged at the very-last minute after a tentatively-planned business trip was canceled, I ended up making a short visit to the Big Apple to attend my aunt & uncle’s 20th wedding anniversary party. I hadn’t been out there since May 2001, so it was great catching up with relatives and seeing a bit of the city as well. I also had the additional pleasure of serving as tour guide and interpreter (half-assedly so in both regards) for a family friend and his niece who also traveled in from Japan for the festivities. Sadly, Judy was not able to come along. Speaking of my beautiful bride of nine months. . .

My wife and I are separated!
Geographically speaking, that is. Following our departure from Japan, Judy returned to Vancouver to spend some time with her family and to get some much-needed time away from me (I kid, I kid. . . I think). Naturally, I miss her terribly, but she has informed me that for various reasons, she will remain up there until I find gainful employment (or until another man steals her heart, whichever happens first). Speaking of my inability to find work. . .

I’m still unemployed!
Gosh, no one wants to hire a shiftless layabout with the social skills of a drunken baboon and the bodily reek of the same — who’da thunk it?? Despite my lack of immediate success, though, my search for employment continues on and I am optimistic that I will find a job some day soon (hopefully before my wife leaves me and my parents kick me out of the house). In the meantime, I have decided to embrace my lack of occupation and have cultivated a healthy growth of stubble in order to complete the ‘unemployed’ look, as nothing says ‘malingerer’ quite like a face several days unshaven. I have, however, been bathing somewhat regularly in a feeble attempt to preserve a modicum of self-respect, although the ever-present stench seems to indicate that my efforts thus far have been somewhat less than sufficient. I do fortunately still have some income coming in, but unfortunately it’s not enough to enable me to get my own place or to entice my wife to come back to me. Now, one might think that being unburdened by the obligations and constraints of regular employment would give me plenty of time to maintain a blog, however. . .

My computer broke!
Well, the hard drive failed, to be specific. And it happened on a Friday night while I was taking a break from job-hunting to watch the movie Ju-on: The Grudge of all things, causing the computer to freeze during one especially creepy-ass scene [the faint-of-heart might not want to click that]. After replacing my soiled underpants, I set about trying to diagnose the problem and whether I would need a specialist (or perhaps even an exorcist) to rectify the situation. Sure enough, I sadly ended up eventually having to rely on the services of a professional, something that hurt my pride as well as my wallet. Fortunately, I’ve got my computer back with a working hard drive and am ready to start blogging again (assuming that I can come up with something to write about).

So that pretty much brings us up to today. Barring any further computer problems or the arrival of an actual job offer (I can only wish), I’ll try to keep up with posting whatever I can manage to pull out of my behind, although I’m still not certain what that might turn out to be (An Analysis of Color Variation in Excremental Material, anyone?). Until the next post, I leave you with some crappy photos™ from my recent travels to New York and San Francisco. Toodeloo!