Normal Life

I saw my first Japanese speed trap today. It was on the road that I take to work, which is notorious for speeders. The speed limit is 50 kph, but I generally go 60 just to feel like I'm not being left in the dust. Even so, I rarely find anyone going nearly that slow. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see the cops there today.
The speed trap in question consisted of a single police man standing by the side of the road talking into his radio. May be fifty yards up the street was a pull off where two cop cars and a bunch more policemen waited attentively to pull out after any speeders the first guy reported... at least that's what I guess they were doing. Anyway, the cars in front of me had slowed down to the legal limit before I ever saw the cop, so we all passed safely through.
In other news, I got my first yen paycheck direct deposited to my Japanese account today. I feel so accomplished! To add to the sense of accomplishment, I went to the bank and withdrew some yen for my weekend activites. I had to actually go into the bank to do so, and a nice employee showed me how to fill out the form. May be next time I can do it myself... may be... I rewarded myself for this success by getting another matcha latte from the Starbucks. So it's been a good day...
Zack's little mini-vacation is over. They're leaving their current port and moving on. He's been playing soccer and golf with his shipmates and generally enjoying life, but now it's back to work. He's told me not to expect to hear from him for awhile. So that's the news.