When it rains...

It's official: the rainy season is here. For about the last month, every time it rains someone has mentioned this alleged rainy season, but assured me that the current rain was not a part of it. It has now been raining (albeit off and on) for four days straight, and no one can deny that it is that time. In the last four days, I've seen one patch of blue sky and the sun has come out for an hour. Dory is not pleased. She really takes some convincing when it's time to go outside. Luckily, it does stop occasionally, and it hasn't actually poured yet. So when it stops, sometimes I'll just take her out since it's not actually going to get her wet. I don't know if this helps, but whatever.
I'm told that, though the rain can be annoying, it is absolutely vital to the water supply here. In years past, they have rationed water if there wasn't enough rain. One of the teachers over at the junior college even told us that tenish years ago they cut off the water altogether and came around every other day with trucks to dole out the rations. The good news is that these rations don't technically apply to the base. They're simply "encouraged" to go along with what the Japanese are doing. Unfortunately, I don't live on base, so rain is good. The better news is that the reservoirs are apparently at like 80% right now, so we should be okay...
Beyond the weather, there was another Noritake sale today. I know, I know, I promised early warning. I didn't get any myself, though. So I got a few little gifts to send on home, and some things for me that match my daily stuff. Since Zack wasn't along, my deliberation process was much quicker. As a result, I got more time to watch the auction in the back of the warehouse, and I think I figured it out, mostly. So here's my interpretation of a Japanese Noritake auction: the auctioneer holds up the item in question and suggests a selling price. Everyone who would buy the item for that price raises their hands. (If no one raises their hands, the auctioneer lowers the price until someone does.) At this point, a game of rock paper scissors ensues. They even have their own rhyme to go with it, but I haven't got that yet. The goal is to beat the auctioneer, in which case, you stay in the game. So if the auctioneer has paper, and you have scissors, you're still in. This continues until one person remains, and that person gets the plate at the suggested price. If the auctioneer beats everyone in a round, they all get a do-over. Highly amusing, if a little slow.
In other news, Zack called last night at like 12:30. I thought it was my alarm and was really disoriented when I figured out it was the phone. Luckily, he had no reason to call other than to chat, and that was apparently the first chance he'd had that day. Needless to say, he's a little stressed (okay, a lot stressed). The good news is that the stress is having a positive effect on his long-term planning. He's decided to ask for a few days of leave the next time a big leave time is scheduled, so we may go see some of the rest of Japan. So that much is good. He's ready to be home, and I'm ready for him to be here. We've still got a little time to go, though.