I’ve just seen Miyagawa announce on Twitter that he has received a White Camel award at this year’s OSCON. I have not seen the official announcement yet but I imagine that he has been awarded this for his work in being a key organiser of YAPC::Asia and for his work with Shibuya.pm. Well done!
. . .Marty and I have started to look for a new apartment. We still have months to do this but we really don’t know much about the different residential areas of the city. I really like the area we live in and we do have a nice apartment but I think it might be an idea to try to experience life in a different part of the city.
Yesterday we went and looked at a new apartment complex in Minami-Senju. The area wasn’t anywhere near as nice as the one we currently live in but the apartment was stunning. It would cost around the same to rent as our current apartment but it had two extra rooms. It was also in one of those buildings that looks more like a hotel than an apartment block with water fountains outside, a marble lobby with red leather sofas and a reception desk. The complex also has a gym and a Japanese style spa. We also liked the fact that the apartment was brand new with a beautiful kitchen and bathroom. And it had a view over the city and of Mt. Fuji.
We were told that this would probably be fully rented by the time we would be moving but it has shown us that we could have a much nicer apartment. Next week we are thinking about taking a look at the area around Hikarigaoka Station.
. . .This is something about the heat and humidity that makes me want to sleep. I found it really hard to get up today and yesterday afternoon I managed to fall asleep after I had carried the shopping home. Usually it takes me about 15 minutes to get back from that shop but yesterday it took half and hour and I was out of breath when I got here.
I have been told that summer hasn’t arrived in Tokyo yet as the rainy season isn’t over. I’m really not looking forward to summer as along with the heat it will bring bugs.
. . .I am writing this post using Internet Explorer on a Windows machine. My MacBook has died - Marty thinks that the hard disc has gone - and the latest Firefox updates have broken Firefox on my PC.
. . .My sister Christine has been asking me why I haven’t written about her trip to Japan as last year I was keen to write about her exploits. The only reason has been my lack of desire to do anything with a throbbing head.
I am always stunned by how much “get up and go” Christine has. She arrived in Japan with a recently broken toe on her right foot. I thought that this might slow her down but she continued to go out every day. When I got to Japan I was shocked by how bad her foot looked. It was purple and swollen and she had either been badly bitten or was allergic to something. When I pointed this out she pointed out that that wasn’t the foot with the broken toe. (I have never been that good at telling left from right). So both her feet are a complete mess. What does she decide to do? Put on a pair of sandals and go hiking on Mount Takao!
I took a picture of her foot as she tells me that her friends haven’t quite grasped how bad it looks (she normally has really slender legs, ankles, and feet).
This morning when she was limping around the apartment I suggested that she stay in and rest her legs and feet. I was told that there was no way she was spending time in Japan sitting around my apartment. (I too would have liked to have gone out today but this is not the country to travel around coughing, spluttering and carrying two boxes of tissues).
When I said that she might have difficultly walking her response was, “maybe I should hire a bike and cycle around”. Her feet have either gotten so bad she no longer has any feeling in them or she has super powers that I don’t possess.
. . .I realised that my infection was affecting my mood when I found myself yelling at the screen, “come on Lewis, get out of the gravel, your granny could qualify better than that!”.
Marty came to my rescue with a cold compress for my swollen face, steam and olbas oil to help clear my sinuses, hot tea and dark chocolate for some chemicals they contain, and paracetamol for my fever.
. . .I haven’t written anything for quite some time now. I am hoping that next week I get to catch up on my blogging though that depends on how well I feel. I have a chest infection that combined with the heat and jetlag is making me feel quite bad. Normally, when I feel ill, I make myself feel better by reading something fun but my sinuses are so bad that the left side of my face has swollen and my left eye is sore, bloodshot, and throbbing.
My sister and niece are visiting and they are disappointed that I haven’t been able to go anywhere with them. Throbbing eye or not I’m still going to watch the F1 qualifying.
. . .Having to speak at YAPC::NA first thing in the morning meant that I was completely stressed out for the start of the conference. I don’t remember much about the registration process but it must have been really straight forward or I would remember. (Actually I’ve just remembered something about being given a glass which I no longer seem to have…).
I really like the venue so far - though I have only seen the main auditorium. It’s an easy room to speak in and the mikes and projectors work really well.
The only good thing about giving the first talk is that I can now enjoy the conference. It did mean that I didn’t attend the pre-conference dinner last night because I didn’t think I would be able to cope with meeting people. The people I did meet up with for breakfast and before the conference were all great and did help to calm me down.
. . .Flying from the North Wing of Terminal 1 in Narita airport can be incredibly hassle free. Today I managed to get off the train, check in, and go through security and immigration in under half an hour. The airport is clean, spacious and air conditioned. Sitting at the gate is so comfortable that I haven’t bothered to try and find the airport lounge I can use. If only all airports could be like this.
. . .I tried to make an online payment to my UK pay-as-you-go phone. As I haven’t used this in a while and my credit card had expired. I followed the link to amend payment, put in the new details are was told that something had gone wrong, they didn’t know what, but maybe I could try again in a few days!
I then tried to check my seat assignment with Virgin Atlantic as I occurred to me that Marty and I may not have seats together. But I can only do this up to 24 hours before the flight. I can’t actually think of a good reason why I can’t still update my seat but at least they could have shown me what seat I have been assigned.
I then thought I would have a quick look at the website for the Portuguese Perl Workshop but this wouldn’t load for me. I would find it hard to live without the Internet but sometimes it drives me mad.
(I’m only blogging because the sink has blocked up and I can’t finish washing the dishes. I had thought that using the computer for a bit would help me feel less stressed. It hasn’t worked.)
. . .