Typhoon Jongdari and Apprenticeship for my Son

My blog will be short today as I am travelling.

Once again the people of Japan are being tested to the limit by the climate. 

Typhoon Jongdari is very dangerous, and hitting Japan from the East instead of the West. 

That is significant, the people living in the East of Japan should beware! 

That is a big difference, because the Eastern side is not used to typhoon rains. 

I fear for landslides and mudslides from places that don't get so much rain normally. 

When thinking about the typhoon as a father, Water and Windows come to mind. 

Make sure you have at least 3 days of food and water in your home. 

Why?  Because 3 days is about how long it can take for rescuers to get to you if your trapped.

If you don't have that much water, use bottles, glasses, or other containers in your house and fill them up before the storm hits. That way you have it handy. 

Windows are dangerous in Typhoons and heavy winds. 

Often time people are cut and injured by flying glass when windows break during a storm.

So make sure that you stay away from the windows when the wind gets high.

As for my Son, the news is better here in the USA.

My son won an apprenticeship from one of the best suit makers in America! 

MonsterCat Creations is taking him on as a formal apprentice in exchange for my help with their 3D printing, and some money for monthly bills. Its wonderful news!! 

It was unexpected, I did not think that he would get the apprenticeship, but he did. 

I'm very proud of him right now!! 

Stay safe Japan! I will be praying for you to make it through safely.

Thank you for reading my blog!  

Kris

A New Job!

Today was an especially good day for my family! I got a new job!! 

Like many Japanese, I am very loyal to my company and have never quit my job. 

I worked for 20 years at my first job at Time Warner Cable. 

Unfortunately Time Warner Cable was purchased by another company, and I had to take early retirement from them.

I needed a job for 2-3 years where I can build up funds, finish learning Japanese language and have an active career when I move to Japan so that I can transfer to an Internet company in Japan. So I started looking for a new job doing the same thing. 

It turns out that the hard work I did in my first job at Time Warner Cable paid off, and that Comcast really wanted me to work for them doing similar things!  I feel so grateful today. I feel justified for working as hard as I did all those years. Comcat is a giant company too, last year they made 777 trillion Yen (7 billion in USD). 

I meet tomorrow to make the final negotiations, but already know that the salary will be about 15.6 million Yen per year ($143,000 in USD).    I will be a Senior UNIX Development Engineer (a.k.a. A Compute Geek). 

I am very excited of course about that part because it means that I will be able to take good care of my two sons fully. It also means that I will 100% be able to make my dream come true of coming to Japan one day!  

Thank you for reading!! 

I am one step closer to my dream of coming to Japan to live. 

It was a very good day!  Time to rest.   

Kristopher

私の息子と3Dプリンタを構築する

My son Shouta and I are at our friends business.  

MonsterCat Creations!

They make fursuits and costumes! 

We are building a big 3D printer for them to enhance their business:

It is a big aluminum-framed 3D printer that can print an object 450 mm square! 

We have alot of work to do! 

It is a good healing exercise for us, and lets us help out a good friend. 

I will post pictures when it is done. 

Thank you for reading 

Have a great day. 

Welcome to the Oven :(

The Japan Times headline reads, "Record-breaking high temperatures likely a ‘new normal’ for Japan, experts warn". I knew this to be the truth. Climate Change is real, and it is not going to go away. It is going to get worse. 

This heat wave is a wake-up call for Japan. Get Ready!

They are not just words. What is required is a change of thinking in Japan Government, Schools, Companies, Clubs and Individuals - Everyone needs to think about it or many more people will die and suffer. 

I apologize for the strong words.   I feel strongly about this.

I blogged last week about some strategies that are worth consideration. I will summarize;

1. Taking off clothes is not the answer. Putting on white or light-colored clothing made from thin fabrics is the answer. Consider how arab people beat the heat; by wearing white/bright colors. The science is simple, bright colors reflect sunlight. Dark colors absorb sunlight. The darker the object, the hotter it will get in the sun.

2. Cover your heads with a hat!  Black hair works against you in the sun. It makes your head hotter. Wearing a light-colored or bright baseball cap or hat will cool and protect your head. Ladies have better choices in hats; wide brim is great as it protects your neck and shoulders too.

3. Hydrate!  Do not go anywhere without a bottle of water handy. If you start feeling so hot that your getting a headache, your in danger of heat stroke and need to drink and cool down. Once you get heat stroke its too late to help yourself, you will pass out. So do not be brave about the sun, be smart about it.

4. Change activities to indoors on hot days. This is hard, as people are stubborn and want to go outside to do what they want to do. People don't want to give up plans because of the sun. But the sun doesn't care. The sun will bake you anyway. So if your going out in the heat, do not go far from a cooled place just in case. 

These are not short term advice. This is thinking that everyone in Japan needs to start doing. A change is necessary across the country. It needs to happen soon. If not, more kids and elders will die. 

I pray for Japan, but Japan must rise to action against this high-heat just like an enemy. Beat the heat before it beats you.

Thank you for reading and stay safe in Japan!!! 

Our thoughts are with you.

Kris

More Heatwave, My Son's Surgury and the Sunset

Another day of record heat for Japan.. :(  More dead, many more injured.

It makes me sad as I have seen this suffering before.

I pray that the heat lets-up soon.

We get heat like that here in the USA all the time, even higher, but it is common here so we deal with it more regularly. I think in Phoenix AC today it hit 50C.

But when your not used to that kind of heat, it is deadly and miserable.

I wrote several blogs with advice about beating the heat.

Today was the day of my son's medical procedures. They went very well. 

I now have a definitive reason why he has been sick. Its a Gall Bladder problem.   

It can be fixed with surgery at least, but the pain he is living with will continue for weeks.

I was really nervous until he came out of the procedure.

I didn't sleep well last night, and spent alot of time with him to try and make him feel better.

The procedures cost alot of money, I was not happy about that. 

Either way at least I know what is wrong and I can focus my energies on fixing him.

I did see a nice sunset recently that I just processed the picture for. Made me feel good seeing it again, it was a hopeful memory. I wonder what the sunset's will be like in Japan. :)

Thanks for reading!!

Please stay safe and out of the heat!

I'll update again tomorrow. :)

Cheers!!!

Praying for my Son and for Japan

Good morning Japan!

I hope the weather cools down in Japan soon. I am fearful that more will suffer or even die.    

If 11 people died yesterday from the heat, it means that thousands probably suffered horribly, but did not die. 

A working Fan at least (blowing on or towards them) is essential, air conditioning of course is best.

I will say a prayer again today for the people, especially the kids and elders. 

He can eat mashed potatoes and jello sometimes, mostly just liquid. He looks like a skeleton now.   I am just grateful that I have this time before I may have have 1/2 more weeks though, so I am anxious to find the cause and get him healthy before I am back at work every day. I pray for that too. 

Then they find a definite cause, then my prayers will be answered! Then I am amazed, I am powerful, and it makes me frustrated inside. I feel helpless because I do not know what it is. 

Tomorrow is a very big day for us. 

I will keep my blog updated as our journey to make it to Japan continues day by day. Once Shouta is healthy, I can make bigger steps in that direction.

Thank you for reading !! 

Kris

Anime turned me into an Otaku

I love anime!

I think that is what turned me into an Otaku that very much wants to live in Japan.

I consider it a really good thing.

My kids showed me Naruto and got me hooked on it many years ago.

A friend of mine, Venu Shade, introduced us to My Hero Academia, both my kids and I love it!! .

A friend of mine, Shizuka, showed me Fate Stay/Night, and I was hooked. I mean - HOOKED.  

I love the entire Fate saga really, and fell hard for Rin Tohsaka. . 

She is my anime Waifu now - I embrace the clean fun of a waifu crush. It connects me to the younger generation too. Okay I'm old, I'm 48, but Anime makes me feel YOUNG!

I enjoy anime because it connects me to Japan, through the minds of the animators and storytellers. It allows me to glimpse the culture, and hear the morals that are being taught to the younger generation now. I am sure some readers may think this childish or not-manly, but I don't care. I embrace anime because it is one of the truly beautiful and amazing things that Japan does better than anyone else in the world. Consider that fact when you think about anime, it is an important cultural export from Japan to the world. It turned me into an Otaku, and if that results in me moving to Japan and working hard for a company to contribute to the society there, then isn't it a good thing? With some Americans, yes, some no, I am sure there is and always will be hesitation about immigraton into Japan. It is something I will have to proove to the people once I get there.

So I have my waifu, firm love of anime, friends and kids who love anime, and lots of places to go in Japan to see!  All we need now is more Japanese language training - which I'm working on. Learning Japanese is tough, but I am determined. 

Thank you very much for reading!

Your comments, suggestions and feedback are always welcome!

Have a wonderful day!

Kris

The headlines, "11 Seniors Die in the Heat"

Hello Japan!

Another day of sweltering heat for the people. 

It saddens me to see 11 more die from the heat, mostly seniors. 

The Japan Times headline reads, " Japan heat wave claims 11 more in a single day, mostly seniors" 

How are your elders?

Do they have air conditioning?

Would they be honest with you even if they were were suffering?

Check on them.

They say it will be very hot for many days to come.

I hope no more die.

Stay safe, and have a good day.

Kris

Made a "Cat Bed" for my Son by the Window

My son is still not in a great condition. He is in alot of pain.

At least he is not bleeding now, the anti-biotics stopped that.

Still, he cannot eat anything but soft food, like mashed potatoes and jello. 

It is not a fullfilling diet.

One thing that my son loves is Cats. We all love cats in my house. 

The couch in our living room is not very comfortable, and Shouta needed a place to lie-down.

Yet he did not want to be away from Connor and I, as he feels terrible and insecure too.

So I solved the problem by making him a "cat bed" in the living room in front of the window. 

It was originally a big gaming table I made that is about 90cm x 120cm in size with wood frame that can hold at least 130kg. Then I took a memory-foam mattress made for a queen size bed. I folded it over once to double the thickness, and it fit perfectly. Added a bed sheet and done!  Shouta and one of our cats (Ozzy) jumped on right away and fell asleep  

Now he has a bed by the window and can look outside while relaxing comfortably. 

I wish I could do more to really heal him, but I have to wait for the medical procedures next week first.

I am a little nervous about the medical procedures. I worry that they won't find what is wrong, or won't be able to fix him. It will be a long weekend.

I watch and wait. I hope he will be okay.

Kris

Making Early Dinner for my Sick Son

Hello Japan!

My son is sick. He has been under alot of stress since high-school. 

It has had a negative impact on his digestive system. He has a pre-ulcer and colitis. 

In three days we go for two medical procedures for him. Endoscopy and Colonoscopy back to back. It is good because we will finally find the cause of his sickness.

I love him so much, I love both of my son's equally. But right now my sick son needs me.

Because of his condition he has not been able to eat well for a long time. 

It started with stresses in high-school. Stresses from being bullied by olders people. 

It got worse from there, over time we got past it and he could begin to heal. 

His anxiety is still high at times, and this year we had some difficult times that made his anxiety worse.

As a result, his ulcer is much worse and he developed colitis. 

Hopefully we cured the colitis with antibiotics, the bleeding has stopped at least.

He is still so frail, all skin and bone now, it makes me worry very day. 

He has lost almost 40 kg over a 3 year span, which is why the doctors are taking it seriously now.

Medical care in America is not as good as it is in Japan. That's just a fact now.

It makes me angry, very angry sometimes. I hate the health care system in the US.

It means that I have to fend for my son on my own sometimes, insurance only goes so far.

I have not had the opportunity to cook often, so we buy-out at restraunts too much.

But nothing is better than a home-cooked meal when someone is not feeling well.

I cannot cook too many kinds of food yet, but some things I can cook.

Today is the last day he can eat a normal meal before starting procedure preparations.  

So I made him one of his favorite meals; Burritos!

I like making burrios!   

But lets be honest. I am not good like a chef.  

These are not gormet, a real chef would make them must tastier I am sure.

But he likes them anyway. I am lucky to have wonderful sons. 

It fills me with joy that I can make food for him that he can eat.

Tomorrow starts the liquid-diet for him. 

I hope things cool down in Japan.  

We pray to God for the people there. Our thoughts are with you.

Thank you for reading! 

Have a wonderful day!!