Fit for Office?!

After a long, long coffee break, I'm back to work now.

Ever since I quit my job, Nikkei dropped by approx. 40%; Sony, Toyota and numerous, other companies announced thousands of jobcuts each. The unemployment in Japan has been up to 3 million, or by 0.5% to 4.4% last December. For those living in a country with unumployment rate of 6% or higher, the figure isn't that impressive, but this is the highest monthly jump in 41 years. Economic outlook is so dim that IMF has just lowered Japan's GDP growth rate in 2009 to -2.6%. Given such circumstances, I'm grateful to my employer for giving me this job opportunity.

I'm not as "fit for office" as Obama. From Day One, the new president of the U.S.A. immediately implemented his new policies by shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and working on $800 billion sitmulus package. On the other hand, I did nothing but greeting my new colleagues and reading some employee manuals on my first day. Still, I felt extremely exhausted. Hopefully, I'm fit to work physically like Obama's shirtless photo in Hawaii, though.

After only a week at a new office, it's hard to say I'm fit to the job, and able to get along with my colleagues (esp. my boss). At least the business is quite similar to my previous job, and the people are likable. I'm doing my best to be more polite and more respectful than usual. After all, one thing for sure: weekend's coffee break is, priceless even though such a break is far shorter than that long, long one.

Thank You for Reminding

As a Japanese, I'm used to an earthquake. It's a part of our daily life. We have been trained how to escape and protect ourselves since six. But, this one is enough.

It was the last week of 2008 when a group of workers drilled and paved the nearby roads at day and night. A night! Every single night for a week!! Thanks to their hard work, our apartment was shaking and the windows vibrating. The shake and the noise of drilling sometimes woke me up at 3am.

As a descendant of patient samurais, I endured that, hoping for a happy, peaceful new year. I was wrong. They're back to my neighborhood again. A couple of days ago, a flyer was slipped into my mail box. It says they are laying a new underground water pipes. Drilling again!!

Bring in Da Noise

They are unwelcome Santa Clauses, coming back every year and doing similar work. A couple of years ago, the roads were paved neatly. Then, somebody else came to lay water pipes or something just in a year. So, the roads are a mess now. I wonder why they can't do all the work at once.

Bring in Da Bump

A civil servant once said all these constructions around this time of year has one specific purpose: spending the money to keep up with their budget. Otherwise, the budget will be cut next year.

Yet, this time it might have anothe objective: a reminder for us a week before Barack Obama's inauguration. George Bush is still in White House, but everyone's eyes are on Obama. John McCain was always (if not sometimes) in a top news story just until a couple of months ago. Now nobody wonder where and how Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber are. Well, here they are! The female mayor (no governor) of my city must be a wanna-be Sarah Palin with the same slogan "drill, drill, drill!!" Joe the plumber and his friends are her big supporters laying water pipes. Sadly, the mayor's initiative is neiher for profit-making nor for national security.

スタバカ日誌 - Bean Around -

A friend of mine told me the other day that Starbucks' Christmas Blend is getting worse year by year. I totally agreed with her. Last month I tried not to order drip coffee of the blend. But, it's not the only problem. Seemingly baristas don't know how to brew good, tasty coffee lately (I'll discuss it later).

Now Christmas is over, and I assumed I would have no more problems with that lousy blend. Until next December at least. I was too optimistic. The blend is still around with a different label: "Holiday Blend". I haven't specifically checked it, but it tastes almost same with the awful Christmas Blend.

Last year we, Japanese, were shocked by such news reports that meat processors labelled a different meat and food packers changed expiration dates and origins. I'm not saying that the specialty coffee brewer is making the same fraud. But, I am just disappointed. The only good news for now is that Starbucks stopped playing all those Xmas songs.

スタバカ日誌 - Caffeine and the Effects -

"Who the hell do you think I am?!"

Everybody at a coffee shop turned where the yell came from. A woman sat with her arms folded across her chest. She was staring at a man in front of her.

Perhaps it wasn't exactly what she said, but it seemed to me that's what she meant to say. She was blaming loudly on her fiancé that he gave her only a gift for her B Day and Xmas, and also that he booked their wedding without asking her schedule. In the end, the hysteric lady even mentioned he's got to cancel their wedding and to pay all the costs.

spitfire

I wanted to advise them, "why don't you drink a cup of coffee first?" Cold coffee tastes lousy. A drip of caffeine only makes this fabulous, stylish, gorgeous fashion model-like girl even more untouchable, but it does have some effect on her boyfriend to relieve his pain: the pain of heartbreak. Or they shouldn't come to a Starbucks shop in the first place. That's why it is dubbed "the third place" not a battle field. Caffeine only helped flame on her anger.