Back Again,

I spent last week back in America. It was a good trip. I went to San Francisco and then up to Utah to work out of my office there. It was really nice to just get away for a few days down in San Francisco. My 11 year old son is at Stanford at a tennis academy this summer. So I saw him briefly. He is playing well and I guess I am now officially living my dream through him. It is always fun to watch him play. But as a parent I find myself getting too involved during matches. I think I get more stressed out watching him than he does playing...hehe. Its a fun time. I miss him now. I will see him again near the end of August when I go back. I really miss him.

I then went up to Utah and had a good time working out of my office for a few days. It actually felt like a vacation being able to go home at a good time. I forgot what it was like to have more time at night. It was really nice.

America was hot and dry. I loved it. Everyone was complaining how hot it was but I thought the dry weather felt so good. I just wanted to be outside and it didn`t feel so hot to me. But now I am back in Nagoya and its raining, hot, and humid. Terrible weather!! I don`t like this humid rainy weather.

Coming home was interesting. At the airport in Salt Lake the airplane was delayed. My seat was in the very back and for some reason we were not taking off. The flight attendant came and knocked on the restroom door which was right behind me on the plane. She asked the person inside if they were ok and told her to quickly take her seat as the airplane needed to take off. Well we waited and waited for this person to come out of the restroom so we could take off. Then the door opened and a girl and guy came out together. Smoke also came out. I was shocked as were many other people who saw this. I wondered what they were doing in there together. Then I noticed smoke coming out of the restroom. They were in there smoking crack. I could not believe it! The police came on board the plane and arrested them right there. They then searched the restroom and found the crack and lighter and pipe. I was shocked. How did they get all that on the plane??? Were is the security?? So we were delayed for almost an hour because of this drama. We finally took off and as we landed in San Francisco the flight attendant asked all the passengers if they enjoyed the drama in Salt Lake. He then told everyone to "just say no to drugs". It was funny. But I almost missed my flight to Nagoya. I was running in the airport to my plane. Luckily they held the plane until I got there. So a little crazy but actually really scary that people could sneak that through the tight security. Really scary!! It shows that really things still are not safe. I have flown a lot but this was by far the biggest shocking thing I have seen in a long long time.

Well its Sunday night. Tomorrow hell starts all over again....

Business Trip:

Well here it is June and I have no idea where the time is going... I just know its flying. I kind of wish it would just slow down... I guess my work has been so crazy I have not had time for anything. I work and come home and work and go to bed. But its better than having nothing to do thats for sure.

Friday I am headed back to the US on a business trip. I will be gone for a week. Its always good because I can just stay at my house and sleep in my bed and each lots of Mexican food which I miss!! I will fly out on Friday and first make a stop in San Francisco. My son is at a tennis acadamy at Stanford. So I get to see him there which will be fun. Then back to Utah for the rest of the weekend and work from my Utah desk the rest of the week before coming back to Japan. Anyway, it will be busy but a nice break.

The weather is getting more and more hot and humid everyday. That hot and wet terrible time of the year is around the corner. I hate the wet humid weather!!

Well on Sunday I will get to play at my house and play with some of my toys so I am excited for that at least. Its always nice to be home.. But Nagoya is growing on me more and more each day.

Wow its June..... I can`t believe .... time sure flies when you are having fun... Or maybe not having fun but just being busy.

Its been a crazy 3 weeks. I have been sick on and off since golden week. I can`t believe it. I got the stomach flu and got over that. Then got the flu and just got over that. Flu season should be over I thought. Anyway now I am feeling better. Last week was hell at work. I was too busy to even take a day off to try and get better. Instead I found myself going in at around 6 am everyday and getting home around 10:30 pm. I just can`t understand the working mentality here. I mean there are guys in my office who have kids that never see them. They act like its no big deal. Its like here you get a job and your only responsibility as a father or husband is to just work your ass off and bring home the money. Its very crazy. I talk to people all over the world in other parts of Asia and Europe and they all feel the same. Japan may be a really nice country but the work mentality is terrible. I love Japan. I love it here. But the environment of work has got to be the worst environment / culture I have ever experienced. Its funny because Japanese guys in my own office admit this fact and think its true. Yet in some other sense they are almost proud of it. Its just something no matter how long I live here I will ever become completely used to. But its not just the hours. Thats one thing. Everyone everywhere works overtime. Its the way of working I think most don`t understand. A country that thrives on technology still somehow thrives on processes and standards that are full of red tape and basically bogs down the employee into doing things that really at the end of the day just do not matter so much. I can`t count how many useless reports I have been asked to create which only get put in some file. Meanwhile the most important work becomes incomplete. Anyway I could go on and on. Many people tell me to stop complaining. I am not really complaining. I am happy I am here. This is where I want to be right now. I just feel like though its a real sacrifice of other interests and basically life in general at times. I have no time to do anything else which I don`t like because I am a person who likes to get out and experience many things. But working here gets you so bogged down its impossible. Yet I have worked for other companies in Japan which I guess were not so stressful. I think the Automotive industry in general is the cause. Its a very stressful industry to work for. Yet I love it. I love this industry because I guess I love cars....hehe. So in the end I like what I am doing.. just wish I had more "Todd Time"....hehe

The weather in Nagoya is getting very warm. My allergies have started up. So I am on all kinds of medication for my cold and allergies... kind of crazy. But nice to be able to open the windows and enjoy the fresh air.

Golden Week was Golden.....

Golden week has come and gone. I had a good time. Too good of a good time. I spent some time in Osaka, Hiroshima, Takayama, and then Hokkaido. Most of my time was up in Hokkaido. My parents came over to Japan and we traveled up there to see some old friends. I spent a couple days in Otaru and Sapporo. It was good and the food was EXCELLENT!!

I didn`t want to leave of coarse. But thats life. The weather was hot in Hokkaido. Really rare for this time of year. Well I got back to my home in Nagoya and the first night back started having some stomach pains. I ended up in bed for 2 days. I finally got some energy and went to see a doctor. Basically he told me I had been running around too much with too little sleep. Well he is right. I hardly slept and was going on a fast pace the whole 10 days during Golden week. My parents were on the same pace as me but they were fine. I guess I I drank too much coke and kind of played too hard. Anyway, so I spend 2 days dead in bed. I had to take some time off work when I got back. So today I finally was able to return to work and I was tired!! Its been too long away. It actually felt good being back in the office. I could kind of relax. My parents have returned home now and so things are quiet again. It was fun and golden as I said.....

Now I am ready for summer break!!

Golden Week,

Its been a while... finally its golden week... ahhh I needed this bad.

I spend the last few days in Osaka with some friends and had a really good time but didn`t get a lot of sleep.... Wow the night life there is really good... maybe too good.

I got back to Nagoya last night. Tomorrow I am just going to relax and the day after I am heading back to Hokkaido for 5 days. So I will hang out in Sapporo and Otaru. So I am looking forward to meeting some old friends!! Anyway.. its a busy week and I am going to be really tired getting back to work next week. But I plan to enjoy these next few days...

The weather is good and the food is better. Its a good week... if I can avoid all the bad traffic it will be perfect!!

Heading home....

Well its Tuesday night. I can`t sleep. I am heading home back to Japan tomorrow. Its been a crazy week. I have had a lot of personal things to take care of and had some hard good byes as well. A girl that has been very special in my life is gone. We were very close and she will always have a special place in my heart. It has been a little difficult on me personally. But life moves on. Now its time to go back and face my own reality again. I don`t want to get too deep here. I just have had a week of doing a lot of reflecting and looking back at some very good memories (some bad memories also). There are only a few people who have touched me so deep as to say I truely love them. Although I will miss her I am thankful for the time we shared. I will stop there.

I did work from Utah this week and it was nice for this also. I forgot how easy it is to work from the US. But like everything its time to go back. I guess I am looking forward to some good food back in Japan.

Well kind of a lame post but I will update when I get back.

Here it is... April 6th and I am sitting in the Portland International Airport waiting for a flight to Salt Lake. This is sudden and I can`t believe I came back here right now. Plus this isn`t the reason I wanted to come back either. I had some things happen that made me quickly find a flight and get back to Utah as soon as possible. I am not sure if I even want to talk about it in this forumn. At any rate I came back so fast I forgot almost everything including money. Thank god for ATM machines and Visa. Its Sunday so I can`t get to a bank until tomorrow. So I will survive today. I will catch the first flight out of here to Salt Lake and go home. I guess I will be here for maybe 2 weeks. The weather is chilly, dark and raining. I guess like my feeling right now... :)

It will be good to be home for a short time though. Its going to be busy and crazy but still good to see the family and friends and sleep in my bed. I miss my king size bed!

Well my notebook battery is going to die any minute so its time to check out. I will update later.