Another Friday down.

 This morning started off as a bright and sunny day.  It's gradually turned cloudy as time has worn on.  I spent some time this afternoon working on Physics Department stuff that I should have made time for back in Tokyo.  That is the way things go for me.

One thing that will take more time to get used to than what I have here is carrying cash.  More stores accept credit and debit cards, but not the smaller places where you can get the good food.  One of Jen's friends who lived in Japan for several years told me I should try to have ￥40,000-50,000 on me most of the time.  That translates to $400-500.  I feel a little like my great-Grandpa Kerr.  After the Great Depression he carried a lot of cash all the time.  He didn't really trust banks and credit, I guess.  Who could blame him?  I'm nowhere near that level, but it is weird to know that's what I have.

I know that I said I was reluctant to post anything about the gifts I'm presenting to the VIPs (big-wigs was a term I said yesterday that got a chuckle out of Susan).  But, I recorded a video of one of them.   That's below.  It's a minute long.  I apologize for that.  I assume it will be processed a viewable by the time people in the States wake up.

 

It's an object called a tensegrity.  The one I made is basically a candy dish.  The top hangs from a string.  When you look at it, it seems like three strings on the side are pushing up as support.  In fact, they pull down to keep the top in place.  It's really counter-intuitive, but I think very neat.  A bit like magic.

So, that's what I've got for today.  Tonight I'll take a walk and see if I can find someplace new.  I'm working on reading kanji, but school kids are expected to know about 1,000 of them after 5-7 years of study.  By high school graduation it's north of 2,000.  My 20 that I can sometimes recognize aren't all that helpful.  Still, water wears the hole through the rock by persisting.