Pulse Pulse Impulse

Tomorrow I am off to the mountains on a shinkansen train. Weather promises to be good: a high of minus 3'C and light snow. During my lunch break, I went down to the stores and, perhaps unfortunately, it is bargain time. Long-story-short, I ended up buying a jacket and snowboard pants. I relieved my anorexic wallet of 24000 yen ($240), but at least I won't have to use rental stuff. (There is a quiet odd sense about using "rental pants"... Or maybe I am just trying to justify this buying spree to myself.)

The lesson for today is that I should always walk to the Imperial Gardens on my break so as to avoid the stores. This is a dangerous place! In the four cardinal directions from my work I have: Tokyo station (Expensive restaurants that offer a free hit of food smell as you walk by. Want another? It'll cost you.), Akihabara (The world shrine to computer parts, cameras, and portable audio: If they make it, it is here, in a hundred different shops. As you approach, the souls of all the electrons that ever passed through a wire murmur "your technology is old and you are technologically inadequate. You still listen to CDs".), Shin-ochanomizu (The endless row of ski and snowboard stores. Also, guitars, musical instruments, and old books. It will trick you into believing you need to better yourself.), and finally the Imperial Garden, which is free. (But, it makes you think about your life... and all those things you want [need] that are just a few blocks away.)

Who ever thought being employeed at a major company could be so costly! I'll ponder that tomorrow as I plow (into) the snow.