Son of the "Carpet Monster"....

The "carpet monster" is a term which pops up every now and then in online forums frequented by model kit makers, especially those who make things in small scales.  It is a reference to that floor covering which consumes and refuses to regurgitate small pieces of model kits which drop, fly off, or disappear through some combination of physics, poor motor control of ones digits, and shear dumb luck.

In my case I no longer have a carpet to deal with.  I deal with a linoleum floor covering.  One would think that the odds of recovering small model kit pieces are considerably higher when dealing with such a flooring.  Alas, such is not the case.  After recently losing two small, but critical, pieces to the model ship pictured above, I broke down and decided to order a replacement sprue of parts.

When I was living in Canada I never got to take advantage of the damaged/missing parts service offered by Japanese model companies.  Their instruction sheets make it clear that it's not available to overseas customers with a "Japan only" warning on the parts order from.  Less generous than the English companies.  I once had a problem when I was around 10 years of age with a model of a Fairy Swordfish torpedo bomber kit whereupon the wing struts had broken off of their sprues and I couldn't tell which part was which.  I filled out the form listing the considerable number of mixed up parts and sent it to the manufacturer in England (I suspect it was the Matchbox Company but it could've been Airfix).  They sent me a whole new model kit as a source of replacement parts at no charge.  Solved the problem quite effectively.

This time around I wasn't so lucky.  I filled out on an online parts order request and got a reply outlining the costs of it to me.  The parts sprue itself is ¥700.  They added in a ¥300 handling fee.  Then they tacked on a ¥500 shipping fee.  The grand total of ¥1,500 is 8% less than what I paid for the whole kit...that 8% being the rate of Japan's "consumption tax" - a sales tax.  I suppose I ought to stick to losing parts from more expensive kits....

Not Again....

My iPhone went off with a klaxon sound this morning.  I snapped awake and glanced at the screen.  It was an alert informing everyone that North Korea had launched a missile.  "Go indoors or underground" was the instruction given in the message.  If only there was such a thing as underground in this city.  So I crawled out of my futon and headed into the dining room.  At least it has a corner which isn't in the direct line of an outside facing window or sliding door.  Then I measured my blood pressure and heart rate.  Blood pressure was not too bad but my heart rate was notably high...then it dropped on the second measurement I took.  I don't know...this isn't my idea of excitement on a Friday morning....

So Much For Summer....

Well.... Summer has come and gone.  This year's summer was a bit of cool and soggy affair.  So I didn't do a heck of a lot.  I did attend a local Obon-odori (Obon is that time in Japanese tradition where it is believed that the souls of the deceased pay a visit to our mortal realm.  The "odori" portion is from a Buddhist tradition.) and for the first time in decades, actually participated in a dance.  I also made a couple of quick trips to Sendai to renew my visa.  Aside from that, I spent the summer slowly cleaning up my apartment, getting a bit of exercise on my bicycle, and taking in a handful of movies at the local cinema.  And of course there was my friend's yukata party which accounted for the one time I wore my yukata this past summer.

The defining moment of my summer was the night I received an e-mail from Canada advising me that my father had passed away.  I didn't get any sleep after that and it goes to say that the next few days were a bit of a train wreck.  It's strange but right now I just don't have anything I want to say other than "It happened".