This morning I had to drop some letters off in the neighborhood mailbox. I remembered as I was a couple blocks from my normal mailbox, so I decided to find one along the way. I dropped off the mail, then got back in my car and looked up at the street sign. It read "Ozone". Just one or two seconds later, I heard the radio newscaster say, "Today is an ozone action day". It was creepy. Stuff like that has happened a few times this past week.

Tonight my friend Ryan and I went to see the Round Rock Express play against the Midland Rockhounds at the Dell Diamond. It was a pretty good game, with the Express winning the game 8-0. There was a pretty small crowd, which made it nice because there were a lot of open seats and you could stretch out. Plus, beer was cheap (Thursday night special). A big cup of Fosters was $3.00 (normally $5.75). Right after the Express scored the first run, there was a loud noise of a train running by the stadium. I thought it was something special that the stadium does after each run they score. Sort of like the homerun apple appearing in Shea Stadium. But, it turns out that it was a real train with good timing. Anyways, the Dell Diamond is a pretty nice stadium for double-A baseball. The prices are pretty expensive for what you get compared to other cities, but that seems to be par for the course for Austin.

It's Tuesday, which means the holiday weekend is over. I love having a holiday on a Monday. It makes Sunday so much better. This particular Sunday was fun. We had Mike, Tomoko, Karen, Hiroshi, Koya and Juna over for burgers. I made some burgers mixed with jalapeño cheese and topped with a spicy jalapeño-cilantro sauce. It was delicious!

Later that night (actually early morning) it rained like crazy! The thunder woke me up and the rain was hitting the windows sideways. I thought we might have left the bathroom window open, so I ran to check it, but it was closed. Otherwise our bathroom would have been flooded.

Anyways, Monday was relaxing. We just did some shopping and ate leftovers. Too bad the weekend is over, but at least it's only a four-day work week. :)

The Dodgers have won 10 in a row! And the Giants lost today, so now they are tied for first place in the NL West.

I really like cats, so it is almost too painful to look at this site. The nice Japanese-style English is wonderful, however. Here is a sample:

"The cat which became a hood figure is likely to have a broom at any moment, and is likely to begin cleaning."

One of the coolest things, for me, about having a cell phone is the text messaging feature. Although you can compose text messages with the phone and send them to other people's phones, the real value is in receiving text messages from other services. For instance, I am using Yahoo! Mobile, which is free. I have them send me breaking news from Reuters and the AP. I also have Lakers and Dodgers scores sent, the local weather forecast, and stock prices at closing. I used to have the winning lottery numbers sent to me using MSN's service, but for some reason they kept sending me two of each message and they couldn't figure out how to make it only send one. That was a year ago so maybe I will sign up with them again and see if they got it fixed.

Mariko made some awesome curry yesterday. It had normal stuff in it, like potatoes and beef, but the curry was so tasty! It was a little sweet, and just the right amount of spiciness for me. Unfortunately there is only enough leftovers for one more meal. :(

Last night I fell asleep at 9pm and am refreshed today. I am looking forward to relaxing this weekend, maybe working in the yard. Today I am going to see The Matrix Reloaded. It should be fun. I am hoping to work a bit on my supercub this weekend, if I have time. I want to take off the wheels and clean them up. There is some rust on them (actually all over) that I want to get rid of. I ordered some stuff called Autosol which is supposed to work great at removing rust and polishing chrome/metal. Hopefully that will arrive today or tomorrow. Otherwise, I have some cheap Castrol chrome cleaner I can use.

Just checked the webcam at Bay's daycare center. Something odd is going on there. I hope he made it out of there in time. Looks like the black hole has appeared at the Children's Courtyard.

This is a new design with an old concept. Based on the Supercub (49cc), this is part of Honda's "N Project". Click here to read the entire press release from Honda. It's pretty cool because you can customize some parts and colors when you order it, to mix 'n match to make your own style.

"In addition to the three standard colors, Matt Flat Silver Metallic, Monza Red, and Parrot Yellow, the Solo is also available in a total of 285 color combinations through the Color Order Plan, by mixing and matching tanks, frames, and seats."

I think you should get one Kusunoki-san!

Today we went to Fonda San Miguel for Mother's Day Brunch. It was really awesome! This was the second time we went there for brunch. We dined on Mexican delicacies such as chilequiles, ceviche, lamb, carne guisada, barbacoa, etc. We were stuffed by the time we left. The restaurant is really nice inside, too, with great decorations, nice paintings, and a talking parrot. Bay was a little scared of the parrot.

Today I got an email from a lady here in Austin saying that she had a 1980 Honda C70 for sale. I went over there to take a look, and it wasn't in very good shape, but the price was right for a fixer-upper. The frame looked good, and it has most of the parts. Plus, her husband delivered it to my house in his truck. I am a little apprehensive about fixing it up, but it should be fun. There are lots of parts available for this model, and since I have no timeline other than a couple years, I can afford to wait to find good deals on parts. I will have plenty to do to fix her up cosmetically (sanding, painting). I was about ready to buy a 1962 Honda C50, but at the last minute I am cancelling that (I feel kind of bad because the person who I was buying it from is really nice and was going to help with the shipping).

I have started a page to track my Supercub project here.

I think I am getting a 1962 Honda C100 (Supercub)! The condition is not so great, and will need a little fixing up, but that is exactly what I wanted. The picture above is a 1961 C100. The one I am trying to get is black, but I want to paint it blue with light blue fairing and fender like in my earlier post. It also has a two-person seat, but I want to replace it with a single seat, then get a little rack over the back fender. I will post pics as soon as I get them...

Check this article about the role of Halliburton in the reconstruction of Iraq. Something shady is going on... It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Apparently the contract that Halliburton signed is pretty open-ended, not just for putting out the oil fires (that mostly did not happen), but also to "operate facilities and distribute products". The fact that Halliburton was the only company considered for the role, and that VP Cheney used to head that company all makes it even more suspicious. Ayashii!

On my drive in to work today I was next to this nice Z much of the way. I really like the design, but my favorite color of the new Z is red.

I am looking outside my office window. It's hailing. It's also 80 degrees outside.

My list on the left side, Weblogs of the moment, is growing slowly. I have been following the links on other people's blogs, then adding the ones I find interesting. These days I have been adding ones about Japan (of course) and they are really interesting. Lots of the stuff they do and places they go are the same as I did. It's pretty cool that the Internet (or World Wide Web as my friend Sahala would say) is being used more often for personal sites. And the cool Weblogging software packages like pMachine, Moveable Type and Blogger (website) are making it really easy to add content, even pictures. Did you hear the story on NPR about blogging this morning?

Well, it's starting to get hot again here in Central Texas. These days it's been super-humid and yucky too. I got my A/C recharged in my car, but it doesn't seem any colder. It's weird in the summertime driving home from work, and not being able to keep your hand on the window more than a few seconds because it will burn you. Man I hate Texas summers.

I found this in a gardening newsgroup that I read and thought it was pretty funny. (Names have been changed/removed)

wrote in message news:<>...
> I know that this may sound a bit crazy......
>
> If any of you guys run across a centipede or scorpion around here, and
> you have some kind of jar that you could put it in, do you think that
> you could give me an email, and I could come pick it up from you?
>
> I am a fan of odd crazy animals, and I would appreciate any of these
> guys that I could get.
>
> If you don't feel safe doing this, then don't do it. It's not worth
> getting stung over......
>
> Appreciate any help......
>
> =bill=

PLEASE WHATEVER ANY OF YOU DO.....DO NOT CATCH ANY OF THESE LITTLE
CREATURES FOR HIM! We don't need another violent or harmful animal.
This is his girlfriend by the way...and I am allergic to ant and
mosquito bites, so I'm sure one of those would kill me if I got bit by
one...because I have to be taken to the hospital for Bee Stings. I am
not trying to sound mean at all, I just don't think it is a good idea.
He gets too excited by little creatures and wants them all as pets.
Thank You!!