Wish List

Sunday, December seventeenth, two thousands and six

Yesterday, one of my English teachers, one of my study buddies and I discussed our wish lists, in order to ask Santa Claus to get us those stuff.

I really want a lot of hairs... These days I've been extremely worried about getting bald. Many of my friends and acquaintances often say to me, "You can't complain because you're already on the wrong side of 40. There's no way you could get a nice girl friend if you had much more hairs." That's true... I can't help getting old... orz

If Santa Claus got me something nice, I would ask him to present me much more time. Since I've been pressed for time lately, I don't have enough time to practice my English. I'm anxious about getting bald as I've written above and besides, I'm really worried that my English skills are getting worse. Plus I'm not able to recover from my fatigue completely nowadays due to my hard working... I can't help getting old... again.... haha-!

Anyway, I have no choice but to study English at my own pace.


I can't help getting old: 年を取るのは仕方ない。-> 年には勝てない。
be anxious about something = be worried about something(?)
recover from one's fatigue: 疲労から回復する
have no choice but to do something: ～するしか(選択肢は)ない。

Music Festa

Wednesday, December thirteenth, two thousands and six

I forgot uploading the pictures and videos I took in the kindergarten my daughter goes to. I was forced to take those pictures by my wife in the music festival held there last Sunday. Let me introduce the cute work. :)　Ah... it's about time to leave for work... bye.

be forced to do something: do somethingを(強制的に)させられる。
it's about time to do something: そろそろ、do somethingする時間だ。

Suffer From New Customer

Tuesday, December fifth, two thousands and six

Our factory has got two new customers in Kanto area, eastern Japan, after the business trip I had the other day. One of them is such a good customer that we decided to sell our products as soon as the company ordered. The company's financial situation is really excellent. That's why we judged the customer is good. However, the other company's finance seems to be comparatively bad, as far as we investigated. On the other hand, the company wants to buy our products at the highest price even though it may not have enough money. We have been really bothered by the customer if we should sell our products or not, because it looks like a pie in the sky. Anyway we don't have sufficient stock in our warehouses as of now, so we'll have to decline its order with apologies for the time being.

Talking of 'pie in the sky', Japanese people say as below:
"rice cakes painted on a paper(絵に描いた餅 e ni kaita mochi)". This Japanese phrase has the same meaning as 'pie in the sky' has.

someone is suffering from A = someone is bothered by A (?)
He is such a good customer that we decided ... = The customer is so good that we decided ...(?)
financial situation: 財務状況
pie in the sky: 絵に描いたもち、うまい話だが実現性に欠けるもの
as of now: 今のところ
decline one's order: (丁重に)注文を断る、辞退する
with apologies: 謝罪の念を持って
for the time being: 当分、差し当たり
Talking of = Speaking of: ～と言えば

Must Work

Sunday, December third, two thousands and six

I'm about to leave for my factory to work a couple of hours. One of our suppliers made a call to my cell phone when I was having lunch yesterday. He asked me on the phone if it was OK to bring some materials to recycle into my factory today. Of course I replied "Yes, it's my pleasure.", because there aren't sufficient chemical materials to recycle in Japan nowadays due to Chinese. In fact, recently the people have been trying to buy up(corner) tons of the ones in Japan, so we must get as many chemical fibers to recycle as possible. That's why I must work today even though it's Sunday... (ToT) I think it's not fair to do business with the nation at the almost fixed exchange rate.

To change the subject, today my cute daughter is going to take part in the musical event at the piano school she attends. Needless to say, I'm going to see it in the interval of my work. I've been tied up with not only my work but also my private.... orz

buy up(corner): 買い占める

Get Bald

Saturday, December second, two thousands and six

These days I'm really worried about getting bald. According to a famous TV program, it can be effective against getting bald to cut down on drinking. My wife told me the details of the TV show the other day, actually. She advised me to reduce the amount of alcohol I drink everyday, because too much alcohol tend to cause liver problems and the internal organ has the capability to generate protein. I mean, hair(strand) consists of protein fibers, so it's a good way for my hair to decrease the desire of drinking.

cut down something = reduce something = decrease something?
internal organ: 内臓
protein fiber: タンパク質繊維
consist of something: ～から成る、構成される

Bad Decision

Wednesday, November twenty ninth, two thousands and six

It's comparatively warm for this time of year, so I often break a lot of sweat in my factory. The strange weather must be caused by the global warming. I'm really anxious about the planet's future, so I hope our industry can help it from my heart.

Anyway, I've been pressed for time lately because of our busy season. There were some irritating things yesterday, so I had some cigarettes for the first time in three months. I know it's a terrible decision, but I was able to cool down after that.
On second thought, I'm not going to get addicted to smoking again, but sometimes it might be necessary to smoke once in a while, in order not to get stressed out. However, I'll never have any cigarettes in front of my children because I don't want them to have nicotine addiction. I won't smoke again unless my job is killing me. :) I'm really exhausted... Could someone help me?

To change the subject, I've just decided to take more time to review all of the English lessons I've taken before. I won't be able to have the time to take English lessons until I finish the brushup sufficiently.


for this time of year: この時期にしては
be anxious about something: ～を心配する
be pressed for time: 時間に追われている、忙しい
for the first time in three months: 3ヶ月振りに
On second thought: 考え直した結果
get addicted to something: ～の中毒になる
sufficiently: [adverb]十分に

Event and Phrases

Sunday, November twenty sixth, two thousands and six

My wife asked me to take two of our kids somewhere to make our eldest son concentrate on his study this afternoon. Actually, he has to take the final exam(term-end examination) that is going to be carried out next week. When it comes to our children's tests, my wife become the most education-minded mother on the planet. :-p

Anyway I had to take them somewhere, so I went see the International exchange event, that is held in Rinku Town, a town which is very close to Kansai international airport, at this time of the year, with my third son and daughter. Plus we got together with an Australian friend of mine there. There were so many foreigners in the event place that I had to speak a hundred languages. :)

After I got back home, I saw a couple of interesting English phrases on the email newsletters that I often read on my cell phone. Let me introduce them to you.

Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterward.

Marriage halves our griefs, doubles our joys, and quadruples our expenses.

Very funny! But exactly true! Sounds fascinating! I'm so curious about such interesting and useful English phrases, actually. As for me, I'm often said "Act your age! You're more trouble than a child!" over and over again by my master, who is what is called my wife..... haha.


concentrate on something: ～に集中する
when it comes to something: ～のこととなると、
at this time of the year: 毎年この時期に
afterward: [adverb]後で
halve one's grief(s) : 苦悩を半分にする
quadruple one's expense(s): 出費を4倍にする
fascinating: とても面白い、興味をそそる
be curious about something: ～について知りたがっている
As for me ....: 私といえば...
Act your age.: 歳相応の振る舞いをしなさい！
be more trouble than a child: 子供より手がかかる
over and over again = many times(???)
what is called something: いわゆる～

The Governor of California

Saturday, November twenty fifth, two thousands and six

I took some English lessons today as usual. There were some American teachers who are from California, so they tried to have some special topics related to the state. The most interesting word for me was "Governator". It means the governor of the state, who has just been reelected lately and used to be a very famous action movie star as well. I laughed out loud to hear the word as well as the other students in the lesson room. ROFL

If you don't understand what the word "Governator" means, I recommend you to click here. I bet the web page is very helpful for you. :)

Thanksgiving and Go on Diet

Thursday, November twenty third, two thousands and six

Today, November 23rd, is 'Labor Thanksgiving Day' in Japan. It sounds similar to 'Thanksgiving' in the USA.
According to some web sites, 'Labor Thanksgiving Day' was established as a national holiday to spread the importance of labor in our minds, appreciate all workers, show respect for labor. And also, this day used to be called 'Niinamesai' or 'Harvest Festival' until the end of World War Two. New crops, such as rice and sake, were offered to Amaterasu-Ohmikami, the Goddess of Sun, and the other Shinto gods with gratitude by the Emperor while he eats and drinks. This tradition became standard in the 7th century and is still performed in the Imperial House.

As for me, I wasn't honored by any family members of mine today, though. (ToT)

To change the subject, it has been about three months since I quit smoking and I have gained weight like most people who quit smoking. My body weight was 65 kilograms before I quit it; however, the current one is 71 kilo!!!!!! Hoooooooooly Coooooooow!!!!! Hell's bells! Darn it! Damn it! I've just decide to go on a diet for real! Let me become a nice middle. :)

establish = become standard (maybe...)
Labor Thanksgiving Day: 勤労感謝の日
do something with gratitude: 感謝を込めて、do something
the Imperial House: 皇室
honor(verb) someone = show respect for someone (perhaps...)
To change the subject: 話は変わりますけど・・・
like most people who did something: ～した人のほとんどがそうであるように・・・
Holy Cow!!!!! Hell's bells! Darn it! Damn it!: なんてこった。(Damn itは、rudeらしい。)
for real : seriously(真剣に)

Return Home, Good Business

Saturday, November eighteenth, two thousands and six

The business trip I had from the day before yesterday to yesterday extremely wore me out! I got back to home from Tokyo in the midnight of yesterday, so I'm really exhausted now. But on the other hand our factory has just got a good customer in Tochigi prefecture. A couple of months ago he sent me an email and asked me to sell our products, recycled chemical fibers, at a high price. I'm so lucky! :) I can't work too hard!

Actually, I hadn't thought we had got any customer in Kantou region, eastern Japan, because our company is located in Kansai region, western Japan. I mean, the shipping cost(transport cost) is so expensive that we hadn't thought we had been able to meet their demands in costs. But there aren't sufficient recycled chemical fibers in Japan due to China making a corner in oil-related products. That's why they want to buy our products even though it costs a lot of money.

something wear someone out: someoneをひどく疲れさせる
can't work too hard: 働き過ぎることはできない。-> いくら一生懸命働いても、働きすぎということはない。
shipping cost(transport cost): 運搬費
meet someone's demands in costs: 価格面において、someoneの要求に応える
sufficient: 十分な(enough)
make a corner in ～: ～を買い占める
it costs a lot of money: 金がかかる。経費がとてもかかる。