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  • Flying an Airplane

    Flying an Airplane

    As I wrote in this entry of my blog, I became interested in flying an airplane last year; I had been interested in airplanes and aviation 20 years ago, but at that time, I was more fascinated by the women flight attendants who took care of the passengers in the cabins of airplanes than by flying itself. This time, I was seriously interested in piloting the plane itself.

    Of course, I don’t have the time, ability, or financial resources to attend flight school or have a flight instructor train me to get a certificate to fly an actual airplane. What I am trying to do is just a simulated flight using a flight simulator. Nevertheless, the 2020 version of Microsoft Flight Simulator is much closer to flying a real airplane than previous versions, so mastering how to fly in that simulator is enough for me. Most reassuringly, nobody will die or be injured if I make a mistake in the controls.

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  • The Words of the Year 2022

    The Words of the Year 2022

    The words of this year are: web3, Ford Focus, gout, and pilotage.

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  • Central Pacific Bank’s Aggravation

    Central Pacific Bank’s Aggravation

    In the mailbox beneath my apartment, I found a letter from Central Pacific Bank, a Hawaiian bank I’ve had my account with for almost 15 years, stating that it had changed its policy for customers with Non-Resident Alien (NRA) status. According to the new policy, effective April 1 this year, the bank will deduct $20 from the monthly service charge on NRA customers’ accounts if they don’t keep at least $10,000 in total in their accounts.

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  • The Words of the Year 2021

    The Words of the Year 2021

    The last day of each year is when I look back at what happened, what I encountered, and what impressed me the most throughout the year. Then I summarize them into some words as “the words of the year.” For example, the words of the year 2020 were Synapusyu, the handgun, and computer programming. The words of the year 2019 were Hokkaido, Mercari, and Grand Cherokee.

    Sadly, I haven’t experienced very many things that impressed me this year. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, a state of emergency was declared nationwide for most months. As a result, I could do nothing but stay home all day long, go out shopping at the nearest supermarkets, or drive a car just a few miles away from my house. 

    Even on such monotonous days, I did something new. Summarizing this year, the words of the year 2021 were Google Maps, Yurie Omi’s resignation, Tokyo Games, and death games.

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  • My Jeep Has Been Saved

    My Jeep Has Been Saved

    I wrote in this entry that the garage was about to be closed and that I had to move my Jeep Grand Cherokee away from it before the closing day (Dec. 31). I also said that if no other parking space was available, I had to sell my car. Luckily, the real estate agent of the garage recommended another one to become available. The monthly parking fee will be higher than now, but it’s okay. Now I don’t have to let go of my car.

  • Garage Closure

    The real estate companymanaging the garage I rent monthly for my Jeep Grand Cherokee is announcing that the garage is being closed at the end of December and requesting all renters to leave it by the time. This closure is because, as the company says, the garage owner died these days, and its successors have to sell the land of the garage to pay the inheritance tax for it.

    Changed a Garage

    I have used the garage since March 2013, as introduced in the above blog post. Since then, I have replaced two cars until now. It is very convenient, of spacious room, and reasonable monthly rent.

    Anyway, what I have to do now is to find another parking space, but it is not easy. No real estate companies or parking agents seem able to offer a garage for my car. So if I can’t find any garages by the end of December, that means I can no longer keep my car.