Not much to write about. I’m just going to write a few lines before my internet appointment at the library.

Room update. Sometime last week, I finally got around to waxing my floor. I was a little upset about the poor quality of the floor wax I bought. The minute I squirted it onto the floor, I knew it was a waste of money, it was some kind of water/wax mix. I put 3 coats of wax down, but the floor still did not have the glow my Mitaka apartment had. As for furniture, I’ve added a few pieces. The kitchen table that I bought when I was living alone (before I moved to Japan), I am now using as my desk. My old halogen lamp (also from my previous apartment), and a couple of cheap drapes round out the additions I’ve made to my room. Yes (you are probably thinking), the kitchen table and the halogen lamps (there were two -- one white and one green) were part of the junk collection that my father has stored here. Although I am now glad that he did save these things, I still think that he is holding onto too much junk. If he had gotten rid of the table and lamps, it would not have bothered me to buy new ones.

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I’m back! Well, I did not finish my blog entry before I went to the library, so I’ll finish up now, although there is not much to write about now. I like the system the library has for using the internet; you have to register in advance to use the computers. Unfortunately for me, the computers don’t have a USB port for my flash memory drive. I am really kicking myself for not getting the external floppy drive when I had the chance. I really didn’t think that I would need the floppy drive. Oh well, moving on….

My room is still in a just moved in (disorganized) state, so I have not included a photo yet. I have a general idea of the layout I want in the room. Maybe I’ll neaten up my room and take a picture to attach to this blog entry.

Yesterday, my father’s lady friend’s son’s girlfriend called to ask if she could use our stove because hers is not working. She was supposed to come today, but she called to say that she had a dentist appointment and she would be late. Later she called to change the time to tomorrow. Also yesterday, my father’s lady friend’s son (the one about my age) stopped by to pick up some of his things that were also being stored here. While he was here, he retold the story of how he injured his knee last year play wrestling with his sons. The injury was so bad that he required hospitalization and surgery. To briefly summarize, he said that when he came home, his sons were trying to impress their girlfriends by showing that they were stronger than their father. He showed them that they were not stronger, but he injured his knee in the process.

Back to me. This afternoon, after I went to the library, I decided to splurge a little and treat myself to lunch at a neighborhood restaurant. The restaurant is a buffet-style with soul food menu. After customers make their selections, they take their order to the cashier to be weighed. Today I ordered Caribbean chicken, Spanish rice, green vegetables, sweet potatoes, and a juice. My order came to $10.21(US). At this restaurant, they charge by the pound.
When I returned home, I took a nap (more from boredom than fatigue). When I woke up, my father’s lady friend had not cooked dinner. At first, I was not going to cook anything, but I realized that if my father was in a bad mood, there would probably be a lot of shouting and arguing – with me in the middle. I decided to make a quick run to the store to buy the ingredients for a spaghetti dinner. When I returned home, I could see that I’d made the correct choice. My father was glad when I said that I would cook spaghetti. Since everyone has a hearty appetite, I cooked about a pack and a half of pasta and a jar and a half of spaghetti sauce, which should have been enough for a couple of days…at least. I keep the pasta and the sauce separate until it is put on the plate, because if mixed, then usually the spaghetti dries out. Anyway, everyone seemed to have liked my spaghetti dinner. Unfortunately, my father and my nephew liked the meat sauce more than the pasta; they ate the sauce like it was a meat soup. Even before I’d finished washing the pots and dishes, they had eaten a couple of servings of the meat sauce, leaving less than a cup of sauce left. Now there is about 3 or 4 lbs. of plain pasta and about a cup of sauce. I think this evening was a success, it was relatively quiet. No shouting and no arguing. I am happy – relatively speaking and it only cost me about 2 hours worth of cooking and cleaning.

Now, what do I do with the pounds of plain pasta?