Grey day

, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Grey day
Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/10 sec, ISO1250
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Good evening!

Right now (9:50 PM) it is raining outside ☔, and the forecast according to Bay is for heavy downpours starting around midnight. I like the rain but I am hoping that Koa’s baseball game tomorrow evening will be unaffected by the weather.

Tonight’s photo is not grey like the weather, but pretty colorful owing to the fact that I used the Velvia film simulation on my X100T, and the Instax prints have deep, rich colors. I really love the look of the Instax film… there is a nice depth to them. Almost 3D. And I love the little dark vignette-like border around the edges where the color meets the white border. It really looks like you are peering into a window or down into a pool! (ok, use your imagination a little!)

Tonight, one of Mariko’s friends came over to watch a Japanese horror movie called “Tomie Unlimited”. I don’t usually like horror movies, but I watched the first 15 minutes or so and it was fun! There was a kind of gory part at the beginning, but it was so over-the-top that it was funny. I’ll have to finish watching the movie soon. (I had to take Bay to his piano lesson so I couldn’t continue the movie)

Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/10 sec, ISO3200
 Cedar Park, 2016

Well, time for bed!

おやすみなさい！

– バロン Barron Fujimoto

 

A-Z Challenge – I

, , Daily Prompt2 Comments on A-Z Challenge – I

I stands for “Ice”

Here’s a non-interesting fact about me: I rarely put ice in my water. My body tends to get cold very easily and drinking cold water makes it unbearable. I cannot sit still when I am cold like that, so whenever I have water, I skip the ice. In fact, I prefer drinking water that is room temperature, which I feel just goes down easier and hydrates me more quickly. I am not sure there are health benefits to drinking warmer water, but some of the theories are interesting! And I think, in a small way, reducing the demand on ice saves on energy and resources.

The only time I will drink ice-water is if it is served to me at a restaurant or if I need to cool down on a hot summer day, but other than that, room-temperature is best!

Monday monday

, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Monday monday
Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/10 sec, ISO400
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello! How was Monday?

Mine was super busy… not only with work, but I had to take my car to the shop to get the starter replaced. Of course they found several other things that needed to be fixed, but I declined on all of them. They weren’t super-critical so I will look for a mechanic who can do the job for cheaper. Anyways, that was an unexpected expense and caused me quite a bit of stress.

Also adding to the stress level is my workload, which is pretty high. The highest ever for me. I inadvertently took on a huge multi-month project which started out as one simple task but then mushroomed into several large projects. It is crazy how it just got out of control, but it has pretty much become a full-time job. And then I have my regular work to do, and then my workload from another group, which is pretty crazy. It’s like in the past year, my workload went from one full-time job, to 1.5x, then a few months ago, it went up to 2.5x. Needless to say, I haven’t been able to do my primary job… these other tasks have tight deadlines and honestly, who else is going to do them? It’s pretty ridiculous.

But, like I said before, it’s mostly fun work… there is just too much of it! I guess I am having too much fun? Wait… that’s not right!

Haha, anyways, it’s so out-of-control I just have to laugh sometimes. And this project will end this month (yeah, right) and I should go back to my 1.5x workload, and then hopefully manage it down to a regular level.

But when it comes down to it, my life is pretty good, you know? I have a lot to be grateful for.

And speaking of good, tonight’s photo is of our dinner table. Mariko made a delicious Japanese curry, with yummy steak. You can see the kids reaching for the meat! It was awesome!

Take it easy, and have a restful evening!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Busy Sunday

, , Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Busy Sunday
Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/10 sec, ISO400
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello!

Wow, my body is exhausted… yesterday we received 1 cubic yard of dirt to use in our front and backyards, so today I shoveled it all into the wheelbarrow and distributed it around our lawns, to fill in low spots. We get heavy rains sometimes and it washes away a lot of dirt. So once in a while, it is good to replenish! But it’s a lot of hard work and my arms are so sore. Plus the mosquitoes are in full-force in Central Texas, so it wasn’t a relaxing bit of work. But it all got done, and I have a good feeling of accomplishment!

In other news, we bought a couple new fish for our aquarium, plus I asked the store for several Malaysian Trumpet Snails. Our tank has developed a lot of brown algae, and these snails are supposed to help keep everything clean. Right after I dumped them into our tank they got straight to work! I wonder how good a job they’ll do, and how long it will take to see any progress. It will be fun to see!

Today’s photo is of Koa, eating dinner using chopsticks while riding the exercise bike and watching television. He can multi-task like a pro!

Well, I need to sleep early… my body needs rest. 😄

See you tomorrow! おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Bowling party

, Reviews, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Bowling party
Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
 Austin, 2016

こんばんは！ How’s it going?

Today Koa celebrated his birthday 🎂 with his friends at “The Main Event” which is an entertainment space that has bowling, glow golf, laser tag, indoor rock climbing, arcade games, billiards, shuffleboard, etc. It was our first time hosting a birthday party there, and it turned out great. The facility has several different birthday packages, and the one we chose was for tweens and teens and included an hour of bowling on two lanes, light dinner, one session of laser tag, and ten $10 game cards for the arcade.

There was a host who coordinated the bowling and food portion of the party, and the whole thing cost about $200. It really is a bargain for hosting 10 kids (we actually had 9 kids attend, but the minimum is 10). At first, I thought that it was really expensive, but after adding up the normal price of game cards ($100), two lanes for an hour ($72), one laser tag session for 10 kids ($86), and food (~$90), the party package is quite a good deal!

Besides the financial aspect of it, the kids had A LOT of fun! I’m so happy that they all got along great and totally enjoyed themselves. And Mariko and I got to relax and enjoy a beer 🍺 and pizza 🍕 while we watched the Dodgers beat the Giants in extra innings. 🎉 (There are many big screens around the facility showing sports of all kinds)

If you want a no-fuss, high-enjoyment-factor party, I’d recommend The Main Event.

It’s Saturday night, and getting late, but the nice thing is that this is the one night of the week where I don’t feel like I have to get to bed because I need to wake up early! Yay! But of course I will probably be up at my normal time tomorrow. 😜

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto