Heated table = awesome

When I first got here they explained to me the heated table in winter concept.  I thought it seemed odd.  But now I understand the joy of toasty warm legs, even if the rest of the house is an ice box.  The problem is, it's like a warm bath that is really hard to get out of.  Except at least if you wait long enough the bath will stop being warm and you will want to get out.  The heated table doesn't have that!  Still toasty, with a lovely big blanket over it to keep your lap warm and trap the heat underneath. 

At the moment things are just ticking along with work while I look forward to Kate's visit and try not to stress unduly about whether I will get my application together on time (and yes, you will all be aware that telling me not to stress is like telling a fish not to swim... it's not gonna happen!).  So far I have received one reference, so I'm still waiting on one reference, a medical form and two bits of paper from uni.  Plus I just found out I have to post my passport to Tokyo to get a JP signed copy.  I spent an hour walking and driving round yesterday looking for a post office on Mukaishima, to no avail.  So I need to go post it today.  It has to be 'registered post', which is great... if the Japanese-speaking post office workers know the meaning of 'registered'!  Because I sure don't know 'registered' in Japanese!! 

Ok, I really really should get up and do something.  The longer I sit here the colder my fingers get and I have stuff like laundry and supermarket shopping to get done.  Jeff is coming down to Onomichi over the weekend so I won't be home, so I have to pack my bags and try to be on top of the laundry today.  Otherwise I'll come home after a week away and have NO clean clothes.  And for once, I don't think I would be exadgerating.  Sure, I would have some summer tshirts clean, but that's not really beneficial when the temperature is nudging zero... 

So you won't hear from me for at least a week.  Hopefully over the weekend Jeff and I will do some exploring and will give me something interesting to report back on.  But we might just chill out appreciating the relative warmth :) 

Charly