Fresh Work.

I've had an interesting couple of days in the best possible way. I got to do several different kinds of work that kept me busy but weren't exhausting. The first of which was spraying the grapes like in the photo on my last post. Although that jug of the chemical was fairly heavy and that strap wasn't exactly great for distributing the weight on one shoulder. After a few minutes I fastened it around my waist instead (It was far more comfortable that way). Kenichi saw what I did and asked me how I did it. Apparently his shoulder was hurting from it too. (He'd been at it longer then me so I can only imagine. It seems my improvisation brought about a small change in how this activity will be carried out in the future)

The next job I got to do was hanging nets up inside the greenhouses. (they aren't really meant for temperature control, they are for keeping out the rain and birds) Even with the netting all around the outside of these houses, sometimes birds still get in, so we hang nets from the ceiling so that they can be caught and put outside the net again. (Its hard for them to get out if the manage to find a way in.

The last and most interesting job I got to do was helping to fix the roll down plastic covering on the roofs of the houses. It Involved climbing around on the roof of a structure that could have been modeled using k'nex, and a lot of tape for covering up small holes. This job took a while because you can't move very fast on the roof due to footing. It was fun though and it allowed me to find a good vantage point for some pictures (I'll upload those later).

Oh yeah, I also got to drive on of the trucks on the city streets for a while. Kenichi had to return a rented tractor so I followed him to the rental place and we carpooled back. It was fun, I took a video too. Unfortunately its too large to put on youtube. (perhaps I should look into reducing the recording quality on my camera temporarily)

We had today off and spent most of it relaxing. I introduced Akemi and Wing to Firefly. They said it was exciting. Unfortunately Akemi is leaving tomorrow so I won't get to show her any more. Wing still has a few days though. Other then Firefly, we went to an onsen for a short while. Because we went in the middle of the day it was virtually empty. I actually had the water to myself for a while.

We got 3 girls from Singapore this evening. They all speak good English, and one speaks some Japanese. Didn't really get a chance to talk to them much though. They're only gonna be here for 3 days it sounds like. Sounds like I won't be working with them tomorrow during the day either. Guess I'll have to talk to them at breakfast and find out what their story is. Also their names would be a good thing to learn as well. (I'm so horrible with names)

Anyway, time for sleep.

Oh yeah, since people keep asking me, I will be returning to the US on June 15th.

~Daniel Hattem