Bazaar
It is a beautiful day in Yokosuka...the sun is shining and it's slightly cooler. The good Lord turned the burner back a little and it feels fantastic. Maybe in another three months we can all stop wearing tank tops and shorts?
If I ever get back to Norfolk, I promise to never complain (out loud anyway) about the heat and humidity.
So...not much to report. We actually had a decent weekend. The new van isn't registered in my name yet and has temp plates on it, so we are allowed to drive it on base but not off. Not that I want to drive off base that badly. If we went anywhere, we'd likely take a train anyway. I love my new red van, as much as anyone could love a 13-year-old car with pretty much NO options. My kids both stand in front of the sliding doors, waiting for the doors to magically slide open. Um, no. Sorry, guys. You actually have to push these doors open on your own.
Also, my apologies, but there will be no in-flight entertainment from our in-dash DVD system. No Bluetooth, no navigation and no backup camera. I bought a CD on Saturday...I cannot tell you all the last time I spent money on an actual, physical CD. The children were confused by this object, like a bunch of Amazonian tribal people, hooting and trying to put it into the DVD player, as I patiently explained to them that it plays music and you put it in this slot in the dash.
"This is Music Now, Volume 47"...it's just like listening to the radio in Norfolk, minus the ads and witty DJ repartee.
I'm looking forward to getting the desktop computer here so I can burn some discs off iTunes. Either that, or getting some sort of device that will allow us to play our iPods through the tape deck. Ack, I feel like it's 1993 again and I'm playing my portable CD player (oooh, it was SO cutting edge at the time) through the tape deck. The sound quality was just so awesome. Not.
Enough. We did a little shopping on Saturday morning, returned a 32" TV that I had bought to tide us over. I really fretted over returning this TV because, hello, I have morals. We used that TV for a couple of weeks, and even though I didn't even remove the protective plastic from the base or edges, we had used it, you know? I tried to sell it, but everyone kept telling me to just return it, so I swallowed my morals and just told them that we wanted to upgrade and returned it. And lo, the lady returned my money and scarcely batted an eye at me. I got over my shame pretty quickly. It wasn't like it was scratched or broken or anything. Right?
Saturday was capped off by a trip to the school park, which is definitely the bomb-diggity of the parks here on base at Yokosuka. I think I've posted some pics of the kids playing there...if not, I'll take some with the good camera and get them posted. My good camera is here now...my couch is not. I can't comfortably watch TV, but dang, I can take awesome pictures.
Yesterday we were extremely lazy. I will fully admit that I was in my PJs until after 11:00 a.m. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a rarity. I usually break out in hives unless I'm dressed and ready to go by about 9:30 or 10:00 at the very latest. We had some lunch and then headed down to a little bazaar that the USO was hosting.
Anyone who has been stationed overseas knows about bazaar. They are kind of the social highlights of the season--the big ones are anyway. Stuttgart had big bazaars once or twice a year and little ones hosted by various entities all year long. Yokosuka is the same. The big all bazaar is coming up in October and will encompass five or six floors of a parking garage. The bazaar yesterday was very small, but somehow I still managed to walk out with a few goodies.
Behold:
If I ever get back to Norfolk, I promise to never complain (out loud anyway) about the heat and humidity.
So...not much to report. We actually had a decent weekend. The new van isn't registered in my name yet and has temp plates on it, so we are allowed to drive it on base but not off. Not that I want to drive off base that badly. If we went anywhere, we'd likely take a train anyway. I love my new red van, as much as anyone could love a 13-year-old car with pretty much NO options. My kids both stand in front of the sliding doors, waiting for the doors to magically slide open. Um, no. Sorry, guys. You actually have to push these doors open on your own.
Also, my apologies, but there will be no in-flight entertainment from our in-dash DVD system. No Bluetooth, no navigation and no backup camera. I bought a CD on Saturday...I cannot tell you all the last time I spent money on an actual, physical CD. The children were confused by this object, like a bunch of Amazonian tribal people, hooting and trying to put it into the DVD player, as I patiently explained to them that it plays music and you put it in this slot in the dash.
"This is Music Now, Volume 47"...it's just like listening to the radio in Norfolk, minus the ads and witty DJ repartee.
I'm looking forward to getting the desktop computer here so I can burn some discs off iTunes. Either that, or getting some sort of device that will allow us to play our iPods through the tape deck. Ack, I feel like it's 1993 again and I'm playing my portable CD player (oooh, it was SO cutting edge at the time) through the tape deck. The sound quality was just so awesome. Not.
Enough. We did a little shopping on Saturday morning, returned a 32" TV that I had bought to tide us over. I really fretted over returning this TV because, hello, I have morals. We used that TV for a couple of weeks, and even though I didn't even remove the protective plastic from the base or edges, we had used it, you know? I tried to sell it, but everyone kept telling me to just return it, so I swallowed my morals and just told them that we wanted to upgrade and returned it. And lo, the lady returned my money and scarcely batted an eye at me. I got over my shame pretty quickly. It wasn't like it was scratched or broken or anything. Right?
Saturday was capped off by a trip to the school park, which is definitely the bomb-diggity of the parks here on base at Yokosuka. I think I've posted some pics of the kids playing there...if not, I'll take some with the good camera and get them posted. My good camera is here now...my couch is not. I can't comfortably watch TV, but dang, I can take awesome pictures.
Yesterday we were extremely lazy. I will fully admit that I was in my PJs until after 11:00 a.m. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a rarity. I usually break out in hives unless I'm dressed and ready to go by about 9:30 or 10:00 at the very latest. We had some lunch and then headed down to a little bazaar that the USO was hosting.
Anyone who has been stationed overseas knows about bazaar. They are kind of the social highlights of the season--the big ones are anyway. Stuttgart had big bazaars once or twice a year and little ones hosted by various entities all year long. Yokosuka is the same. The big all bazaar is coming up in October and will encompass five or six floors of a parking garage. The bazaar yesterday was very small, but somehow I still managed to walk out with a few goodies.
Behold:
Oops, I did NOT buy a minivan at the bazaar...but here it is. So shiny!!
The antique dealer told me six time what these things are called and I still don't remember. They are decorative carved wood pieces that would go above the sliding doors. He told me that this one is 50-60 years old, obviously all hand-carved. It's hard to see, but there's an eagle on the lefthand side and the trees are Japanese pine. $20, hey-hey! You know I love me a deal. It's about 4' long.
Close up of my cabinet...an underwater scene with red and gold koi.
The cabinet opens to shelves and there is a small drawer beneath. Handpainted, but not an antique. Just one of those "antiques" that have been beaten with chains to look old. Love!
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