blah. I have a few loads of laundry to do today. Well, I did manage to get out to walk the dogs yesterday, took them over to the Coyote Creek hike & bike trail, and walked from Metcalf Rd. to Coyote Creek Ranch and back. I’m not sure who enjoyed the walk more, me or them… 
it was close to seventy degrees (that’s 21C) yesterday. Seems about the same today, though a little less sun, and more clouds. My suits will be ready later this week, I should probably looks for a few new ties too. I might need some selection assistance though…
I found out for sure that I need a COE (Certificate of Eligibility) for the assignment in Japan, which means I won’t be able to leave till that is complete. I’m working on gathering the required documents, and sending them off to IBM Japan, so they can apply on my behalf in Japan. Figuring on a late February departure now. 
I managed to actually hire a landscaper this week to finish the side yard. He put down weed barrier and covered it with bark chips so that the side yard is now done after two years of being “under construction”. He also weeded all of the yard, front, side, back, and the flower bed outside the fence on the side. So it looks really nice now. He trimmed the really tall cypress trees to roofline level in the back, and took off half the height and slimmed down the one up front too. Oh, and he trimmed the curly curvy bushes up front really nicely too. The last item on his list was to install an electrically controlled timer device on the lawn sprinkler, which should be completed on Monday. So, now that all the yard work is done, maybe I can go take the dogs for a walk in the park today….
Varekai was awesome. The VIP thing was nice too, lots of snacks before the show and during intermission, plus free parking. The guy sitting next to us in the theater was kinda dorky, but the show was really cool. Definitely worth seeing.
We went to Home Town Buffet in Milpitas for lunch, the American style cooking thing was good for Nhut who’s been eating rice bowls and ramen for a month. Then of course, we had to go clothes shopping. I needed to pick up three suits for work in Japan, so we went to the Men’s Wearhouse. The salesman there was a little lifeless, and we were about to head out, when the manager came and took over. He was high-energy, and helped me pick out three nice suits. I was counting on Nhut to help me make the selection, but I guess I knew what I wanted. When I asked Nhut the second time what he thought of one of the suits I tried on, the manager asked sort of matter-of-factly, “Oh, is he your partner?”. To which I responded, simply, “yup.”. Intersting. Of course Nhut slept so late that we had to rush to finish shopping so that we could get home in time for our evening plans…
We have tickets to go see Varekai tonight in San Jose. Plus, I need to go out and get three suits for work in Japan… yuck. TurboTax is annoying, they advertise that you get a free state tax download when you buy their Deluxe version, but you have to pay for it, and then send in a rebate form. How many people actually apply for and receive the rebate? I bet less than if they just let you download the damn thing for free to begin with. Sleazy.
I was talking to Nhut on Yahoo tonight, and he is having the phone line installed this week. He’ll be looking at DSL options, they have 12Mbps DSL in Tokyo through Yahoo Japan. We talked about equipment that he’d need to use DSL at home, and it seemed like the Linksys 54g Wireless WAP/Router would be awesome. I added it to my wishlist at buy.com.
Well, I got an offer from IBM Japan this week, have to make a decision to accept or reject it. Figure on 4-6 weeks to get a work visa before I can start. So much to do to get ready for this.
