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My Blog |
It really can amaze me how no matter that you are doing or what problems you or any is dealing with life goes on. You can not stop it. The great train of life has no emergency break and two stops -- Birth and Death. When I was young I never imagined that my adult life would be like this.
The think that really gets at me is this business that I started back in January. Right now I am on the tipping edge of success or failure. For the last four years or so, I have been giving interesting title to what that year would hold for me -- Even though the actual result would not be what I expected -- and last year I told myself that the year of 2012 would be the year of rewards. Little did I know that I said rewards but I would actually be developing a rewards system for Small Businesses like Dunkin' Donuts. Don't get me wrong it is still a year of rewards but this takes the cake.
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| Our first official Dunkin' Donuts using my rewards system. |
A common theme in many anime titles is a world of separation, where one society is either plotted against another society or the two have nothing to do with each other, let alone they even know about each others existence. The reasons being great differences or understandings. In essence this is what GOD did in the tower of babel when he mixed up their languages so they would forcefully fulfill GODs command to go forth and conquer the earth. GOD know that the day would come, such as a day as now where we can now communicate freely with these people with a click of a button without even knowing their language. But these side by side separated existences still exist and sometimes I feel this way about the Japanese and the English web: both are vibrant, constantly inventing new mini-trends and memes and fads, yet they're largely separated by the Great Wall of Language. Most Japanese people will instinctively click away from an English page they happen to land on, perhaps as a result of being forced to study it for all those years in school; likewise, most native English-speakers I know won't spend a lot of time trawling Japanese-language websites unless they're there for a reason. They come together at certain points, of course -- YouTube is a good example of a bridge that has joined the two halves nicely -- but by and large, English-speaking web surfers will tend to be more familiar with the latest "I Can Haz Cheeseburger" cat jokes while Japanese fans know entirely different memes.
The blessings of GOD never discontinue to amaze me. For example, My business partner and I were doing some business stuff in the northern area yesterday when I had three awesome blessings. First, We were removing a LCD TV from a Dunkin Donuts, When I noticed a nice AV Receiver on the top shelf in the office that was not being used for anything other then to switch auto inputs between TV and Satellite Radio. Seeing that we were removing the TV they offered for me to take home the AV Receiver. Now the back story to this is that just about two months ago, my Surround Sound AV Receiver in my bedroom started acting up and started sounding just terrible, I told myself that I will just have to deal with it since I'm living on a low income due to my business start up. When I got home, I discovered that this AC Receiver was far better then the one I already owned and was not only surround sound capable but also had HDMI inputs. Now, I had to wonder why on earth did someone use this $300 receiver just to switch audio inputs? Later in the afternoon, we went to "HH Gregg" -- A newer electronic retail store that personally I dislike -- and had a look at their android tablets -- Whole another story that I hope to touch on later -- After some looking we liked Linsay F-10HD Tablet for $199.99. But, I had only budgeted $150 for tablets at most. After my partner got turned down when asking about cheaper pricing and etc. We noticed an open box of that same Tablet in the cage, I had to be the downer -- I know it was wrong of me -- and said there was no way the store would go any lower then the already low $168.88. But, regardless of my opinion he asked and also without hesitation the Department Manager said he would sell it for $148.88. It happened so fast that my mouth dropped to the floor. Then finally after that we got a call from our first Subway location owner. He told us that the Subway Field Inspector came in and saw our Rewards Program. He was so impressed that he wants to pursue getting approval from the Subway Corporation to make our program an Approved Subway Rewards program in Chicago Land. This was one of the first time I've so clearly seen GODs hands directly in contact with my life. I believe it is my dedicated tithing that has really helped.
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| Everyone is getting an anime mascot these days! |
I really like the idea of marketing your business using an anime mascot. I remember when I first started using Chiori-chan as my mascot for Greenetree LLC and getting many mixed responses from people. Ranging from being weirded out to thinking it was an awesome idea. -- Of course the weirded out being quite rare. -- Now this age old Japanese tradition is catching on with many American Companies which includes Microsoft. As much as I dislike Microsoft, I still gave a thumbs up to this one. So, The idea comes from a long time doujin meme called OS-tan in which amateur artists would create cute anime girl avatars of Computer Operating Systems. (Incidentally -tan is the endearing -chan name suffix, but pronounced as if a small child were saying it, making it even cuter) With the release of Windows 7, Microsoft got in the game and commissioned an "offical" OS-tan character called Nanami Madobe (nana = 7, mado = window) to promote its new OS. Microsoft has continued the series with an official Silverlight character as well as Claudia Madobe (Nanami's Cousin), who promotes the company's cloud-based computing services. Now Microsoft is raising the otaku-bar again by bundling a PVC figure of Claudia with purchases of Visual Studio Professional. -- That one would be interesting to see. -- Personally, I've branded my room with the character that is Chiori-chan with my new Wall Scroll and Bed Pillow, Of course all hand made. -- Is it creepy that my family calls Chiori my daughter, yet she is in my bed every night?
Another thing that I have come to find interesting is the fact that you could live within short driving distances of some great attractions but never actually visit. One example would be Jack Stack, An awesome mouth watering barbecue joint in Kansas City, MO but yet very few people I meet in KC have never ever been there. -- I could also include Firehouse Subs in this but one just opened near my house. -- But in return I am guilty of the same crimes because my friends in KC could not believe that I only visit the Beach and Six Flags maybe only once or twice a year. This same goes for the Japanese who think that all Americans know perfect English grammar and the Beatles. Personally, I think the Japanese can become over obsessed about American/Western Culture like tipping exactly 18% -- that includes the pennies -- or actually correcting an Americans English Grammar. I've met many American who get frantic over no tipping in Japan but for some reason when I learned of this, I was like "YAH! No more tip calculations or forced gratuity. I could live there.". I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
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| It would be cool to visit the real High School from the anime k-on |
This was the year I finally said "I will start my own business" and the first five months have been extremely bumpy and have given me many head aches. It seems that many things I encounter in this venture require skills and experience I obtained from the last 9 years. -- for example Selling skills from Radioshack and Technical Skills from AT&T -- This is the month of growth that I have been waiting for since January. I have always been a believer in perpetual income and selling a product that someone will only buy once is not perpetual. -- Why do you think anything made in the last 40 years breaks with ease. -- With my experience of dealing with Dunkin Donut owners I finally found my gold mine. In January I decided to start offering Text Marketing, Rewards, Web Filtering and Streaming Television. Yesterday I got my first big customer. I have so much I could say and still more to come but I would like to wait. LOL
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Last week I attended Anime Central for the third year in a row and very much enjoyed it. I hand made a Arrietty costume for my little sister, Emily. She came with me on Sunday and we had lots of fun. I personally enjoy and think others love it because the people can come and be their self. I think we live in a world that judges everyone and expects certain people to follow one line and others to follow a different line. But at Anime Conventions there is the one major rule, Judge No One. Not even Startrek conventions give this freedom to people. Last year I once saw a 90 year old lady wearing kitty ear and tons of Anime Product hanging from her walker. Some people tell me they dislike Anime Conventions because of all the weirdos that come around. But take this in consideration, Who do you think those weirdos are??? Your co-worker, neighbor or that guy who rear ended you last week? I think I would prefer to see them coming instead of never knowing. If you think about it, just like Anime Characters have blown up puffy personality that same happens to Anime Convention Attendees.
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| The Japanese Nuclear Disaster was and still is extremely overrated. |
Some time ago, I was listening to WGN when they made a urgent announcement that Radioactive Seaweed was landing on the California shorelines. Hearing this made my extremely disappointed in this countries news system, leaving me asking myself, "Is really what they call news". If you look deeper in the news report you will find that the radio active levels are well below dangerous levels. It has been over a year since the twin disasters and tourism from china has returned to pre tsunami levels but tourism from America is still well under 10%. What is this countries problem. We just seem extremely scared of such silly matters.
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| Upotte!!, An anime featuring anime girls with personalities like famous rifles. What will Japan come up with next. |
Japan has extreme gun control policies allowing nothing more then hunting rifles and handguns to cops. Cops even wear a strip that prevents someone from stealing their gun. Many people credit Japan's third lowest crime rate in the world to the Gun Control. I recently was reading a blog post from Peter -- Owner of J-list -- saying that many Japanese he encounters find it surprising when he telling them he has never owned a gun. Many Japanese students believe that America really is the land of the free, Freedom to own a Gun and freedom from school uniforms. -- Even though I actually kind of like the School Uniforms idea -- Many pro-gun control people here in America try to use Japan as a example to why America should ban all guns. The thing these people need to realize is that the low crime rate can be more credited to the Japanese National Character. Remember the Japanese people come from a past of arrows and melee weapons. Policies that work in Japan will not work the same in America.
Something that seems to be a quite different with home schoolers is the fact we can be much more entertained with the simplest of things. I personally noticed this in my own self, I don't believe it makes us weird and neither can I say why others are not entertained by things like that. I remember when we were young we would play we the door stop on our back door several times over and laugh like mad. Our parents have always been amazed that the things we remember over other amazing trips we have taken in the past.
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| Door stops!, Entertaining home schoolers and elderly people since 19...? 18...? something... |
Well, starting this year I have put the initial work into finally starting my own business. As some of you know I was contracting for someone last year installing March Network DVR in over 300 Dunkin Donuts across Chicago Land, USA. I had made many contacts, so now I have the opportunity to sell my service to a vast group of people. I have several people interested in my service and I hope to launch the second phase of my service starting February first. This is just a blurb but I want to post more about it in my next major update.
Well, The month is almost over and the cold is setting in more and more every day. Halloween is only days away and the abandoned store fronts that are rented though the month of October to just sell Halloween stuff are now in full swing. I don't celebrate Halloween nor believe in it but I do like that idea of anyone getting the chance to dress up like anyone they want. I actually think that pretending to be someone or something else can be a very healthy way to release stress and for once not care what people think of you. That is one reason I love the idea of cosplay so much. I remember dressing up as a Samurai (I was just wearing a kimono.) at Blockbuster one Halloween night.
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| Halloween is here again. Time to get the cosplay out. |
The other day I was thinking about the interesting fact that we Americans find modern Japan so interesting, such as sleeping pods that you can rent for just a couple hours to get a nap or the fact that their large soft drink is about the size of an American small soft drink, like wise I was thinking that there are many things that the Japanese find interesting about us such as why our drinks are bigger then theirs or that you can buy mulch at the gas station in the spring (This one recently interested me) or a pizza can get your house faster then an ambulance. These sorts of things interest the Japanese about us as much as it interests us about them.
My Japanese tutor is returning this weekend after extending her trip to Japan by three weeks due to her daughter getting burn. Hope she has great things to share.
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| Japan has the third highest suicide rate in the world. |
The other day I learned that some young girl (I really don't know much about the story) last week committed suicide by letting her self get hit by a passenger train in Peotone, Illinois. I heard that just as the train was about to kill her; she made eye contact with the engineer. Regardless if I got the story right or not the point is that this kind of thing is happening everyday in Japan and being that Japan has the third highest suicide rate in the world, it make me ever the more persistent in getting to Japan. Yesterday, something very interesting happening to me which I am surprised it took me so long to realize it. A few weeks ago I went to World Revival Church and had a really awesome time and one thing that I remember as being good but did not fully understanding was a quote that Steve Gray made during his message, He said "Use what you have... Take action! Take what you have and give it out for the Kingdom of God! Stop wishing upon a star.", as I said, it was good but I did not know what to make of it until yesterday when I was downtown walking to my first stop when I noticed a homeless man sitting on a crate along the side of the walk way reading a bible. As I continued to walk; I remembered Steve's quote and thought to my self, how can I expect GOD to send me to Japan to help the suffering if I am unwilling to help those in my own backyard. So without much hesitation I walked into the Dunkin Donuts I was about do some work in and asked for a cup of hot chocolate (Yes, It was free because I was working there) and on my return trip I offered it to the homeless man and continued on my way. Some time later I was walking to my second stop when again I noticed another homeless man, I passed that guy several times as I brought stuff from my car to the store and each time thinking more or more about if I should help him too. My self was saying stuff like "You already did your good deed for today" or "People are watching, What will they think of you?", On my last pasting I finally thought "I do it or not, God help me decide!" when suddenly I was just pasting the guy and some string came lose from my bucket of string (A professionals must have.) and got tangled around my feet like it was being controlled to, I struggled to make the last few steps when the string got worst and tangled in my hand carts wheel so bad that I came to a complete STOP!. Tided up with nothing to do but free my legs and cart, I thought "OK, God you got my attention.". I went to the store and dropped that stuff off and headed back the homeless guys way and ask him to join me for lunch. I found out that his mother was abusive and left his dad who just died the year before from illness and he is now homeless since this summer. I bought him a sandwich and when we were talking I asked him what his next steps were to getting back on his feet. His answer was that he was in need of a job. I offered to call an owner of some Dunkin Donuts in Chicago and put in a word for him and he was more then willing to take my offer. I called and he went his marry way. If I improved that guys life or not the point is that I must use what I have to carry out GOD plan on my life instead of complaining. Why wait for the position within an organization before I work for his kingdom.
This is a time in my life where I need to make progress within my life and I find harder then ever to make progress. I am making some good money again and I have been determined to finally make it to Japan by next May. Because of some mistakes I have made I own a little money here and there but I am unable to pay back any of it with ease. I lost my unemployment back in June and now I am making just enough money to make small dents in my debt. This is discouraging because I wanted to have visited Japan since 6 years ago. I have made no wasteful spending for a last couple months now and I am looking forward to this May that it will finally be my turn for some reward.
I hate making progress then other things fall apart. I finally made a few hundred on the side which could have given me some progress and then I had an on the job injury last week. I have been off work for one week and just went back today. 8 days ago I was pulling some wire in the ceiling in a Dunkin' Donuts up north and behind my back a Light Fixture fell from the ceiling and cut the back of my calf. There was four code violations with the construction of the drop ceiling which includes: 1. The fixture was 2'x2' in a 2'x4' opening with no cross bar. 2. No side clamps holding the fixture to the bars. 3. More then 5' of BX from the light to the junction box. Which left the light hanging 6 inches from the ground. 4. No anchors (Wire or Chains) connected to the fixture and the joists. I went to the Hospital and received 8 stitches and an expensive hospital bill. (Don't get me wrong we have the best health care system in America with some faults that far exceeds to quality of any system in the world.)
On a lighter note the guy who took me to get an X-ray was named Ray. So now I have the joke X-ray Ray. LOL.
As I mentioned before I have been learning Japanese from a private tutor. My progress of learning Japanese is coming along. I get all fuzzy inside when I make my own combinations of words to form sentences that where not directly thought to me. My vocabulary has been lacking since my primary focus is on learning the Japanese alphabet.
By the way, For anyone out there that is interested in learning kana like I am should check out this website I found. (http://www.manythings.org/q/kana.php?u=hiragana) It has some different kana (hiragana and katakana) quiz flash card games. I can already see my progress in learning kana when I get 102 out of 105 correct. That right, 105 variations of unique sounds in the Japanese alphabet. Plus, not to mention that their are two different alphabets with the same sounds and the over 2000 kanji characters which are combinations of kana sounds. This is nothing like when I used "Hooked on Phonics" when I was a kid.
One interesting thing about Japanese is the heavy use of loans words from other languages. Many loan words we use in English come from French, for example, words like beef, pork and poultry came to indicate the meat of cows, pigs and chickens through the interaction between French-speaking landowners (who ate the meat) and their English-speaking hired help (who tended the animals). Most foreign loan words in Japanese are from the 20th Century but quite a few others came into use in the Edo Period and before, including tempura (from the Portuguese word for spice), ga-ra-su (window glass), ko-hi (coffee), and ki-ri-shi-tan (Christian). (Remember, In Japanese, "i" makes the sound of "e" as in "he") In fact, these words have been used for so long they have kanji characters assigned to them, which violates the (modern) rule that katakana is to be used to write foreign loan words.
This time will be different because this time I am laying the stepping stones to solidly hold feet as I make progress to Japan Such as supporting a missionary family in Japan since last march and now seriously learning Japanese. I am putting my money where my mouth is. Please continue to pray for me.
I am still waiting to make the proper arrangements to help with relief work. The e-mail I received from Amy Eby was quite promising but when I sent a check up e-mail she was no longer available for contact. As it looks now is they might be interested in getting me volunteering at their HQ Office in Tokyo and going out on Relief Work when needed.
I need everyone for pray that GODs hand will be in this and help provide me with decent housing for I really don't want to stay in a lonely hotel. If I can find reasonable housing then the cost of my trip would be much less and the duration can be much longer.
Round Trip Flight: $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 Hotel: $50.00 to $100.00 /per day times 30 = $1,500.00 to $3,000.00 Food: $50.00 /per day Trip Cost: $3,000.00 to $6,000.00
Hoping to provide more details very soon.
www.japan-m9.com - Donate | Volunteer | Pray.
 I would just like to give people a heads up on my current situation. I have just been notified by CRASH Japan that I just might be a contender to volunteer for relief work in Japan. I am very emotional right now because I feel like this is it. That GOD has been preparing me for the last 6 years and did not let me go to Canada because this is what he wants me to do. I am asking that people pray for the blessings of GOD to rain down because in reality if they ask me to volunteer I don't know how I can pay for the whole thing and even if it will be possible. I am completely putting my faith in GOD that if I am to do this that it will happen and it will the greatest testament to GODs glory and grace.
Thanks, Joel Greene
As I approach my final 12 hours at home I think about all the things that I will miss here. Like the ability to talk with my okasan (mother) or otousan (father) when I desire and the familiar scenes of America the beautiful. Watashi no kozoku wa ai desu.
Yesterday after getting my oil change and as I drove past the Borders Book Store I noticed a BIG YELLOW BANNER under the sign that read "STORE CLOSING". I have bought all my Manga from this store.
"My favorite Borders is closing"
This Saturday I visited Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights to buy Yoshi and Kevin a thank you present. I love the unique Japanese Environment, authentic Japanese Food in the food court and the Magazines and Books imported straight from Japan. This is one place the really gets the blood flowing.
 "Mitsuwa the Japanese Grocery Store is awesome"
"My Favorite Ice Cream is Green Tea"
There will be more posts to came from each major stop so please stay tuned.
Just thought I would post some crazy pictures of this crazy winter blizzard we are experiencing here in Homewood, Illinois.
Current weather map at 1:25 am. 10 hours in.
 Northbound Picture of Kedzie (2:30 pm)  Southbound Picture of Kedzie (2:30 pm) Picture taken at the 5th checkout in my locale walmart. Seriously, 20 to 40 minute checkout times. Come on people, This storm will only last two days not a week.
Just a few hours ago I drove to my dads work to pick him up because the van would not start. Most of the time I could not see any more then 20 feet in front of me.
Just thought I would give an update to my previous post because I have worked out some more of my trip details. I'm really excited that my new room mate is going to be Yoshi Makino who is a natural born Japanese Citizen and has been living in Canada for the last 6 years.
 Yoshi Makino
My plans so far is to leave February 28th and arrive in Prince Albert, SK, Canada on March 1st. With no set return date.
There are two things that really make me believe that this trip to Canada is a calling from GOD. First one would be two people in my life that I really did not think would support this. The first one was my Dad who has been since my lay off putting a lot of pressure on me to look harder for a new job. The second person that surprised me would be my grandmother on my dads side who has always been nagging me to just to go to College, get a good job and become an engineer like your grandfather. Secondly, Like I had said in letter "My passion for Japan", "I believe that when the time comes the money will be there" and so far I am seeing a lot of money that I can scraping off the walls then I first thought. As far as its looking now I will have more then enough money for this trip and then some to put into my future trip to Japan. (Which could come sooner then me or you could think.) God has allowed huge blessing in my life over the last month. I am believing there is more to come.
Being that Christmas was very recently and Christmas was about the same time that Ebenezer Scrooge took a journey of his Christmas past, present and future in the classic "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, I figured it would be appropriate for me to do the same but instead do a review of the last year finishing with what is to come. And away we go.
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
Beginning the year of 2010 I had already been at AT&T for about 6 months. I remember making plans to take my Japan trip in June of that year. I had saved over $2500 and I had enough vacation to take two to three weeks. My biggest problem was who to go with. As much as I agree with them my parents I was desperate enough to be willing to just go and wing it. (Foolish I Know!)
My problems never seemed to have been solved with my Manager (Jonas Denose). All the work I was trying to put in improving my numbers never seemed to help because of the lack of involvement my manager took with me. I remember him always saying my problem was customer service but never once during my visits did he engage with my customer. I honestly believe that is he took more involvement in my work, he could have greatly help improve my numbers. Once March came around I found out that Jonas was being transfered to the Northlake Garage and my new Manager was going to be Tony White. Only two days on the job with him and I was greatly encouraged by his positive words and engagement. I remember having a repair job where I had to completely rerun all the wiring and hang a new drop and he came all the way out to my job and gave me a hand. I come into work on April 10th and tried to dispatch when my IFD refused. I remember going to Tony White and pointing it out. Several moments later he calls me into a meeting with my rep and garage manager. I was informed that I being let go (General Discharge). The actual reason was never solidly said and I remember being devastated for a couple months after.
AT&T is one brute of a company.
To make a long story short, Two months later after fighting the lay off. I was told by my rep that they will not be bring my case to arbitration. I asked why and he said that during my hearing I used the sentence "I think I remember doing bla bla bla" when I should of said "I don't remember". He said that saying that makes me look guilty to the arbitrator.
The crap that AT&T does is so stupid being that people who deserve to be fired keep their jobs and those who should not get the short end of the stick. Which is exactly what I got. Tony White and my Union Rep said I did. A good example of such bone-head-ness (Yes, I made it up. Do want to fight about it?) is in august I get delivered a summons by an Illinois Sheriff. Apparently some guy who rear ended my work truck the year before was suing me and AT&T personally for several thousand dollars. It took me a week to try to get a hold of someone within AT&T who could help me. Last I heard AT&T assigned my case an attorney. Literally the LAST I HEARD. I have no idea where it will go from there and they better hope I'm not OUT OF THE COUNTRY when the court date comes. The reason I say silly is because I can give you a 95% chance that the guy was just paid off.
I had a meeting with my Pastor back in December over my Passion for Japan and was very encouraged by his positive belief that this is really a great calling on my life. I remember mentioning that I'm starting to get concerned that because I just turned 24 years old and many of my friends from youth are already married that this would be a burden on my calling. He came right out and said that maybe GOD has placed this calling on your life at this age because he is calling you to actually marry a Japanese Woman. This shocked me because My parents and I were thinking the same thing. (Yes, Grandma you have a good chance of having Japanese Great Grandchildren.) As for the meeting I had wrote a three paged letter called " My Passion for Japan". Please take a moment and read it. Later this year I might have to write a revision to cover my current situation.
Sakatoon, SK, Canada
Back last year I remember giving the year of 2010 the name of "The year of Growth and Reward", I Think, But I never would have imagined that it would not be in physical means but of character and spirit. As I mentioned in my post on September 6th I went to World Revival Church in Kansas City, Missouri. I went to take a further seeming of GODs calling on my life but in additional I believe it was GODs will that I met Pastor Kevin Tabuchi. (Read more about him in my letter.) Hes an experienced missionary to Japan and pastors a church in Canada. After much time of communication last December he invited me to come to their church in Saskatoon, SK Canada. As it stands now I am leaving out on February 14th which will get me there late on the 15th because its a 23 hour drive. We are making plans for me stay for about 2 weeks to whenever. We have decided to work out a deal that because I would be on a Visitor Visa (Can't get paid) we would exchange work for Room and Board. They want to put me up in a room with a roommate by the name of Yoshi who I a Japanese Citizen. He has said that this will be a huge opportunity to met new people and learn lots about the Japanese People. Supposedly Yoshi is the son of a pastor back in Japan who is good friends with Tabuchi-san. I really don't have much to say until I get closure to February 14th. I called the other day and talked with Kevins Wife. When she answered the phone she asked who was calling and after I answered my name she instantly (Not to even pause to put a face with the name.) said "JOEL!!! It's so awesome to talk with you." Talking with them I feel like I'm some LONG LOST friend or even family. I'm very much looking forward to February and coming later this year I'm hoping that I will be able to join their missions trip to Japan.
Please stay tuned as I'm planning on writing frequent posts on the whole trip.
I can not believe how quickly time has pasted. Just yesterday I noticed how
the temperature has taken a dive. Two weeks ago my family and I visited World Revival Church in Kansas City, Missouri and I had a really great time seeking god and asking him to help me get though these troubled times. On the first day my parents returned from a conference they had attended and told me they met a guy at the conference named Pastor Kevin Tabuchi from Canadian Revival Center in Canada. He is the third generation of his Japanese Immigrant Grandparents as well as a missionary to Japan for several years. Later that night I personally met him and the first words from his mouth was "My wife and I are believing that your dream of Japan will happen.". That was the most encouraging thing anyone has ever said to me in years. He gave me some advise but held him self back out of reverence of the wises of World Revival Church. We exchanged contact information and he wants to keep in contact.
 Pastor Steve and Kathy Gray.
During the last two weeks I also took the compass test at Prairie State College (Community College) to get in and take some class to obtain from certifications. I will be seeing a counselor tomorrow to see my results and what classes they think I need to take. Lucky for me I don't need to take these classes if I'm only pursuing a certificate. The three subjects I'm really interested in taking are Computer Networking, Japanese Language, and Anime Art. Unforchantly PSC dose not offer the last two subjects but when I see a counselor tomorrow I will ask if any other community colleges offer these subjects.
The other day my brother and I went to the rental house my family rents out in Lansing to pressure wash the foundation. Once I got there I realized that I forgot to grab the full gas can at home. So I went to ACE Hardware to buy a new can and then the gas station for some gas. I entered the store and went to the Gas Can Aisle to discover new safety Gas Cans with three switches you have to pull or twist in order to get a stream of gas and if that was not enough the can cost any where from $10 for a small 2 gallon can to $35 for a large 5 gallon. I asked if they still sold the older HAZARDOUS cans in which I get the reply of no. What happened to buying a normal 3 gallon gas can for only $5 maybe $7??? After buying gas and filling the pressure washer I realized how annoying this new can was and how people who make SO MANY MISTAKES (or just stupid) make this world so much harder for us smart people who remember that Yes, You boil water or soup it WILL be hot or Yes, Gas WILL spill and WILL ignite.
 Stupid people make the world harder for us smart people.
A joke I once heard was "If Burger King married Dairy Queen, their child would be Jack in the Box." Many adults know how creative children can be, making up nonsensical new sentences in ways adults never could, bound as we are by social norms and expectations. I find the fun thing with learning a new language like Japanese is you get to be just as creative as children with no boundaries. Japan is absolutely one of the most pro-American countries in the world, with most people possessing a positive view of the U.S. which is one traits of advertisers in Japan. Japanese generally have the impression that America is kakko ii (meaning "good style" or cool) and are often open to owning items like Zippo Lighters, a set of Coleman outdoor cooking gear and clothes from Old Navy. Breading your product as American can often bring a boost in sales, which is why companies like Jack Daniels or KFC wrap themselves in images of old Tennessee or Kentucky. Levi Strauss struggled to build a name for themselves in Japan during the 1970s, until they hit on the idea of using iconic Hollywood stars like James Dean, John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe to advertise their jeans (they came cheap, since they were dead), which has to have been one of the most successful advertising decisions ever. And of course Harley Davidson sells a huge number of bikes in Japan, and has many dedicated fans.
 would you like to wash your hair with "rinse in shampoo"?
Whether you're talking about Singapore or South Africa, Jamaica or Japan, every country is going to adapt the English language to their own local needs. In Japan, people generally learn six years of English in junior high and high school, yet because no one really needs it once they've taken their college entrance exams, it often becomes more of a decoration for society. One pattern I've noticed is that English gets shortened or simplified in ways that might seem strange to us. Hair conditioner in Japanese is called "rinse" (shortened from "cream rinse"), so it makes perfect sense to Japanese people that "rinse in shampoo" would be what conditioning shampoo would be called. In Japanese a convertible is known as an "open car," a name which gets the job done without adding any unnecessary complexity, while an RV your family can sleep in is referred to as a "camp car." One of my favorite Japanese word simplifications are Phillips and regular screwdrivers -- the Japanese just call them "plus" and "minus." I don't blame them with this one I called them that for years.
As much as you probably know I have been off work since April, 2010 and it is probably safe to tell everyone that I was laid off from AT&T. During the past year I have been asking GOD why this stuff happens to me. I tell you, I feel like I have been though more hardship then what is really necessary. My family and I have become more involved with the Revival going on at World Revival Church in Kansas. (Not to mention the trip my family is taking to World Revival Church this weekend.) The other day I listened to a message by Pastor Steve Grey. He said that the fact hardship is present in your life is just a sign that GOD has not abandoned you and he still loves you. I have come to figure out I am like two people from the bible. First one being Joseph and the second being Abraham. I believe that my dream of Japan is similar to GOD's promise to Abraham that he would give him a son and my hardship is similar to Joseph being betrayed. When I was younger I was always jealous of people who always got an easy pass to do what they thought they really wanted to do. I remember when we had are youth trips costing about $450 and I had to raise that money all by my self going door to door selling chocolate bars, but some kids parents would just whip out their check book and write a payment in full on several occasions. I have come to understand that I learn more from a experience simply because I worked very hard to get there. If you compare my current state to Josephs Path then this should be my last major fall and things should start to really look up. To starting with, My dad informed me that his work is about to hire four new employees for Coffee Services (Dunkin' Donuts Equipment Repair and Install Service) and since I have experience with service calls this job be a good choice for me. According to my dad, the Manager of Coffee Services personally requested I turn in a resume. I know both Steve (Coffee Service Manager) and Dave (Warehouse Manager) because last time I was unemployed I helped my dad with Equipment Deliveries to the stores. The only downside to this job is if I get hired I might have to relocate to around the Orlando, Florida Warehouse. But I believe if I get the job then moving will be good experience for me when Japan comes.   Hardships are sign of GODs love. | My dad works as a truck driver for Dunkin' Donuts DCP. It's funny how perceptions work differently in different languages. If you're below a certain age, the most famous Chinese name after Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-Tung if you're even older) is probably Chun Li, the cute fighting vixen from Street Fighter II who shouts "Yatta!" ("I did it!") after she wins a fight. While the brains of English speakers labor over properly memorizing a strange-sounding name like Chun Li, which has no mental hooks for us to attach it with, Japanese have the benefit of being able to internalize the name using kanji characters. Because kanji names have meaning, Japanese might get the impression that Chun Li was a beautiful baby born in the spring, since the characters mean "Spring Beauty."
Someone I am paraphasing this paragraph from said he has a house in Tierrasanta area of San Diego, and just for fun he asked his Japanese daughter what she thought the name might mean. Her answer was really cute: "It means Santa Claus wearing a tiara crown." I want to tell everyone that in my spare time I am building a website called GetPlugged :: Japan, Please visit it and support me by using it. Please cometinue to read my blog posts and pray for me.
Well our Florida vacation has come and gone. I was a real blast. We went to Innesbrook a nice but old resort near St. Petersburg, FL, which of course is were I was born. Then we went to my grandparents house for a few days and finally enjoyed the Greene Family Farm in Tennessee for several days. I drove my car there and back with a trip of over 3000 miles and about 27 MPG on the highway. Excellent!!! Then over the weekend my grandparent came to our house. This was a big vacation. 
The HCG Diet is bar noneI have been on the HCG Diet for about 30 days now and lost a total of 21 lbs. I'm down one pant and shirt size. I am very happy to finally start dropping weight. It would have been more if I did not cheat on my vacation but hey I almost had no choice. I am hoping to hit a least 30 lbs. by the end of this session in 10 days. Then at the end of August I definitely want to start a second session of this diet. 
Did you know the Japanese drive on the left side of the road.Today I had to go and get my Illinois Vehicle Emissions done and realized how happy I am of the improvement of the system because now all they have to do is pull in a cable read your vehicle codes and either pass or fail you. Then I realized that the Japanese don't have it this easy because the Japanese Government requires vehicles to be tested much more intensively and they charge anywhere from $1000 to $1500 for a single test. In comparison to the costs of the shaken a full diagnostic inspection of the very same Japanese models in the U.S. may cost less than $100 USD (9,400 yen) or free (TAX MONEY) if you live in Illinois. 
Entrance of the Emission Facility (Wait time visible on sign. Who is the Air Team?)
Waiting to be tested.Sayounara,
C3
I can not believe how much time can pass in what seems to be only a week. I hate the feeling of being super busy but not really being busy.
This week my mom and I started a new diet that sounds really awesome. This diet is called "Dr. Simeon's Pounds and Inches Weight loss Protocol". This very strange approach to weight loss has been around for 70 years but has been amazingly improved over time. The first part to the diet is cutting your calorie intake to only 500 calories but this sort of intake is not sustainable with out a Homeopathic called "Human Chorionic Gonadotropin" or known as HCG. Now the strange thing is this is this stuff comes from the urine of pregnant women or at least I know the injection version did. I'm doing the drops that you hold under your tongue for 30 seconds to 2 minutes in which the stuff enters your body. The other day my mom made a joke to my sister saying if she and I took a pregnancy test it would return positive because HCG is the stuff that pregnancy tests detect. My sister jokingly replied saying I should just for kicks. From what I know this stuff is one step from being a hormone that forces your body to brake down fat into the blood so your body will burn the fat in place of the calories removed from the diet. This diet is very limited what you can eat but it comes down to skipping breakfast and avoiding all sugar and oils. Only 200 grams of meat and a couple fruits and/or vegetables each day. But the benefit is losing from one to one and half pounds a day.
My family and I will be leaving for vacation in about one and half weeks. We are leaving June 24th and we will be gone for about 10 days. We are taking two cars so us kids can have more room and freedom on this trip. We are going to Florida first then hitting Tennessee on the way back. I just can not wait. It will be nice to get a fresh breath of air.
Well as you might guess I have suspended from work since early April and things have still not gotten better. I'm waiting on the decision if I will be returning to work or not. PLEASE PLEASE continue to pray for me.
Sometime this week I am planning to start selling high quality Japanese Green Tea (Matcha) as a income supplement. If you are interested in buying some please let me know. I just love the taste of real organic Matcha.
Where do I even start with this post. So much to say but so tired at 1:30 in the morning. I know I will compile a list of subjects I want to touch on. 1. Job.... O-: Um, Lets just save this one for the end. 2. Japanese Conference. 3. Cell Phone. 4. Japan. 5. Life.  1. Japanese Conference. As you might remember from my previous post I mentioned this Japanese Conference coming this May. Well, At this point I can say I'm not going to do it. I could not get the time off anyways but after some talk with someone in charge of volunteers I found out they wanted all attendees even volunteer who where not even going be able to enjoy the conference to payand I don't mean the pay for a room and food, I mean the whole thing even the conference. I don't have a problem to pay for a room and food. But hello I'm volunteering for it. You can't expect someone to freely volunteer if they got to pay almost $200. So unless they offer to wave the conference fee, I out. Which I beat it will not happen. 2. Cell Phone.As I mentioned before I just upgraded my cell phone and I can report I'm still loving this phone. Couple things are annoying but hey far less then some of my past experiences. 3. Japan. Japan looks like it is definitely in the fine print. Because I don't see it happening till next year because of some big changes in my life that need to be leveled out until then.  A good Japanese TV Series I can suggest you should watch is "Myu No Anyo Papa Ni Ageru". It's a movie about a young father who contracts CIDP.  4. Life. Firstly last week I twisted my angle then just this Tuesday twisted it a second time and man I tell you it really hurts. There, So if you were curious how much a twisted angle hurt you don't have to wonder anymore because I already tried it for you and I give it a 7 out of 10 of the scale of survivable injuries. 1 being a paper cut and 1o being losing a limb or body part. Just Kidding. Second we are coming up on us digging around our foundation to replace the drain tile because we have a massive flooding issue in the basement that might of mentioned before. (not to mention it was my room and I want it back.) We are doing it Wednesday, Tuesday and Friday. It will be a big task and I hope to post pictures after. Third the Anime Convention is paid for and I'm ready for some fun. Others are still welcome you just have to pay the $55 at the convention for a weekend pass. Next week I'm planing on working hard on developing our company because I've discovered I'm definitely not corporate material.  Well, I guess that brings me to my Job and well... I don't want to go into detail but I can say Tony White my new manager really has become a great manager so far. He is much more encouraging then Jonas and is willing to get me what I need. One thing I will say is I have been off work since April 3rd........ The one job I was in that investigation I mentioned before was the catalysis and with out saying to much all I ask is everyone pray for me. I'm in a HUGH pickle and I need all the prayer I can get. Sorry for so little detail, I hope to say more in the future. -C4
 It is official congress haves passed a unwritten senate health care bill, now it is the judicial branches turn in which I know and hope they turn it down for being unconstitutional. Apparently there are 38 states that are planing to take this to the courts about and 10 have already started. They claim the government is forcing the states to do something that would to much burden on them. My dad on Saturday tripped and hit his face on my sisters car fender in which he put a big cut in his chin. (and swung tons of cat liter on the hood.) He went to the doctors office and had to get 7 stitches...OUCH!!!. It only took him a couple hours but we were thankful we do not have ObamaCare yet because if we did it might have taken several hours instead. I should probably not say this because I don't know who is reading it but when I got back to the garage on Monday from Pole Climbing I discover that Jonas (My Manager) is once again out to get me. He tells me about some job I did where the customer was IRATE. Weird Word because it dose not mean "I Rate You" or something like that. Apparently it is a word that AT&T likes to use a lot. They must of liked it better then saying "Your customer was angry". Yes, I should of paid more attention to detail but that was nothing compared to the real problem. Which sorry to say I'm not going to get into. (NO NO It is nothing like that. It was a stupid complaint.) But it comes down to Jonas was seeking to fire me. This time we sat in a investigative meeting and Jonas tried to chew me out for this and that but Justin on of the other managers actually stood up for me and said Jonas we need to look at what the company says how to do a job not make up our own ideas and that was one of the wises things I have heard Justin ever say. So now I have not heard anything yet which I'm glad and hope there is nothing else. Also on Monday I learn that almost everyone including me was denied their transfer request. The only ones who got it was those who said they would transfer into the city. BUMMER! I was really bummed out because I wanted to get out from under Jonas mainly because of the reason above. So come last Friday and I learn that Jonas is being transfer to the northlake garage and my new manager will be Tony White. This will take effect the 29th and hope it goes over well including hopping Tony is a good guy.  Big news I finally upgraded from my old Motorola Rokr E1 to a new HTC Tilt 2 (Smartphone). I have been out of contract for almost ichi-han (1.5 in Japanese) years. This new phone is nice but I was disappointed in the TouchFLO shell from HTC so I just disabled it went to the default Windows Mobile interface. Yes, I am not a fan of Microsoft but because I'm into modding I figured the HTC was my best choice since the iPhone is not that modable except for jail breaking it. But so far I am happy with this HTC.  And the last thing on my post today is my excitement to attend the Anime Convention coming this May. I'm still hopping to get the time off approved. It is in May on the 14th, 15th and 16th. So any of my friends who enjoy Anime you are welcome to join me. I'm real excited because Anime is one of my favorite ways to learn more about the Japanese People. No, I don't mean like Japanese People watching one of our Soap Operas to learn about American Life because we all know that is a made up wonderland or sometimes horrorland.  Oh and one last thing my parents have suggested that I not focus on Japan this year and instead focus on buying a house since the prices are so low and the first time buyers credit ends soon. (Which I might still miss.) If I did this my dad would put focus on joining me next year even try to get my grampa to come too. This is disappointing to admit they are right but why is my goal of Japan such a problem for me to reach. Please continue to prey for me and ask god to send me tons of connections over this year especially at this conference I'm volunteering for this May.
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