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I don't have many friends in general and even fewer that live in Japan. That 1 person does count for a lot if we're measuring by years. We met up for the aforementioned World Expo and baseball game plus wandered around Osaka in search of shopping and games.

Neither the Nintendo store or the Pokemon store were able to entice me to spend. My quest was to find piano sheet music which was achieved at a music store. That music is still a bit too challenging for my skill level but it gives me something to aspire to.

While riding trains, an impulse purchase was inspired by a mascot for a contactless payment system. Even e-money has mascots in Japan. This one is a platypus name Ico that always seems agitated. The literal translation for platypus is 'duck-billed'. (I wonder now if this is a subtle multi-lingual pun). With a bit of hunting, I was able to get a World Expo mascot + platypus ICOCA mascot combo plush at a gift shop. (Although the special IC card was completely sold out). Sadly, it seems Snoopy was not participating in the World Expo mascot cross-promotions.

We visited few game centers and instead focused in on a pinball arcade. Pinball is a niche western game in Japan and yet a large pinball arcade in Osaka has a great selection. What it was lacking during our visit was a working change machine so we couldn't actually play anything. Pinball machines are prone to failures but I'd never seen a faulted change machine in Japan. I blame the nearby gashapon shop for making 100 yen coins a commodity.

Of course I loaded up on Japanese snacks to bring home as souvenir gifts. Sharing small snacks with people back home is a Japanese custom. On previous trips, my local friends and family didn''t really appreciate the custom or the snacks but I still do.
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By chance, my favorite Japanese baseball team was playing as the away team in Osaka while I was there. Baseball in Japan is both American in nature but Japanese in execution. What I noted most interesting is the focus on the team over the individual. In America, each player has their own theme song that plays when they get up to bat. It's their chance to excel and they have the spotlight. In Japan, the crowd provides the soundtrack in the form of organized cheers (much like soccer does). They are singing songs about the team as a whole (from what I gathered by the translated lyrics). Both teams have a dedicated section for their cheering fans and they never interrupt each other. I bet that cheering for half of the game would get tiring but they are the true fans!

Another example: a common strategy is the sacrifice bunt to advance a runner. No American batsman would ruin their batting average bunting. It took 8 innings to generate the first point but my team did win with a final score of 2-1. They lead their league so I'm paying closer attention to the season now. Go Hawks!

Beer and hotdogs are just as popular there and I enjoyed both. I also bought a Snoopy / Hawks towel at the stadium team store. Towels are a common staple of Japanese goods perhaps because of their long established bathing culture and perhaps due to the intense perspiration generated by hot humid summers.

The crowds at the World Expo made my anxious about leaving the stadium and busy trains so I left a bit early. I suspect that any celebrations for the away team would be minimal anyway.

Osaka

Sep. 18th, 2025 08:30 pm
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The World Expo was my primary reason for visiting Japan. I'm not familiar with Osaka having been just once before. To better acquaint myself with the city, I took 2 different walking tours from the start. The back streets eating tour was especially interesting. We went to some sketchy areas (by Japan standards) including a red light district. My highlight was an izakaya with draft beers and fried foods.

The food was all really good the whole trip. I ate most meals from convenience store items. That may sound like a terrible way to eat but Japanese convenience stores are miles (kilometers?) above what we expect in the US. Drinks are also instantly available from vending machines on every corner. I always travel with a water bottle but it wasn't even needed.

The weather was hot and humid but tolerable in short bursts. When the heat became too much, air conditioning was available in any cafe, shop, etc. to rest and cool off. Exploring department stores, underground shopping centers, and pedestrian street malls attracts me. I like accidently discovering a curious shop or restaurant. After I found one, it became a quest: Snoopy Town.

I grew up reading Peanuts comics and I still enjoy it. I have a few Snoopy toys but the amount of merch is so high that I don't collect anything. Japan has a chain of shops that only sells Snoopy goods. The danger became real after finding another Snoopy Town store. While 80% of the products are the same, each store has some varied selection. I visited 5 in total! To protect my wallet, I focus on the original Snoopy design from the 1950s era. I like that he acts more like a dog in that form. That style of Snoopy is less common so I didn't break the bank.

Still more Osaka trip to document including a baseball game and another world expo (?!).

Expo 2025

Sep. 16th, 2025 03:46 pm
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20 years ago while living in Japan, I attended the World Expo in Aichi. Reading my blog entries from way back then, it seems my experience was middling despite my fond memories. It must have been a book, "The Devil in the White City" that cultivated my interest in World Expos. I missed the 2010 Expo in Shanghai but attended the 2015 Expo in Milan, Italy. Then I missed the 2020 Expo in United Arab Emirates so Expo 2025 was a must.

Just as it was 20 years ago in Aichi, reservations were required to get into many of the pavilions. A lottery system was used but I didn't win any. The alternative was to stand in crowded lines for 2-3 hours, often in 90+ degree heat. I'm not that patient so instead simply wandered the Expo site exploring. In truth, this satisfied my curiosity in architecture and logistics.

While nothing can compare to the Eiffel Tower (built for Exposition Universelle 1889), The Grand Ring is an impressive structure on it's own. Years from now, perhaps it too will achieve such fame. A laser light / water show in Osaka bay was well done. Drone shows are still novel to me and the one they did was the best I'd ever witnessed.

Still, I wish that I could have seen more of the expo. I even went 2 days but missed out on most of it. They anticipated this however and made virtual tours available. This may be the impetuous that compels me to buy into VR.

The expo was only part of a week long trip to Japan. More words on that soon.

Class Act

Jul. 17th, 2025 01:14 pm
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Half of my goals for 2025 are now complete - take an acting class. Actually I took 2 different acting classes: Intro to Acting and Character Development.

The first was a class offered downtown at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. It's far from Julliard but still has a pedigree of acting education. The class started with about 12 people and dwindled down to 8 by the end. I suspect they had unfairly dismissed the nearly 80 year old instructor. He had some trouble with memory but otherwise was a very seasoned actor, director, and coach. He had plenty of stories, some with famous people, that he incorporated into his lessons. Our final day we performed an open scene and his direction and guidance was truly insightful. I learned a lot and regret not taking notes. If the school weren't an hour away in heavy traffic, I would take another class there.

The other class was level 2 of an improv acting class. Previously I had taken the intro improv class from the instructor: a second city alumni. While I learned less from that class, it was more fun. The final class was a 5 minute showcase of the characters we had developed and my sketch based on singing parodies of Elvis songs was well received. That performance may be useful again around Halloween this year.

There are no grand plans to give up my corporate career and take up acting. I would starve! However, some of what I learned is applicable in other fields such as making a presentation at work. Many of the other businesses could benefit from a little show business!
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It seems that any time I go to the Colorado Renaissance Festival, I end up with a sunburn. Maybe that's why I've only been 5 times in 40 years. An open invitation from a friend gave me a reason to attend this year. It was pirate invasion theme weekend which also provided me incentive to construct a pirate costume.

The pirate I admire most is Guybursh Threepwood so I tried to build a cosplay with the plan to also use it for any video game cons. I ran into a roadblock with a critical aspect of the look however. While most of the items I could get standard off the shelf, the top frock coat is unique and required a bespoke tailor to construct. Despite trying to contract with an artist, nothing ever developed. Maybe it was the best. A top coat would have just been too hot to wear in July.

While contemplating an alternative pirate, it suddenly occurred to me who I should cosplay as. While not a stereotypical pirate look, he is kinda a pirate, at least his name certifies it: the Dread Pirate Roberts. Don't know who that is? This is the alter-ego for Wesley in "The Princess Bride". Also simply known as the man-in-black before he sheds the false identity tumbling down a hill.

It wasn't too hard to get everything I needed from Amazon. Dressing all in black was a concern so I made sure to get breathable linen fabric. I think the costume came out great and many people recognized the character. I was even asked for a photo! That's pretty impressive when maybe half of the people there are in a costume.

I'll go the RenFest again next year to use the costume again. And now I won't have to improvise at the last hour on a Halloween costume this year for a change. Oh and I didn't get sunburned!

Piano Man

Jun. 30th, 2025 03:53 pm
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It's been a few years since I picked up my bass guitar. It was fun to learn but less fun to play. The issue I had is that not many songs are written for the bass. It's more of an accompanying instrument as part of a band. To address this, I attempted to join a band but it fell apart after 3 weeks when the lead guitarist realized he was way better than the rest of us. No matter. Playing in a band wasn't my plan anyway. I just wanted to jam and stretch my creative side.

A podcast on guitar history made me consider playing that instead or maybe taking it a step easier with a ukulele. The question I hadn't yet answered was: what type of music do I want to play?

As a youth, I had a Casio digital keyboard. It was more of a toy but that didn't stop me from teaching myself how to play some video game music on it: Zelda, Final Fantasy, Mario, etc. Those 8-bit songs often relied on melody to take advantage of the limited sound capabilities. Perhaps now, with a proper instrument, I could re-learn those songs.

After a few attempts, I purchased a used Roland digital piano from Facebook Marketplace. Equipped with instructional books, smart apps, and a bounty of online videos, my quest is underway. I started 3 weeks ago and learning a lot. And unlike the bass guitar, I can already play an actual song.
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A year ago, I attended a Bassett Hound rescue fundraising picnic to learn about the breed in person. This year I attended the same picnic with my own Basset Hound and the story about how I adopted him. A human couple there recognized Buster as the dog they were going to try and adopt too but I beat them by a few hours. It made me appreciate that I was really fortunate to get a great dog.

He may actually be younger than the shelter estimated. They guessed about 5 years old at the time which would make him 6 now. The experts at the Bassett Hound rescue disagreed saying that he looked younger. I'll say he's still 5 this year.

Despite being similar to a beagle, I had to learn some key differences. Somehow the insides of his ears get gross and need frequent cleaning. It was only after I started using ear wipes that he didn't stink as much. At least I don't have to brush him very much.

While Lefty was timid with other dogs, Buster is a bit of an instigator. He likes to roughhouse and bark loudly. That can be startling and has lead to one minor incident with Buster getting bitten. Maybe he learned his lesson and won't play so hard.

On the other paw, Buster has picked up the duty of chasing the neighborhood rabbits. He's never caught one but he's still a friend of mine!
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Much has transpired since the previous update. Firstly, the vacation to France. Having reviewed my daily journal of the trip, I don't have anything especially insightful to detail. Paris was nice but very crowded. The smaller towns we visited along the Seine river cruise were much more pleasant. Each day, I ate croissants, wore a Breton shirt, and read about Napoleon. I came to appreciate Monet as more than the "water lily guy". I got sick but pressed on with the aid of pharmaceuticals and strong coffee.

Any first visit to Paris is going to be cliché. You can't not see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and The Louvre Museum. Now that I've crossed off those obligatory sites, a second trip would be quite different. Someday I hope to see it that's true. Until then, I can enjoy brioche, calvados, and impressionist art here at home.
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The Japanese have a word without an adequate English equivalent: genki 元気(げんき)
It means: lively, full of spirit, energetic, vigorous, vital, spirited​, fit. It combines many attributes of good health into a single word.

It's a nuance I think about with my own health. I'm alive and doing fine but not certain that I'm lively. In truth, some days I wake up tired even after a full night of rest. Perhaps this is simply how getting old feels. After avoiding it up until lately, I'm slowly adopting coffee into my morning routine as a necessity. An aid many people rely on that becomes a real addiction.

Perhaps caffeine consumption is masking and complicating the real issue. Poor diet? Not enough exercise? Restless nights? More data was needed. In the past, I wore a fitness tracker to measure my vitals while jogging. I gave it up upon a realization that I shouldn't need a computer to tell me how I feel. An excellent sleep score is just wrong if I feel tired. Still, I'm curious to give technology another try at assessing my well being.

Smart watches are impressive though I ruled those out as too obtrusive to wear to bed (plus they need charging at night anyway). Instead, I opted for a smart ring. Wearables tiny enough to fit in a ring is my idea of cutting edge tech. Having never worn a ring of any type previously, I had concerns about equipping myself with jewelry. Would it feel weird? be bulky? look flashy? After just 2 days, those worries were quickly dismissed.

The verdict is still out to it's usefulness as a health tracking device while it establishes a biometric baseline. Any standard will soon be disrupted by erratic sleep common with international travel. Even if the ring provided no insights, it has already enticed me to be more active and get to bed early.
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In a week, I'll be underway for a vacation in France. A transit strike prevented my previous attempt to visit via the chunnel from England. This go I've opted for a different mode of transportation; a river cruise. During my trip through eastern Europe a year ago, I noted how the Danube river offered this curious means to traverse the region. Online research (and perhaps commercials on NPR) sold me on trip that I could take together with my mother.

She has fond memories of visiting France as a young woman and would occasionally reminiscence on it. A bit of coaxing was necessary for her to get a passport. Once that pre-requisite was completed, the trip was booked and the countdown begun. We start in Paris and then cruise the Seine River to Normandy with various stops along the way for wine, cheese, history, and art. While I usually travel solo, it will be nice having someone to tour with.

I still plan to journal but expect to compose long hand rather than take a laptop with me. Upon my return, I'll collect those thoughts and write them up here.
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It may appear that without any entries lately, I seem inactive. Quite the opposite in truth. A new romantic relationship has made the last few months beyond belief. These experiences are personal so please understand my turn towards privacy.

Still, there ought to be some other news I can share for the record. October was the last mention of the deck rebuild project and worth an update.

While still not complete, the deck is usable. The framing, decking, and railing are finished. I even started construction on a shade arbor which will be welcome in the summer months. What remains yet are the stairs. The deck is on the second story with a long staircase providing access into the backyard. Online tutorials are more sparse for this component of the deck which forces me into some trial and error. A deadline of May seems distant now but will soon approach if I delay much longer. Ideal weather is a luxury I may not be able to afford.
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I had made it 47 years in life without buying a dining room table of my own. 15 years of those in my house with the designated area for one. As a bachelor with negligible cooking skills, there was little benefit to eating alone at a table and not in front of the TV, at my desk, or over the sink.

On frequent occasion I considered this equipment as a standard adult purchase but never was able to find one that matched my preferences and space. So defeated by this quest that I nearly built a custom table myself until I discovered how expensive lumber was.

Next, I browsed Facebook marketplace for a used table as an inexpensive and greener option. While plenty of people are selling their furniture in preparation for moving, many don't think to include the dimensions or other noteworthy details.

That pushed me back toward the professional furniture sellers with verbose search filters allowing me to home in on a table that fit the bill. It now sits in my small dining area with the tease of a proper dining experience until I compliment it with chairs. Allow me another decade or so to complete that.
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Even though most resolutions fail, I still think there is value in the attempt. Regardless of the outcome, I'll learn something. That's why I focus my resolutions around education and there are several things I would like to know more about this year.

First a recap of various courses completed in prior years:

cocktail making
swing dancing
woodworking
swimming
rock climbing
improv comedy
drawing
geometry
bass guitar
chess
Japanese
dog training

Likely there are even more that I'm forgetting. So what's on the agenda for 2025? Acting and first-aid.

In December I was called to be on stage for a musical number at a show. I've no live theater experience and always considered myself to have stage fright. However, that 7 minutes sharing a spotlight was really fun and it seems my "performance" was actually convincing. After the show I was asked if I was an audience plant. Someone really considered me a professional actor! Imagine! Let's see if she was right.

The second, more practical skill to learn is first-aid. That should be common knowledge but I freely admin I am a fool in such things. An area easily improved at a local community center I suspect.
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2024 was a bumpy year. A terrible start with the loss of Lefty stared to improve with the prospects of a new relationship. It ended abruptly and my woe continued. To get through this rough patch, I traveled extensively. First domestically to Milwaukee and then internationally through eastern Europe.

Upon returning, I now was faced with a considerable decision point. I opted to stay put and get another dog. It was emotional at first but over the summer, we grew closer and now he's settled in.

I took a brief trip to Seattle on Memorial Day to close out summer.

Fall was the season of a woodworking class and the great deck rebuild project. It's not finished yet but it's at least usable again.

Atypically I did not see any concerts this year but I did squeeze in a few shows: Nunsense, Rubicon, Chicago, Hairspray, Meow Meow.

The end of 2024 has been especially exciting and I hope to have more to say on that into 2025.
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2024 was a rough start so I didn't make any new year's resolutions. However, any time is a good time for self-improvement and I later decided to take a class in woodworking. My experience is limited to a middle school class and the much more recent project of rebuilding my deck. I know more about the tools than anything else.

To further my education, I enrolled in a local woodworking class. I was the only student to enroll which meant I now had private lessons. The instructor was very knowledgeable and was able to answer my many questions. A simple box was the project for the class. Not very exciting I realize but the goal is to understand core concepts that can be applied to more complex builds. Understanding the properties and nature of wood were important lessons.

I'm not yet certain that I'll truly utilize this knowledge. I had a plan to build a dining room table. However, woodworking requires some considerable equipment investments which are only valued over a long period. Instead I'll try another class with a focus in furniture where I can create a table with the aid of another instructor and have all the expensive equipment at my disposal.

Deck Me

Oct. 11th, 2024 08:48 am
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The company that I work for is struggling lately and that has resulted in temporary furloughs. With the unpaid time off that I now have, I decided that I could take on the big project of rebuilding my deck. The deck is as old as the house built in 2001. In addition, it was built poorly and cheaply. I performed some small repairs and maintenance over the years. I could have continued with that to extend the life a bit but decided to start from scratch.

Youtube videos are great at convincing you that anything is possible but often omit the unexpected challenges. Knowing these can be deceptive, I contacted 3 professional deck contractors. Only 1 responded and they quoted me around $20k. That is a considerable sum for me. I could do it myself for about 1/10 of that price (plus some blood, sweat, and tears). Why not give it a try?

During the construction, I'm learning a lot about deck building and maybe something about myself. Perhaps this is part of a mid-life crisis to want to build something. Or maybe I just want to get some new tools and feel manly. Self-psychoanalysis isn't productive and it doesn't matter anyway. I need a new deck and I don't want to spend a ton of money for it.

The furlough won't be long enough to finish the entire deck. I'll have to complete it over nights and weekends for the next few months. I can accept a slow pace so long as I can finish it.

Fried Air

Sep. 18th, 2024 03:10 pm
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To reduce the mundanity of grocery shopping, I make it a habit to buy some food or product that I’ve never tried before. Sometimes I find a new favorite item. Worst case, I learn what not to buy.

On the previous trip, I bought a calzone from the deli. It was only when I got home that I realized the cooking instructions required an air frier. If you’re not familiar, this is a popular new(ish) kitchen appliance that is more accurately a mini convection oven. While I’ve heard from family and friends how useful they are, I’ve been able to get by without one. Call me old-fashioned but I prefer a microwave.

I really wanted to try the calzone however, so I began researching air friers. Consumer Reports provided a recommended option but was ultimately the wrong choice. Their suggestion was annoying with constant beeping and poor UI. It doesn’t matter how well it cooks if it’s a chore just to use. I returned it.

With new requirements, I went back online for more research to try another brand. More testing is pending but I’m already looking forward to using it every day until it finds a semi-permanent home next to the waffle maker and blender.

PAX 2024

Sep. 2nd, 2024 05:33 pm
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So how was the convention? A bit disappointing. The show is 4 days long and I had scheduled for 2 days but only needed 1. To be fair, it’s not so much the fault of the event but more on me.

In my younger days, I would go to E3 and was thrilled to see all the new games and would wait hours to try them. I have no such patience any longer. There are several issues here: First, some of the games at the convention are already available to play in the comfort of your home as demos on Steam. Worse yet are the games that are already fully available. Why are people so patient to play such games in a crowded, noisy, environment with the very high risk of getting sick?

But that isn’t the case for every game. There are some unreleased games that are playable. Many of those are scheduled to be released in the next 3 months however so why not just wait for that? It’s only marketing and they entice people to wait for hours by throwing in swag. I used to go after swag so I sorta get it but it’s all just cheap junk now. A free sticker or keychain is a $2 gift for 2 hours of your time. Not worth it.

Finally, there are indie games that are early in development. I like talking to these creators about their games. Unfortunately it was just way too crowded and loud for this. I spent about an hour in this area of the convention and that’s all I could tolerate.

The convention has more to offer across the street in another building. That building is much larger with plenty of space for all. I went to some panels including a talk with Xbox head Phil Spenser. They had a variety of other attractions such as Jackbox Games, an arcade full of Japanese games, tournaments, table top games, etc. These probably would have been fun with a companion. Solo I only perused them to try and fill the day. At least there were no lines. I spent more time tending to StreetPass on my 3DS despite having no use for them. An event like PAX is the only place to get them.

The event I was most looking forward to was the game music concerts but even those were a letdown. A concert is more than just the music. It’s a show and that include elements like lighting, costumes, dancing, stage design, video, special effects. Video game bands don’t usually excel at those aspects. They too often lack a frontman / band leader with enough charismatic or flair to really entertain an audience. They used to hold concerts in an actual theater. Now they just hold them in a giant room on the convention center. The bands performing were all competent musicians but below-average performers.

I ended up leaving even earlier than I needed to. Instead I walked around Seattle more and chilled at the hotel before an uneventful flight home. I wore a mask during most of my trip and I’m still feeling okay so I hope that I avoided getting ill. If I ever decide to attend again, I’ll go on Sunday / Monday when it’s less crowded and I’ll go along with a friend.
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Because I am an older gamer, I tend to prefer older games. However, I also like new games that play like old games. To get a preview of such games, I attended Penny Arcade Expo (known as PAX) in Seattle. It’s a gaming convention that I’ve visited a few times previously with my last visit in 2013. Seattle is also a city I enjoy and many of my co-workers live there.

Denver and Seattle are comparable in terms of population and size but beyond that they are quite different cities. Downtown Seattle is livelier. That’s probably a result of multiple corporate headquarters there which bring in people during the day to patronize cafes, restaurants, etc. There are also tourist attractions which are lacking in Denver. Tourists don’t come to Denver specifically, they come to Colorado (to ski).

Traffic was light and the public transit was great. Buses and trains run often and are cheap. There are lots of bike lanes for cyclists, scooters, etc. I enjoyed wandering around downtown Seattle. A negative is the homelessness and drug problem seem much bigger in Seattle. There are also bible thumpers and political activists polluting the streets with noise. Typical problems for many big cities.

I took a walking tour (as usual) and the guide explained that not many people live downtown; they just work there. That makes lunch expensive but dinner cheap and happy hour prevalent. I’d have to better research the seasonal weather but maybe someday I would like to live there. For this trip, the weather was perfect and even my solar powered wristwatch functioned!

Having water everywhere is quite a bit different than being in a landlocked state and I especially liked watching the seaplanes take off and land from the big lakes. Also, the seafood was naturally better than Colorado so I ate as much as I could stomach.

I went to 2 museums, moPOP and MOHAI. The first is a pop culture museum and the other for Seattle history and industry. moPOP is neat for nerds like me but still a bit pricey at $33 for a museum that can be complete in under 2 hours. MOHAI highlights the engineering feats needed to build Seattle and the history of the region.

Asian culture is more common in Seattle than Denver and I overheard Japanese tourists / locals. I ate some good Japanese comfort food too. I attempted to visit a pinball arcade /museum but they close at 6pm which is way too early and I missed it.

Unfortunately, several of my co-workers are down with COVID but the healthy one was able to hang out for drinks and dinner. It was nice meeting them face-to-face, a person I speak to frequently on WebEx calls. I admit that I was anxious about getting sick at the convention, so I wore a mask there. I’ll write about the convention itself in the next entry.

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