ChanomiTalk

Recently, my employer kindly informed me that it’s flu shot season. I told my boss that I don’t want to take the shot as it causes me to get sick. I also had to explain this to my boss at the hospital. Well, I didn’t have to take the shot…this time, but next year I will have to make a choice. Do I want to keep my job and let someone put foreign material into my body and get sick, or should I find another means of making money?

Ironically, this all comes at a time when I’ve been thinking about changing careers. Should I go for my dreams, follow my heart and change careers or should I stay put and keep doing something that my heart really isn’t in anymore and get sick every year on top of that?

Decisions, decisions.

My wife and I would usually go out to eat every weekend. But lately, since we are trying to save money we have been eating at home. It has actually been an enjoyable experience because it forces us to hone our cooking skills and allows us to eat our favorite meals (that would usually be expensive at a restaurant) on a frequent basis. One of those meals is shabu shabu. Eating shabu shabu is always an enjoyable experience not just for partaking in the eating but also the preparing and cooking experience. And what better way to eat it than the comforts of your own home! As for the ingredients we use the following: Chinese lettuce (hakusai), pumpkin (kabocha), clear rice noodle (kuzukiri), tofu, mochi, mushroom (enoki), Japanese green onion (negi), thin sliced beef and most importantly, the dipping sauces of goma tare and ponzu.

Some years ago when I became a teenager, my facial skin began to get pretty sensitive. My face started breaking with pimples and became dry in certain areas, mostly around my nose and my forehead. I used products that were out back then that promised relief from dry skin and pimples. They didn’t work. I was soooo frustrated.

In my early 20’s, I met a person that worked in the fashion industry who encouraged me to try a product called, Clinique. From the product line I bought the soap, scrub and lotion, Once a day I used the products for just a few days. To my surprise my skin cleared. The dryness went away. So did the pimples. Needless to say, I was very happy and unashamed of my appearance. And to this day, no one can tell how old I am. I’m still not telling and I’m glad I decided to use Clinique products.

この春、園芸店でずらりと並んだ苗類の中にパイナップルセージをみつけました。たまたま、今年はタイムやローズマリーなど、これまで鉢植えで育てていたハーブ類全てを地植えに替える事にしていましたので、パイナップルセージも家の東側の地面に植え付けました。夏中ぐんぐん育ち１メートルを超えたときは、そのように大きいハーブにはこれまでお目にかかった経験が無いので、これ、はたしてパイナップルセージ？と疑ったほどでした。

気候が涼しくなリ、木の葉が散り始め野菜類の実もつかなくなった頃、パイナップルセージが深紅の花をつけ出しました。誠に良いタイミングで庭先が突然ぱっと明るくなりました。うれしい驚きをくれたパイナップルセージ、気に入りました。

ちなみに、若い葉は名前のごとくパイナップルの味がします。パイナップルジェリーも作りました。
不思議にも、花が咲くとパイナップルの味がしなくなります。

今日は、サムさんご夫妻が遊びにいらっしゃいました。
「夕焼けのかかった美しい富士山を一緒に見ましょう」と、お誘いしたのです。

朝からお昼過ぎまで晴天でしたのに、次第に灰色の空に変わりました。
富士山が姿を現わさず残念でした！

それでも、みんな元気いっぱいに、近所の森を散歩しました。

後ろ向けにジョギングをしています。

日中は暖かいお天気でしたが、太陽が隠れると肌寒いです！
サムッ！と、演技過剰の私。

この森は常緑樹です。森を抜けたところです。おすましの３人！

The roll out of the new health care system has gotten a lot of supporters and a lot of critics. But before there was the Affordable Health Care Act there was Medicare and Medicad. Medicare is a type of health insurance for seniors while Medicad is suppose to provide health insurance for those with low income. Before the new health insurance went into effect, people who didn’t fit into either for the two categories above, meaning they were not over 65 or they made too much money to be considered low income (but not enough to afford insurance) had to rely on other means to get seen by a doctor. I know people who would wait until they were really sick and then just go to the emergency room because hospitals can’t turn patients away. Those same people would then end up with a huge medical bill which they couldn’t pay. This would force them to not pay or pay in small bits and wait until they were really really sick again and go back to the hospital. I guess the good thing about having health insurance is the preventive care it will provide to those like some of my friends and family.