Saturday, February 9, 2008

The where have I been update

Hello World,

It's been a while since we've last chatted. Here's a quick run-down of what Bob has been up to (not necessarily in chronological order):

Related to the last post:
I cried like a baby at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life", and had a great salt baked chicken on Christmas Eve made by your's truly. I then, after the New Year-

Ran my first HALF MARATHON 21+ KM(alone with my Nike + :training for the Ome 30km marathon Feb 3rd)
I ran the longest I've ever ran before, and still was able to move after... proof here


My 30km Marathon:
Was cancled due to snow... which is just as well, since I couldn't afford to travel out to it anyway because of-

Paying Uncle Tanaka:
2days after my last post, the accounting section of my company calls me about my year-end taxes. It turned out that I owed the amount of about one monthly paycheck (gross) worth because the company didn't take out enough for my first bonus (and gave me some BS story about how because I started in mid-March, when bonuses come out in April, and since I was only on file for 1/2 a month the accounting deparment assumed that the amount I made was 1/2, and that was the salary to base the witholding on, while to try to explain that it's not their fault...)which to be fair, it isn't accounting's, it's HR's, but that's beside the point. Quick story is I had to pay a crapload of money I should've paid anyway, but didn't even know about until they tell me I'm out a month salary the day after X-mas:
Merry Christmas Bob! Which brings us to the-

Job situation (not completely related to the above, as I'd been semi-on the hunt since October, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back for good):
The topline is that I may be moving out of the fashion industry in the near future. I know, I know "but Bob, you've always had your finger on the pulse when it comes to fashion with your beer brand knit caps and hockey jersey!, and I thought you liked working 16hr days!". In some ways I do feel bad, since I've only been there for about a year, and they were nice enough to enslave...er I mean give me a fulfilling job- but as ol' Jack Burton says:

When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite hat up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye and asks you if ya paid your dues... you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."

Watch 'Big Trouble In Little China' again- you know you need to...

So where am I going? What am I getting into now?
Well I used to market smokes here in Japan which cost about 300 yen for the consumer- moved to fashion-retail which adds another zero for said consumer. My next move adds an extra four zeros to the product I'll be marketing. It's the one most expensive purchase your average consumer can make in a lifetime-and is not a Ferrari...(as long as we're not talking Enzos)

In the grand scheme of things, I guess I'll be moving up! Anybody looking for a good condo?

Toriisogi, gohoukokumade.
Bob S