tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145993662012-02-16T12:08:52.805-06:00Eight months after leaving Gifu and an office full of Japanese coworkers, I'm in Chicago...with an office full of Japanese coworkers.Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.comBlogger2151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-15854082494143563282010-06-01T21:01:00.005-05:002010-06-23T23:23:36.823-05:00

(Like every post about marathons, this one is long.)So I just finished my third marathon. In spite of all the problems I faced (I forgot my running shorts, temperatures reach 90 degrees, I was sleeping on a pullout couch, etc.), it was actually a very enjoyable marathon. Truth be told, even though it was my slowest marathon (4 hours, 58 minutes), it was actually the easiest marathon I've ever

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-5948142480367501092010-05-03T20:37:00.003-05:002010-06-23T21:01:03.365-05:00

Well, I've turned 27. I'm no longer in my mid-twenties and the end of my youth is right around the corner. There's really not a whole lot I can do except...road trip! Party in St. Louis! Woo! I wanted to go to St. Louis for no other reason than I have never been there and it's just a short drive (4-5 hours) from Chicago. I knew there would be some things to do, but I wasn't sure what when I

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-41865317017035803042010-03-08T22:51:00.002-06:002010-03-28T22:57:26.337-05:00

Volleyball came to a crashing halt, and quick. The week before playoffs, one of our team members informed us that he had to work the day of the playoffs. That meant we were down to five players in a 6-on-6 league. Our chances weren't looking too good. I guess we put up something of a fight, but I was not happy with how we ended.We lost our first match, and it wasn't close. Thankfully, the

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-83709723050737762602010-02-15T22:17:00.002-06:002010-03-28T22:47:35.504-05:00

I had a bye in volleyball. I had a by in basketball. Today was a banking holiday. What was I to do with my three-day weekend? Oh, right, go snowboarding! Yay!!! With winter coming to an end (in another two months, since I live in Chicago), my friends I wanted to get in a quick trip to go snowboarding up in Wisconsin. We were going to a place called Devil's Head that had a chairlift accident

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-50132442669642452542010-02-07T22:28:00.002-06:002010-02-22T23:01:54.180-06:00

I apologize for the long break with my blog. Considering how busy my life has been, though, it was kind of nice to step away for a bit and rest up. But now I'm back and ready to go!Since moving to Chicago, I've gotten involved in a variety of sports--running, football, volleyball and basketball, specifically. Though I plan my yearly calendar around running (you have to with three marathons, a

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-15742935462356338062009-11-14T23:13:00.002-06:002009-11-30T23:42:17.370-06:00

Let me break down our season for you:First five games: 0-5 (including a loss to the worst team in the league)Second five games: 2-3 (including a win over the best team in the league)Playoffs: 2-0We don't know how it happened, but we're happy that we won. Most of the guys on my football team had been playing together for twelve years and hadn't won the championship once, so it was a pretty great

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-75410737374313262832009-11-05T20:38:00.002-06:002009-11-05T21:13:29.031-06:00

My favoritest of holidays (in the "Non-Federal Holiday" category) has arrived! I was worried that I really wouldn't be able to enjoy it this year because I hadn't decided on a costume until early October, but sometimes those late epiphanies are the best. Too bad Halloween wasn't the only thing going on this past weekend.On Friday night, Tom was in his second underwear contest in as many months.

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-55533085726581544722009-10-29T19:57:00.002-05:002009-11-01T20:15:09.734-06:00

We lost our football game on Saturday. Though our team-building activities from the previous week didn't help enough for us to win, it was still a very good game. It was back-and-forth the entire time. We just weren't able to pull it out in the end. Oh well. Everyone did get a great shot of my butt, though. I was cutting across the middle and caught a ball in traffic about ten yards down the

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-85212996683174895772009-10-20T19:09:00.002-05:002009-11-01T20:15:44.924-06:00

The week after the marathon wasn't too bad. On Monday, even though I went to volleyball practice, I still had trouble walking up and down stairs. On Tuesday, I only had trouble walking down stairs. By Wednesday, I was feeling good. Since my elbow had pretty much fully healed after a football injury, too, I was able to return to the gym to slowly start lifting weights again. It feels really good

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-21362163754636486672009-10-12T21:45:00.002-05:002009-10-26T22:30:59.281-05:00

Yay! I completed my second marathon! Wee! But damn if it wasn't a long day.So Tom and I woke up around 5:00am to get down to the starting line. Since he ran it two years ago, he offered to to be my guide. Since I wasn't too pumped about running a marathon, I stopped for coffee, hoping that would wake me up. (At the coffee shop, we ran into some teachers Tom had in middle school...Chicago is a

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-60673221557479363352009-10-10T19:39:00.002-05:002009-10-20T19:55:38.735-05:00

Yay! It's October! Somehow, it always manages to be a busy month for me. The biggest thing for me this year is that I finally start as a 100% real full-time employee at the bank, which is such a great feeling. I mean, being employed is nice, but not having to fill out timesheets and other menial tasks is the greatest benefit of all. I don't think work will change too much, though. October should

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-1569744820075115642009-09-30T22:12:00.002-05:002009-11-01T20:15:53.835-06:00

Yeah, this is my only post to catch up on all of September. I was too damn busy to update it and I'm too damn busy to go back in time and do week-by-week updates. (Okay, I'm actually writing this in mid-October, but I'm backdating it to September just for continuity.) Here's what happened in a nutshell:Friends came to visit. We ate alot of food and saw alot of Chicago.I moved in to a new

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-40931123524247737722009-08-26T18:33:00.003-05:002009-10-20T19:56:43.642-05:00

It's amazing how volleyball is starting to take over my life. The thing is, though...I'm really not complaining.On Saturday morning, there was a huge volleyball tournament for the beach league a few of my friends are in. I went to see some of Tom's games because 1) I'm friends with a few guys on that team, and 2) I needed to borrow his car to do laundry. Of course, this being Chicago, I also had

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-61685385938463972292009-08-20T22:35:00.002-05:002009-08-27T22:51:53.586-05:00

Why yes, yes it is.So this past weekend was my dad's birthday. As a surprise, my mom flew him up to Madison, where Sandy and I could surprise him. I was supposed to get there early on a Friday night, but I'm looking for a new apartment and needed to check out a place after work on Friday, so I actually didn't get there until 1:00am on Saturday morning, but that still left plenty of time for

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-78574352869172615792009-08-12T22:18:00.002-05:002009-10-20T19:57:19.082-05:00

Here's the backstory: When I worked in orientation during university, Jay was sorta my boss during my sophomore year. During my junior year, I studied in Japan. During my senior year, I went back to South Carolina, but Jay went to Japan to teach English for a year. After I graduated, Jay moved back to the South, but I moved to Japan for three years. Then I moved to Chicago. So it had been about

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-87349357051061577542009-08-03T19:57:00.003-05:002009-10-20T19:57:25.805-05:00

In all the years I've been writing this blog, I don't think I've ever fallen as far behind as I am now. Thank God for the option to back-date everything I write!So the last bit of July and the first bit of August was a very good week as far as summer is concerned. On Friday, after work, I rushed over to Montrose Beach to cheer on some friends while they played in their beach volleyball league.

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-73394686332673716982009-07-30T22:49:00.002-05:002009-07-30T23:54:03.612-05:00

...and that was after the weekend ended!Last Saturday was the perfect day to kick back and relax. Chicago hasn't had a day over 86 once this summer and I'm not complaining. The day started with Luis and Thomas coming over so we could walk a few blocks north from my apartment for lunch. We ended up eating some Lebanese/Mediterranean food on the outdoor patio under a cloudless sky. After that, Luis

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-67342531497166934132009-07-21T22:15:00.002-05:002009-07-21T22:39:57.441-05:00

This past weekend was the Warrior Dash! It was so much fun. Sandy and I will probably be signing up for next year's race as soon as registration opens up!To start it all off, Alison and Osiris flew up from North Carolina on Friday morning. I tried to take Friday afternoon off, since I had finished all of my work that could be done, but my supervisor managed to find some busy work to keep me at my

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-40531281678142312932009-07-16T22:44:00.002-05:002009-07-16T23:07:38.833-05:00

I'm just going to focus on the important things.Last Saturday night, I went out with some friends from church to a bar downtown. It's an area I don't go to often, but it's only a few blocks south of my office, so it doesn't feel completely weird to me. After a few drinks (interpret that however you want), we were leaving the bar and I heard someone speaking Japanese. Without thinking, I turned to

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-12815295470113148992009-07-07T22:32:00.002-05:002009-07-12T23:02:41.792-05:00

After the crazy end to June at work, everything went into a huge lull. It really seemed like everyone turned into a bit of a zombie at work. Even my supervisor turned to me and said, "Yeah, you can probably relax for a few days." As much as I enjoy taking a breather every once in a while, it felt weird. My first three months at work had been a constant build-up of responsibilities and tasks, so

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-72958364952373170272009-06-30T23:07:00.002-05:002009-06-30T23:45:27.977-05:00

In Japan, I taught kids how to play cornhole. In Chicago, cornhole is very popular. In Japan, I taught kids how to play Bozo Buckets. In Chicago, I met Bozo. In Japan, I worked with Japanese people almost exclusively. In Chicago, I work with Japanese people almost exclusively. Seriously, sometimes it feels like I've never left Japan.Anyway, this past weekend was Pride weekend in Chicago.

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-8015683604030829462009-06-23T23:18:00.002-05:002009-06-23T23:58:07.941-05:00

Last week involved some goodbyes and hellos. For the past few years, I've been the one who's been leaving or arriving, so it's nice to have other people hopping in and out for a change.Friday evening started with a small house party where I knew exactly one person. It's always tough to break the ice in the those situations, but after I beat seven people in poker and took all their money, they

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-39892894146916694482009-06-16T22:54:00.002-05:002009-06-16T23:28:19.517-05:00

Oh, man. I am partied out. Take a guess at how many parties I fit into my weekend. Seriously, guess. Anyone guess "five"? Because that's the answer.At work on Friday, we had a going away party for our old general manager who's moving back to Japan and our new general manager who's taking over. Our office parties are literally at the office, so at 4:30pm, we toasted the two men and celebrated with

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-74436260586903776772009-06-09T22:38:00.002-05:002009-06-16T23:31:01.467-05:00

It turns out that having a social life in Chicago really interferes with having a blog. I apologize for that.So last weekend I was supposed to go way out into the Illinois countryside to celebrate at my friend's graduation/going away party. I was really looking forward to getting out of the city and relaxing for a weekend (with a drink or two thrown in, of course). But then those plans got

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-65612263642368840872009-06-01T22:02:00.002-05:002009-06-01T22:31:52.254-05:00

So, I missed last week and I've been late for the few weeks leading up to that. What can I say? I've just been a busy guy. Let's start with Memorial Day, then play catch up to now.My friend Richard is a bit of a oenophile and, naturally, has a good-sized wine collection. However, he's moving to a new place in February and he doesn't want to have to transport all of his wine to his new apartment.

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-26749164115572748792009-05-19T23:30:00.004-05:002009-05-20T00:00:51.113-05:00

I can just imagine all of the excited faces out there reading this post now! And if you're one of the few that finds this boring, I'll sum it all up for you: working is going very very very very well. The end.So, at our staff meeting last week, my supervisor was giving the whole "I know we've all got heavy workloads, but we just gotta push through until the end of June [our busy month]." Since

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-14719849764053967612009-05-12T22:21:00.002-05:002009-06-01T22:37:48.339-05:00

The one common thread linking Japan and America is that I have no clue when random holidays pop up. Granted, it should be easy to remember when Cinco de Mayo is, but I haven't celebrated that holiday in years! So when Daniel invited me out for drinks last Tuesday, I thought it was just for a couple of drinks. When I got there, though, I found out we were drinking for Cinco de Mayo, so we

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-66308210738929891642009-05-05T23:31:00.003-05:002009-06-01T22:41:29.668-05:00

So I turned 26 last week? So what? My life is rockin' right now! Everything is just going so well for me right now that aging one year hasn't bothered me in the least. Sure, my last day of being 25 was pretty quiet (it involved me, a pork loin I marinated over night, a bottle of wine, and some pomegranate ice cream), but I've been more sociable since turning 26.I tend to keep my birthdays quiet,

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-80078961937126361342009-04-27T22:20:00.002-05:002009-04-27T22:54:11.804-05:00

I partied often in Japan. I think that's obvious. If you click on the label "Party" at the end of this post, you'll come up with 35 entries over the past 3 1/2 years. Throw in weeks with multiple parties and the parties I never mentioned, 50 or 60 parties would be a good over/under if we were betting. And most of the parties were for no reason whatsoever. Since moving to Chicago, though, my life

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-84408569718476722702009-04-21T22:45:00.004-05:002009-06-01T22:40:01.918-05:00

I've actually only stayed late at work once so far, so you would think that I would have alot more free time, huh? Well, going to the gym four days each week (and a 45-minute commute home every day) does a pretty good job of taking up my free time in the evening. Since I'm pretty tired by the time I get home, I keep my evening simple. I cook up a little dinner (usually enough to last for two days

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-12102497615684131382009-04-13T22:45:00.004-05:002009-06-01T22:40:11.359-05:00

So the first week of my career actually started last week! (Funny story, I graduated from college exactly 3 years and 11 months before my career started. May 6, 2005, to April 6, 2009.)I really don't know how to describe my job. I got into work on Monday morning and my supervisor explains a few things to me and then says, "Well, why don't you try and write up a report for us. Let's see how that

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-52210679550193869292009-04-06T22:13:00.003-05:002009-04-06T22:51:20.300-05:00

I had been wanting to read 1776 by David McCullough for some time now. Two days before my vacation to Virginia and Washington, D.C., was to begin, guess which book I was finally able to buy. 1776. I started reading on my flight out of Chicago on Wednesday morning and it added a nice bit of history as I walked around our nation's capital with my old college friends.My flight back to Virginia was

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-59999884031031446662009-03-30T21:46:00.002-05:002009-03-30T22:24:09.666-05:00

I tell you what, last week was the healthiest week I've had in a long time. The timing couldn't have been any better, either, since I'm going to Washington, D.C. to see some friends later this week for the first time in over three years! (You gotta look good for the old friends.) It's true that the past few days have destroyed all of the recent healthfulness, but that's okay.When I joined my gym

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-59298272853677685222009-03-23T21:50:00.002-05:002009-03-23T22:55:40.084-05:00

I was supposed to join my parents for a trip up to Madison to visit Sandy, but plans got changed a little bit and I wasn't able to join them. I was able to see them for a little bit, though, on Thursday night when they dropped off a bunch of boxes at my apartment on their drive through Chicago. Trying to fit all that extra stuff into my small apartment is proving to be a bit of a puzzle, but I

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-15071974619720145332009-03-16T22:25:00.002-05:002009-03-16T23:05:07.611-05:00

Man, how many times have I had to say that over the past week? Even though I had met with my future manager and assistant manager (and told that that, "yes, I want the job") two weeks ago, it seems that wasn't the end of the story.Last week, I had a meeting with HR. In it, we discussed what my new role would be and various other details. "Here's what you'll be doing, Doug." "We're going to offer

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-3871611515598007512009-03-09T22:15:00.002-05:002009-03-09T23:08:44.276-05:00

I don't know what it is about me, but Japanese people sure do like me. I'm not gonna get into all the details (because there are six weeks of details to go over), but I got offered a job last Thursday! (Yay!) Yep, I had a meeting with the manager and assistant manager that I had been interviewing with and they were all like, "Hey, we like what you do! Your current manager and supervisor say good

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-26727202423366546032009-03-01T23:06:00.005-06:002009-06-01T22:40:24.573-05:00

Well, the big news that everyone was expecting this past week was news about the job. Or, "The Job," as it's become known. Waiting last week really was Hell. Between waiting to hear about the job and my lingering cough from my cold, I still managed to have some fun, though.Thursday night was a "music and wine and big sales" at Banana Republic in downtown. I don't think this store counts as a

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-39089390182924872942009-02-23T21:41:00.002-06:002009-02-24T22:20:41.249-06:00

On Wednesday morning, I boarded the bus to work. On the bus, I coughed a bad cough. Immediately, I realized I was getting sick. By Wednesday night, I was in bed with a fever (and I woke up in the middle of the night sweating after it broke). I still made it to work on Thursday and Friday, but I hopped in bed as soon as I got home each day. I hardly left my bed during the weekend, too, but I did

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-83393421958845409742009-02-16T13:35:00.002-06:002009-02-16T14:24:11.391-06:00

I know I skipped my post last week. I was busy with many hours of interviewing and testing for the job I talked about in the previous post and I was also busy preparing for my Oregon vacation this past week. All in all, I was busy. The only thing I accomplished before flying out to Oregon was taking a walk through the cemetery next to my apartment because the weather was really nice and the

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-63672730032519608012009-02-02T22:08:00.002-06:002009-02-02T22:28:54.145-06:00

Okay, now that things are officially in motion, I can talk a little more about work. Two weeks ago, someone from HR asks to have a short meeting with me. My supervisor had no clue what it was about, so I was freaking out (let's face it, not many surprise meetings with HR are good). Well, it turns out they wanted to see if I were interested in applying for a credit analyst position at the bank. My

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-33131049020012990222009-01-27T22:01:00.003-06:002009-06-01T22:41:09.089-05:00

I'm sorry for being a day late with this entry. Work on Monday was a royal pain in the...well, let's just say it was stressful. My mind was so cluttered with work that karate was horrible, too.So let's catch up, other than yesterday, work has been pretty good recently. Hopefully, I'll be able to go into more detail next week, but that's all I can say right now. So let's skip the 9-to-5 and talk

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-11413274395725876332009-01-19T22:53:00.005-06:002009-10-20T19:58:00.382-05:00

I don't know what else to say. It really just takes it out of me. (I'll be honest: it feels good, but man...)So last Wednesday, I had my first belt test at karate. After three months of training (and the test being delayed a couple of times), I finally got a chance to show my stuff. Of course, the class didn't start with the test. No, we had warm ups. These were the types of warms up that make

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-57425829644597206102009-01-12T23:59:00.004-06:002009-06-01T22:34:27.666-05:00

I'm not really shocked by blizzard warnings, I guess. It's just that...do we really need them every week? And I don't really understand what a "blizzard warning" is exactly. On Friday night, we got 6-8 inches of snow...but we never received a blizzard warning. Today? We had a blizzard warning all day, but not nearly as much snow. (And neither day was windy, nor particularly cold, either.) I

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-65636551489829515712009-01-04T22:32:00.002-06:002009-01-04T23:00:15.300-06:00

Eh, who am I kidding? This is really just a post about New Year's Eve. (And then, of course, it stretches out to a story about a party on Wednesday, two on Friday and a final mini-party on Saturday. So is life.)Okay, so New Year's Eve was a blast. I went over to my friend Darren's house for a party. I was only expecting to know a few of the people (I'm still the new kid in town), but it turns out

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-70734004521484132782009-01-01T00:01:00.000-06:002009-01-01T12:17:54.747-06:00

Not to be a downer, but I'm glad to see 2008 head out the door. I'll admit that it was a good year overall, but it breaks a string of about seven years of each year being better than the previous one. But hey, things are looking up for 2009! On to my resolutions!Last year's resolutions didn't work out so well. I mean, I am cooking more, sure, but I don't know how much of a commitment I've been

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-21181657032551496862008-12-30T22:37:00.002-06:002008-12-30T23:09:08.977-06:00

Everyone knows that WHAM! song, right? Last Christmas? Yeah, it's one of only two songs that Japan plays around Christmas time and I still cringe every time I hear it. But it makes me think of and miss Japan. And Japan also has this horrible confectionery tradition called a Christmas cake. It's just a cake all dressed up for Christmas, but the cake just tastes horrible. I hate them. But I really

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-49497745579268231262008-12-22T22:32:00.003-06:002009-06-01T22:35:03.035-05:00

Yes, I had a lot to eat last week. It wasn't as bad as Fat Week 2008 back in June, but it was the closest I've come since then to true binge eating. And I loved it!It had been atleast a month since I had eaten any sushi here in Chicago. I started freaking out if I went just one week while living in Japan, so I was starting to shake from sushi withdrawal. So, I called up Darren and asked if he

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-73837140536224383972008-12-14T17:36:00.004-06:002009-06-01T22:41:19.293-05:00

I knew I wanted to get back to church, but I didn't think it would make me so happy to go. (Of course, I had a pretty good weekend, so maybe I was just in a good mood from the start, anyway.)My weekend got off to a good start on Friday night. It was Ross' birthday, so he was having a tequila/guacamole part to celebrate his 25th. (Well, it was a Mexican-themed party, actually, but I named the two

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-58726942260851605072008-12-08T22:17:00.002-06:002008-12-08T22:40:34.653-06:00

Winter is here in Chicago! And though Chicago is chasing after the 2016 Summer Olympics, it didn't stop me and my friends from having a mini-sessions for our own Chicago Winter Olympics this past week. And that's pretty much all that's been going on.It started last Tuesday when I went ice skating with seven other friends. An outdoor skating rink had opened in Millennium Park a couple of weeks ago

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-22771714068781725282008-11-30T14:02:00.002-06:002008-11-30T14:31:58.163-06:00

Yes, I would've preferred to have spent Thanksgiving with the family, since I haven't done that in years. With that not really being possible, though, I like to think that I made the best of the situation by having a Thanksgiving lunch with some of my new Chicago friends. It was exhausting, but it was worth it, too.Because I wasn't cooking at my apartment, by original plan was just to go straight

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-18348324699355281462008-11-23T22:30:00.002-06:002008-11-23T23:02:59.069-06:00

Yeah, yeah, work was work. Whatever. The big thing this past week was that Betts came into town! Now that she has her dream job (researching and working with patients who have ALS), she gets to go to conferences and stuff. And just coincidentally, her conference this year was in Chicago. She stayed with one friend from Wednesday to Friday, but we met up after I got off of work and she brought her

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-2610863300850002212008-11-15T11:10:00.003-06:002009-06-01T22:35:33.839-05:00

Well there's a perk of working at a bank! I get Veterans' Day off! Granted, I spent the entire day in bed because of a head cold and a runny nose. On the bright side, it gave me a reason to stay in and relax. On the down side, though, my tissues started tearing up my nose, so I had to walk to the grocery store in a light rain that evening to get some high-quality, soft tissues. Oh, man, my nose

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-51214627071227757012008-11-09T13:32:00.000-06:002008-11-22T14:19:30.290-06:00

There's alot to talk about this week, what with me working (finally!), the election and...well, maybe that's all there is. Still, that gives me a good amount of stuff to talk about.Let's start with the bad things about work. Work isn't bad or anything, but I just want to get the complaints out of the way so I can end on a good note. The commute to/from work is easy because the bus leaves from

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-74034692753260416872008-11-02T14:13:00.003-06:002008-11-08T14:56:13.585-06:00

Halloween is a crazy season. In terms of non-family holidays, it's definitely my most favorite one (just ahead of the Fourth of July). But I really wasn't able to celebrate it too often in Japan (and not once could I celebrate it properly), so I had to make up for it this year. To do that, I had two nights of Halloween! One was on the 24th, the Friday before Halloween, and the other was on actual

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-19807638214894676432008-10-22T12:28:00.003-05:002008-10-31T16:11:19.488-05:00

Finally! I had a weekend that reminded me of Japan! How? Well, it involved the zoo, shopping, hitting the bars and an amusement park. That sounds like Japan, right? Oh, and pictures. I've added pictures to my picture blog, too!So Sandy came into town last Thursday night, and her drive was much easier than when she was leaving my apartment during the remnants of Hurricane Ike a few months back. We

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-3511590604769064982008-10-16T11:57:00.005-05:002009-06-01T22:36:15.126-05:00

I started taking karate lessons! I'm really excited about it, too! I actually wanted to start taking karate while I was living in Japan, but, for a variety of reasons (volleyball, running, traveling, karaoke), I didn't have the time to do it. Also, I was getting a good enough workout at my gym that I didn't need to throw money into a karate class (and do you really think they'd have my size gi

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-21008885929988340092008-10-08T13:27:00.001-05:002008-10-26T13:48:24.648-05:00

Well, not really. I did get a job offer, though.In my last post, I mentioned that I had another job interview with another Japanese recruiting firm. I had assumed that they were just interviewing me for possible jobs for other companies. Well, halfway through the interview, they explained that they had a position open in their office. That was kind of exciting. I would've been doing HR/sales and

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-45609371990619795682008-09-30T00:05:00.003-05:002008-10-14T00:25:01.453-05:00

Boy, I sure have been working hard in Chicago. I need a vacation! (Yeah, I couldn't get through that without laughing, either.) Luckily, Sandy and Matt just bought a house, so that gives me an excuse to head up to Madison and get away from city life for awhile. But that's the second part of the post.I'm really enjoying Chicago and I'm really glad that I decided to move to this new place. Sure, it

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-5083049563709973642008-09-24T13:14:00.003-05:002008-10-12T13:33:38.341-05:00

This post goes out to all those people who think I'm just slacking off in Chicago! (Okay, I kind of a slacking off. I mean, who doesn't want to be on vacation for months on end? But atleast I'm starting to look for some jobs.)After the beach house, my mom shipped me some boxes of winter clothes which included a suit. I needed some repairs done on my suit, so I brought it into the cleaners to get

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-78388751815275421392008-09-16T02:33:00.002-05:002008-10-08T17:09:10.221-05:00

Oh man oh man. That's a lot of hours in a car. And by "a lot," I mean that I could've flown to Japan and back with some time to spare. But that's okay!It all started two Saturdays ago when Sandy and Matt drove down from Madison. They didn't really spend any time in Chicago, as I just hopped in the car with them early in the morning and started the drive down to West Virginia, which was the first

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-63407336462779629762008-09-02T19:59:00.003-05:002008-09-25T10:22:03.890-05:00

Well, this past week has been a whirlwind. I flew up to Chicago last Wednesday and it started getting crazy right away. A quick summary is that I flew from Norfolk to Charlotte to Chicago...but the storms in Charlotte delayed my flight out of Norfolk, so I barely made my connecting flight. My luggage, however, didn't make my connecting flight, so I had to wait around O'Hare for a couple of hours

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-66664816358892746552008-08-24T19:53:00.002-05:002008-09-22T10:24:34.810-05:00

I guess I've been reaching my limits of how long I can stay at home. I actually got so bored the other day that I went out to MacArthur Mall to waste some time and go shopping. Yeah, I couldn't really go shopping too often in Japan (being twice the size of the average person made it pretty difficult to find things in my size), but why would I go shopping in Norfolk when I'm about to move to

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-71585709957084963402008-08-20T09:52:00.004-05:002008-09-22T10:24:57.992-05:00

After a long weekend with family in West Virginia, I decided to spend a long weekend with friends in North Carolina. What's a few more hours in a car after long flights and other long drives, right?My first stop on Thursday was in Raleigh to visit Megan. Yes, this is Megan from Japan. We hadn't seen each other in almost two months, so there was no way I could drive through her state without

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-40736906416123078572008-08-10T21:41:00.002-05:002008-08-22T22:30:42.342-05:00

(Only a few more backdated posts to go and I'll be all caught up!)I'm not gonna lie. The flight home sucked. Was it the small seats? Nope, I'm used to those. Was it the little woman sitting next to me who told me she would have to get up to pee alot because she's a diabetic? Nope, I like to get up and stretch, too (because of the small seats). Was it because the stewardess didn't have change

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-19525458861973077862008-07-30T21:23:00.001-05:002008-08-13T16:28:35.978-05:00

(Note: Yep, this is another backdated post. I'm just trying to catch up and I'm hoping I can do it before I get to Chicago.)Let's just go right to the partying, because that's pretty much what my last week of Japan was. Work ended without any big hitches (well, the mayor was an ass, but that's been par for the course over the past three years--he practically ruined my last day of work

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-22955290008097818422008-07-22T20:52:00.004-05:002008-08-04T18:44:45.484-05:00

(Note: This post is backdated. Yeah, I'm writing it in August, but it's easier to put a July date on it, to keep everything in order.)My last weekend before the end of work was a three-day weekend. "Geez, Doug must've had a three-day party." Yeah, I wish. I actually spent a good portion of the weekend preparing for the move home. Not all, though.I guess exhaustion isn't the best term to describe

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-9705243938887130542008-07-17T23:33:00.004-05:002008-07-18T00:10:19.719-05:00

I'm going crazy, so I forgot a few things to write in the last post. I forget things all the time, but these are actually pretty significant events, so I think they should be written down. I would've just edited the last post, but it's more than one thing. I'll add an extra story or two, too, to make it a worthwhile post.1. My successor: After my first elementary school visit this week (back on

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-75430976173732768612008-07-17T03:02:00.003-05:002009-10-20T19:58:11.526-05:00

After Betts left, I went to work on Thursday and Friday last week. "Oh, good! Doug got to rest a little bit." Not quite. After all, I had to catch up on some translations, prepare for the weekend, and prepare for moving home.I had to wake up early on Saturday morning because I was going camping with some people from volleyball. Well, they call it "camping." I call it "renting two really small

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-87005458875923901942008-07-11T00:19:00.003-05:002008-07-11T01:45:39.520-05:00

I could have also called this post "Temple, Dinosaurs, Love Hotel and World Heritage Site." But I didn't think that title would grab your attention. I started using my video camera to document our trip, so you can expect plenty of videos at some point in the next couple of weeks (I hope to have them edited and posted before I leave Japan).So after Betts and I left Gifu, our first visit was Fukui

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-54728217050941377162008-07-09T20:29:00.003-05:002008-07-11T09:18:05.807-05:00

Talk about a whirlwind adventure this past week. Betts came to visit me in Japan last Thursday and we've pretty much been on the move ever since. Yeah, we stayed in Gifu for a couple of days before traveling all around Japan, but that doesn't mean we were resting. Most of you probably remember hearing about Betts. She was teaching English in a neighboring city during my first year here in Japan.

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-63859761726109172782008-07-01T19:14:00.008-05:002009-10-20T19:58:21.690-05:00

And here we are...July! My time in Japan will be coming to an end very soon. Too soon. (No, really, it's too soon. I still don't have a plane ticket because there's been alot of stuff going on in my office. Maybe I just won't come home until the first or second week of August? Hopefully, it will all be settled this week.) But what's a great thing about July? Every single post this month will be

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-69989538476876104722008-06-26T21:06:00.004-05:002008-06-26T21:51:01.377-05:00

...because this is going to be a long post. I'm going to skip my normal introduction and get right into the meat of this past week. I've been busy, so there's a lot to go through.Last Friday, Megan and Andrew came up to Gifu so they could see cormorant fishing (and so we could all have our final goodbyes before Megan and I leave Japan next month). I had organized a cormorant fishing trip for

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-89962663454555526262008-06-17T22:53:00.001-05:002008-06-19T23:43:50.131-05:00

Wow. It's amazing how hard it is to find time to write when you're running out of time to run around Japan. In spite of my busy schedule, though, I don't have too much to write about this week. The only thing that really happened was a trip up to Gero, a major hot spring resort (one of the top three in Japan) that is just a couple hours north of my city. It would be pretty pathetic for me to live

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-40366986731243998982008-06-09T22:53:00.003-05:002008-06-10T00:26:13.560-05:00

For the first time in a long time, I actually didn't take any pictures last weekend. I had hoped to take pictures because I knew my weekend would be fun and busy, but I somehow managed to forget my camera. Looking back on my weekend, though, I'm kind of glad there's no visual evidence.On Saturday, Sandra got a group together to go watch the Chunichi Dragons, the professional baseball team in

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-17176277416306443012008-06-03T22:47:00.003-05:002008-06-04T00:02:21.711-05:00

Oh, man, I'm so fat. You wanna know how much food I ate last week? I ate so much food that even my metabolism couldn't handle all the food. In retrospect, maybe all the food wasn't that great of an idea, but you gotta take advantage of the opportunities you're given. For those of you keeping track at home, I had huge meals on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Just about any of those meals

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-75936216184875824662008-05-26T21:51:00.005-05:002008-05-29T00:42:07.579-05:00

Yes, yes, this is another post that will contain information about old castles and stuff, but, unlike the past two weeks, it's not actually the main topic.For the past two weeks or so, Kendra's family was in Japan visiting her and traveling the country. Since Kendra's half-Japanese, it meant that her mom and grandmother used the opportunity to visit family that they hadn't seen in years, if not

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-32357890948137962202008-05-18T21:19:00.003-05:002008-05-18T22:12:31.680-05:00

Another weekend, another castle. Last week, I went to Kiyosu Castle, which was rebuilt in 1989. This week, I went to Inuyama Castle, which was rebuilt in 1537. Yeah, there's a bit of an age difference between the two castles. Not only is Inuyama Castle one of the 12 castles still in existence that were built before 1600 (which means it has been designated a National Treasure), it is the oldest

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-20925940620380127442008-05-11T21:33:00.003-05:002008-05-12T23:15:37.900-05:00

That's probably the shortest title ever for a post. I'm too lazy to look back and check each post title, but if someone wants to check for me, they'll win a prize from Japan!This past weekend, I accomplished yet another dream of mine. This dream wasn't quite as grand as walking the Nakasendo, but it has been almost three years in the making. When ever I would travel to or from Gifu, I saw a

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-64798612322688977322008-05-07T10:05:00.003-05:002008-05-07T10:41:59.150-05:00

...or not.I'm not going to use this post to rehash every little thing I've seen over the past few years to combat the Western assumption that Japan is a nation of geniuses. In fact, I'm not even going to mention the big things, though there are many examples to give. I'm just going to give one example. But first, a health update!Remember that lingering cough, slight fever, general cruddiness that

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-18514010214628354082008-04-29T22:14:00.003-05:002008-05-04T23:54:24.532-05:00

Yes, yes, it's my birthday and I'm spending in the office. "Doug, but it's your birthday. You deserve a vacation!" That's very possibly true, but I'm in the middle of consecutive four-day weekends, so I figure a little work won't kill me. (Also, I'm turning 25 and everyone knows that's when fun ends.) Anyway, one of my coworkers gave me a hat for my birthday (it's our inside joke), so the day

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-29313518743652233502008-04-22T23:59:00.002-05:002008-04-23T00:35:04.161-05:00

It just seems like I can't keep myself healthy for any length of time and I'm about to get very upset about the whole thing. Personally, I blame socialized medicine for this. If I were uninsured and in America (as I will be approximately three months from now), I'd be fit as a fiddle, gearing up for my next adventure. As it is, I keep getting sick like a dog (but I'm still gearing up for my next

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-91154890031847348442008-04-16T01:12:00.005-05:002008-04-16T02:07:44.778-05:00

Well, I did it! I biked around Lake Biwa (Japan's largest lake) without killing Juls! I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment considering 1) She was riding tandem with me (it could've been an accidental death) and 2) she kept singing "...but you'll look sweet upon the seat / Of a bicycle built for two..." (I thought of making it seem like an accidental death). I developed a case of food

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-65762299120553983592008-04-09T19:44:00.003-05:002008-04-09T20:41:09.394-05:00

Yep, Spring is officially here! The cherry blossoms were out in full bloom last week and the weather finally turned warm for good. (The rain this week knocked off alot of the blossoms, but it was their time to go, anyway.) Such fantastic weather (clear skies, low 70s) was the perfect setting for a parade, right? Thank God you can't swing a cat without hitting one in Japan!Last Saturday and Sunday

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-40664759419545304602008-04-03T09:04:00.004-05:002008-04-03T09:32:31.429-05:00

Now that I'm not traveling so much, I finally had a chance to catch up with my friends this past week. Wonderful! Add to that my three new coworkers and I've had a busy week getting to be (re)acquainted with people.Last Thursday, Yuko, Yuko and Lilu came over to my place for dinner. (Yuko and Yuko actually write their names completely differently, so it's not as confusing in Japanese as it is in

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-89621726082688765672008-03-24T20:40:00.002-05:002008-03-25T22:52:02.051-05:00

Last Thursday was a national holiday in Japan ("Vernal Equinox Day"); last Friday was a national holiday in Dougland ("I Want to Take a Day Off Day"). It was just by chance that the two holidays lined up perfectly, so I took my four-day weekend and went down to visit a few cities in Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island, for a weekend of relaxation. The only plan I made in advance was my hotel

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-90693616591620183032008-03-16T21:57:00.007-05:002008-03-17T01:30:52.918-05:00

Warm weather has arrived in Japan! And I am taking full advantage of it! Before I start talking about my weekend, though, I need to make a rule. If anyone ever meets me in a communal bathing area, do NOT grab my chest hair. That's the rule. I've almost completed 25 years here on Earth and, until last Friday, I assumed that was one rule that everyone inherently understood. After a light workout on

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-81811137355748661232008-03-09T22:57:00.004-05:002008-03-10T23:50:07.925-05:00

Last Saturday, for the first time in my life, I ordered a beer while naked. All I can say is, "Thank God! I can finally cross that off of my 'to do' list!"Last Wednesday I was ready to leave Japan. It was absolutely ridiculous. A city councilman made me translate a blog article from a Dallas newspaper for him...even though it wasn't work related at all. Normally, it wouldn't be bad, except I had

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-71923041987975701282008-03-03T23:59:00.004-06:002008-03-04T06:49:22.922-06:00

I had a great weekend of doing absolutely nothing. It was confusing, in a way, considering that it was the first weekend all year for which I had nothing planned. No traveling. No working. No nothing. Heck, I even skipped volleyball practice last week. And it was fantastic! Of course, that's not to say that my weekend was a total waste. I finally got catch up on laundry and dishes, meaning I can

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-47220522814070985082008-02-26T08:06:00.004-06:002008-02-26T09:21:55.183-06:00

I know people are going to call me crazy for saying last Thursday was the happiest day of my life, but I'm okay with that. Before we get to that, though, let's go back another week and talk about that first. What can I say? I'm way too busy to keep this thing up to date at the moment! (I say that every month, but only because it's true.)The party all started on Friday the 15th! Brian, Kendra and

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-80880488883215788692008-02-11T21:46:00.000-06:002008-02-11T23:20:38.722-06:00

Three-day weekends are always exciting in Japan. For some reason, I'm never completely sure about what I'm going to be doing until a few days before the weekend begins and this past weekend was no different. At the beginning of last week, I decided that I would travel to the city of Ise in a neighboring prefecture to visit some famous shrines (also, I had never visited that prefecture, so I

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-90844583472091201342008-02-04T18:30:00.000-06:002008-02-04T20:35:13.274-06:00

I was only able to catch the second half of the Giants' Super Bowl victory on television on Monday morning (time difference, not tape delay), but I was physically exhausted after it was all said and done. I'll talk about that at the end, though.After recovering from food poisoning last week (it lingered a bit longer than I expected), I had to end the week with a new year's party on Friday. Sure,

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-70480859151643392542008-01-29T20:46:00.000-06:002008-01-29T22:46:37.543-06:00

Every year, I have to translate a pamphlet that is basically an outline of city projects. And every year, I have to translate the Mayor's greeting, which includes a word for the year. I tell you what, it's alot easier to translate a sentence than a single, solitary word. After much thought, though, I've decided that the "word of 2008" for Gifu City is "CREATION!" (I really enjoy the pointless

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-92201378371742568642008-01-16T00:29:00.000-06:002008-01-16T01:03:10.369-06:00

I really do not want to talk about graduate school at all right now. I'm definitely not in the mood because it causes nothing but stress. However, as that's been a pretty big topic for me this past week, I'll talk about it a bit in my blog. After that, I'm done talking about grad school for awhile.Okay, last week, grad school applications were due. Many long nights. Many frantic phone calls to

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-82928012229120210082008-01-05T23:19:00.003-06:002009-10-20T19:58:46.859-05:00

Well, I'm finally recovered from the dawn of the new year. (Though that's a pretty apt description, as you'll read, it was more of a recovery from the end of last year.) Let's see if I can catch up on all the fun.It all started on the Thursday after Christmas when I had a year-end party with my volleyball group. It was a course meal with about 30 people there, some of whom I hadn't seen in six

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-52141102517715088652007-12-25T06:20:00.001-06:002007-12-25T08:11:19.753-06:00

Merry Christmas! After last week's confusing post, I hope this one will be more to everyone's liking (it's long, so it should have something for everyone). My Christmas vacation started on Friday night as I went out for a snowboarding weekend and ended Monday night after a Christmas dinner. Here's how it went down:It's safe to say that the trip didn't get off to a great start. Brian and I were

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-20887391104218221952007-12-17T08:23:00.000-06:002007-12-17T09:09:27.842-06:00

I apologize for keeping all of you waiting. Like the title says, I've been busy. So, instead of trying to catch up in chronological orders, I'm just going to tie a few stories together, hoping that they can bring you up to speed.Brian, Kendra and I planned on going snowboarding this upcoming weekend, then Kendra got hospitalized, so we had to put off making plans. Well, she got out of the

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-17927986188090759272007-12-05T18:38:00.000-06:002007-12-05T21:08:31.508-06:00

I always thought that, when winter came, things would slow down. Since there's less daylight, people tend to go home sooner and stay inside longer, meaning fewer things could happen. Well, I guess that's still true to an extent, but it ignores the types of problems that arose this week. (Oh, and work is getting busier, somehow. I worked a few hours of overtime last week and a few more this week..

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-70075711906470900972007-11-25T21:03:00.000-06:002007-11-25T22:24:13.225-06:00

I didn't post last week because there wasn't much to talk about. I still had tonsillitis, so I wasn't very active. The penicillin wasn't working, either, so I went back to the doctor and found out that it was a viral infection that was lasting much longer than it should have. As soon as I got off of the penicillin and started taking pain killers and sleeping pills, though, everything cleared up

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-43097505644116152772007-11-11T20:36:00.000-06:002007-11-14T06:25:23.488-06:00

So, I didn't run my marathon yesterday. I had actually felt pretty good all of Saturday (no headaches or anything), but I knew that I wasn't well enough to run for four hours. I really wasn't all that upset, though, because I knew that not running was the best decision (and it was cold and rainy at the marathon). I ended up going over to Kendra's to have lunch and watch a movie with her and Brian

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14599366.post-87891195090302325982007-11-05T22:32:00.000-06:002007-11-06T00:46:02.269-06:00

I only make up interesting titles when I don't have that much fun stuff to say, but I want to grab your attention anyway. This week? I don't have that problem! I've got good stories about running and Aunt Linda and Uncle Gary's visit. At the end, I'll have one more comment about running, but it's not as much fun, so maybe I'll give that a special title.Recently, running has been pretty difficult

Doug Chinerynoreply@blogger.com2