Julian in Japan -- Not a Hoax, Not a Dream, Not an Imaginary Story!

Julian's been gone just over a week now, and due back on this coming Thursday morning (the 22nd). His teacher (Ms. Valentine) was kind enough to e-mail this picture to us, which Julian sent the accompanying comment:

"I have better pictures than this of me."

What a chatterbox, eh?






Ms. Valentine was also kind enough to set up a makeshift web page for the families to see what was going on. (Click on the Title of this post or the words "makeshift webpage" to see the web page itself, and watch for further updates.) In this picture Julian is the second from left in Shadow. Considering that Julian and the first kid there (his buddy Austin) are the two musicians in the gang, this photo reminds me of a lost cover to some Rock Group's album or something.

The kid in the back digging for gold (His name is Diego) is the class clown of the group. I'm fairly certain that photo op was staged.




And this is The Lineup; the moment the American Exchange Students meeet the preschoolers they are teaching English to. Just give THAT moment a thought: in Japan, they start teaching English to their Pre-K Students.

Did I mention Julian is 6'2" this year?

You can select the appropriate caption here, or make up your own:

"AAAIIIIEEEEE!!!!! Giant Gaijin Americans!!!!!

"Oh Look -- they're remaking Gulliver's Travels."

"Does anyone else here feel like Godzilla?"




This is my favorite, which I call "Noodle-Boy." Notice how the pre-schooler next to him looks very relaxed and a bit happy. Julian has always had a way with kids, and it shows. (Some of the other pre-schoolers look positively terrified in the other pictures!)

And Julian is only helping with his mastery of chopsticks, which must make him seem less scary. This kid has had his own custom pair of chopsticks for 8 years, and uses them well.

~~JD~~

Complete and Utter Tool of the Year . . . For the Last Five Years

***UPDATED: Thursday June 15th, 2006 -- See Below***




Got a call Wednesday (which is why I missed posting last Wednesday). Thought I'd take a minute and explain why here.

A Private Investigator called and informed me (pursuant to Texas Law) that he had been retained to locate assets for Citi Financial to collect due to their re-opening collections on a 2000 Lincoln Towncar Limousine.

A What??? A 2000 Lincoln Towncar? My car with Professional One was a 1997 Lincoln Towncar. (That's my golden Towncar behind Tool-Boy in the photo above.)

He gave me the name of Mr. Shirette at Stevens & Michaels Associates for point of contact. I called him immediately; he was "Out to Lunch" at 2pm. I waited an hour, then called again. After a brief conversation learned that he had some kind of information that either (a) the limousine was NOT covered by our 2002 bankruptcy (he kept referring to it as a "business bankruptcy"), or (b) that we may have concealed funds from the company, thus invalidating the limousine company bankruptcy in 2002. (Again with the "business bankruptcy.")

I explained to him that we had declared a personal bankruptcy in 2002 on our lawyer's advice and referred him to that lawyer. I also told him that he needed to let My ex-business partner and his psychotic girlfriend (and I named their names to him) know that this type of statement against us was both fraudulent and harrassment and that they had been stalking us prior to our departure from Indiana in 2002. Some of you may remember that ugly little time; the midnight phone calls, the changed phone numbers, the police called when creditors were beating on my front door with a baseball bat, and the threat by the girlfriend to "blow your f***ing head off if I wasn't a Christian."

He paused for a moment when I said that; then he as much as confirmed it was these two by mentioning their names back to me and let me know he would look into this and contact my lawyer.

I'm sure these two doofuses were involved because they have repeatedly insisted the Professional One closure was a Business bakruptcy, not a personal bakruptcy -- even though they received the notices just like everyone else did.

I called my lawyer's office and told Shirley (my lawyer's secretary) what had happened and that I suspected Tweedledum and Tweedledumber; Shirley replied "Oh, Honey, they call here once or twice a month." Seems they've been really busy trying to do everything possible to confuse, obstruct, and otherwise screw up the bankruptcy closing for the last five years, and now that it has finally closed, they've redoubled their efforts to do everything possible to try to make my life miserable.


Five years.


Five years later, and they still can't let go and get on with their lives.


Also, I'd very much like to know how Citi Financial got hold of our unlisted phone number and gave it to this Private Investigator. The lawyer's on that one as well -- and probably wondering why in the heck he ever accepted this simple bankruptcy from hell.

The truly funny part is that when Ariane and I were debating renewing our Mailbox at the UPS Store last month, we had a spirited discussion over whether these two were nutso enough to carry a grudge this long. We both agreed they wern't, but Ariane wanted to keep it "just for the peace of mind." Good thing we did, eh?

Ah, if the Valparaiso Prosecutor had only pressed the embezzlement charges I wanted, lo those five years ago.

UPDATE: I may yet get my wish, one way or the other.

Mr. Shirette called back Wednesday night, and I returned his call Thursday. He was very apologetic (as he well should be -- contacting the debtor in a Bankruptcy case is strictly prohibited by Federal Law; and we could've very easily gotten him into a LOT of trouble had we been the vindictive bastards My former business partner says we are.) He asked if I minded talking with him for a minute, which I didn't -- so I did. His major question was what happened to the limousines after the bankruptcy, and I told him that they had been towed away by a company out of Chicago, and that this company had the name and phone number of the people who had originally sold us the cars and financed them to us. I even offered to provide the documentation for the repossession of the cars (I still have all the paperwork stored away here -- I anticipated these kinds of idiocy.)

So, apparently, the finance company absconded with the cars somehow. Or, at least, someone absconded with the cars.

Hmmmm . . . I wonder who that could have been.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shirette is very annoyed (to put it mildly) as to who is wasting his time and getting him a potential Federal Rap for violating the terms of a Bankruptcy.

Be afraid, Mister Crowe. Be VERY afraid, Ms. White. You were stupid enough to give him your callback number on the Caller ID.

~~JD~~

Miscellaneous & Sundry; Part VIII

1.) It's Saturday Night. I'm full of Guiness -- I'm celebrating. Sue me.

2.) I'm absolutely fascinated by the ClustrMaps to the right side of the 'blog that shows where people are looking in on tghis little 'blog. Some of them I know about and understand; for instance, the big circles in Minnesota, London, Paris, Chicago, Virginia, and St. Louis MO are explained by my friends and family (Mike Sawin in Minneapolis; Paul Sheik-Hossen in Paris & London; Nancy Gertsmeier in Valpariso IN, and my sister Kathy and friend Trevor Burroughs in Virginia; and friend John Gerdes in St. Louis.)

Those I understand.

But what's with that guy in Portugal. Who's the doofus in Argentina, or in Thailand who's looking at my 'blog? Who the heck in Venezuela is reading these pages? In Spain? In Italy?

Heck, who's that in Florida, or Kansas, or Canada?

For some reason this just tickles me to pieces!

(And for some reason, spelling seems to be incredibly complex while I'm inebriated.)

If you haven't tried this, click on that little map with all the red circles on it. It's just under the counter and right above Bert's smiling face.

3.) I've added a few new 'blogs and websites to the links available on the right side. Two I'd strongly recommend are Frontline Forum and Midnight in Iraq. They're 'blogs maintained by military folks currently stationed in Iraq; so this is news straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Take a second to take a gander and let me know what you think.

4.) MAN, they have a lot of good vintages available in Texas.

5.) Just for everyone who's wondering; we're not very likely to travel this year. We're still waiting for the INS to issue Ariane a new Green Card. Until she gets a new Green Card (the old one having been stolen when she was mugged last year), we're pretty much stuck here.

Deportation is a very real possibility without your Green Card in South Texas, particularly now.

So; how's by you folks right now?

~~JD~~

God is Gracious, God is Truly Good

Or, as we say in South Texas, . . .


YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!


I got the job.

The GOOD job -- the one where I run the clinic, for a substantial pay increase (almost 25% greater than my last pay rate)


YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!





Plus Julian is leaving next Thursday for two weeks in Japan as an exchange student.

Julian!

Exchange Student!

JAPAN!!!


I'm so damned proud of that kid!

~~JD~~

Christian Ways To Reduce Stress

My buddy Brenda sent this, and I think it's very much worth passing on.

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An Angel says, "Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice."

1. Pray. Pray Hard. Pray Frequently. Pray Often.

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and un-clutter your life.

7. Less is more. Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time, don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about it, forget it -- don't worry about it.

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key
buried in the garden, extra stamps, an extra can of antiperspirant, etc.

14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble. There is no requirement for you to talk at any time. Be comfortable with silence -- many people are not.

15. Do something for the Kid in you everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good "Thank you, Jesus."

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude. Most people are doing the best they can.

31. Be kind to unkind people They probably need it the most.

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34. Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

~~JD~~