I woke up early this morning because I had Japanese homework to do. After eating breakfast, I got to work on reading some conversations and looking at the grammar points. I finished up and went into work a little early. I had a meeting with my boss, another meeting, and I shared the Japanese/American interaction paper with Todd – as a result, my morning wasn’t so productive. I came home for a nice lunch with Eriko and told her about my conversation with Todd. Back at work, we had an ice cream cake party (which was yummy). I didn’t get much more work done before I went off to Japanese class. Hideki and I had good time and ended up discussing Japanese/American marriages ourselves! After a brief hour of work, I came back home. Eriko was on the phone with her mom and so I fixed my own dinner. We had lots of nice conversation on the couch and I went to Safeway to pick up some groceries. Then we had more nice conversation and it was time for bed.

I was able to sleep in a little bit, because we had an OB appointment at the Nadeshiko Clinic. I set the alarm for about 7:40 (the planned wake-up time was 8) and was eating breakfast when Eriko woke up. I did a little work on the computer as I needed to write a status email. We ate our separate breakfasts and headed over the 520 bridge to Kirkland (a little before 9). The mood was civil but not so comfortable. I headed back to Isilon and arrived in plenty of time (about 9:40) for my meeting (at 10). Unfortunately, I had to find parking (and grabbed a latte) so it was about 10 by the time I actually got in the building. The staff meeting was good and interesting. I had another meeting with my team afterwards and then it was time to pick-up Eriko. I was a little rushed, having left the office at 11:35, but I made it in-time (noon) to pick-up Eriko. In fact, I was there a few minutes early and went inside to use the bathroom. She was waiting outside the bathroom for me a few moments later. A really cool thing happened at Nadeshiko – Eriko talked to her nurse about us and got a nice sheet of paper describing common communication problems between Japanese and Americans. It was specifically tailored towards the Japanese wife and American husband. When Eriko showed this to me (after we arrived home), we were both very relieved – this was not just our problem! Lots of people had this problem. I went back to work and excitedly told my co-worker about the information we had acquired. He was also very interested (as he is currently dating his ex-wife, who is Japanese.) Back at home, Eriko and I spoke about our new world quite a bit, and she shared the discovery with her mother via Skype. She also told me that she drove the Jetta around the block! We spent some time playing with a baby playpen that my co-worker Edgardo gave us before heading off to bed.

This is going to be a combined entry. I fell behind on my note taking and can’t do the individual days justice. On Thursday, the big highlight was the symphony. Eriko and I took the bus (#13/#2) there, arrived on time, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I was a little irritated on the way there, but eventually I got over it. I fell asleep at the end of the first part (which is the way I like it) and got entranced by a few idle members of the symphony on the last part, which kept me awake. On Friday, I came home early; I wasn’t having a productive day and staying longer didn’t hold any interest for me. That may not have been a good move, however, as Eriko wasn’t in a good mood and soon after we managed to both get irritated at each other – which lasted the entire weekend. From Friday evening until Sunday evening, Eriko didn’t say more than a few words to me. I, of course, had quite a few to say to her, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears. Ah, the challenges of taking two individuals and putting them together with no real escape from each other. Especially Eriko; when I’m able to overcome my own emotional involvement in the situation, I can’t help but admire (and cringe) at the place she has found herself in – a foreign country, no friends/family, newly pregnant in a new marriage, and married to me. Any of those individually would be enough to drive a normal person crazy. On Saturday I was able to get out of the house and spent some time helping Zack move from his apartment to his new shared house. He lives closer to me now but I don’t know whether or not I’ll see him more often… Sunday I used the computer, watched Starship Troopers (on TV), ran a few errands (to get out of the house), and tried not to upset (or get upset at) Eriko. In the evening she was finally starting to talk more, although she clearly has no desire/strength for anything more than the most trivial of conversations. I spent the late evening working on this journal entry, trying to focus on Japanese, and procrastinating by reading a textbook on (mathematical) Optimization.

I woke up at 6 again. I was more tired this morning than yesterday; I had a little trouble sleeping in the late morning and was tossing and turning. After eating breakfast, I watched a lecture on my media player. This one was about pre-execution, a cool optimization technique for speeding up processors by reducing the effect of branch & load stalls. I got a little tired a few times and had to pause it and collect my wits, but it was a pretty good presentation so I was pretty engaged for the most part. I did email my boss (via the blackberry) a bit on the couch before leaving. I arrived at work about 8 AM, which is a nice time. I was a little distracted in the morning (although I cannot recall by what) and didn’t really start working until about 8:30. I was fairly productive in the morning but worked on a few various issues. I came home for lunch, which was nice, but Eriko was pretty quiet. We got into a discussion about what she dreamed of doing (acting) and I must have said something wrong, because soon she was quiet and it was time for me to go. The afternoon was fairly smooth; I had coffee with Scott and Shai (monthly 1 on 1’s) and had good discussions with both. I then got pulled into a meeting discussing outstanding issues and then I worked on diagnosing one. Aaron called me about 5:15 to let me know that he arrived with the Jetta. Since he works in Redmond, he offered to pick it up from the mechanic and drive it over, which was very nice. He was waiting for me in the passenger seat (which was cool) and I drove the car a few blocks down the street so we could eat some dinner. We went to Blue Water, a favorite of Aaron’s, and both ordered steak burritos. Aaron ordered a beer and I got a soda. The food and conversation were good and as an added bonus, the owner brought us out 1/2 margaritas to sample. The restaurant recently obtained its beer & liquor license and the owner was clearly in a courting mood. We drove to the condo where I parked the Jetta and we said hello to Eriko. I was pretty stuffed and needed to take a short rest before proceeding (via the Miata) to Aaron’s house. I was able to pet and spend some quality time with Bailey, who seemed to remember me. It was really nice to see her. She seemed to be doing very well and I really enjoyed the few minutes I saw her. I visited with Carol and Aaron and they gave me some oranges and homemade beer to take home. Aaron also described some intended modifications to his basement and let me taste a bad batch of his homebrew. It was nice to see them (and especially Bailey). Back at home, Eriko was in a pretty quiet mood. She wasn’t feeling so well and so we just sat on the couch. Finally, I got up to go the bathroom and she went to the computer to watch an episode of an anime she downloaded. I helped her when I came out and she really had a good time watching it; I forget the name but it was something she had watched (for the first time, at least) when she was 12. I watched most of it too, but also began writing journal entries and completing a software upgrade on my laptop. Eriko took a shower and I worked on the computer (personal & work email).

I woke up at 6 (with the alarm). I slept pretty good. I made myself a bowl of cereal and worked on my Japanese homework (I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute, but it was good to finish). I got into work pretty early (a little after 7) and got to work pretty fast. I started a discussion (with the rest of the leads) about employee retention. It was a good topic to bring up and I enjoyed discussing it. I also started a discussion with my team regarding the usefullness and comfort of our morning meetings. As it turns out, I decided to postpone them slightly so everyone would be able to make them without trouble (and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the majority of people found them very useful). The morning went well and lunch was nice. I had a little bit of an afternoon before I had to leave for class. I made a few phone calls (to the owner of the Jetta, my buddy Aaron, and the mechanics – to authorize the work). I left work a little early and had coffee with Zack and gabbed about his girl trouble. It was nice to see Hideki and we talked about computers (requirements for a PhD, reasons why high-speed was needed, etc.) before going through the day’s lesson. After class, I went back to work and got a few things done (there was some last minute crisis which caused me to be a little late). Dinner was good and then Eriko talked to her mom. I did a little organizing and washed dishes. Then I watched the remaining three episodes of Gundam Seed Destiny, which didn’t end so well (but I was glad to finally complete the series). Eriko and I took showers and it was time for bed.

Halloween. I woke up at 6:30, via the alarm (scary!) and ate a bowl of Toasted Oats. My media player was low on batteries (and I wasn’t in the mood), I didn’t want to turn on the light for fear of bothering Eriko (so I couldn’t study Japanese), so waking up early wasn’t super productive for me. I did spend a little time making sure the software on the laptop was up to date, and I left for work early. At work, however, my early arrival did not translate into increased productivity although I did get a few a things done. After a lengthly meeting, I came home early (about 11) and Eriko and I headed to Redmond to check out the free car. Eriko packed lunch, which was yummy, and we ate in the car (with me nibbling at stoplights). We arrived at AutoSys and I spied a black jetta with the hood up and what appeared to be a battery charger attached. Sure enough, that was the car. Gary helped me out with records and answering my questions and Eriko spent some time sitting in the car, noting the flaws, and (I imagine) imagining herself in it. I attached the power pack and started the vehicle, but we were unable to drive it since it was blocked in. After a few phone calls to Anne (the vehicle owner) and Aaron (my buddy, Anne’s son-in-law) Eriko and I were back on the road (and I was eating more lunch). Back at work, I got hit with a major let-down – my new employee (of two weeks) decided to leave the company. I made an effort to retain him, but when it was obvious he was not going to stay, I asked that he leave immediately. That put a bit of a bummer on the afternoon for me and I didn’t get much more work done; I left a little early and complained to Scott. Eriko warmed up dinner when I arrived and it was yummy! We watched a little TV while eating. I sent Rob an email (telling him the unfortunate news about the employee) and he quickly called me. We talked for a while, with some (minor) complaining. I then finally managed to convince Eriko to watch ‘Twilight Samurai’ with me, a movie loaned to me by Hideki (my Japanese teacher). I thought it was really good, except the lighting was a bit dark. Eriko also seemed to enjoy it. I then proceeded to wash the dishes and Eriko took a shower.