Lost Item

I hate losing things. Usually I avoid losing things by having a place for each thing. Every time I use something, I try to return it to its place. This way, I always know where to find things.

One example is keys. I have two places to put keys. One place is a case with a cover. I put keys that I rarely use in the case. Another place is a dish. Keys that I use almost daily are put on the dish.

Sometimes I am very busy and tired. Those are dangerous times. If I am busy or tired and I forget to put something in its place, I might not find it later.

I lost something important recently and haven’t found it yet!

Do you lose things? How do you find them?

Sleep Like a Log

We have a funny saying in English: sleep like a log.

A log does not move. It just lays on the ground.

If we sleep without moving, we sometimes say, “I slept like a log!”

Last night I was very tired. My futon was very comfortable. I slept all night. I didn’t wake up at all.

Indeed, I slept like a log.

How did you sleep last night? Were you comfortable? Did you sleep like a log?

Cold Fingers

The weather is very cold now. This morning there was frost on the car windows.

I rode my scooter to school. By the time I got to school, my fingers were cold.

The school office is warm. I feel warm, but my fingers are still cold.

I like wintertime, but I don’t like cold fingers.

How do you keep your fingers warm during the winter?

Plastering the Walls

Our house is old. Many of the walls in the house look old-fashioned. I don’t mean “old-fashioned” in a good way, like: traditional, historic, or antique. I mean “old-fashioned” in a bad way, like: out of date, or out of style.

The walls in some areas were very dark as well. This made the house seem small and unpleasant. So, I have been plastering the walls.

We chose an off-white plaster, so it is a very light color. First, I plastered the walls in the entry hall and the hallway, since anyone coming to our home sees them. In December, I plastered the walls in the bathroom (that means toilet in polite speech). Now I am plastering the walls in the changing room for the bath.

The house looks so much bigger and feels very fresh.

Have you done any home improvement? What did you do?

Power of Teachers

My mother sent me a package at Christmastime. Inside the package were some old books from my childhood and teacher reports from my school days. It was shocking to see some of the comments that teachers wrote.

Of course I was a difficult student for many reasons, but I also enjoyed participating in class. Until fourth grade my teachers made some harsh comments; however, things changed in fifth and sixth grade. My fifth and sixth grade teacher was a very strict teacher, but he loved the students. He made strong comments on my reports, but they were never harsh. Also, he always found positive things to say.

Having a strict but kind teacher helped me grow and improve. I hope more people like him want to become teachers.

Did you have any especially important teachers when you were a student?

Too Much Chocolate

Valentine’s Day was this week. I got lots of chocolate: chocolate cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, and more. I got homemade chocolates, Belgian chocolates, American chocolates, and Japanese chocolates. I was very happy on Valentine’s Day.

That day, I ate a lot of chocolate. The next day, I ate a lot of chocolate. Yesterday I ate a lot of chocolate. I am eating too much chocolate. Tonight I will try not to eat too much chocolate.

Did you get chocolate on Valentine’s Day? Did you eat too much?

Which Car?

We have two cars. One car is very small. The other car is medium-sized.

The bigger car is very comfortable. The seats are nice, the engine runs smoothly, and the heater is very warm. The smaller car is noisy and cold.

I drive the small car more often. It may seem strange, but there are many narrow streets around here. When driving on narrow streets, the small car is much safer and more convenient.

When I drive on the freeway, I take the comfortable car.

Which car would you drive?

Flying Kites

When I was young we often went to the ocean to play. On the Pacific Coast the wind is very strong. One of our favorite activities was flying kites. We really liked to see how high we could fly the kites.

Many times, we would use an entire ball of string and still wanted to go higher. We would tie a second ball of string on and send the kite higher. Sometimes we would get three or four balls of string! The kites must have been more than a kilometer away.

I remember one time when our string broke. Because the kite was so far up, it flew a long way before it came down. We spent a long time finding the kite.

Do you like playing at the beach? Do you like flying kites?

Blue Suede Shoes

When I was in junior high school, suede shoes became fashionable. They were a little expensive, but I really wanted some. My mother really liked Elvis Presley. I learned to sing his song, Blue Suede Shoes. Every day I sang the song many times. This made my mother happy, so she bought me the shoes.

I was so proud of my suede shoes. I wore them everywhere.

Do you like suede shoes? Do you like Elvis? What was fashionable when you were in junior high school?

One Wheel

In 1985, I worked in a research facility at IBM. I worked closely with two PhD’s. Both of them were very brilliant. One of them kept a unicycle under his desk.

That may seem very strange, but it was very convenient. Our site had more than a hundred buildings. He would ride the unicycle to get to meetings in other buildings.

Ever since then, for 26 years, I have wanted a unicycle. Finally, this year, Santa Claus brought me a unicycle for Christmas! Now I am learning how to ride a unicycle.

Can you ride a unicycle? Do you own a unicycle?