akihabara

Went early to Akihabara to actually do some electronics shopping. Seems the remote control for our VCR is dead, and there's no way to program the recording timer without the remote. So I hit a couple of places, all of which told me that they don't stock that remote and I would have to order it. Finally I went out on a limb and bought a generic programmable remote that claimed to work with my VCR. It doesn't. Then again I'm wondering if maybe the VCR itself is broken. Since it's several years old, and we all know that home electronics in Japan are designed to self-destruct in five years, I think I'll take it into the local electronics shop and see if it's fixable. Maybe it's just the infrared port on the deck and it can be replaced for a couple bucks. Maybe it's time to buy a DVD recorder...
Practice was standard; taught beginners for an hour after doing the paperwork to sign up a new guy; Tanaka-sensei asked me to do it because he had to teach and his wife wasn't there to do it. Of course I screwed up the paperwork and charged him too much. Tanaka-sensei and I are basically useless without his wife around.
Last hour Tanaka-sensei ran us through hashirigakari and I worked up a nice sweat for the first time in what seems like a while. The other Tanaka-sensei (aikido and jo/tanjo) also confirmed the demo on Saturday for the opening of his new dojo, and Otsuka-san and Sekido-san said they'd provide the targets and cutting stand. Those guys are great; they do so much for me and the organization, besides each running his own company.
Hiroko got a bargain on two huge steaks ("They were cheaper than fish!") so we chowed American-style while watching the evening news.