Matthew Endo wrote:

> Michael Cash <mikecash@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote:
>
> > I really appreciate you taking the time to answer this guy, Eric. I'm
> > afraid if I answered him my blood pressure would shoot up high enough
> > to rupture any aspiring aneurysms I may be harboring.
>
> I second Mike's appreciation.  It isn't easy feeding a troll, or one who
> won't believe the illogical and sometimes dangerous laws/rules/customs
> in Japan.

Speaking of road rules, it seems I am the person able to convert their
foreign driving license on the fewest attempts locally.

The Hiroshima Licensing Center is supposed to be notorious locally for
denying people licenses for what seem to be examiners' simple capricious
nature. Some say that they do not give licenses to people on less than the
seventh attempt. Just yesterday, I heard of an unfortunate who has failed
19 times. I have also heard of people who were told they were "jouzu" or
told as I was that my "sousa" was "daijoubu", but denied licenses anyway.
On the other hand, people who have been lectured afterward by the examiner
such as myself, were passed. I still do not know why I was passed, as the
man asked me three times if I did not think it was dangerous to make a left
turn in front of an oncoming truck (it was at a near standstill, so after
some seconds of waiting, I had determined it was safe to turn, but of
course did not tell him so, nor did I dispute any of his claims of previous
errors such as not checking behind when I most assuredly had). I have
ridden with better drivers (who can make turns inside the painted stripe at
the curb, unlike myself) who failed.

I passed in three. The previous low I had heard of was four, by another
American who had also seemed to make mistakes.

Being my birthday today, I went in to get a new license, one of those new
credit card sized ones. It is disappointing. Really bad digital photo,
washed out and worse than back home, and taken from a too low angle. I had
to ask the woman if that was really it, because the license looks like
glossy paper printed with an IBM electric typewriter.

I see Subway has revamped its menu, and reduced their selection. No more
pizza sub. I liked the fries, though. Hiroshima Hondoori has also made an
attempt at Christmas illumination.

I celebrated my new license by taking my 1995 Toyota Caldina wagon (brown)
for a solo drive into the mountains where I used to take my motorcycle
where I can find hairpin turns, continuous yellow stripes and speed dots
across the road, etc. It's been nearly a year and a half since I've last
driven in Japan.

I learned to like my car all over again despite it being brown passing for
a dark gold metallic (200,000 yen cheaper) and having scuffs on the bumper
and scratches on the doors (put there by my wife, I have never run into
anything - she most recently put the car into a pole because she pulled out
while looking at traffic, but not the road to the left). For a 2000 cc
wagon, it has good pickup even uphill and can hold turns, leaning but not
skidding even as my bag, CDs, and a solar battery charger go sliding back
and forth inside. It is also very smooth, and it is quite easy to go 50%
over the speed limit quite without realizing it. I decided that my car was
a good medium, and that something more sporty, or a van, were not
necessary.

At 12:05 a.m., about 50 km from home, I encountered a juvenile wild boar
the size of a large fat dog in the oncoming lane. Then at 12:24, I saw a
graying brown fox with a bad rear leg cross the road at close range.

I often see wildlife while driving in the local mountains. I've seen two
foxes chasing each other along the road, and a wild rabbit sitting next to
a cliffside road.

Sadly, on the way home about 1 a.m., I noticed how the automatic windows on
the left are really slow (had to roll down the windows repeatedly to get
rid of condensation, roadside markers were reading zero or below), and the
passenger window actually stopped working a few times. With the stereo
turned down, I could hear the ugly sounds the motor was making.

I want to ditch the car while it is still worth something and before more
stuff (like the automatic door lock on the right rear side) actually stops
working.

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