I gave my debut tonight at the company running club. We jogged one lap around the Imperial Palace, which is about 5km. I attribute the surprising fact that I could go the full distance to peer pressure and a fast-paced soundtrack. The track is quite popular, and the public bath we went to afterwards was consequently doing very good business (imagine a packed commuter train minus clothes minus women and you get the idea). Over dinner there was scary talk of doing two laps next time, but I suppose (hope) that this was just Runner's High talking reckless.

The amazingly cheap and equally uncomfortable shoes that I bought on a business trip to Korea a while back have disintegrated during lunch today (the sole fell off). Since further walking with them has become a hazardous activity, and they were one of only two pairs of footwear that I can combine with a suit into something smart-casual or above (the other pair being my wedding shoes), I had to replace them on the spot. The shop actually had two pairs of genuinely red suede shoes, but those were really pricey Italian imports. So I went with a local brand.

My sister and parents are on another of their Japan trips, which have of late become quite frequent: They have by now probably done more sight-seeing here than I have. This time they are on a package tour (and obviously have no visa problems whatsoever) that will take them from Tokyo to Hakone to Himeji to Hiroshima to Nara to Kyoto and back to Frankfurt next Saturday (except for Jutta, who has some other event coming up, and will leave a day early on her own).

Side effects:

• A family trip to Odaiba
• Mom-made lunch on Saturday
• Lebkuchen (which I doubt will see Christmas)
• German newspapers and accumulated letters (such as my high-school alumni newsletter)

• Mozilla Corporation COO John Lilly and members of Mozilla Japan
• Everyone on stage using Macs
• http://www.firefoxflicks.com/
• Firefox market share said to be around 16% (25% in Europe and Australia), which strikes me as a bit high, but I guess it depends on who you ask. Their success is obvious, regardless of the actual number.
• Mozilla has no interest in mobile devices, but Mozilla Japan very much has, and hopes to become a driving force on that segment.
• Firefox 2 has not actually been released yet, but it is very close, you can get Release Candidate Three now.
• Firefox 2 includes Sqlite and JavaScript 1.7.
• Firefox 4 will have JavaScript 2 (and is on the roadmap for 2008), which is probably also planned for IE 8 (for which there is no official roadmap).
• excellent food (the best this month)

Asahi Gokuuma has truly refreshing drinkability and satin smoothness.

Shibuya.pm really needs to find bigger venues for their events. Tech Talk 7 is next week and it took about an hour from the announcement of the registration page to all seats being gone, which means that I, who unfortunately gets to check my email only about once a day now, could not get my name in. I am going anyway, and hope they still have standing space.

1. Cool Hand Luke (7 points)
2. Duplex (4 points)
3. The Big Lebowsky (8 points)
4. Old School (6 points)
5. Brazil (9 points)
6. Napolean Dynamite (6 points)
7. Spy Game (7 points)
8. La Marche de l'empereur (6 points)
9. The Fisher King (7 points)
10. Do The Right Thing (7 points)

The visa for Cissy's parents could not be extended, so that they have to leave today.

In addition to that, as my degree of disorganisation reaches dangerous proportions, I may be in for some trouble myself:

From 16    8      , 2006   To  22    8      , 2006
     [Day] [Month]  [Year]     [Day] [Month]  [Year]
     
Please be advised that you must obtain your certificate during the above
period and that you must return your old certificate to this office.
Otherwise, you will be subject to penalty.

Foreigners in Japan have to carry an Alien Registration Certificate (gaijin card), and mine expired on my birthday (July, 23rd). I managed to renew it in time (mostly because they send me a postcard asking me to), but then completely forgot to pick up the new one, a fact that just dawned on me this morning. Showing up at the registration office a full six weeks too late (tomorrow) is definitely bad form and subject to penalty.

The next big date not to forget (not counting two birthdays later this month) is the expiration of my visa on June 8, 2007.