Cafe Pensacola near Iidabashi Station

This post is just a quick reminder to my (future) self - and a shout-out to my Dad - that I found the "Cafe Pensacola" on a side street near Exit B4b at Iidabashi station (subway - not JR)

I'm currently making use of my first FON Internet purchase - and while I think 480 yen per 24 hours is theft and should be severely punished - at least it's not slow.

Sitting on an uncomfortable stool at a Starbucks (whatever happened to the big over-stuffed chairs?) and banging out some emails, blog entries, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

This trip we're staying at a Monthly Mansion (モンスリーマンション) near JR Kawasaki. There are a few companies offering places like this for short-term rent. They do not require "key" money (one of the stupidest concepts ever thought up in my opinion) which is great, and there's no "check-in" like a hotel. You pay up front for your stay (and you can literally make it any number of days you wish, with the price dropping for extensions in increments of 10 days (10-19 days, 20-29 days, etc.) and they send you an 暗証番号 (pin code or password) for an automatic lock on the door of your apartment. You just show up on the first day of your stay, punch in the code, and you're in.

I've gotta say that so far the apartment leaves much to be desired. You get what you pay for in Tokyo, and we didn't want to break the bank because our intention is only to use the place for sleeping and showering. We ended up with some tragic room-that-couldn't-be-rented-so-we-converted-it-to-a-monthly-mansion place. I'll take pictures. It's pretty humorous.

Life is all about experiences. This is yet another adventure for me and my family, and the truth is that experience is the only thing that counts when you're lying in your coffin. Can't take any of the rest of it with you.

I think towards the middle of August we're going to start hating it and mentally preparing to return to the US, but at least I have the opportunity at my age to literally run operations in a foreign country however I think is best for the company. Not a bad position to be in - I'm thankful and looking forward to pulling in some solid numbers these first couple months.

The only thing that will kill me is an unannounced 停電 if it happens. Power outages suck.