Today we visited a user at a company whose name I am not allowed to reveal, but I wish I was, because then at least my work might appear to intersect somewhat with the daily life of normal people.  Let’s just say that digital photography changed this company’s business quite a bit.  The user owns one of our microscopes and after it returned from repair at our company it seemed not to work.  Fortunately, I got it working without really doing anything except re-starting Windows.  Some things never change.  What did surprise me was the youth of our customer and his shoulder-length hair with a reddish-brown tint; every now and then he’d brush his hair out of his face before talking.  The plant, by the way, consists of cuboid buildings, tanks, and pipes.  Nigel would have loved it. 

For lunch we ate at a bakery.  I had “gruyère bread,” which is a soft roll with a thin square of cheese burnt to the top that tastes like the crust on the bottom of the fondue pan.  It still made me happy.  My standards are lowered here.   

Back at the office I set up the microscope I brought from Switzerland in preparation of tomorrow’s customer visit.  I then headed home without going out because I was tired.  I came home to find out that once again the dry cleaner had refused to clean my underpants and my socks.  I don’t quite understand.  If I was a dry cleaner, I’d take the stuff, wash it for cheap, and take a nice profit.  Do dry cleaners here feel underwear is beneath them? 

I ate dinner at a Korean barbecue place across the road from the hotel.  The area I’m staying in is not only “stimulating,” it is also chockers with Korean restaurants.  Of course, I ate one pepper I should not have and nothing tasted the same thereafter. 

Now it’s off to an early bedtime, with the same ingredients that brought success yesterday: complete exhaustion and happoshu.  Today’s choice: Kirin Tanrei.