Car!

I have owned 7 cars in my life so far. Not bad for roughly 10 years of driving. I have not had the best luck, to be honest. My first car was good for a while, then crapped out. Same with the second. I bought a new car for my third, but my hours were cut at work and I couldn't afford it anymore. The next was a lemon, and the one after that was barely better. I let them have those back. (I won't even get into the problems I had with the seller of that lemon, either.) After that, I had one of my favorites. It developed an oil leak and, while I was waiting to have the money to afford to have it checked out, a tree branch fell on the back windshield during a storm. Needless to say, the whole thing molded pretty quickly before I could replace the glass. I had some troubles here and there with my last car, but it's in great condition now and happily sold to someone who will be in this country to use it.

Now, since I'm moving to an area of Oita Prefecture that has little to no public transportation, I'm going to need to drive there. This means getting a car. My predecessor has a little car that he was going to sell me for $500,

but then he was worried because of an issue with it not starting one day. He had it checked. One mechanic said that it was the timing belt, but another said that was not true and that it was a faulty plug. Both problems would be costly, according to the mechanics. It also needs new tires soon and probably a new battery.

Having had shit cars before, this actually doesn't seem all that bad. I mean, plugs can be changed pretty quickly if you know how to do it, and it's mostly labor you're paying for when you go to a shop. Well, I reassured him that if the car is still running, I can deal with getting a few repairs as needed later. He wanted to wait to see how the car was doing first, of course. The problem with the plugs had to do with them getting wet, anyway, so as long as it got through the rainy season, it wouldn't be an issue right away.

I got an email last night saying that the car was showing no signs of problems anymore and that he was going to leave it there for me. For free, because it needs new tires soon and might need the other problem fixed, too, depending. Plus, if I decide to find a different car, I can scrap this one and be done with it. I must say, though, that this is the cheapest car I've ever not bought, and I know all known issues from the get-go (I hope). That's more than I can say for any of my other cars.

Also, he's leaving me the furniture, appliances, etc. in the apartment without charge, either. Some belong to the BOE, some he bought from his predecessor. He sent me pictures ages ago, and I am so excited. It's small but perfect for just me.

I'll post my own pictures once I'm there and it's littered with my things.

Since this is a new blog with new readers, you won't know how much of a Harry Potter fan I am. I used to know just about every spell there is, every important detail and some not so important. It's been a while since I've done a thorough re-read, though, so I've forgotten a lot. That is, of course, changing, because I've started a new re-read this past week. I even had good momentum through the book I like reading the least: Chamber of Secrets. (I promise I still love it. It's just that I didn't like actually reading it for some reason, after the first read-through.) I'm working on Prisoner of Azkaban, which is on of my favorites, and I will be starting Goblet of Fire today, since I'm almost done with Prisoner.

Why does this matter on a JET blog? Because I've learned that there is a Harry Potter Exhibition in Tokyo right now, and it will be there until September 16. I arrive in Tokyo on July 28, and Orientation is 29-30. We have some free time in the afternoons, so guess who has plans to go? This girl.

I have, of course, packed both styles of Slytherin scarves, my Slytherin Prefect badge, a time-turner, and my wand (Luna Lovegood, while not a Slytherin, is awesome, so I have hers). Other JETs (on facebook...HI if you're here from there~) also want to go, so we should be doing a group thing. Or, at least, going in a group or two.

Also, Universal Studios in Osaka is finishing up a Wizarding World of Harry Potter section. I've been to the one in Florida, but you bet I'll be going there if I get the chance~

The tetris game of packing has begun!

Although Delta charges for the second checked bag normally, they've made an exception for JETs, so I've got two plus a carry-on and a personal item to work with. The weight limit for the checked bags is 50lbs, so I got a luggage scale. This scale also happens to give me kg if I chose, too, which comes in handy because I'll probably be flying from Tokyo Orientation to Oita. I don't know what airline yet, but it looks like most of them have a 20kg weight limit for checked bags. We'll be sending some through takkyubin (delivery service) from Narita Airport to our new homes or Boards of Education, but I still need to worry about the baggage I'll need to start with. So, I've checked the one I plan to keep with me. 21kg and some change. Looks like I'll be tweaking. I was going to do that anyway, so no worries.