Evil Japanese Machina

(Or, How I Almost Got Owned by a Vending Machine)

Today was my day off, in honor of some national holiday or other. Things were going pretty well: played FFX, read some One Piece, and in short, wasted a lot of time. Around 5 o’clock or so, I had a craving for some of that geek ambrosia, Mountain Dew. That stuff is more popular that I would have imagined: the vending machine outside my apartment is out of stock. Man, I have to walk a whole ‘nuther block to get my artificial caffeine fix!

I get to the machine that has some cans in stock, and that’s when my problems begin. I purchase the first can, then immediately purchase the second, without removing the first. No big deal, I’ve done this tons of times in the States. I look down, and realize that the second can has jammed the dispensing slot. A metal plate has distended, which blocks both cans, and has a message printed on it: something about calling the service representatives. My first instinct is to panic, because not only have I seemingly lost 240 yen (yeah, the Dew is pricey here), but I also don’t have my tasty beverages.

Calling upon my natural intuitive powers, I immediately try to force the cans out, which doesn’t work. I also feel a bit self-concious, because of course there are people nearby, watching me try to break this machine. In my struggle, however, I notice that I can push one of the cans upwards, back into the machine, thereby allowing the metal plate to move back into place. I proceed to do this, then collect my just reward.

Who could write so much about using a vending machine? Me, apparently.

By the way, here are some pictures:
Traffic outside my apartment. Yes, it’s always this busy.
Fall leaves. I took this picture a while ago, but never uploaded it. A few days later, all the leaves on this tree were gone.
A shrine-like thing. When people say “shrine”, they usually mean a Shinto religious building. I don’t know what this is; I need to ask someone.
Bonsai trees. This is actually really cool. Someone filled the entire front part of their house with bonsai.
Closeup of the shrine-like thing. It looks like those figures are ‘kitsune’, or foxes. More than you ever wanted to know about the kitsune.
Another view of my apartment. I’m sure you’ll never get tired of these.
Land for sale. The sign says ‘kokuyuuchi’, which means “state-owned land.” They want 33,000,000 yen for it, which equates to around 300 grand.
An older picture of Sam, Rie, and me. I thought it was pretty funny.

I really should space these pictures out, so I can post one every day. But, I won’t.

Overcompensating. Real life, viewed through the lens of subjectivity, can be much funnier than fiction. This is a comic strip based on that viewpoint. It also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I found it interesting anyway.