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.
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