Saturday, April 2, 2011

A Walk in the Hood

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer


It is a beautiful day on Okinawa- warm sunny, breezy.  I wouldn't know that except for the fact that my caffeine craving finally got the better of me and forced me to go out in search of a Coca-Cola.  I still hurt too much to drive, so I walked to one of the many outdoor vending machines armed with enough yen to meet my  needs.  Okinawans do not sell Diet Coke anywhere - even in their grocery stores.  To get Diet Coke, my favorite, I have to shop on one of the many military bases - and even the military does not always carry it.  Some general's portly wife must have a penchant for Pepsi products because that is the most common beverage on the bases.

But the Okinawan stand-alone soda machines are everywhere - six within two blocks of my apartment house - so I was able to  meet my caffeine needs in short order.  I purchased four tall cans Coke Zero for four hundred and eighty yen - approximately six dollars.  Oh yes, those Okinawans will miss us if we go!

It is early afternoon and I have been in and out of bed all morning fighting the continuing shoulder pain.  However, during all of that I did manage to get my weekly laundry done, so the day hasn't been a total wash - or has it?  This afternoon I will pop a Valium - or take a couple of shots of Baileys -  but not both - and sit absolutely still and try to read.  I am halfway through the third volume of the Millennium Trilogy and it is so good!  I am definitely falling in lust with Lisbeth Salander!

Tomorrow I am taking my first sick day since arriving on this island so that I can meet my regular physician who will lecture me for being fat and God knows what else.  How many young workers can say that they haven't taken a sick day or a day off in nine months.  Of course they have young families - and, given my druthers, I would prefer being chained to a desk and fighting the occasional illness than handling all of the challenges that come with  raising babies.

I think that I am actually starting to feel a little better.  It must be the Coke Zero!

1 comment:

Don said...

Keep on reading, Rock.
Salander is one of the most refreshingly honest portrayals in the history of literature. The fact that Larsson died before gaining the recognition lately bestowed by we who now marvel at his talent is beyond tragic.
There are two movies (one in Swedish, but with subtitles) that came in advance of the current offerings. They are well worth seeing.