My last Ramsay Ramblings proved to be quite controversial when I touched on the topic of half-Japanese children. Today’s ramblings are far more tame.
I am not your maid!
This line is my wife’s favorite English expression, which she learned from my mum when we went to the UK on our honeymoon. Mami is very good to me, and even though I’m very lazy when it comes to helping around the house, she doesn’t give me a hard time about it. If she does feel I’m taking advantage of her, she only has to say those words “I’m not your maid!” She doesn’t mention them very often, but when she does I quickly get my act together. That doesn’t stop her from making me a cup of coffee every morning, and bringing me a cup of hot chocolate when I’m blogging each night.
What’s going on with Rikuto?
Ricky’s still just a little baby, so it’s hard to deliver any really exciting news about my son. I suppose it was pretty cool when he rolled off the sofa today like he was a stuntman in an action movie. It was also kind of funny when he grabbed my hand and started to suck on it, instead of the dummy I was about to give him. He seems to be smiling more regularly, and he’s trying to talk, but Google Translate doesn’t support BabySpeak <-> English…. yet.
Networking with Japan bloggers
I’ve been working hard on JapanSoc this week, and it has brought me in touch with some other bloggers who I’d like to send some link love to. Thomas, Tori, and Contamination have been supportive of my new social networking project, and Smoother, Chris B, Harvey, Murali, Zichi and Lina have all recently commented for the first time. I also learned of two more sites that are bringing the Japan-blog community together, the Japan Blog List and Japanalyst.
Talking to my mum on the webcam
I’ve just been talking with my mum using Skype and a webcam. I said this before, but it’s  so wonderful to be able to connect to, chat with, and see someone on the other side of the world, for free. Only a decade ago, I was handwriting letters to my parents from Japan, but now my mum may as well be sitting on the other side of my desk. Oh wait, that’s Mike‘s chair!Â
Two weeks of holidays
It’s very nearly the start of my Christmas holiday. Since I have so much free time, I might give this blog another redesign. I love tinkering with WordPress and I’m finding the current theme a bit too busy for my liking. Saying that, however, I want to going crazy with JapanSoc promotion, too. I do have some more serious work to be doing on my other sites, particularly making them fully compatible with non-IE browsers, especially Safari and Opera. It may sound dull, but I love this kind of thing!
Christmas Shopping
Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? With only four more shopping days till Christmas, I still haven’t thought about what to buy. I guess I better get up early tomorrow, make a list, and go to the shopping center. The last thing I want to do is leave it until the weekend. The shops will be crazy and if you want anything gift-wrapped, you’ll be waiting for hours.Â
Okay, enough rambling. My hot chocolate is getting cold!
If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!
Thanks for mentioning. I have been a regular after reading your post on Online Japanease language. Making it a point to return often.
Ah, yes … the ever-so-effective “I’m not your maid” line. I think every mother has this one line programmed into them, as mine would often say the same when people were being lazy around them. Just make sure you never make the mistake of saying it back to the Mrs. 😛
If you’d like some help testing sites with Opera, I’d be more than willing to help. I’ve noticed that Opera renders sites a little differently in Windows (XP) and Linux, so I could offer some screen shots or feedback on either platform.
Keep up the great work with JapanSoc. While I don’t post much there, I’m a regular reader of the linked articles 🙂
Have yourself a Merry HoHo
Thanks Jason, I’ll take you up on your offer to test my sites in Opera during the holidays. Merry HoHo to you and Reiko, too.
My wife is always in awe of me when I do the washing up and the vacuuming. It’s at moments like this I remind her that I am not a Japanese man.
I’m certain that one of her brothers is destined for a “Narita divorce”, he is 100% useless.
I’m gonna start using the phrase from now on. Thank your Mom & Wife for me will you? *^-^*