First I catch a cold the day after going to the park to see the Sakura, because as usual I’m telling myself ‘Oh it’s spring, no need for a coat anymore’ and two days later I’ve got a violent bout of flu. You’d really think I would have learnt by now seeing as this happens to me pretty much every year.

So today, on my day off, I decide that the best option might well be to stay inside, and sweat the bugger out by doing sweet fudge all. But then I get itchy, so I thought ‘hey let’s go and see the Sakura near where I live’. There’s a big cherry tree lane near my house and I had a feeling it would be a sight to behold today. And it was - it made me feel better for it. Nice weather, sun, loads of people about, and loads of pretty cherry blossom.

There I am, biking around feeling slightly dizzy and taking loads of pics. When I stop to take one last picture before going home, and trip on my bike and drop the cam… :mad: Yes as it’s already been pointed out I sometimes am an idiot. I press the power button, cam comes on (my mind is relieved) and suddenly goes off (my mind flips). Oh snap. The lens got damaged in the drop and the cam is now totally out of order. A mere 4 months after I got it - and it was a leaving present too. Wicked, by this point I’m proper pissed with myself, my headache’s got worse and all the niceness from being out is gone swiftly.

I get home, check the warranty and realise that I’m totally screwed. On the off chance I decide to call the Japanese service point mentioned in there, thinking ‘what the heck they might well speak English’. Well they didn’t but I managed to understand after speaking to them that they don’t do digital camera repairs. Great. 300 pounds down the drain, and a fat chance I won’t be able to get it repaired, seeing as a/ my Japanese is still pretty basic and b/ it might well cost me more than a new cam to repair it. And c/ I’ve got to travel over 1h to try my luck with a repair anyways, as the only place I can think of doing this is Akihabara, the electronics avenue of Tokyo. (PS: anyone reading this who can advise on a repair please do - I would be eternally grateful)

Ok, I should have stayed in bed and not been so stupid. So I decide to go to the Ofuro (public bath) to sweat my flu out in the sauna. So far so good, I feel a little better if still pissed at my bad luck and stupidity. As I get back I notice that my bike’s wheels are a little flat. So I grab the pump and see to it. As I pump up the front wheel I get a feeling it’s actually fine but tell myself ‘a couple of pumps can’t hurt’. I unhook the pump, walk away and hear a mighty bang… :???: At which point I think to myself, that’s funny I’ve just pumped the wheels and there’s this lound explosion noise… doubt creeps in, so I walk back to the bike only to find the front wheel completely flatened… ohhhhkay. Time to go to bed I think.

Someone is obviously trying to tell me something - and that is ’stop trying to do sh#t when you’re ill and should be resting’. Ah well the afternoon’s misadventures have cost me more money than I have, and I’m now without a camera (out goes my plan to picture lots of sakura and generally document the arriving spring) and needing to once more carry (or hopefully just push!) my bike to the shop tomorrow morning.

It’s been one of those days I want to forget. So I’m tuning out and going to sleep.

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written by Laurent