Magnificence

Lee got a desk. It's from Amazon.com Japan and was more difficult to get than should have been, both because of the difficulty of finding an appropriate desk and of buying it. The Japanese tend to use laptops and their desks tend to be very simple, more a table with a drawer or two than what an American thinks of as a computer desk. Once Lee finally found one he wanted, on Amazon, we had to have Meiko call them to complete the order (they wouldn't ship to us without a phone call for some reason) and then pay COD.

Prior to the arrival of the desk, the computer and all of the cords were just a big jumble on the floor of the room we've designated the office. Now, it's all on a shiny desk that is a different wood tone from the three other tones of wood we have. The ceiling, floor, and doorframes are all different tones of wood. Actually, so is the table. At least now we have a desk that is functional.


Once we had a desk to put the computer on, Lee needed to move all the computer components onto/into the desk and make the cords as unobtrusive as possible. He moved the modem and router across the room to where the wires come in from outside, because otherwise we'd have to run cords under the tatami or along the wall and that would be kind of sketchy.

For some reason, the outlet on that side of the room is at head height instead of anywhere useful. Lee was very creative in his quest to plug in three electrical power bricks to two outlets at head height using only what was available in the apartment - he really wanted to finish wiring the desk that night and still be able to use the internet and stuff. This is what I found when Lee called me in to the room to share in his victory:


The bottommost plug was a three-prong plug we bought in the US that was theoretically a Japan-compatible adapter but really was only compatible with the Japanese three prong plug, roughly as common as meals not featuring rice. Due to the exigencies of need and a screwdriver, it became a two-prong plug. It is topped with two different US-spec three outlet adapters in series, which gave the width needed to plug in the bulky transformers of the electronics. The whole mess was so large and heavy that it would have fallen off the wall if left unsupported, so he propped it up with our broom, propped up by our stool. Luckily, the next day he went to the local electronics place to get a real Japanese power strip so that we could use the step stool and broom again. I am still astounded by the whole episode.

Lee's Note: It worked perfectly for the 24 hours I needed it to work, and I only had to permanently damage one component which is now more useful than it was before. However, I admit that when I finished and took a step back to actually look at what I'd wrought, I was basically paralyzed with laughter.