Author Archives: spikekalashnikov

I leave California, Tokyo bound. I think I have all the necessary attestations asked for by Japan but the situation is fluid with rumors of Tokyo introducing a state of emergency. Will they let me in when I get there? … Continue reading →

I have not been to downtown San Francisco before today. It was a shock. Out here by the Panhandle, life has certainly changed because of COVID-19 but you know not super extravagantly. Out there, where the Snow Goose roams, life … Continue reading →

Slough is a city in the South of England that no-one seems to like much. “Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!It isn’t fit for humans now,” John Betjeman It is pronounced like the sound you make when you cut … Continue reading →

I came over to San Francisco because the landlord is selling the building that our apartment finds itself in. This is an opportunity for the new owner to kick us out. I really do not want to be kicked out. … Continue reading →

Swooping down the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada on I 80, I have not a care in the world. The scenery is dramatic, the novel playing from the car sound system is excellent, I am cosy, 3 maybe 4 … Continue reading →

Lock down in San Francisco. I find nothing in the rules about not traveling and so I decide to head off into the high hills of Northern California and the lost deserts of Nevada. The goal is to soak in … Continue reading →

I head North to the open country, away from the heaving miasma of San Francisco Covid. At this time of year, tens, probably thousands of er thousands of Snow Geese and Ross’ Geese come to feed and gently spend the … Continue reading →

Such a strange trip. There were only about 20 people on the huge Boeing from Tokyo to San Francisco. Boarding was very dignified as there was hardly anyone there. San Francisco airport is deserted. I walk straight from the plane … Continue reading →

I was employed this month and actually paid real money. I determine to spend it on a Farewell, Thanksgiving, Xmas dinner. I like nothing better than sitting around a beautifully laid table, groaning under the weight of fine food and … Continue reading →

The apartment throngs with fruit flies. This not unusual in Okinawa where they flourish on any vegetable matter and in the drains. Removing the trash can, I notice strange activity behind the fridge. It is a squirming mass of fruit … Continue reading →