Tower of Terror

Just wanted to share the photo from the ride. The kid in the front row is definitely not enjoying himself!

New banner

You may have noticed a fuzzy Ally and Paul added to the "Yotsuya Station" banner. Esther combined an older picture with this new one. But the photo I had was from a distance, so they don't appear quite as clear as the rest of the group. So my call to the cousins is to find another group photo that includes Ally and Paul that we can include on the blog so they are part of this online cousins forum. I'm thinking lots of people took good shots at Paul and Jennifer's wedding...

Nor Cal Road Trip

For the last few days, Rodney and I have been driving up and down California's coast. First, we stopped in San Jose on Saturday. We had a nice lunch with friends and family, and a dinner to celebrate Jarrad's birthday.

On Sunday, we went to San Francisco to see the sights. (<-- That's Rodney eating a bbq pork bun in Chinatown. It wasn't as good as pork buns down in L.A.) We ate tons of food that day (actually, all weekend) and walked a lot, too. We had dinner with Jarrad at this great ramen place near Union Square. We also saw Jarrad's apartment and his two TVs! Totally livable. Best of all, we visited Jarrad's office and played the Nintendo Wii. Now I have to figure out how to convince my boss that getting a Wii in our office would improve morale and productivity...


On Monday, we went wine tasting in Napa Valley. Neither of us are big wine drinkers but it was a lot of fun going to different places, enjoying the scenery and tasting wine. We went to five places: V. Sattui, Beringer, Duckhorn, Mumm and ZD. Jeff recommended all those places, and he has great taste!

As we made our way back to L.A., we stopped in Monterey for a night and went to the Aquarium the next day. I liked watching the otters and jellyfish the most.

<-- This is Rodney at an R2D2 mail box in Santa Cruz





<-- That's me on the water's edge in Monterey. If you look really really really really closely, you might be able to see a sea lion in the background. I promise they're there.

The whole trip was relaxing, educational, enjoyable and I wish it didn't have to end. I'm already planning our next mini road trip!

Promotional Exam

I am not sure how many of you I told, but I took a promotional examination last August for my Department. I place third on a list of twelve applicants. (Not too shabby for the first try) It was really one of those "I'll take the exam just to gain the experience of the test" kinda of deals. When I placed third and it looked like I had a real shot of getting promoted, I discovered I really WANTED to promote. The two above me on the list were promoted in September leaving me the new number one guy on the list. Unfortunately, the list was good for only six months. (The Chief had the option to extend the list for six months, but failed to notify the City of his intent to do so in a timely fashion so the list expired and I "died" on top of the list.) Well as it turns out, the #1 guy that got promoted has left the department to move out of state, creating an opening. Nice, but he left a few months too late for me to slide into his spot.

Now I have two reactions I consider normal. I could cry in my beer about how unfair life is and blame everyone else for the pain and misery this has caused me in my career. ("If I were you Yots, I would file a grievance." was but one piece of "advise" I received from a colleague) Instead I have chosen the higher road and will simply retest and should have no excuse for not coming out numero uno right?

So far, there are about eight people who have said that they plan on testing. The testing seems pretty straight forward from what they have told us. Many of my colleagues ask if I have been studying. My response is that I have been studying for the past seventeen years that I have been with the department. Of course I am brushing up on policies and case law, but lets face facts, if I don't have the maturity and have not gained the experience to prepare me to be a Sergeant, no amount of studying in the next two weeks will really help. I mean REALLY make me a better candidate, right? Or should I devote the next two weeks to hard core studying, putting all of my cases aside as well as my family? I am not trying to be lazy, I am just a firm believer that cramming your mind with mounds of information that you are only going to retain on the short term does not make you a better person for the job. If I can not regurgitate the information asked of me based on my experience and past practice, then I do not deserve to be promoted.

That was the attitude I had during the last test, and I think it paid off well. I think I was more relaxed then most of the others because I did not stress myself out with trying to remember things I already know. The test is June 21st and I will keep you posted on how it turns out. If anyone has suggestions, comments or ideas, please let me know.

Wow I really rambled on didn't I? Sorry about that.

Thanks...Had a Blast!

Okay, so I must admit that I've never "blogged" before and I needed my son to help me figure out how to get to this point in the process! Hope this works...I'm not very tech saavy and I'm easily intimidated by all things electronic!

Thanks to all of our Southern California Cousins for another great reunion! I've never had so much fun in Disneyland AND acted so foolish in my whole life! (Probably won't want my kids to see some of those photos...pickles included!!) The Fab Five were awesome teammates--even Jarrad and Greggy. Actually, there was never a dull moment with those 2 on our team!! Congrats to the rest of the cousin teams for their valiant efforts...And, a big cheer for the Fab Five bringing home the covetted Mickey Trophy!!

I'm so glad that we began this yearly tradition 5 years ago. I must admit that I brag about my cousins all the time. Not many families have the kind of connection that we have been able to establish and maintain...its truly a blessing.

As for next year...us NorCal Cousins are happy to take suggestions from one and all. I like the biking and hiking suggestions. And, I'm already looking forward to it, whatever the activity or location.

Speaking of gatherings...you all should be aware that our parents are planning a "cousin" reunion for everyone to attend this summer. The date has been set for August 11th at the Cortez JACL Hall. I think its an event that we should all try to attend if you can...and bring your kids. Uncle Kenji, being the last of the siblings on Grandma's side, has requested the gathering. More info to follow, but it will be a nice casual day to share some food (of course!) and fellowship. Uncle Kenji, Aunty Edith, & Aunty Kimi are the last of our grandparent's generation...it would be nice to hear some of their stories and make some new memories as well.

Okay...I'm about to hit the "publish post" button...hope this goes to the right place! Thanks again for being my cousins--wouldn't want to trade any of you in (not even Greggy!!) ~The E.C.

Disneyland recap

Thanks to all the NoCal cousins for making the long drive/flight to the OC for our Disneyland Challenge. The weekend came and went so quickly. And a big thanks to Mell and Dave for hosting us yet again and Brandee and Brian for doing a lot of the behind the scenes work, like making up 99% of the bonus photo list for the scavenger hunt and creating the buttons.

Esther and I got a Disneyland season pass in November so we've gone to the two parks, oh, 7 or 8 times in the past six months. But I think our scavenger hunt will be among the most memorable Disneyland experiences I will ever have. I don't think I'll ever walk around Disneyland without thinking about all the hidden treasures and secrets that we learned about on our hunt. And I will definitely never look at a pickle or turkey leg the same way again (photos to come).

I really enjoyed spending time with my team, especially since we don't get to see each other very often, much less in a setting like Disneyland. I think we really came together and did well while having fun at the same time. Sorry we didn't actually ride any rides during the hunt. It sounds like everyone made up for that in the afternoon. So thanks to Greg, Jarrad, Jennifer and Kimber for a Fab (Five) time. And thanks to the other teams for making it a competitive and fun hunt.

I also enjoyed the Sunday activities, especially the flag football game, which has become another Cousins Weekend tradition. And I'm all for kickball next year. I also think at some point we should play basketball. Maybe a mini 3-on-3 tournament that mixes "little" cousins and "big" cousins.

I'm looking forward to adding to this blog. Please feel free to bring up new topics to talk about. If people visit and see that nothing new has been posted, they won't want to come back. So we all have to keep it fresh in order to keep this blog alive. Take care everyone!

-Rod

Thanks For The Memories

What a great time! I would also like to send my congratulations to the southern California cousins for a well thought out, well planned challange that was very fun. I cannot wait to see all of the photos! I am sure there are some in there that are gut busters. I have not had that much fun with you guys, especially Jared, in a long time. I felt a little bad for Kimber though. In addition to trying to help Rod and Jennifer in figuring out what the riddles meant, she had to babysit jared and I. The funniest was when she was trying to keep us out of trouble then she gets caught cutting across a line she was not suppose to and getting yelled at by a cast memebr half her age. (:-) Nothing but love and respect Kimber!

I apologize for our absence during the football game. I wanted to take Shawnna shopping for her birthday at the Spectrum in Irvine. (Don't worry Dave, she spent ALOT of money to help out with the local economy) We shopped for over two hours, which was...ahem, fun. Really...

So the planning for next years challenge is already underway. Alot of good ideas have been thrown out there already. I like Paul's idea of biking 17 mile drive in Monterey. I also like the bay bridge run as well. The northern Cali cousins will need to continue to send out ideas to each other via email and come up with something good.

It was great seeing all of you again. Rod, this blog is a great idea and I plan on visiting often. Thanks for creating it and giving us an additional way to keep in touch.

Greg

Had a Blast!!!

I would also like to thank the So. Cal cousins for raising the bar on the challenge. Jennifer and I had a blast. It was the most enjoyable time I've ever spent at Disneyland. The prizes and the new challenge trophy are top notch!

Now, for the meat and potatoes of my post. Jennifer did a search on "It's a Small World" and found, in writing, on the official Disney site, that there are seven (7) languages sung on the ride. I haven't spoken to the rest of the Main Street Mice Hunters, but a protest may be in order. ;-}

I came away from our weekend together with new memories of the time we all shared with each other, a appreciation for Disneyland and sore legs and feet from dodging people in New Orleans Square.

I too with make every effort to drop in and check on what's been posted. I'll also keep you updated on family stuff, work and other events going on. I look forward to planning the '08 reunion and challenge with the Nor Cal cousins. Hopefully we will come up with something just as interesting and fun as this past weekend was.

Sorry we had to bail out on Sunday, sounded like the football game was fun!

I'll be looking forward to reading about what's going on from you all and will post again soon.

Paul Y.

Challenge Recap

Thanks to the SoCal cousins for putting together another successful Challenge and to all the NorCal cousins for making the trip and the memories. This is one that won't be soon forgotten - a great 5th Anniversary Challenge. My friends and co-workers are already picking my brain about our scavenger hunt and trivia questions to see how they would do. (not very well from the sound of it) ;o) Congratulations to The Fab Five and Main Street Mouse Hunters for doing so well. Thanks and congratulations to my fellow Fantasmic Four for an awesome time and what will surely be the most entertaining photos in the entire album - just wait! I had a great time playing football yesterday too. I hope I'm not the only one who is sore. I also apologize for taking out 2 of the 3 Severson kids. I hope they recover. I'm looking forward to seeing the photos and any other updates people see fit to put on this page. I'm going to give it a shot and try to drop in from time to time w/ some work FYIs if anyone is interested - schedule, etc. Also, although the delayed-onset muscle soreness from this year's challenge hasn't even set in yet, but I wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't throw out the first salvos regarding next year's challenge. My thought was the bike ride from Fisherman's Wharf, across the GG Bridge and into Sausalito, then a ferry back to SF. Another option is to take the ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island and do the hike to the top - in my opinion, the best view in the entire bay area. I might be able to get a good rate at our hotel near SFO. Other suggestions anyone? Monterey? Capitola? Bay to Breakers?...

talk to you all soon!

J

Yotsuya Station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yotsuya Station

Yotsuya Station is a railway station in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, located on the boundary between Shinjuku and Chiyoda, adjacent to Sophia University and the State Guest-House, in the Yotsuya neighborhood.

Now it's also an online stop where the Yotsuya cousins can keep connected. Post your latest activities, exotic travels, accomplishments, jokes, movie reviews and announcements here. Stop in any time.

I found this Wikipedia entry while searching for information online about the Yotsuyas. I thought it would be a good name for our blog. I hope you do too. Welcome!

Signing up for Blogger

So you want to sign up for Blogger? It's very very easy.

Rodney will be sending out e-mails (if he hasn't already) inviting you to join this blog as an author. Click on the link in the e-mail and it'll take you to blogger. If you have a Google Account or Gmail, then sign in with that account. If you don't, you'll have to create either a Google Account or sign up for Gmail. Either will work.

If you get a Google Account, you can access the blog and a number of other Google-related services. If you sign up for Gmail, you'll get all of that plus a new e-mail account. (Gmail is the coolest web-based e-mail service I've ever used!) Once you sign up and sign in, you're set.

Each time you want to write a blog entry, click on "New Post" or "Create." It's really easy to include links, change the font and annoy all your readers, include silly photos and assign posts to certain Labels (think categories). You also have option of editing previous posts. If you have any questions, check out the Blogger's Help Section or e-mail Rodney.

Group photo

Disneyland - The Countdown

We're less than a week away from the big Cousins' Weekend! I hope everyone is excited about our latest adventure. Here's to plenty of fun and bonding in the Happiest Place on Earth!

The idea behind this Web site is to create a virtual forum for us to share our photos, memories and plans with each other. The first major focus of this blog will be our weekend in Disneyland. I plan to post photos here and also everyone's thoughts and memories of the weekend.

Another idea is for all the cousins to blog on this site. That way we can keep track of what's happening in everyone's lives.

Everyone should feel free to contribute. I will invite all of you to become contributors to the site. You must send me your e-mail address and I will make sure everyone has access to the site.

This is in the early stages, so we can flesh it out as everyone contributes content and ideas. Let's get it started!

-Rod