A Dime in the Dark

In 1990 when Jake was nine months old, I was not working and Eamon was a cab driver. There was not much tying us down. We lived in what I thought was a dumpy second floor of a double, actually a triple with stuck-in-the-Bob Seger-seventies couple that lived in the attic.
Our landlord Rudy was the craggiest man who ever lived with a voice to match.
I had read a classified for a teaching job in Japan and on a whim, (what else is new) called and spoke to a former teacher who was doing the search for an English language school in Ube or, the Youngstown of Japan as I fondly call it. Within three weeks, we had passports plane tickets and had given notice to Rudy that we would be leaving his wonderful abode.
We drove to California in 3 days. This was to enable us to leave our vehicle and Buck with my family. Around Arizona we stopped to sleep outside of a Waffle House they were closed when we got there, but apparently they opened up while we were sleeping sitting up, the three of us, in the front seat of our pick-up. When we woke and went into the restaurant, the waitress said. "At first when we saw you we thought you were dead". Nice. Anyway the trip progressed we flew on Korean Air, Jake stayed awake the entire flight(17 hours) and fell asleep when we landed. We arrived at Narita, found a Ryokon to stay in and it was a sight to behold, everything was soft and smelled good and the proprietors were nurturing and helpful because we were in need of some massive support after entertaining Jake over huge bodies of water and small land masses. The only thing that was startling was the cold long hallway to the bathroom. I went to sit very slowly because those of us who know how cold a toilet seat can be proceed with some caution. Much to my, shall I say awe, the seat was heated. This was to be the first of many wondrous moments in Japan. Though I have to say, nothing topped the sensation.