I’m talking about vacations. Although I’d usually tell you that I’d much rather be idle than working, sometimes I’m not sure. When it gets to the stage that getting out of the house before 3pm is a genuine struggle, idleness has really set in.

The less I have to do, the less I do, and it is a little depressing. I can’t help feeling angry with myself for not taking advantage of the time I have. Still, I got out while it was still daylight today, and picked up a few things for work next week. What an achievement!

In fact, I was woken quite early, by a strange phone call in Japanese. It seemed to be someone who knew me, but I couldn’t understand who it was, or what he wanted. The guy was quite old, which made it really hard to understand. Something about Settsu and a transportation cost! I’m not very sharp early in the morning, still less so in Japanese, and it doesn’t help when I have no point of reference. He gave up, and I was none the wiser. Just puzzled.

However, thanks to the magic of Google, I was able to type in the phone number, and find out that it was...the bicycle parking place near where I used to work. Maybe they wanted to remind me that I hadn’t paid for this month. Well, I don’t work there any more, and I don’t park my bicycle there any more, so no need to worry, I suppose.

This afternoon, as I browsed some second hand CDs in the street, a young woman ran up to me, said “hello!” and shook my hand. I didn’t know her, and all became clear when she asked me if I was Fabien. No, I’m not. She apologised and left sheepishly.

It’s been a strange day.