well, this is it. i'm leaving for japan in just a few hours. in true d@ve rupert fashion i've stayed up until 2am the night before i leave updating the blog with its new look, and its hot updated sections.

also, in true d@ve rupert fashion, all the updates do not work cross platform...i can't get it all to look right in Safari...and where it looks right in Safari, it doesn't in Internet Explorer...kind of upsetting, but its 2 in the freaking morning...and i get up in 4 hours to leave the country. perhaps from japan i'll do a total, uber-rehaul using the lessons i've learned from the past week and tonight.

so i'm leaving. for real this time. though it feels like camp, with visa in hand i feel it getting more and more real. my bags are packed up tight...then i'm jetsettin' to japan.

how many years? 1, 2, 3 or maybe the rest of my life. who knows....

reasons why i make the worst missionary ever: i left my bible at church on the sunday i left, so i had to buy a new one today.

schmoozed at the consulate's tonight...it was quite an evening. it was nice to see that i'm among people of the similar sentiment and position. all in disbelief that in a few hours we relocate...this seems bigger a deal to me than most of those other people, but i have spent the last few years thinking about this...and for some people its just a whim.

i had a realization...everything is going to be okay...despite what i'm hearing, fearing or thinking is going to happen. its ok. i have that.

well, once in my life, i'm at a loss for words. i've been going too full blast for the last couple of days so my brain has suffered...but i got a whole plane ride to sleep this one off.

finally, take care y'all. i'll be gone for a bit because i'm moving of course, but if you can, keep wimpkiller going until i get back. Goodbye and God bless.

i have a sicker feeling in my stomache today...i woke up and realized..."this is my last day (like full day) here."

i was also thinking, "i have a meeting at the consulate's house, is it a dress up thing?" then i thought, "well dave, when have you been to a consulate's house and not had to dress up?!?" and i thought "oh yyeaeeah...." so i might get a little fancy today. not sure how though....better read every piece of correspondence i've received so i know how much to dress up....alright. take care. bye.

operation backpack failed me...sorry to everyone who voted for the backpack. i would have been all over it, but when i did a test pack with my roommates 6,000cu.in. pack (that's a big pack) and all my crap didn't fit, i got scared. so i balked on that and bought a suitcase today. not that the test pack was accurate, because i've already gotten rid of a big bag of clothes since i got home. the suitcase is nice because i can really just throw my stuff into it and have room left. coincidentally enough, i found myself at target again and my luggage matches!

[pause for commentary] d@ve rupert has matched luggage. d@ve rupert rarely has matched clothes, matched books, matched smells, matched-resses, matched anything! dave is the kind of guy who embodies the word clash.[/pause]

so, here i go again on my own! like a drifter i was born to walk alone!

cyndi lauper and otis redding bring me home tonight as i type. gosh its been a busy day. between updating wimpkiller and the EE site, i don't know where my time goes. i got my money from the bank today. that was a hassle, once they got your money they sure charge you a lot to get it out o' there. suckas... with the help of my wonderful mommy we managed to pack everything up....my suitcase is pretty full...with beef jerky! (yes there is some in there).

it still hasn't sunk in. i feel like i'm going away to camp...but no, its for a long time. i'll be in japan in about 2 days. 2am central standard time i'll be landing in Tokyo. no matter how much i say it, it still doesn't feel like i'm getting there in my mind. i guess its because i'm so busy and my mind is running 500mph... its crazy... million yen, car, Supertown, always watch your back, tokyo, suitbag, future. those are some of the words that flow through the brain. then i'm also, in the midst of packing up my life, i'm updating wimpkiller a bit, to get it in a nicer shape...but i couldn't possibly do it all until i get mo' webspace in mid august...then folks, things will change. ay ay ay!

well, tomorrow will be another day that flies by in the face of busy-ness. i just hope i've seen all the faces that i can...i know there's some that i haven't seen yet, and might not ever again. but i hope they understand. i'll miss everyone dearly. that's maybe the hardest part...being old enough to realize you might not see your friends again because people go off and do other things (like go to japan).

well i'm going to go now. i need to sleep...that will fix a lot of my thoughts...i need to stop for the day. my bags are packed, i'm ready to go...

i forgot to tell this story, last night while mike and i were at the IHOP, our home away from home in highschool, there were some awkward things shaking down.

when we first got there we asked for a table for two in a thinning, but half empty restaurant...they tell us it will be awhile, like 10 minutes...mike and i look at eachother and say "umm...aren't there a lot of tables open?" we were both confused. so we sat down in the waiting area staring at a bunch of open tables. there was clearly a hustle and bustle going on. "some one must have quit," we thought. the waiting room now starts to fill and the lady asks for our name...i say, "Dave.... .... ... FACE! Dave Face!" but she only put down "dave". that's really funny to me i'm bummed it didn't work. but while we're waiting and the room filling up we hear the matrie'd say "it'll be awhile, but i don't want to go into the reasons why, i just don't...."

well blackhole that it is, we see a girl we knew from, where else, youth group, named jessica who just had a baby and is working as a waitress at the IHOP. it was nice to see her and she waited on us. we got some milkshakes, some coffee (decaf) and some water. i got my second (and later third) case of death hiccups. we, having the inside scoop, asked jess if she could tell us what the big secret is on why they were so busy....here's the gossip!

turns out that the there were some "Spanish" (spanish here used to describe a speaker of spanish) waitresses talking with the Cooks in Spanish...i guess they weren't doing their job, so the manager got mad and said..."THIS IS AN ENGLISH SPEAKING RESTAURANT, SO QUIT SPEAKING SPANISH AND WORK." uh-ohhh. so with that comment two waitresses and two (or three) cooks left on the grounds of descrimination. holy cow. i can't believe that happened. the first step would have been "please don't talk and go work y'all." but all of a sudden this woman outlaws spanish in its entirety...the sad thing is that little to no action will probably be taken, just a lot of cussing and repeated stories. i wish they had someone to stick up for them and sue the crap out of the IHOP....any rich person would. darn. well i'm outta here. take care.

well, how's it going? my mouth is fine, unlike yesterday i got to talk today. that was nice. i didn't eat much today however because mommy wasn't around to feed me pudding. true story. but i did get my fill. still a little hard to chew and swallow but it looks like i'll be flying through this will flying colors. and i decided i posted the wost picture ever of myself on the internet...usually people only post pictures of themselves looking hot on the internet but i somehow manage to defeat that and put humiliating pictures up that will come back one day to haunt me (thank you reagan ray for the awesome cake). but as for the teeth thing, i'm doing okay.

today was a long day of consuming. toiletries, clippers, and clothes. i got some new clothes (fancy ones) and ties and stuff for my new job. whoa. come 300am and i'm getting emotional...lots of emotional stuff got dropped on me today. but i think what took the cake is that i got an email from the "Always Watch Your Back" girl...this time she explained herself a lot better. lots of advice. i realized i'm not going to be one of 6 JETs, but rather 3 (one of whom has already been there a year at least)...no other people are teaching junior high....they're phasing that out...so i may be the only guy....rough...she suggested they might stick me with j-high jobs if they didn't already hire local internationals to do it...but hey, if they're hiring local internationals, then maybe i'm a possible hire! who knows, its confusing.

but! my purpose is clear to me...it's just a hazy deal. like riding a road where all signs are pointing "EXIT NOW" or "LAST FREE EXIT" or "CLIFF AHEAD" and i must keep driving, because passion forces me too.

and these drugs probably don't help with my emotional gear...sean, i'm on hydrocodone again. ha.

i just saw my good friend mike rice and boy is that nice. he's a genius folks. if tammi hadn't gotten to him, we'd be in canada right now exchanging vows. a great guy. always makes me smile....

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