Real life nintendo?

I had the opportunity to serve a mission in Japan the video game capitol of the world, I think. Anyway while I was there I could sense that I was missing something. Something that would help me put the whole culture in perspective. I was in my last are with only two months left or something like that. I was at a members house, parents and a daughter age 25 at the time were the only ones there with us (missionaries). They were letting us teach a mock discussion so we could practice a few techniques with them and towards the end of the conversation I took the opportunity to chastise the daughter for something and when I was finished the mom said to me, Wow Elder Henderson you have really powered up a couple of levels since the last time we had you over at our house.

I was flattered of course because it was only three weeks since the last visit. I couldn't help but think, hot dang, 2 or 3 levels in a time span of a couple of weeks, that's amazing.

Then the lights went on.

I finally found the missing link to understanding the Japanese culture. I was inside a video game world. No wonder Japan make a ton of cool video games they live them. Anything cool that happens into their life they write a program for it and sell it to foriegners who take turns reliving an ordinary day in Japanese life.

I never knew that experience points were actually accumulating above my head as I walked around. I could feel the definite pyscological blow if I ever lost my coins like Sonic or if I happend to lose a level do to sickness. But upon quick reflection at times I could actually pin point the exact moment when I would go up a level. In Japan you also get a turbo boost. I never was quite able to figure out how to use it, but once in a while I could feel it getting used and it was awesome.

On the way to the church from our apartment there was a little jump in the sidewalk that my companion and I would take turns jumping. One day I was taking my turn at the jump and out of nowhere my turbo kicked in I started traveling at mock 3 with the least amount of effort. I hit the jump flew over a broken umbrella that was on the other side of the jump and in mide air I jumped up a level.

That was in my top ten greatest accomplishments of the 7th month of the two thousand and sencond year.

To not make a long story longer, if you think of you life as a video game, and you can find out what things help you power up a level and you can find out how to use your turbo, you can have some great memorable experiences.

Can people find your house?

The other day I went with a few friends to visit another friend of ours. Our friend Carly tells us that her house is only 15 minutes from the freeway. We are doing the caravan thing, following Carly and after about 15 minutes we notice that we are beginning to ascend up into this mountainous range. We are taking turn after turn, some left turns some right turns, but always climbing upward as if we were about to start driving through cloud or something crazy. I think we even passed a couple of mt. goats who were jocking for position on a steep ledge. Any way after what seems like a climb a small mountain, we come to a lovely little flat land that contained a little village or neiborhood of some sorts. Lovely place it is.

The point being had we not followed a native of that area to their own stomping grounds we never would have been able to make the trip without some sort of gps unit.

So we had a good time at this lovely little villa in the mountains and as it came time for us to return we realized that we would have to decend down the treacherous mountain side without the likes of a guide. Should we, at one point or another, choose the wrong path we would surely plummit to our death. So we ask our host how we should go about getting back safely without getting lost and she said, "Just go back the way we came." Like it was the easiest thing in the world. Then she says, "If you get lost just call for help."

I'm thinking to myself, self why didn't prepare for the trip a little better and hire out a sherpa who could help us navigate the perilous mountain in which you can only find your way if you were lived in the area since the time you were a papus.

Why in the world do people need to distance themselves from the rest of the world so much that they would go and settle a little community miles away from civilization. Maybe I'm a little unadventurous but if you need to have your friends and other visitors hire a sherpa just so they can get to and from you home I think that's were I would draw the line.

Cars, a metaphor for life?

Think about it, if your a car guy as most people know I'm not so I could be way off, you know that some people enjoy a fixer upper project and others like to buy cars that are in mint condition. When I say car guy I'm not referring to the type of person that owns a car. I'm referring to a real car person. Someone who knows what the number associated with the engine name refers to, or someone who knows why we don't have hover cars to drive around in like Back to the Future promised us when we were kids. A real car guy.

Anyway, a real car guy can see a classic model of a car and get excited as to the potential that the car has. He knows that if he just puts in the TIME and MONEY that he could have one of the best cars in the world. A completely polished sweet ride that he can brag about to his friends. Cars of this nature, depending on the car guy, usually end up with one of two fates. One is to be cherished and babied by the guy for the rest of his existence or to be bragged about by the guy for awhile and then sold to someone else. If the car meets the latter of the two fates the car guy is usually prone to begin his search again for a project of some sort, a way to be car to be that can be repaired or upgraded to a fine tuned automobile that will earn him bragging rights for a while until he can sell it and start the continual process all over again. Until one day the car decides that he is completely happy with his most recent referberation and is content to keep that car for the rest of his life.

Then there are other car guys who are interested in the already fine tuned, polished to a high shine automobile. This is also a car that entitles him to bragging rights. There are also two types of car guys in this category. The one who buys his car and keeps it for ever the one who keep the car for a time only to become unsatisfied with the vehicle when something better comes along. At which point this car guy will do anything to trade in or upgrade his car. He may even have both cars for a while and spend time with babying both of them until he finally decides that he can only afford one car or that he just doesn't care as much for the old car as much as he does for the new car. Depending upon the resources of the the car guy may depend on how long he will hold on to each car or depending upon the features of the car could save the car from being sold. Because eventually the car guy will decide on a car that he will keep longer than any other car.

I was sitting in church the other day trying unsuccessfully to pay attention to whatever was going on and a thought came to me. Old cars are a metaphor for person to person relationships. When you think about it. There are different aproaches people take to forming and maintaining co-ed relationships. If in my rambling thoughts that you just read through you turn car guy into guy/girl and turn car into girl/guy I think that you will come to the same conclusion that I came to. Now if you we could just figure out what this all means and apply it life I could sleep at night.