Quote Originally Posted by Fernehalwes View Post
Been spending the past few days tending to a tiny ahirman recently summoned from the void...but thought I'd chime in from the old homestead to give you some insight into the method behind our madness.
Congratulations on your new baby ahriman!! And good luck!

Man, the teething period is going to be hell! ...ooh, God, and the feeding.


Quote Originally Posted by Fernehalwes View Post
If I was to open a used electronic appliance store, I wouldn't even dream of calling it "Hard Off," but someone in Japan did, and no one blinked an eye.
I'm going to sound juvenile for saying this, but I don't care: the first time I saw the sign for Hard Off, I couldn't stop laughing. I mean...I know: English expressed in Japanese is Japanese, just as when an English speaker says karate (kuh-RAH-dee), it's English. But I just couldn't get over the fact that the name of their store was this close to being obscene, not to mention the creative images it conjured.

I had just regained my composure when I walked through the door and was greeted with this little jingle. It was like someone was trying to make me break down laughing in public.



Over the years I got used to Hard Off, and now I can listen to their jingle without even cracking a smile. Actually, Hard Off is pretty great. They have a lot of interesting used stuff there for cheap (by Japanese standards). I ended up buying a used TV from Hard Off back in 2006 that would have been way, way out of my price range had I gotten it new. It was really big and I didn't have a car, so the two clerks working there offered to drive it over to my apartment at closing time. Super nice of them!

In 2010 the Hard Off in my wife's hometown went out of business, and I almost shed a tear. Here's to you, Hard Off!