Off Topic, Volume II

AS a review, the SkunK is spending 2-4 weeks in the far west/east. He is way off the beaten tourist path. The SkunK is reporting on some of the new trends he sees here and and is looking for some investment ideas. I realize this post is OT, but I find this stuff interesting and I hope you do not find it too Andy Rooney-ish. Sometimes the detail hits me between the eyes.

Remember those little hand baskets they have in some convenience stores? Well, no need to carry around. You can set up to two baskets on these empty wire carts and then push around. This is the largest shopping cart I have seen so far. Notice the rear wheels are not fixed. Yes, that makes them easy to move sideways, but I found out that also causes them to drift during unbanked high speed turns.

We just finished the another day of the 15 day Summer basho Grand Sumo Tournament. Some small guy from Mongolia is one tough dude with an attitude and the SkunK predicts an upset - I think. Not sure what the heck is ALL going on, but the referees have really got a nice set of rags. I push a button on the remote and I can get the 7pm news and the Sumo tourney all in the King's English with a heavy British accent. Some of the American Movies ("Jaws" the other day) and series . . . (so this is what happened to "Alf"). . . also have the English language feature. . .

I found the Sams club of the orient. Here you can buy even your liquor in bulk. Those large plastic bottles of Suntory Whiskey (Domestic) are 4 liters! That's right - whiskey by (more than)the gallon! You can top off your liquor cabinet with the cheap stuff the next time a house guest overstays his welcome! Next to that is a "Black Jack" brand I never heard of. On the shelf above you can see a couple American brands - one of the few areas America has made market penetration here locally. .

I expected to see USA beef but all of the imported beef I have seen is Australian. The cuts below are razor thin. Chicken and pork is mostly domestic.

Asians have a high rate of lactose intolerance - and no wonder - on sale at $2.68 a liter in my picture, that runs $10.13 a gallon! After further research, the SkunK found a larger supermarket that ran a sale (for 135 yen a liter/exchange of .93/3.785 liters per gallon) at $5.97 a gallon for .07% low fat milk. I have to admit that this domestic milk is very sweet and delicious.

This guy has a summer home a couple blocks off the beach. No problem. Just build a four story tower and attach a latter off your upstairs deck. Innovation. Problem solving.

We should see the 1Q today,

SkunK