* I learned from Mr. "I", a veteran gardening consultant at a orchid store in the Kohoku New Town in Yokohama city, how to grow orchids months ago. He selected a pot of chrysanthemums for me and taught me how to water it. Due to his good advice, they were growing quite well. None of them withered. I acknowledged first time that the flowers grown in pots live longer than cut flowers. They are also less expensive.
| Yesterday I went down to the orchid shop and asked Mr. "I"to select the other pots of flowers for me. He picked up pots of red, white and pink Christmas cactus among many of them. And he told me to move together all three of them in a bigger pot by myself. |
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When I told him I have never had such an experience before, he prepared for me a bigger pot with a saucer, a sack of compost specially made for cactus. He also taught me how to move them. He also told me how to water it. He cautioned me to have the pot in a dark room from evening to morning and to have light during the day time. Furthermore he said it would be necessary to give fertiliser after a year from now and prepared for me a small container of liquid fertiliser specially made for cactus. He added it would be possible to plant a cutting nipped off at the second node one year after from now. He talked about not only what I have to do in the next years but years later, So I said it would be very difficult for me to be alive in years after from now. He looked at me and said I would have not much troubles as I was younger than him. Although I told him that he was much younger than me, both of us never told our own ages, I could have two pots of flowers as shown in the above picture.
* The Tokyo Motor Show was organised by the Japan Auto-trade Promotion Association. As the association was absorbed by the Japan Auto Manufacturer Association (JAMA), it will be the first show organised by JAMA. The show will open for six days from October 29 (Tue) through November 3 (Sun). In 1999, the Tokyo Motor Show started to separate the exhibition into a passenger car and a commercial vehicle show every other year. This year show is for commercial vehicles.
The commercial vehicles are bought and used much more than passenger cars globally. Therefore all auto manufactures in the world are making effort to develop them. But I have not felt they are eager to exhibit their new models at the show. The motor shows were held recently in London and Paris. Their exhibition products were divided into super luxury cars and low priced compacts. There was something lacking in the spirit of shows, I think. Together with Premier Junichiro Koizumi's powerful anti-deflation measures, I hope the Tokyo Motor Show will trigger off the actions overcoming the depression.