Eccentric Expat Brit thinks aloud.

[mael]

I've been in Japan coming up to twenty years. I've lived most of that time on a small island south of Kagoshima.

I have run my own school and whilst the others have fizzled-out, mine's still running. I've also been working using electronics I design and build myself.

I'm a dabbler in all sorts of things and amongst the things I can mention in polite company are making pencil drawings and welding-up and fitting electric vehicles.

I'm 48 but I haven't grown up yet. And I haven't really travelled away from this little paradise for over ten years and the only time I did was to take a look at Osaka to do some shopping and I was only too glad to get back here.

But recently I have been mulling the idea about heading to the big smoke somewhere, landing a job and seeing what doors open in my journey through life.

I see that there are plenty of jobs advertised, and I am qualified to apply for most of them. As I can speak Japanese and don't have to worry about a visa I expect I'm one of rather rare breed of gaijin with blond hair and blue eyes.

I've tended to be my own boss mostly because I can do it I suppose, and I don't take kindly to following orders I don't agree with. I suppose I'm unemployable unless I really make an effort to tolerate things I have eradicated here in my own world.

I was thinking of perhaps being an English instructor for a good hotel or a large business. I am able to organise my own lessons as long as I know the objectives. But I want to know what the REAL situation is like, so I am posting this.

As I said, it's been a while since I have ventured into the fast lane, so I expect things have changed. Can one normally live well on the salaries paid for jobs like teaching for foreigners? Even old-hands who know the ropes?

A few foreigners have come here with the aim of running their own schools, but so far they all fail in a short space of time. I'd say their main problem is that they rely on natives to get them set up, who stab them in the back. And of course the fact that they are often incompetent and unstable and unable to speak Japanese or have a problem with visas.

If for example I got a job in Tokyo or Osaka teaching English in a school, what would the others doing the same job with me be like? I hear many stories of how native English teachers are hard to get and Chinese (Americans) and the like have become more common. Are there still blonds with blue eyes teaching in large numbers?

I'm jumping over my own shadow to go to Tokyo maybe late next month because I need to find some new textbooks and buy some electronics testing equipment. I have a nasty feeling I'm going to be keen to get on the return flight so I can continue my life here. But maybe the cities are worth another look at.

[mael]

Hmmm!

So as I suspected - it looks like I'd better stay where I am.

I was hoping maybe I could score a nice teaching job with reasonably behaved students which paid enough for me to live in a modest-sized apartment and save 50 - 100,000 a month.

Looks like I'll go back to contract killings.

[Herbert]

Hi Mael -

check you PM mate

[mael]

I dunno! I've just got itchy feet I suppose.

Living here has meant I could get myself a bit sorted-out and I've been able to build a pretty good set of tools and I enjoy making things. Plenty of women as well!

Trouble is that the folks here haven't got much money and it's getting worse quickly. I expect the cities are the same with downsizing and all that.

The cost of things doesn't worry me much because I basically do everything myself and I've got most of what I require. - have to pay rent tho' and there's no way around that as far as I can see for the foreseeable future.

My wife is from here and she'd be OK at least for a while without me - Seems we can have a higher income with the school, but in reality it really only pays for itself and apart from the convenience of the school being very large and housing my gadgets and tools there isn't really much financial sense in continuing this. I don't see things as improving economically and these poor people will be even less able to pay for English lessons as the weeks and months go by.

My alternative would be to score a well-paying job with some rich corporation or hotel and try to save money. But I suspect I'd just go crazy because of those loonies on unmuffled bikes keeping me awake at night and try to make things more comfortable by having too many girlfriends (as usual) and then getting trapped.

Plan 'B' has always been to swim out to one of the tiny islands around the coast here and dig out a cave and sit on a rock contemplating philosophy all day. But I wasn't planning to do that for another ten years at least.

* I'll respond to your pm in a day or so.

[newhigh]

Gee whizz (or should i say Cor Blimey) we seem to have a racist limey on these threads.

I hear many stories of how native English teachers are hard to get and Chinese (Americans) and the like have become more common. Are there still blonds with blue eyes teaching in large numbers?

Having blonde hair and blue eyes does not give one a monopoly over the English language. Your remarks about the implied inferiority of Chinese Americans is a little offensive, even if you don't think so yourself. I know Chinese Americans "and the like" who speak excellent English. The world is a changing place. The US President and the head of NASA don't have blue yes and blond hair. To perpetuate the myth of your superiority just because you are blonde and have blue eyes is way out of fashion. It's backward, rude, arrogant.

I'm 48 but I haven't grown up yet.

Well you got that part right. You are in Japan because back in merrie ole England your kind would be flipping burgers and creating problems at soccer matches. What's your problem son? Its a wonder that you are leaving your island idyll given that you are doing so well already (or so you tell us....you succeed where others fail right?).

You may be too blind to see why your arrogant and racist post caused offence. You can take your blond hair and blue eyes and shove it pal.

[wakaran]

cool. what sorts of gadgets? have you thought about marketing any of them? maybe you don't have to leave.

[mael]

Gee whizz (or should i say Cor Blimey) we seem to have a racist limey on these threads.

* Cor blimey (or should I say Gee Whizz) We seem to have an emotionally unstable Yank on these threads.

Having blonde hair and blue eyes does not give one a monopoly over the English language.

* Ahhh! Then I gather you have neither blond hair nor blue eyes.

Your remarks about the implied inferiority of Chinese Americans is a little offensive, even if you don't think so yourself.

* The implication of inferiority is your emotional assumption. It is nothing more.

I know Chinese Americans "and the like" who speak excellent English.

* Well I'm very happy for you. Congratulations on your discoveries.

The world is a changing place.

* You are doing very well. Yes, that's right. The world is a changing place. But I don't think you'll stray far from your mom's basement so you'll have to imagine the parts your spoonfed news fails to occupy. But I'm backing you! You can rise up out of your mom's basement and actually do something like have a civil conversation with someone at some time in your life. And even if you are unable to rise to the challenge no one will ever notice or care.

The US President and the head of NASA don't have blue yes and blond hair.

* Oh really? That is fascinating. I really mean that! You must be a fascinating person when you are not being boring and predictable.

To perpetuate the myth of your superiority just because you are blonde and have blue eyes is way out of fashion. It's backward, rude, arrogant.

* Well you're off my invitation list for tea for a start. With you everything would be seen as using code-words to be racist and I'd make myself ill laughing at you.

Well you got that part right.

* (About me being 48 and not gwowed-up). I usually get things right. I'm doing just fine.

You are in Japan because back in merrie ole England your kind would be flipping burgers and creating problems at soccer matches.

* No. I'm here because I like it here. It suits me. I have travelled most of the planet over the past twenty years and lived over half my life away from the UK. Maybe you should do some travelling and get out of your mom's basement. It might help to give you an idea of how to conduct yourself when communicating with others. You'd learn the hard way of course.

What's your problem son?

* ??? And who are you to call me 'son?' Are you in your sixties or seventies or something?

Its a wonder that you are leaving your island idyll given that you are doing so well already (or so you tell us....you succeed where others fail right?).

* Lern 2 rede. ... I'm just looking for a change. My family's here and this is my base.

You may be too blind to see why your arrogant and racist post caused offence. You can take your blond hair and blue eyes and shove it pal.

* I knew some nimrod like you would find it.

LMAO

[mael]

Tell me about where you live. Beaches?

Very nice. One side of Amami is the Pacific ocean and the other is just plain ol' sea. Amami's North side basically points to the Korean peninsula. So one side gets good surf and the other side is for swimming.

All sorts of coast here - Rocky and dangerous to white sands looking out to turquoise sea - with all the tropical-type vegetation you can imagine. (Good picture-postcard stuff).

Many people come here from the cities and charter a boat to catch big fish.

- I've been here a while and I don't go to the beaches much these days - but they are usually clean and picturesque. Every year unfortunately someone seems to drown here. The coral is very pretty to look at but it can trap you if you catch the current and hold you under. Lots of pretty little fish and many dangerous varieties.

No winter?

Here there are really only two seasons, and spring and autumn are just figments of the imagination. It swings from hot and humid to cool/cold and dry. Summer temps are around 30 - 35 and winter hovers between 14 and 18 usually.

It's between summer and winter now and the weather is quite comfortable. I suppose you could say this is autumn, as even if the days are still hot and muggy, the nights are cool and I don't need to run a fan right now - but I still need a towel around my neck.

Nice hiking and onsen?

* No onsens to speak of.

Hiking is good if you like the wild life (like me). All you have to do is wander off the main road and you'll soon find untouched wilderness. But the insects can be ferocious and you need to watch for snakes.

Can you grow fruit and veggies all-year-round with ease? Because that is exactly where I would like to live.

Well ..................... yes. But it isn't as easy as it might seem. The soil isn't particularly good, and the climate doesn't suit a lot of plants which grow well on the mainlands. Actually good topsoil is very rare and expensive and people trade in it from accounts I hear. So if one feels lucky because they've got permission to use a piece of land for growing things, one may well find that the stuff on top came from the waste after a tunnel was built. - Unless you are prepared to work and work for years and spend a lot of time, effort and money then the soil isn't going to be able to support anything you'd want to brag about. (Painful experience there).

But it isn't impossible. If you want to grow rice then I think the local council will actually give you a grant to do it. But I'm sure the rice farmers here use a lot of chemicals.

I wanted to do a herb garden and my wife wants to grow spuds and onions. We could start one at any time, but it would be a difficult balancing act to keep the bills paid because a garden would take a lot of time.

If you are rich then you could construct a greenhouse (glasshouse) and line it and cover the floor with pure compost and you'd do well I think. But I don't have that sort of cash and my experience with borrowing people's land has always ended up badly - with them coming up with some excuse to take it back after I've invested money and time in it. I'm wise to it now, so I'd warn others of it.

lots of people seem to want to leave the big-smoke and start a garden/farm here. But almost no one becomes self-sufficient or successful unless they have contacts. The locals here don't really like outsiders by the look of things and newcomers unfamiliar with growing conditions here just seem to eventually give up. - But there's plenty of land not being used. Just be prepared to have to give it all up at a month's notice when you've fixed-it up for them.

Some large and wealthy companies grow veggies and fruit for rich customers in Tokyo and such places. Amami people can't normally afford the stuff they grow.

Of course, we will have another oil crunch soon so prices will rise and island living will likely get harder.

* One of the main reasons I came here is because I'm a survivor and to survive I require wilderness. I also suspect energy costs will once again be used to milk the masses of more cash in preparation for their likely future of overt slavery and complete dependance on the 'system.' I don't normally speak of my concerns, but there are a lot worse places to be than this place if things get really bad. At least you can suffer in comfort here.

Is there a bridge to your island?

No. Ferry to Kag takes 10 hours and a flight to osaka might be an hour and a half. If you don't like flying or rolling about on the ocean then once you're here you are trapped! There is no escape!

Anyway, to your OP. I think you can save 50-100 but privates will help you do that.

As I thought ................ contacts! Hmmm!

You're married I take it?

Yeah! But it doesn't really have any bearing on the matter of my considering working elsewhere. I'm a free man in ways most married men aren't, and I don't need anyone for a visa. Me and my better half have a good 'working' relationship and we are best friends. We don't need to have the other on a string.

We needed to boost our income up past 65万 clear a month for wife and child in order to save decent money.

That's a lot! I got that here a few years back but these days it isn't so easy. Good job I can make or repair what we need or we wouldn't survive financially.

If you're on your own and you get the standard 25万　a month, then you would need at least another 20,000 a week in privates to save something well past the １０万 a month mark. But, if you take a little time, there's no reason you cannot get there.

Yes! Build it up. I've been there. Well I know the market is tight here and even if it's tight in the cities I reckon there's a chance for someone who makes an effort - like I like to do.

Of course, getting back to island life....well...would you really want to bust your butt in the big smoke ? Are you thinking a couple of years to accrue some savings?

Well seeing as you put it like that, I'd have to be either mad or tempted by a very good job with high pay and lots of perks.

I don't really want savings, I just want cash to get some things I want now.

[WillKill4Rice]

Gee whizz (or should i say Cor Blimey) we seem to have a racist limey on these threads.



Having blonde hair and blue eyes does not give one a monopoly over the English language. Your remarks about the implied inferiority of Chinese Americans is a little offensive, even if you don't think so yourself. I know Chinese Americans "and the like" who speak excellent English. The world is a changing place. The US President and the head of NASA don't have blue yes and blond hair. To perpetuate the myth of your superiority just because you are blonde and have blue eyes is way out of fashion. It's backward, rude, arrogant.


Well you got that part right. You are in Japan because back in merrie ole England your kind would be flipping burgers and creating problems at soccer matches. What's your problem son? Its a wonder that you are leaving your island idyll given that you are doing so well already (or so you tell us....you succeed where others fail right?).

You may be too blind to see why your arrogant and racist post caused offence. You can take your blond hair and blue eyes and shove it pal.

See my poll about favorite Gaijin Schmaijin.

Give this man a break - he is an Engrish Jin after all - when Engrish Jin travel, Engrish Jin think he is special.

And Engrish Jin thinks whole world revolve around ____ stained Marble Arch and Tescos.

Be Kind and Sorrowful to Engrish Jin.

[newhigh]

See my poll about favorite Gaijin Schmaijin.
Give this man a break - he is an Engrish Jin after all - when Engrish Jin travel, Engrish Jin think he is special.
And Engrish Jin thinks whole world revolve around ____ stained Marble Arch and Tescos.
Be Kind and Sorrowful to Engrish Jin.

This chap is probably a nice enough bloke and probably doesn't understand the offence he creates by speaking as he does. Ignorance can't go unchecked. He could do the gentlemanly thing and apologize but the inner Tory in him won't allow it. We have many of the same kind here in Australia. Nice enough people who don't realize the racism they perpetuate in their everyday actions. For them, saying sorry would be too hard.

[mael]

This chap is probably a nice enough bloke and probably doesn't understand the offence he creates by speaking as he does.

* Well, I like me.

* I understand perfectly well how individuals such as Newhigh like to be the champion of all they feel is second-best. As for me, I take people as they come.

Ignorance can't go unchecked.

* You won't find much of that here.

He could do the gentlemanly thing and apologize but the inner Tory in him won't allow it.

* If you were non-Japanese living in Japan I'd apologise to them because I am foreign as well. I'd say:- "On behalf of the foreign community I sincerely apologise for Newhigh. But he can't help it, he's just been lobotomised by the media."

We have many of the same kind here in Australia.

* But gradually you and your sorority are gaining numbers.

* Good to hear there is still hope in that once-great country of yours despite you being there.

Nice enough people who don't realize the racism they perpetuate in their everyday actions. For them, saying sorry would be too hard.

* Completely unnecessary.

[Gaijin 06]

This chap is probably a nice enough bloke and probably doesn't understand the offence he creates by speaking as he does. Ignorance can't go unchecked. He could do the gentlemanly thing and apologize but the inner Tory in him won't allow it. We have many of the same kind here in Australia. Nice enough people who don't realize the racism they perpetuate in their everyday actions. For them, saying sorry would be too hard.

While I'm not an English teacher, it is pretty commonly known that having a Western appearance is very useful in teaching English over here... both the punters and school owners feel comfortable. You might not like it, I might not like it but the fact is that appearance is relevant and hence this is why the OP mentioned it.

I really fear for your plans on making big capital gains when you clearly don't have a clue how things work in Japan, and parade your ignorance for all to see.

[newhigh]

Sieg Heil

If dunce students want blond haired, blue eyed teutonic types like Mael as teachers, so be it. Make the most of it Mael, teaching beats flipping burgers in Birmingham.

Mael is an interesting poster who is pondering a big transition in his life and seems well aware of some obvious advantages he has in a tight job market.

And the tight job market isn't helped by all those slanty eyed Chinese Americans that Mael referred to. I sincerely hope his blonde hair and blue eyes give him an advantage with luddite students who won't know better.

[Gaijin 06]

Sieg Heil

If dunce students want blond haired, blue eyed teutonic types like Mael as teachers, so be it. Make the most of it Mael, teaching beats flipping burgers in Birmingham.



And the tight job market isn't helped by all those slanty eyed Chinese Americans that Mael referred to. I sincerely hope his blonde hair and blue eyes give him an advantage with luddite students who won't know better.

I'm sure mael is waiting for your apology, as you called him a racist and ignorant, the first of which is a pretty nasty insult.

[Sterling]

I've been in Japan coming up to twenty years. I've lived most of that time on a small island south of Kagoshima.

I have run my own school and whilst the others have fizzled-out, mine's still running. I've also been working using electronics I design and build myself.

I'm a dabbler in all sorts of things and amongst the things I can mention in polite company are making pencil drawings and welding-up and fitting electric vehicles.

I'm 48 but I haven't grown up yet. And I haven't really travelled away from this little paradise for over ten years and the only time I did was to take a look at Osaka to do some shopping and I was only too glad to get back here.

But recently I have been mulling the idea about heading to the big smoke somewhere, landing a job and seeing what doors open in my journey through life.

I see that there are plenty of jobs advertised, and I am qualified to apply for most of them. As I can speak Japanese and don't have to worry about a visa I expect I'm one of rather rare breed of gaijin with blond hair and blue eyes.

I've tended to be my own boss mostly because I can do it I suppose, and I don't take kindly to following orders I don't agree with. I suppose I'm unemployable unless I really make an effort to tolerate things I have eradicated here in my own world.

I was thinking of perhaps being an English instructor for a good hotel or a large business. I am able to organise my own lessons as long as I know the objectives. But I want to know what the REAL situation is like, so I am posting this.

As I said, it's been a while since I have ventured into the fast lane, so I expect things have changed. Can one normally live well on the salaries paid for jobs like teaching for foreigners? Even old-hands who know the ropes?

A few foreigners have come here with the aim of running their own schools, but so far they all fail in a short space of time. I'd say their main problem is that they rely on natives to get them set up, who stab them in the back. And of course the fact that they are often incompetent and unstable and unable to speak Japanese or have a problem with visas.

If for example I got a job in Tokyo or Osaka teaching English in a school, what would the others doing the same job with me be like? I hear many stories of how native English teachers are hard to get and Chinese (Americans) and the like have become more common. Are there still blonds with blue eyes teaching in large numbers?

I'm jumping over my own shadow to go to Tokyo maybe late next month because I need to find some new textbooks and buy some electronics testing equipment. I have a nasty feeling I'm going to be keen to get on the return flight so I can continue my life here. But maybe the cities are worth another look at.

I believe in the twenty years that you have been teaching English in Japan, the overall attractiveness of that sector has deteriorated into the "McJob of Asia" as indicated in this recent Metropolis editorial ( see http://metropolis.co.jp/features/the...mcjob-of-asia/ )

While the article seems to most make reference to jobs in the dispatch arena, based on what I have read in the press and the boards, the same discounting factors seem to apply to the engrish teaching sector all around.

While I am certain there are plenty of exceptions, the more lucrative positions teaching at colleges and universities now often require some advanced certificates in teaching TOEFL/ESL and/or a Masters degree.

By all means, take a look yourself, but unless it's a hard and concerted effort, you may not find anything at all.

You also have to consider your Plan B. If you ended up failing in Osaka or Tokyo, would you be able to easily return to your island paradise? Or, end up like some of the miserable characters on LOST?

[newhigh]

The mods seem to have deleted the more inflammatory exchanges Mael & I shared. Look, I have nothing against Mael personally, he's probably a nice enough chap to those who know him. I just took exception to the glib comments he made about non-white "Engrish" teachers being inferior to the blonde haired, blue eyed variety. Many Booker & Nobel Prizes in Literature have been won by English speakers from third world countries. To suggest that that Kazuo Ishiguro or VS Naipaul would be lesser English teachers than the OP (because he has blue eyes and blonde hair) is unfair to say the least. This will be my last post on the matter.

[Gaijin 06]

. I just took exception to the glib comments he made about non-white "Engrish" teachers being inferior to the blonde haired, blue eyed variety.

He made no comment of the sort, and if I was him I would be offended at your racist jibes with no basis in reality.

[Marius_II]

I just took exception to the glib comments he made about non-white "Engrish" teachers being inferior to the blonde haired, blue eyed variety.

That wasn't said, or am I missing something?

What was said is something even I (or anyone else), who've never even been an English teacher, knows.
And that's the demand for blond haired & blue eyed teachers.

You'll even find the criteria, blond and blue, in work ads here.

Not as PC as Australia (was it? Where you are...). You're cries of racism is misguided.

It has no relation to whether...

Many Booker & Nobel Prizes in Literature have been won by English speakers from third world countries.

...or not.



---






...btw., is that a young Mr James McJames in that last one?

[Marius_II]

Hellloooo...ワット？！？




ワン　モーアァ

[mael]

**http://metropolis.co.jp/features/the...mcjob-of-asia/

* I really am out of touch.

twenty years ago I heard how twenty years before that was a dream for foreigners. I remember hearing that salaries for foreigners had not changed over the years, but all the while the salaries of Japanese workers had slowly and steadily risen and so by twenty years ago the salaries of foreigners (like me) were basically on a par with the younger workers in major corporations. I think that would have been around 300 - 350 K/month back then. OK! So perhaps foreigners earned a tad more than newly hired workers, but there were no benefits other than free transportation in work I noticed. (That was around Kansai).

I worked most days in an architect's office drawing plans and making models of houses. The salary was 830 yen/hour. I was earning the same as the other staff there. Architects who have high qualifications can start an office and get plenty of dosh but the lowly workers typically received the same remuneration as - hairdressers' assistants. - The worst part of that job was the Monday morning meeting. I tried to be positive about it but it was torture as I couldn't keep my eyes open it was so boring. I used to listen to them jabbering along and droning on-and-on about one customer after another and my mind often wandered and imagined how much more fun that job would be if the office-flowers did a strip-tease on the large table we all sat at. But unfortunately this never transpired.

But I could EASILY get a job paying 3,500 to 5,000/hr teaching for companies who arranged English lessons for large corporations such as Mitsubishi. I could also ask 10,000 per lesson for privates.

My divorce from my wife of that time was like the demise of cushy English teaching jobs which occured at the same time - as far as I could see in any case. Jobs I had before became fewer and conditions deteriorated, and though I could still live on the income even from a school like the defunct NOVA, I could sense I was becoming trapped, and this is why I made a wild move and just upped-sticks, hopped on my bike, boarded a ferry and came here to a place where I can be poor and reasonably content at the same time.

I read the link above and I must say that I feel gaijin who don't know the ropes are what those despatch companies like. I can't see (many) experienced gaijin falling for such rotten treatment.

And it is depressing to think English teaching has lost what attracted me to it in the first place - which was good money and an easy and interesting lifestyle. But I'm sure there are still plenty of girls which makes being poor tolerable - for me at least. - The easiest girls are the foreign ones if you can find a pretty one who is mostly normal because all the foreign men are after the Japanese girls.

I will continue to try to find some job which appears worth my while, but I am far from optimistic I'll find something good without ropes attached to it.

I'm heading to Tokyo (Yokohama) at the end of October to try to find some teaching books as mine are too dated. It's been a really long time since I've ventured away from this island and I'm quite nervous.

[mael]

cool. what sorts of gadgets? have you thought about marketing any of them? maybe you don't have to leave.

Well I do a bit of everything. I built my school, did the electrics and piping and filled it with furniture and appliances I either made or repaired. (That's how come I can survive! ... I try to do everything myself).

My most marketable device is an adaptation of an invention which is alleged to rejuvenate lead/acid batteries. Actually I've spent the past four years making and augmenting my machines and I've tried and tested literally hundreds of batteries ranging in size from 2 A/h to 12 V / 210 A/h.

I am now winding down my efforts to start a business fixing batteries because I can see it is fraught with inconsistancies and problems. I'll tell you why:-

Car batteries would be the market as there are many of them. But car batteries for most small cars are not so expensive as to warrent paying for what might only be another year's use out of it. But the big problem here is that automotive batteries are made using a calcium/lead plate structure and though this delivers high current (for starting) and is compact, and even gases less than other types of batteries, ------------------- They are designed to fail!!! The plates crumble and the best batteries (Nippon Denchi/Kobe Battery) will last max 5 years (but I get them cranking for around ten). El-Cheapo brands such as Panasonic and Furuta Battery die in two years or struggle along for three or maybe four if your car is easy to start.

As I make my own electronics I can see what works. I often went to electrical shops' dumps and used parts to make my machines. The high power components I got from air-conditioner circuit boards. The timing circuit and other stuff is made from any old circuit board. The other parts like hefty transformers I just come by and I buy a few bits such as the clips to attach to batteries.

The store-bought ones don't work, but they do charge well. I have tested a bought desulphator alongside my devices and there is really no comparison. The main difference between what I make and what you can buy is that mine can be adjusted to deliver a millisecond burst of 100 + Amps and the bought ones are doing well if they churn out 10.

Desulphating works well with antimony-based batteries, which are the deep-cycle also the marine ones. But there isn't a good market for recycling deep-cycle batteries and fishermen are very superstitious people as a whole and don't trust anything but new batteries.

The way it is at the moment is that I and everyone around me uses batteries which were basically from the scrap and they go and go! I've also done a few batts for fishing boats. But I can't really say it's a business - more like a hobby which pays for - which pays - bugger all I suppose! (Silly giggling).

The market got smashed before it existed because lots of people bought store-bought desulphators and went door-to door offering to fix batteries and of course as they don't work they put people off. People like me who know what can be fixed and can actually do it became redundant at square one.

Those ignorant people who wanted to make a few yen, but actually lost money and wrecked a perfectly sound business got suckered by adverts selling desulphating machines which probably cost quite a lot. Ah well! C'est la vie 'n all that!

But hey! It's great to know, and as I said, I never need to buy batteries and neither do people around me.

The other things I make are just for my amusement. I like fixing clocks and engines and making sensors. I've also made lasers, electrolysers (to make hydrogen) and tiny wind-generators.

I feel a calling to get back to art and doing drawings again, so recently I'm trying to throw bags and bags of 'parts' that I don't have the desire to make anything with anymore. - Can you imagine someone hauling ten bags of moenai gomi to ten different dumps because the gomi-men are so anal about not taking stuff which isn't what they describe as household rubbish? That would be me.

There's a better chance they'll pick up the bags if there's only one which is a little on the heavy side and has wires protruding from it in each spot.

I want to do something new as I've been gradually burying myself with electronics over the past five years - and I can't even remember all my kids' birthdays! Good job my wife is responsible for the important things in life!

[Marius_II]

But hey! It's great to know, and as I said, I never need to buy batteries and neither do people around me.

The other things I make are just for my amusement. I like fixing clocks and engines and making sensors. I've also made lasers, electrolysers (to make hydrogen) and tiny wind-generators.

I feel a calling to get back to art and doing drawings again, so recently I'm trying to throw bags and bags of 'parts' that I don't have the desire to make anything with anymore.

I want to do something new as I've been gradually burying myself with electronics over the past five years - and I can't remember all my kids' birthdays! Good job my wife is responsible for the important things in life!

For goodness sake Mael, get out of eikaiwa, you're wanted-, no, needed elsewhere.

While boredom haven't harmed your creativity boredom might just suck out the remaining energy to take it that extra needed step further.

Please, I beg of you. And Marius never begs.

[RonBurgundy]

...btw., is that a young Mr James McJames in that last one?

No I believe he's called Dork Johnson.

[ben ali]

Gee whizz (or should i say Cor Blimey) we seem to have a racist limey on these threads.

Well you got that part right. You are in Japan because back in merrie ole England your kind would be flipping burgers and creating problems at soccer matches. What's your problem son? Its a wonder that you are leaving your island idyll given that you are doing so well already (or so you tell us....you succeed where others fail right?).

You may be too blind to see why your arrogant and racist post caused offence. You can take your blond hair and blue eyes and shove it pal.

*ahem*

hypocrisy? isn't that when someone attacks someone else for what they do themselves?

[ben ali]

The mods seem to have deleted the more inflammatory exchanges Mael & I shared. Look, I have nothing against Mael personally, he's probably a nice enough chap to those who know him. I just took exception to the glib comments he made about non-white "Engrish" teachers being inferior to the blonde haired, blue eyed variety. Many Booker & Nobel Prizes in Literature have been won by English speakers from third world countries. To suggest that that Kazuo Ishiguro or VS Naipaul would be lesser English teachers than the OP (because he has blue eyes and blonde hair) is unfair to say the least. This will be my last post on the matter.

It wouldn't be unfair, it would be absolutely ridiculous. The OP is clearly a fruity old nutbag, whereas Ishiguro and Naipaul are giants of modern literature.

But are you making a point about "Standard" English, or race? Because Ishiguro was brought up in the UK and speaks (what used to be called) RP, and Naipaul has the clipped tones of an "educated colonial". Would you say, then, that the ethnicity of a teacher is irrelevant as long as he or she speaks "like a native"?

[mael]

Thank you all for your input.

I joined this forum to get some answers and I found what I was looking for.

That's about all I have to say. except I wish you all well.

[Scot27]

You wish us well? But not the blacks and jews and "engrish" teachers among us! The only answer you got from being here is that your hate is not welcome in a modern world. Now that you are exposed, you are leaving. I don't feel jubilant at your departure - I'm sad that you ever came here.

Mate, get a job, look after your family and leave us well alone!

Arent you the self proclaimed anti islamic Aussie?

You really arent one to preach. Time for you to follow your stalking victim I think.

[EichoKago]

Mael,

I am very intrigued with your battery claims. Can you fax or mail them to our main office in U.S. the specifics? I will have our Design & Research review it. Linear Technology isn't in the car battery business but if your claim is factual and can be introduced for high tech use (idea that extend the life of a battery) we will enter into a contact with you to patent your ideas with the U.S. Patent Office.

Before sending them to us, every piece of document, mark a circle with C inside [indicating that paper is 'copy righted'] somewhere on the bottom of page, and photocopy them for your protection, and send them registered mail.

http://www.linear.com/contact/

Chief Technology Officer
Linear Technology
720 Sycamore Dr.
Milpitas, CA 95035-7417

[mael]

Mael,

I am very intrigued with your battery claims. Can you fax or mail them to our main office in U.S. the specifics? I will have our Design & Research review it. Linear Technology isn't in the car battery business but if your claim is factual and can be introduced for high tech use (idea that extend the life of a battery) we will enter into a contact with you to patent your ideas with the U.S. Patent Office.

Before sending them to us, every piece of document, mark a circle with C inside [indicating that paper is 'copy righted'] somewhere on the bottom of page, and photocopy them for your protection, and send them registered mail.

http://www.linear.com/contact/

Chief Technology Officer
Linear Technology
720 Sycamore Dr.
Milpitas, CA 95035-7417

Hello EichiKago.

Thank you for your response. I certainly believe that batteries can be brought back to life, and I have demonstrated this repeatedly for myself on uncountable occasions.

The method works on the principle of resonance. Specifically resonating sulphate crystals until they destruct.

But I had never thought of copywriting or patenting my method. I'd doubt if it could be sufficiently defined to be mutually exclusive to other similar inventions. perhaps the main difference lies in the human side - the operator.

Actually, I mentioned that my invention was an adaptation of another invention. I shall assume you are at least technically capable and also for any readers out there who are interested in what I claim I can do, I shall provide a few details.

Narrow-pulsed, high current spikes to a lead acid battery will desulphate it. There is no doubt in my mind about that. Desulphating can be considered complete when the specific gravity of the electrolyte is measured as being the same or virtually the same as for a new battery. And there are many so-called pulse-chargers available in stores or on the internet which claim to desulphate a battery, of which a few probably work reasonably well. (But I've not found one).

The store-bought desulphators are either completely automatic or they have one, two, three or four power settings which are supposed to relate to battery sizes. There is other type which is very small in size and power which is not adjustable and is probably intended for permanent coupling to a battery.

the latter is probably a good bet for a car. And a small unit pulsing ten or so Amps in 50-100m/s pulses every second will very gradually fix and sulphation in that battery and either way it will keep it sulphation-free for the rest of its service life. Such a unit with a solar charger rated at approximately C/100 will see you getting at least twice the average life out of your car battery - and also a boat - or a truck or an aeroplane etc etc... . - But the pulses should be stronger with a larger battery.

The problem as I see it is that the process is not dissimilar to a doctor working on a patient. You can't automatically fix people, and as far as I know, without going to riduculous lenghts you could not reasonably expect a desulphating unit to automatically fix all batteries. But desulphating units could be easily made which would work well on a relatively limited range/size/type of battery.

Where my designs differ from most others is the power I put into the pulses. Many store-bought devices have ludicrous claims of (for example) 3,000 Amps/pulse. This might be calculated on paper but reality is very different. At such a power level, if 3,000 Amps are delivered, the battery hasn't actually noticed anything like that and the calculations were probably using a figure near to 12 V as a reference, whereas I believe the calculated speeds of those - being in the single-digit microseconds would have nudged a lead ion or two, but been shrugged off without any shoving or shaking.

I said I used air conditioner circuit boards for the output. I usually use a Darlington transistor block or a similar block of MOSFETS or IGBT's (or anything in fact). The units I like are capable of cont 90 A or 120 A. In the pulses I use I would probaly get at least twice that or more likely three times. This really gets things going and Ican have a marine batt rated at 130 A/h from 1050 SG to 1250 - 80 in a few days on a hefty unit. Such batteries are virtually indistinguishable from new ones.

Here is my success rate for different battery sizes:-

m/cycle batts/camera batts - 30%

Car batts (small) 50%

Big car batts (over 24 A/h) 75%

Truck batts (over 80　A/h) 80 %

Deep cycle/marine batts near 100%

* All these batteries were discarded. Ihad no idea of the histories of them. I would have tested perhaps over 200 batteries in all so far.

* the smaller batteries use calcium in the plates and as you can see, they are not good candidates for fixing. The medium size batts are a mixture of calcium and antimony and as you can see, they fare rather better. the deep cycle ones do not use calcium and they can be desulphated until the cows come home.

*** The end of the battery is when the thing shorts in one or more cells. this is more often than not caused because sulphation has been allowed to run rampant and has distorted the plates and/or a large crystal formation of PbSO4 has perforated the dividing membrane and shorted.

So what Iwant to tell you is that I'm not really breaking new ground, rather that I know how to apply the tech, and that it's the knowledge which is the most important thing.

If one has a battery bank for a specialised purpose then it should have a charging/maintenance system specifically designed for it. I can tailor a desulphating system or a maintenance system for a battery bank. But naturally this would not necessarily be useful or effective on a different battery bank. And still then it requires a human operator in my opinion - unless the SG is electronically or otherwise evaluated during the time the desulphator is activated.

As far as small batteries are concerned, those cheap made-in-China desulphating chargers are more like a placebo than anything else - a novelty. (A rippoff).

I would have liked to have made a small and successful business desulphating batteries, but I am and always have been more than pleased to teach other people how the process really works, and I am certainly altruistic as far as wanting people who can understand what I am saying to be able to learn from my research an apply it to save themselves money. I know that it's the operator who makes the difference between being successful and failing (or blowing the shed up).

I apologise for the smell in here. Newhigh's flatulence doesn't seem to worry him, and as far as he's concerned it is his right to pollute his immediate environment and perhaps he feels it's an honour to smell his presence? perhaps you know of a company which could use his services as he would be ideal as an ornamental gnome on a gate post. It wouldn't bee too financially taxing to fit him with lead mittens and a gag. And an interested company can clone him and probably sell millions of Newhigh-gnomes. With him dressed in his requisite baggy jeans revealing his grubby underwear, a ten-year-old 'Save the Whales' Tee shirt, and picking his nose, the prospective clients would need to spend less on security, as even lower lowlifes would give him a wide berth.

If you can market a machine which works, then the way I have explained is an effective way of doing it. But I do not think the inexperienced novice is qualified to use anything other than a straight-forward, low current charger.

If you wish to continue correspondance then I will direct my future replies directly to your office/website.

* And I hope I have helped some others out there.

[EichoKago]

Dissatisfaction bring about a new product. Targeted goals is to upgrade (extend) and improve (reliability) the life (assurance) of the product. Wasn't that your reason? I am interested in your idea,... and how your idea will upgrade our products (not just the rechargeable battery). And idea must be 'copyrighted' to protect you, and if a new product is marketable, naturally, we have to protect that product by a patent (from encroachments and theft of idea).

Mael, at this time, my direct nor further communications isn't necessary. Important is, to have your idea scrutinized for its merits (application). We can do that. Therefore, I would like you to find all your notes & sketches, write 'C' on each paper, copy all, and mail it to us with your return address. Upon the conclusion of the reviews our representative in Japan will be in touch with you.

I enjoyed this opportunity. Thank you,

[businessguru]

Just do it! The more you experience in life the better!
Then you will be able to bring your new-found wisdom back home and be a better person and possibly make more ￥!

[mael]

Now that public executions at stadiums are no longer allowed, the Chinese government has spent a small fortune on its mobile excecution vans. At GBP37 000 a pop these great machines don't come cheap. You'd think they work properly at this price but they don't - they seem to have electrical problems because they are parked for ages and the batteries don't get recharged. And without adequate lighting etc, its hard to administer lethal injections and maintain live video feed at the same time.

* If you are wealthy and with contacts and you need a liver or a heart then you can ask the Chinese government and they'll find a (political) prisoner with what you need and then send him to the airport in one of those buses you mentioned and moments before the flight leaves the prisoner is liberated of your purchase and it is put in a box and you'll get it in a couple of hours. I am not sure if the 'doctors' who cut out your spleen or your eyeballs or whatever use anaesthetic or if they euthanase you or just let you die.

* Traditionally the Chinese dispense justice with a bullet to the back of the head - to the brain stem. Using lethal drugs and going to the trouble of making it appear humane seems like that would be too much to hope from from the Chinese - based on their history of barbaric insensitivity to human rights.

* I expect the Chinese government also makes a mint out of those videos of organs being cut out of live people and maybe they even spice them up with sex-scenes as the victim expires so it becomes a snuff-film (Very popular in the US and in Israel).

* And Jews who follow traditional Jewish ways must bury a body intact - ie with no parts missing. Israel is a big customer of organs from prisoners in China by all accounts. But Israel also has fronts in Brazil and in some African countries to obtain body parts from people who won't be missed.

Mael, do you think you could help solve this problem?

* Yes. I could easily make it so they'd never move under their own power again.

Perhaps someone with your green credentials can install solar panels on the tops of these vans to keep those batteries working?

* What??? Fix Chinese crap??? I cringe when I need to repair something that was made (probably under duress) in the PRC. The workers there seem to have no pride in their work and the components are as cheap as they can get away with. But their cars should be melted down and made in the West.

* I'd like some solar panels on my roof. The few I've got aren't worth the time and trouble climbing up and fixing in place. - Got panels on my bicycle and my car tho'.

The Chinese are clearly inferior people and can't manage it themselves.

* Why do you think they are inferior?

* I think they are simply different. And in terms of intelligence they are up with the best of them. How they mostly use their intelligence does not appeal to me and so I prefer to live apart from them.

It takes a blonde haired, blue eyed real-man to fix what these backward fools can't.

* I think a real man would decline the invitation.

Another idea: maybe, to reduce the electrical load, they can switch to gas?! Again, I'm sure you have expertise in this area and can help out those dumb ch1nks.

* Is the administration here pleased to have Chinese referred to as ch1nks? You've called them 'slanty-eyed on a number of occasions and now you call them ch1nks! I'm appalled.