靴置き場所 (shoe place - mud room)

靴の収納場所を整理する為、先日行った大型の家具屋に一家４人で出かけた。目的は靴の収納棚の購入とブレックファースト９９セントを家具屋のレストランで食べてみること。朝食の料理はスクランブルエッグ、ポテト、ベーコンで約１００円、ちょっと足りないのでコーヒーと一品追加、結構お腹が一杯になった。棚は組み立て式なので、娘、孫、旦那さんが力を合せ組み立てた。靴の収納場所がランドリールームに有った、棚を入れ綺麗に整理出来ました。
My daughter decided to clean up the shoes storage area so we went to the furniture store I wrote the other day. The main purpose of going there was to buy some storage shelves for shoes and also to eat 99 cents breakfast in the cafeteria. The 99 cents breakfast includes scrambled eggs and potatoes. It wasn't enough so I got one more side dish. That made me pretty full. The shelves were assembly-required so three of them (my daughter, my son-in-law and my grandson) were putting them together. In the end, I thought the new shelves look nice.

自動車工場見学 (Car Factory Tour)

フォードの自動車工場見学ツアーに娘と孫と一緒に参加した。ツアーバスが３０分おきに出ていて、指定された時刻にバスに乗ると、見学する工場まで行ってくれる。最初は大きなスクリーンでフォードの歴史紹介、次に車が出来る主な工程を音響凄まじくダイナミックに紹介されていた。見学した工場は車のボディの組み立て部門、コンベアーと言うのか、車のボディや扉が流れていて、数人の作業員が細かい部分を手作業、見えなかったけれど大きな部分はロボットだと思う。フォード全体の広さはとにかく大きいかった。
Went to Ford Rouge Factory Tour with my daughter and my grandson. The tour bus leaves every 30 minutes. We bought tickets for 1:30 PM tour. The bus took us to the factory. First we saw a movie about Ford history in a big screen. Then, we watched how a car makes in a virtual reality theater with sounds, smell, etc. Then, we went to a self-guided factory tour. We saw the final assembly portion. Car's bodies and doors were moving and we saw the workers were putting small parts on them. I couldn't see a whole process but big parts are probably assembled by some robots. I couldn't believe how huge the place was.

ダウンタウン (Downtown Plymouth)

娘と孫と３人で車で１５分ほどで行けるプリモスダウンタウンに出かけた。何かフェステバルがあると人が一杯に成るらしいが、今日は静かで素敵な所だった。いろいろな店屋さんが立ち並び、人の往来も多いようだ。ここにもジャングルジムが有る喫茶店が有った。孫は１時間ほどジャングルジムで遊んでいた。ちょうど孫が遊んで居る時にストームが通った。雨はスコール、風強く、外に居たら大変な目に遇うと思う。テレビでも窓には近寄らない様、注意を呼びかけている位、３０分ほどでストームは通り過ぎて行った。嵐の様な天候だと思ったら、直ぐに晴れ間がでるから、ここの天候は解らない。
Went to downtown Plymouth with my daughter and my grandson. It only took 15 minutes to get there by car. I've been here when there was an art festival but today it's pretty quiet. There are a quite numbers of shops here. In this downtown, there is another coffee shop which has a large play scape for kids. While my grandson was playing at the play scape, a severe thunderstorm past through. It rained very hard and it was very windy. I was glad I wasn't outside. At the coffee shop, TV was on and it flashed a warning telling us not be close to windows. But after 30 minutes or so, the storm went away and then the sun was shining. The weather here is very unpredictable...

バーベキュー (BBQ)

娘の旦那さんが所用が有って、カンサスシティへ出かけた。ちょっと出かけてきますと言った感じだが、デトロイトから飛行機で１．５時間、車で１２時間もかかる場所です。帰りにカンサスシティのバーベキューを買って来た（写真）。このバーベキューは結構有名で旨いし安い（２枚で５千円位）、写真の肉は豚あばらの骨付き、これが豚肉かと思うほど美味しい、私はあまり好んで豚肉を食べなかったので比較は出来ませんが、今まで食べた豚肉では最高に美味しい部類に入ります。また食べたいのですが、ちょっと買いに行きますとは行かないのが残念です。
My daughter's husband had to go to Kansas City this past weekend. From Detroit to Kansas City, it takes about 1.5 hours by airplane and 12 hours by driving. Right before he left Kansas City, he bought some BBQ and brought them home (see picture). "Kansas City BBQ" is quite famous and reasonably priced (2 ribs - about 5,000 yen. Note, only 1 rib is in the picture). The one in the picture is a pork rib with bones. It really tastes good - I can't believe "pork" is this good. I am not a big fan of "pork" but this is probably the best pork I have ever tasted in my life. I'd like to eat it again but unfortunately Kansas City is not really close from here...

家具屋 (Furniture store)

娘と孫３人で証明器具と電池を買いに出かけた。大きな家具専門店で、家庭で必要な家具全般が揃っていっる。大きな家具類は組み立て式のもの多く、１０メートル以上あると思われる棚に積んである。何処かの倉庫に来たみたい、その他棚、食器類、寝具、照明器具、家の中の飾り、etc.は綺麗に並んで販売されている。見て歩くのも大変、店があまりにも大きいので迷子に成りそう。孫は買い物の間、子供を預かり、遊ばしてもらえる所で１時間（１時間単位）遊んでいた。その他大きな食堂もあり、買い物に来る人のために便利に出来ていました。

Went shopping to buy a table lamp and batteries with my daughter and my grandson. The store I went was really huge and it sells the furniture and all the household goods. Many of the big furniture are assembly required. They are stored at a huge shelf which is about 10 meter high. Also, the store carries shelves, tableware, bedding, lighting, decorations, etc. They were displayed neatly. The store was so huge and I felt lost. While we were shopping, my grandson went to a kid's play area. This is a supervised play area and the parents can drop off the kids for 1 hour while shopping. There is a big restaurant upstairs which is convenient to the shoppers.

パソコン (PC)

娘夫婦は仕事で出かけ孫と二人で留守番、今日は、珍しく一日雨模様、私がこちらに来て一日雨模様は初めて、こちらの雨はざーと降って止むケースが多いのです。午前中は孫とテレビを見たり、ふざけっこをしたりして居ましたが、飽きてしまい２階のパソコンルームで、孫はパソコンでゲーム、私はパソコンで日本のニュースやスポーツニュース、を見ていました。新潟で大きな地震があったようですね、被害も甚大な様で被害に遇われた方たちの頑張りに期待します。
My daughter and her husband went to work so I babysat my grandson. It was raining all day today. Since I came here, there was never a day "raining all day". Every time it rained, it rained a lot but stopped sometime later. In the morning, my grandson and I watched TV and playing around. But we got bored so we went to a den upstairs. There, my grandson was playing some PC games and I read Japanese news and sports news in the Internet. I learned that there was a big earthquake in Niigata, and there were a lot of damages. My thoughts goes people who experienced this tragedy.

陪審員 (Jury duty)

日本で今話題になっている裁判員制度ですが、皆様ご存知だと思いますが、アメリカでは昔から陪審員制度があります。アメリカ人の娘が今日裁判官より呼び出しを受け、裁判所に行きました。娘の話ですと、１００名呼び出され、いろいろな条件が有るみたいで、本当に陪審員として裁判にでるよう選ばれたのは２０人位、選ばれた人たちは、これから長い裁判に出なければ成らないそうです。娘は選ばれなくて、ほっとしていました。
These days, a lot of people in Japan have been talking about a public "jury system". As you know, a public jury system has been established in U.S. Today my daughter (who became an American citizen a couple of years ago) had to go to a court house because she got summoned. According to my daughter, about 100 people were called and filled out some questionnaires. In the end, I guess about 20 people were selected to be a jury for this particular trial. The people who have been selected had to be at this trial for about a week. My daughter was glad that she wasn't selected.

マクドナルド (McDonald's)

娘と孫と３人でマクドナルドに食事に行った。多くの人はテークアウト、車に乗ったまま注文して持ち帰る人、店の中で注文して持ち帰る人、私たちは、店で食べることにした。なぜならば、ここにもジャングルジムが有るからです。日本ではあまりマクドナルドを食べない私、大きさや味を比較することができませんが、多分大きくて安いと思います。飲み物に就いては、店に居れば飲み放題みたいでこれは日本と比較に成りません。（すいません写真はありません）
Went to McDonald's with my daughter and my grandson. I saw some people came inside and ordered a take-out and some people used a drive-through. We decided to eat inside because there is also a play scape for kids. The food seems cheaper and bigger here, although I don't eat at McDonald's in Japan so I don't know if I should compare the differences in the taste and the size between McDonald's in Japan and here. But at least you can get all-you-can-drink if you eat inside, and I don't think that's true at McDonald's in Japan. (Sorry, I don't have any pictures today).