August 22, 2011: If the karoshi doesn't kill me, the deep-fried fudge might!

"Have a good day.  Don't karoshi!" – Akemi, Every morning before I leave for work.

From wiki: "Karōshi (過労死?), which can be translated literally from Japanese as "death from overwork", is occupational sudden death. Although this category has a significant count, Japan is one of the few countries that reports it in the statistics as a separate category. The major medical causes of karōshi deaths are heart attack and stroke due to stress."

Hmmmm.  I suspect that, in her subtle way, Akemi is trying to tell me something.  But what?  WHAT?!!

Speaking of work – prep continues on my block (episodes #103 and #106, Sharks and Payback) as we try to cast, nail down locations, and get through that final round of meetings in advance of next Monday's start of production.  Also, have my hands full with these seemingly endless script revisions.  This morning, I received a call from one of the broadcasters informing me that the script for episode #103 was in great shape!

And that I could expect the next round of notes by day's end.

Anyway, the production express stops for no one.  I'm on board and racing toward the finish line – now December 2nd.  I'm sure that by that point, we'll have a thoroughly awesome first season under our collective belts and will have established a well-oiled machine for the second season's producing team (And, yes, I have no doubt that there WILL be a second season).  Following Christmas in Montreal with mom and sis, I'll be headed back to Vancouver for a much more easy-going 2012.  Hopefully, Akemi will be along for the return trip.

To all of you inquiring about Akemi's future here in Canada – well, I've retained the services of an immigration lawyer to help us out.  With less than three months and counting before Akemi's visa expires, here's hoping we can figure something out.  I know that Carl would miss her terribly.  Tonight, we start by filling out oodles of paperwork!

A Weird Food Purchase of the Day video installment.  Deep-fried chocolate fudge!