The appetite for battle

I should bring my camera with me at all times, I really should. Instead of pictures of the church I'll be attending, this week has a night shot from my window, looked pretty so I tried to capture it. I obviously need more practice.. and a tripod, I discovered some lens features I didn't know this thing has... I keep liking this little Canon SD870IS more and more every time I use it.
I've mentioned to a few of you that I've been losing weight, about 15kg overall since I came to Japan, that's somewhere in the neighborhood of 33 pounds. This is not a difficult task though.. I'd gotten quite heavy before I left. This is easily seen in the recent pictures of me on facebook. What does all this mean? Well, for one, when I got up to go to church today, I put on a pair of slacks that's always been rather tight in the waist (This is being very generous, if I didn't tighten my belt, I was quite sure the button would pop off of them)... and they fit like they were designed to. Easily clasped, not extraordinarily loose or tight... just fit. Now if I could only say the same thing for my neck.. that at least still seems to be trunk-like and massive. Though, that shirt I was wearing was short in the arms as well, it might be an improper fit.
This was my nice discovery for the morning. Right up until I arrived at the designated meeting time at the meeting place for church... and nobody was there. The building was locked up. I need to make contact.. I've got phone numbers, it's just late now, I'll do it tomorrow, during the holiday, maybe something is going on.
And now, a moment of humor. There are lots of comments about how 'big' I am in Japan. This is very true, I haven't taken any pictures of crowds or anything yet, but I certainly have taken a couple at dwellings and hotels. Here's proof positive that I am, indeed, huge in Japan. Hrothgar at the door of one of the hotels he stayed in.