Builders & Bicycles

It being the rainy season, I was a bit worried about the damage to the roof. The house is very tall and it's impossible to see clearly how bad it is. Shizuka fired off an email to our favourite building company in Osaka and within a couple of days we had pictures of the damage and a quote to fix it. Great service. The damage is not too bad but you need a long ladder and a bit of nerve to climb up there. Heights don't bother me and I've been up there before but everyone else who has been there has said they wouldn't go up on a ladder. I guess the builder is of the same opinion because he claims that they will erect a scaffolding to do the job. The damage is 3 broken tiles, a big dent in the alloy flashing and a crack in the siding. They have quoted Y300,000 which is a ludicrous amount for this small job. Apparently the scaffolding cost accounts for 50% of the bill. It looks like I will be going up there again! I am sure I can replace the tiles and silicone up the crack in about 1 hour. The flashing can be reshaped with an autobody hammer and while it wont be perfect it won't be noticed from street level. The builder put a temporary patch over the damaged area so we don't have to worry about leaks.

A couple of days ago I was talking to a friend in Osaka on Skype. He told me about an incident he had just been involved in. He was out and about town in his new Toyota Prius. (yes, we have all told him that it is the silliest car in the world) He was stopped at an intersection waiting to move from a side street onto the main road. A schoolboy on a bicycle came hurtling along the footpath and crashed straight into his car. Luckily he hit the right front wheel so the car was not really damaged. Just a scratch on the fender. This idiot schoolkid went flying off his bike and landed in the middle of the main road. It was his lucky day as there wasn't any traffic at that particular moment and he didn't end up squashed under a truck as he deserved to be. He was OK but his bicycle was looking a bit sad...bent forks, buckled wheel, basically fucked up. My friend is married to a Japanese and luckily she was in the car at the time. As the bike was now non operational they offered to take him to the nearest station. Abandoning his bike on the side of the road (just another one of thousands) he jumped into the car. This kid is 15 years old and has by the time they reached the station figured that he might just get some money out of this gaijin. He refuses to get out of the car until they give him their name and address and registration number on paper. Pointing out that it's entirely his fault doesn't make a bit of difference as this kid is adamant that someone should pay for a new bicycle. In Japan it's customary to just give people money to make them go away. A bicycle costs about Y9000 (NZ$150) but you then run the risk that they may reappear later with added complications like a sore neck. If you've given them money it's the same as admitting liability. Anyway, this kid gets out on receiving their details. That evening there's a call from the police. Apparently there's to be an investigation and my friend and his wife will have to go for an interview at a police station which is 40 mins drive away. The cops have been to the scene and taken photos and now are proceeding to thoroughly investigate this most serious incident. They take pictures of the Prius and statements from Nick and his wife. Two police officers spend over a hour doing this. As he puts it, its a ridiculous waste of everybodys time. After that his Insurance company calls. They have put an investigator on the job in case the kid makes a claim. He tells them that the police will probably assign 20% of the blame to him and 80% to this moron schoolboy. Seeing as repainting the scratch would cost more than 20% of a new bike the kid will be advised not to claim for anything and to pull his head in. This is the way the Justice system works in Japan. A clear cut case which common sense would sort out in 2 minutes will turn into a big production involving a large cast of characters and drag on for ages. Japan has many good and bad things about it but undoubtedly the single worst thing about the country is the Justice system.