I ran into the following dialog when trying to “Empty Trash” in OS X (10.4)

‘the operation cannot be completed’

The problem was caused by a couple of hundred locked files on the USB drive, which OS X happily sent to the trash but would not let me delete. Normally you can just restore a file from the Trash to a normal file, and then alter the properties (File –> Get Info in the Finder). But since the files were on a USB drive I couldn’t see them in the Trash. So the files were effectively stuck, and I couldn’t empty the Trash without hitting “continue” a couple of hundred times (and the locked files would still be there, so that would happen every time).

After a quick google, and a look at man chflags, I found a solution. Open terminal, and run the following commands (replacing YOUR-DRIVE-NAME with the volume name of your USB drive). NOTE: run the following command at your own risk!

find /Volumes/YOUR-DRIVE-NAME/.Trashes -type f -exec chflags nouchg {} \; -print

After than, “Empty Trash” worked as normal.

Bron and I went to 高尾山 (Mount Takao) during autumn. 高尾山 is about 45 minutes west of Tokyo by train, so it’s really easy to get to. There were lots of people there, but most of them took the cable-car to near the top so at least the trail wasn’t too crowded. We took the side trail up and the main path down, which was a good move as the side path had some nice spots to rest and enjoy the view, and also has some variation in incline (the main path is uphill all the way).

‘Mount Takao during Autumn’

The rest of the photos are in this album.

‘My apartment building in Yotsuya’

It’s in Yotsuya, only 5 minutes from the nearest subway station, 30 minutes from my work, and about 25 minutes walk from Shinjuku Station. The rent sure isn’t cheap, but it’s quite big and gets plenty of sun, and I didn’t have to pay key money. The landlord also provided a refridgerator and a washing machine, and curtains – yes, you usually need to buy your own! And it includes free broadband internet as a nice little bonus.

Updated: A photo of the lounge after finally getting a table and rug.

‘The lounge in my apartment’

It seems that walking cats is a not-so-uncommon past-time in Japan. First I saw the following while walking in the forest down from the top of Mount Takao (高尾山):

‘Japanese man walking a cat - on his shoulders’

Then spotted in Shijuku a few weeks later:

‘Japanese man walking a cat - on his shoulders’

After many years of thinking about it, I’ve finally made the move and started work in Japan. I’m working for an american investment bank in Tokyo (right near Tokyo station), so I won’t be speaking too much Japanese at work, but hopefully I’ll get to practice a bit.

Here’s the view from my temporary accommodation in Roppongi. That’s Tokyo tower in the background.

‘A view in Tokyo’

もし、東京に来たら、連絡してください！