University of Weed

I see I still have some educating to do. Maybe the deposit money could be used for public awareness campaigns?

Jealous Girlfriend

Change My Mind

Meme

Crypto

This is a follow-up post on a previous one in which we speculated about the amount we are owed. Below, in consideration of recent financial developments, we take up the topic of bitcoin.

Let's imagine a world in which Tim invested our money in bitcoin. Is this so hard? After all, everyone and their brother is getting into crypto now. Maybe Tim got caught up in the great bitcoin boom of 2017 (which would mean our money is now worth about half of what it was). But that sounds unrealistic. Why would Tim, all of a sudden after 14 years of having our money, decide to throw it into bitcoin?

Here is a more likely scenario, it's the fall of 2013. Tim is married now, out of pharmacy school and taking stock of the last phase of his life as he prepares to mount a new adventure. In his reflections, Tim remembers the visit to Japan he made a few years ago when he met up with us in Tokyo. Cold shame twisting his bowels for a fleeting moment, he remembers that he had promised to send us our deposit money, a promise that remains unfulfilled. He remembers that moment in the dressing room of the public bath, our sweaty hands scribbling addresses on a scrap of notecard, and knows instantly -- he has no idea where that scrap of paper is.

Meanwhile on another trajectory of reality that is about to converge with the above, bitcoin is reeling from its first major boom-bust cycle. For a fleeting moment in April 2013, a single bitcoin was worth $230, more than ten times its value a few months before that. The plunge came fast and harsh, dropping to less than $70 in less than a week before stabilizing around $90 after a couple of weeks. Dollar-wise, these fluctuations are laughable today. Bitcoin falls and rises by such amounts in the space of hours on a typical day now, but in percentage terms, the drama will be familiar to anyone who lived through the heady days of 2017, and the more sober reality that has since been imposed.

Nevertheless, this little bubble captured the attention of the media and the world was in the throes of what would not be the first spate of "What is Bitcoin?" articles. Tim, always on the cutting edge (Remember his liking of Eminem and disliking of George W. Bush well ahead of the crowd?), is thoughtfully consuming these, not stopping at the Washington Post primer but seeking out the authentic sauce from Wired and Gizmodo. As we know, Tim is always "down for whatever" and while that usually means road trips, swimming in any available body of water, and enjoying the natural beauty of Oregon, this sometimes extends to quirky, edgy, out-of-the-box investments. Bitcoin is on the rise again, and he decides to convert a chunk of his own cash into the cryptocurrency, and decides to throw our share of the deposit ($2172) in as well, buying bitcoin on October 20, 2013, when it was worth $163.06.

In this very plausible scenario, our share would as of today be worth roughly $112000, or $37,333 per person.

The Decision

The time: 3:26 pm. No really, the time is May 2018. It has now been over 15 years since Tim has absconded with our money.

The place: Asia? America? Europe? Well, Japan specifically, but no longer the big Tokyo city, now a very small speck of a village on the map of rural Kyushu.

The group: A gathering of Willamette University alumni (unofficial and not formally sanctioned from the esteemed Willamette's Office of Alumni Affairs). Those who have already RSVP'd at this special event come from an extraordinary cross-section of society and feature unnerving diversity. This includes graduates from both the 20th and 21st centuries, encompassing majors from the humanities to the sciences, including both those members of Greek Life as well as those from our proud independent community, and from single boppers to family men. 

The event: Epic preparations have been and are still currently underway. The event will alternate between a number of disparate yet related activities, with the underlying connective tissue being collective immersions in hot bodies of water, done nakedly and without clothing of any kind. Other activities will include nature hikes, gorging, extended discussions on drinking alcohol and hooking up, and by at least part of the contingent, serious contemplation of the outstanding debt still incurred by Mr. Tim Peterson.

The dilemma: Whether or not Mr. Peterson should or should not be welcomed to the venue. The alacrity that such a proposition has incited among core group members is perhaps not coincidentally occurring a simultaneous time as the famous Ezra Klein-Sam Harris debates (although thankfully devoid of any racism charges found there).

The decision: Firstly, the overall group and individual member feelings concerning the possibility of Mr. Peterson's inclusion. Should he be encouraged to attend? Should he be allowed to attend? Should lodging be offered at one of the member's home? If so, should a deposit be required before Mr. Peterson is allowed to reside at the home? If a deposit is required, how much should the deposit be? Is 262,350 yen an appropriate figure to request? When should the deposit be required to be paid in full? What if the deposit is confirmed, but a promise then comes that for this reason or the other, it will be paid at a later date? As a larger rental car is required for the event, when is Mr. Peterson's share of the car fund required to be paid? If not paid on time, shall he be refused admission into the vehicle, given his past incursions? Should the group make another attempt at soliciting the overdue funds from Mr. Peterson? If they do so, when shall they do, before his plane ticket purchase, before his arrival, upon his arrival, or another time? Who shall make this plea, the guys, their spouses, or their parents?

Finally, we'd like to take a moment to thank our loyal readers. When we started this blog, we never imagined that our reader numbers would rival major media publications and blogs of high critical regard that have been around for years. The response has been truly overwhelming to us, and we apologize that we are no longer able to respond to all email messages, YouTube video feeds, written letters, and voice recordings. Initially we felt this struggle was only our own and perhaps not of interest to the wider community, and honestly, we never anticipated that this content would strike a common chord in the hearts of so many online readers, or that so many volunteer translators would offer their services. We are truly humbled by the outpouring of response and commentary, and we will do our best to continue living up to your expectations. 

Missing Deposit, One Story - told year by year

Part 1: Introduction 

I want you to think about things you can't see, gravity, the rotation of earth, because we can only see the results and not the process should we assume they don't exist?  On April 25th, 2001, two young Americans arrived in Japan.  They moved into an apartment in Tokyo with two other American men.  These men entered into a contract with a Japanese landlord, that landlord required a large amount of deposit money.  Three of these men claimed one man, Tim, ran off with this money.  But 14 years later, I have to ask myself,  could Tim really have done this?  And if so, how?

Our investigative journalist have been busy digging up more information on the exact details of what happened, where it happened and how it happened.   For the past 14 years I've been in/out of contact with a mutual friend, Yuko, who somehow got involved with these four men and the logistics of renting an apartment in Japan.  We'll get back to her relationship with these 4 men later, but she claims Tim collected 262,350 Japanese Yen:

i want to to tell you about the deposit money which you worried.
on wednesday night i recievede a letter from the real estates
and there was infomation about it.
the amount of money which you can recieve is ¥262350
details are following...
change tatami mat -¥34650 (They didn't mention it to me before though...)
room cleaning -¥52500
repair　water　pipe　-¥10500
the money they kept as ur deposit is ¥360000
so, 360000-97650=¥２６２３５０

Maybe there are people out there that claim they have seen Tim take hold of this money.  Maybe there are even people out there who have spent some of this money with Tim.

Then there is the Yoshie checkbook ledger . . . next time, as we delve into the Missing Deposit, one story, told year by year.