• The Week #272

    by
    • ☀️ While the intensity of the heat has decreased this past week, it's still above 30 during the day and staying in the mid 20's. That seems like it will change next week but for now it's still "fierce heat".
    • 👴 Respect for the Aged day was this week. I'm mixed on this day (despite enjoying the 3-day weekend and it applying to me more and more each year). Why am I mixed? Children have a day (makes sense), the olds have a day (🧐) –where's the "respect for the middle aged for simultaneously keeping society running and raising the next generation" day? Maybe respect for the aged day is about respecting them for surviving?  If that's the case...perhaps I am less mixed. than I was initially.

      👆 It occurs to me that I am closing in on the final weeks of my 3rd decade. I should set some time aside to reflect on the past 10 years. Appreciate the changes and make some plans for the next.
    • 🎶 I've been listening to No Question by M-Flo on not quite repeat, but close enough. Sooo good.

  • The Week #271

    by
    • 🦷 Leo's front teeth have been loose for a while and this week they decided it was time. I need to get lots of photos of him while he's in this toothless state. 
    • 🏊‍♂️ We went swimming at the YMCA. It's been about a year or more since we went swimming together and I am impressed with his ability. He could do backstroke the crawl from the middle of the pool. I think he might be part fish.
    • 🙇‍♂️ The prime minister of Japan has announced that he's resigning (🎁 nytimes). I feel like there's been about 4 pms in the last 5 years. I feel like the constant churn of leadership makes it difficult for a country to build rapport amongst the top, though perhaps that's what the bureaucracies are for.
    • 🏡 I am continuing to look around and exploring different potential futures. Most of them excite me, except the potential of commuting across Yokohama everyday. Not even across Yokohama, but more of a V into the center and back out is the pain.

      The thing is, as much as I moan about our location, our house is comfortable enough. Moving to a smaller place in an area we're not familiar with is a bit daunting. We'd probably have people on all sides of us again. Moving into a smaller place automatically means going through the things we have and deciding what to get rid of (which is a good thing, imo). But actually getting rid of stuff, arranging movers, selling the house. So much administrative work.

      It's a bit like betting the farm on something you're not 100% sure is going to work out. However, when you consider the alternatives (no change, commuting both ways once or twice a day (depending on pattern)), it's the only thing that makes sense. I'm sure we'll know the right move when the time is right.

  • The Week #270

    by
    • 🕹️ We beat Mario Odyssey – or at least Bowser. Next up is getting the rest of the moons and stars. Low-40's remaining.
    • ☀️ The heat continues  and is slated to continue through September. Tokyo broke it's record for number of  "fierce heat" days this summer at 26 and it's not done yet. On the plus side it's become socially acceptable for men to carry sun umbrellas to protect them from the UV.

      Watching the morning news while writing this and it's going to be 37. Those days in London are looking dreamy. 
    • 💰 It took a couple of weeks for the NTA to approve all the things, but I finally got a NISA and bought my first stocks. I'm excited because rather than sending money back to the US each month to invest, I can keep it local. This saves me the Wise fees, removes a bunch of tracking that I probably should be doing more/better, and lets it grow tax-free (in Japan).

      Next step is to setup automation so I'm automatically saving and investing each month. Automating saving is one of those things that is a game changer for personal finance. Let computers remember to do it for me.
    • 📺 I stumbled upon this video about the foreign community in Yokohama from 1982. Fascinating watch.

  • The Week #269

    by
    • 🕹️ An hour a day and we've almost beat Mario Odyssey. It's turning out to be a much easier game than Mario 64, Sunshine, or Galaxy. Maybe it's because we can play 2 players (with me as Cappy (Mario's hat)) and that extra bit of help makes the bosses a bit easier? Or maybe the game is a bit easier than the others? 
    • 🫛 It hit #1 on the AppStore, so this isn't a hidden gem of an app, but Focus Friend is faantastic. It's a timer to help you focus by having a little bean that knits socks while you focus. If you use your phone while he's knitting he loses all of his work and looks really sad. But if you let him finish, you get socks, which you can exchange for decorations for his room. It's free and there are not any ads in the app. I will probably subscribe to it to support it so that it doesn't get ads.
    • 🏠 It feels like a new season (of life, not weather – summer isn't going anywhere 😩) is rapidly approaching. I'm starting to think that next time this year, we might not be in Izumi. As a physical structure, our house is fine and it has been great for these early years of Leo's life, but I'm not certain it matches me. I'm not a handy person nor am I interested in becoming one. I'd much rather pay a fee and let someone else think about and manage these things.

      More than the structure, I think it's just the location. Our focus when we bought this place was, we want a bit more space, being close to a primary school, and not being too far away from the in-laws so they could help while Leo was little. We nailed all of those, but it was the wrong optimization. Or at least it feels it now. Being somewhere closer to things, somewhere I could at least walk to a coffee shop when I need to get out of the house. Or be able to take out the trash whenever. A bit of actual convenience.

      They say (at least in the US) people typically own a home for 8 years, and we're on 6.

  • The Week #268

    by
    • 📝 We made a deal with Leo to motivate him to come back from behind and get his summer homework done. Once he finished it all, he could get a new game at Nojima (using the points I got from replacing the AC). After a brief period of just wanting to get the game now (nice try, kid!) the carrot worked. He finished all of his homework over the next few days and on Saturday we went to get a new game.
    • 🕹️ Watching kids try to decide which game to get at the shop gave me joy. No matter the game he picks, it's gonna be a good one. But to be in that position, lucky boy. Leo went with Super Mario Odyssey. The game is a lot of fun. In this game Mario's hat is actually a ghost name Cappy. 2 player mode lets the second player control  Cappy, which is a lot of fun.
    • 🏃 I went for a 5am run club run this week. My first run in 3 months. It felt good to just go and really potter about listening to Roderick on the Line (Want other things) . I will endeavour to start making it out on a regular basis again. Doubt I'll hit 100 runs this year, but we'll see how we go. There's 19 weeks remaining in the year and 75 runs to meet that mark. Very low probability.
    • 🗣️ I've now listen to my second episode of Unpacking Japan, so I reckon that makes me a regular. This time it was with economist Jesper Koll and the bullish case for Japan and it has me convinced. Fascinating listening. Some interesting factoids like rather than stay in elite jobs at the Ministry of Finance or elsewhere, the younger generation are quitting and starting companies. Average age of inheritance in Japan is 62. Give it a listen (or a watch).
1 of 706 Next