The Week #71

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  • This week marks 1 month being at Octopus. I've been enjoying my time at the company so far and I'm learning a lot. I know I'm working more hours than at BP. I think it's a combination of things, but mostly as there isn't a time sheet to worry about, just start and end whenever, it's easier to get into a late afternoon groove.
  • With the covid numbers down, after family dinner on Friday, I went out for a quick beer with a couple of co-workers. Another first in about 2 years (the last time I went out was 2019, after the last working day of the year). It was a lot of fun getting to know them better and being able chat without thinking "I should be working" in the back of my head.
  • One of the solar installers came out to measure our roof to see if the QCells 3.5KWh system would actually fit and turns out, it wouldn't. The south side could fit 9 panels, but the east/west sides can't fit 3 panels each. I'm having see if they can the smaller 185w panel on the east/west.

    Since we've now missed the deadline for a ¥19/KWh feed in tariff, the most we'll is ¥17/KWh. This is for the best though. As with the pressure off, we can better look into subsidies, and it looks like there may be city, prefecture, and national subsidies available to help purchase the battery and HEMS (Home Energy Management System).
  • Leo and I went to the Yokohama Tram Museum. I'd been wanting to go since I first heard about it after seeing a special on TV-Kanagawa about 2021 being 100 years of public transit in the city. I've been delaying going as it's a 20 minute bus ride from Kamiooka station (I like trains, not a huge fan of buses ( though they're better than cars)).  You also get a discount if you go via public transit, which was nice. I think it was ¥250 or ¥350 for both of us to get in.

    In addition to having a collection of trams, they have some dioramas you can drive and a tram simulator you can play. Leo just kept the tram going full tilt until it ran into the boundaries and was forcefully stopped ( about 5 meters after stop).

    The museum also had a separate building where they had a huge set of pura-rail setup and if you wait your turn you actually drive them! Leo drove Dr. Yellow once, and Hayabusa twice. Paradise for any young rail fan!
    Leo driving Hayabusa
  • We went to Satoyama Park in Chigasaki to play on the big bouncy things and ride the roller slide. This time we brought a tent we got specifically for these purposes (bringing tents to the beach / big parks where you're going to be for a while seems to be a thing in Japan).

    Small milestone on this trip was Leo finally decided to take of a proper sized rice-ball, rather than having bite-sized mini-rice balls. After he took a first bite he said "Oh, taking a bite of onigiri is delicious!", and beyond being relieved that he's eating his lunch was thinking "That's what we've been saying, dude!!". 

    We're likely going there again this weekend as we seem to have forgotten his little blue-bicycle in the rush packing and getting back to the car 🙃.
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