The Week #67

by
  • Technically from last week, Jacob linked me to this short video about Dutch continuous sidewalks. I never thought I'd become excited about sidewalks (other than them existing) until I saw this video. And it makes so much more sense: bring cars up to people level, not people down to car level and make cars a guest in human environment.
  • I went to the office to work for the first time (at Octopus) and the first time since early February 2020. I rode the train around 6:30 and arrived at the station around 7:30. The trains weren't super crowded either where I rode (in the very front).

    There's also a Tully's nearby in the IBM headquarters where I could decompress with a coffee and work for a bit before going in. I used to do this when I was going in to the BeProud office.

    It was great to meet part of the team in person. Going out to lunch in a social setting was a lot of fun too. I can't remember the last time I did that. Each Friday's is "family dinner", where there's a small presentation followed by beers at the office, which was also a lot of fun.
  • We got a second quote for solar panels on our home. 2 down, 2 to go. This time the talk was much better. Not just the price (about 10k less), but it felt like he was communicating when we asked questions, not just giving us canned sales responses.

    He recommended QCells panels and a Japanese battery. Overall kilowattage from his quote was a bit smaller as QCells (like most foreign solar panels) tend to be larger square (like foreign roofs) so they tend to leave gaps along the edges. Domestic manufacturers tend to make smaller / non-square panels, so you can get the most of your small roof. This company is also going to produce a quote for us with domestic panels as well. Will be interesting to see how they come out.
  • After last weeks' unseasonably warm weather (and two trips to the beach!), the temperate finally decided to drop. These times when the weather suddenly changes are the easiest to get sick, so I've got to take extra precaution to keep healthy this week.
  • Covid cases were down to 23 in Kanagawa and 29 in Tokyo Monday. Monday is usually a low count day, but it's the lowest they've been in over a year. At this rate I think we'll be down to single digits again soon...maybe next week? Let's hope it stays this way.