New running shoes came in today for my early birthday present. Also my first low-carbon footprint shoe at 9kg, about 3.5kg less than average and is offset by Allbirds themselves.

Hinomaru is a Japan exclusive color combo, so had to go for it.

Huge sandwich

• I saw a great editorial about the Treatment of Foreigners in Japan. As a foreigner in Japan I am sympathetic to my fellow peers that have to deal with short max duration of the technical intern training program. At the best it's just long enough to get people acclimated to call Japan home before sending them home and at worst it's rife with long hours, bullying, and illegal dealings.

Foreigners must be treated as fellow members of society, not just as workers. The need for such a policy is greater than ever, now that further gaps in income and education are expected amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• It's been a year since we moved in to our new house in Yokohama. It was a big leap, committing to buying a house and moving to a neighborhood that we'd never lived in or even gotten off at the station (there's no reason, unless you live there). And not a day goes by that I don't think it wasn't the right decision.


• I've enabled Downtime and Bedtime on iOS this past week to curb my usage my iPhone - and it seems to be working is getting me to use my phone less. I really like that I can check the time in the middle of the night and not see any notification banners. WatchOS 7 keeping my watch's display off while I'm asleep is also a small feature, but a huge improvement in sleeping with a watch on.


• In addition I've also moved the majority of the apps on my phone into the "App Library" since upgrading to iOS 14. In the process I discovered when I'm bored I unlock my phone and swipe through my apps. That doesn't work so well when there's only a single (half) full page.


• Shout out to Jamie who linked to The Week #10. It's always nice to know that someone read and responded to something I've written and I learned a bit about the UK license system. Jamie is also a member of the Indieweb ring


• I've seen a few people mention Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ around micro.blog and decided to give it a watch. I'm totally hooked. Ted Lasso's optimism is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Had a fun day out on the rails with Leo.

We rode my favorite route around the Shonan area: Subway to Totsuka -> Tokaido line to Ofuna -> Monorail to Enoshima -> Enoden to Fujisawa -> Odakyu to Shonandai -> Subway to home.

Enoden pulling into Shonan Enoshima

Lunch time😋

🏃First 10k in a couple of years. Went to and back from my old stomping grounds in Shonandai. Always so nice and quiet out at 4:30am. It’s also prime socializing time for the old ladies in the area, with a gaggle at each bridge along the river.

Nice 5km before work. Found a huge chicken coup down by the river. Too many shrubs to get a good photo. The building is the Izumi ward city hall.

Nice 5k after work. No phone this time so no photos of the Yokohama burbs.

• It's week #10 - I've managed to make it to double digit weekly updates!


• I renewed my driver's license for first time. There's 3 different levels of license in Japan, green, blue, and gold. You get a gold license by renewing twice without (any?) infractions or accidents. Having a gold license will also entail you to a 10% discount on your auto-insurance. But if you get tickets with a gold license, they'll move you down to blue on your next renewal. Even though I've been driving for over 15 years, my driving history in Japan is only 3 years, so I was on a green and am now blue.


• The actual renewal process is quite simple - you put in your license at a machine to register that you're there for the day at "Station 1". Then you progress through each station from paying your fees, eye checks, taking your photo, and finally a 2 hour lecture to remind you to follow the rules and overview of recent changes.


• With Covid19 you still need to take the class, but the number of people permitted is half than before. So even though you came in the morning, you may need to take the afternoon class, or if you came in in the afternoon, you may need to come back the next day to take the lecture. I was rushing through all the steps as fast as possible as I didn't want to hang out at the DMV from 45 minutes before they opened until mid-afternoon because of class size limits. Thankfully I made the cut-off and was finished by noon.


• The lecture itself was mostly a video to remind people to drive safely and show some consequences of not driving safely. The video did cure all urges of me ever riding or owning a scooter, however.


• After watching The Social Dilemma, I'm thinking of closing my Instagram account. I don't use it much, but trying to figure out how to keep the data, as it is like a mini-photoblog. It looks like I can export my data (thanks to GDPR!) and maybe import it here to my website.


• Leo had his first full-day of pre school, including taking and eating his lunch at school with just his peers and teachers. He had onigiri (rice balls), karaage (Japanese style-fried chicken), pumpkin, and tamago-yaki (Japanese-style omelette). We were a bit worried if he'd actually eat at school, but he ate almost everything!