The Week #37

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  • Technically this was last week, but my term as head of the neighborhood has come to an end. Although I was part of the physical education group (the most event heavy group), we didn't have a single event due to covid. Being new to the neighborhood and not renting, I was hoping to use this year to get more involved in my community and to get to know my neighbors / let my neighbors get to know me. Next year I'm the backup head of the block, so maybe that's still possible, once the vaccine rolls out.

  • Speaking of vaccines, my friends in the US and UK are starting to get their covid vaccinations. While we've had a fraction of the case load as them, I can't help but feel a bit jealous. We're still inoculating at a slower pace than I'd like to see, but in a month it's increased a hundred to topping topped 70k per day. It's at least going in the right direction.

  • I've decided to get a bicycle and went to a couple of shops to check out used ones. One was a one of Japan's great second hand stores, where they have a bunch of "used" products that are like new. And the other was a shop that specializes in used bikes. The staff was friendly and answered my stupid questions. I'd wouldn't mind buying my bike from them, but they didn't have the one I want.

I don't know what it is - maybe just a lack of knowledge of bicycles in general, but I always hate going into bike shops. It's not a Japan thing, as I've noticed in US as well. I always feel some serious in-group/out-group energy. Just me?


  • I saw this cool project called Solar Protocol, which is an experiment to have a website hosted across the globe completely by solar power and sent from whichever sever has the most energy. I thought about volunteering as a server steward, but I'm not sure about how I can securely mount solar panel to my balcony, which has both great southern and western exposure (I'm not about to start climbing up on the roof).

  • Lately I've felt like our water bills are a bit higher than they should be. For many it's because they're now at home all day everyday, rather than in the office, so their usage has increased. But we've been at home all day everyday for about 3 years. Since we bought our house, I had always thought our water pressure almost too good. Turns out the taps were fully open. I cut them back 50% - 60% and they're still getting great flow. This should reduce our usage (and thus our bill), but it will take a month or two for us to find out just how much effect this 30 second fix will have.