• The Week #276

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    • 🧚 The tooth fairy made another visit to our house. Finally. This last tooth has been hanging on by a thread for (what feels like) weeks. With 4 front teeth missing, now is the time to make sure I get extra photos of that smile.
    • 🌽 Japan has a unique scheme called "hometown tax". Most people in Japan, regardless of where they're born, end up in one of the big cities because that's where the jobs are. This shift in population is making it difficult for rural municipalities to function without a tax base. Hometown tax lets you redirect a portion of your resident tax to any municipality in the country and the receiving municipality sends you a "thank you gift" in return. There's entire shopping sites setup for this – even Amazon runs one.

      For years I've meant to do it, but find myself on December 31st in analysis paralysis and miss the deadline. Finally, this week I took part. By supporting a few different towns around the country I am getting in return a year's supply of tissue, toilet paper, and a monthly delivery of seasonal veg. 
    • 💩 I started reading Enshitification and am finding myself nodding along. It really does explain the shift in computing from being useful utilities to always seeming to get worse. I looked at buying it on my Kindle, but besides being locked in to the platform (especially with the title of the book), it was a 1 dollar cheaper to purchase it directly from the author. While I won't need a new PC any time soon, it has started the "Ugh, I kinda don't like what macOS is becoming" and  and desktop linux threads in my head.... One day....

  • The Week #275

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    • 🥰 Most kids sleep in when there's no school. Not Leo. He usually wakes up at 5:30 - 6:00. When his mom asked him why he likes to wake up early he responded "because I want to be like papa". Melts my heart a bit, but also, yikes I should start doing more things worth emulating.
    • 🇯🇵 More on Leo – his English has been getting better lately. More small phrases here and there. He set a timer on the HomePod with Siri by himself (while adults weren't in the room). One mark of fluency when you're bilingual is to mix languages or code-switch. The other day he was asking something about Japanese and when referring to the Japanese language he said "Japanese-go" instead of "Nihon-go". We've never said this around him, so its neat to see him mixing his languages as he gets more confident. 
    • 🐻 I watched Season 4 of The Bear. It was far less intense than previous seasons. I didn't notice it while watching, but I think they tied up most of loose ends where it could be the last... but reddit tells they signed for a 5th season, huzzah!

  • The Week #274

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    • 🇯🇵 I made it back to Japan after a week in the UK. This time I managed to time my trip to the airport perfectly because as soon as I arrived they started bag checks for ANA. Then there was zero line in security. Compared with my prior visit with the fam, where it took an hour to check-in and we had to dash to the airplane, it was a welcome change.
    • 🛰️ While in London I bought the Lunar Outpost Lego Technic to build with Leo and it's great. It's the most complex build we've started doing thus far. I wish we could drive it. ( I've since discovered the Lego Spike sets, which replaces Mindstorms, and can be programmed using (!)...maybe one for Santa...)
    • 🥳 I arrived back in Japan just in time to to spend my 40th birthday with the fam.  For the day itself, we kept it simple, having a pizza and cake at my in-laws. Turning 40 is a good time to do a "mid-life" checkin and review things. What will the "theme" for my next decade be? What should I start doing? What should I stop or change? How can I create the systems that ensure change/growth is lasting? My gut (metaphorical and actual (😅)) tells me it should be health... but they're all questions I need to start pondering on...when I'm no longer jet lagged.

  • The Week #273

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    • 🇬🇧 I'm back in the UK, this time for a week for work. It's the first time I've made any trip back-to-back so close to another and it's a bit odd – wasn't I just here?! The weather is fantastic as per usual (not being cheeky).
    • ✈️ I rode with ANA this time around and the flight was the best kind, uneventful. Although rather than my usual aisle seat, I had in a window seat. While I enjoyed being able to look out the window when we were taking off / landing, not being able to get up when I want was a bummer. The entire flight I got up 1 time, which can't be good.

      While the plane ride was smooth sailing the trains were classic UK trains. Midway to Paddington on the Elizebeth line, we're about to depart the station and the train lost overhead power. We were stuck for 30 minutes while they sorted it out. Thankfully it has a battery on it so it was able to keep the lights on and open the doors.
    • 🗿 I finally did a proper visit to the British museum and it was fantastic. I'm not sure what my favorite relic in the museum was, but I did quite enjoy the Japan exhibit. Maybe it was because I live there and I could relate to it more. You get so used to these things just being around (on TV, books etc..) that it sort of becomes like the air, but seeing an explicit collection after seeing collections from other parts of the world/eras, if gives you a greater appreciation for the culture.

  • The Week #272

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    • ☀️ 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

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    • 🦷 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

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    • 🕹️ 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

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    • 🕹️ 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

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    • 📝 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).

  • The Week #267

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    • ☔️ It rained for the first time in at least a month and with that the temperatures dropped for a few days. It was actually pleasant outside around 6am. Unfortunately it seems like the heat is back on schedule for the coming weeks.
    • 💨 The air conditioner in my office decided to go kaput mid-workday. Thankfully it was on a Friday, but still not ideal. I think it failed because I (purposely) left it on to help regulate the temp in my office (where my home server and storage live) while we were in London. Nothing extreme either, keep the temp at 28c. I think just being on for that length of time is what did it in.

      Costs to repair ranged from "That makes sense" to "May as well just buy a new one", so rather than pay for someone to come out just to say "actually, I'm just going to replace it" (sunk cost fallacy perhaps?), I went to the local big-box electronics store and bought a new one. This time I went with Daikin a) they're the best, b) a buddy works there, c) it cost, after installation, what I was expecting. As the temp as dropped, I haven't really been able to test it out test it out yet, but the app to control it remotely is super responsive (and in English! A rarity for domestic appliances).
    • 💰 Interactive Brokers started offering NISA (retirement) accounts where, as a US-person, it looks like I'd be able to save in a tax advantaged way for retirement, rather than my paying taxes as I go route... (at least in the growth part, tsumitate remains off limits because mutual funds are PFIC).  I am probably unreasonably excited about this.

      👆 This prompted me to start thinking about budgeting and conscious spending plans and it's been quite cathartic (especially after having a major appliance fail immediately after a trip to one of the most expensive cities in the world (💸💸)). Re-thinking where money flows each month, how it could serve me and my current priorities better and how I can re-deploy existing capital to better prepare for the future is really helpful. I should do these reviews more than once every 5 years 😬.
    • 📺 I watched most of Ramit Sethi's How to get Rich (Rich in the sense of living a rich life, not in the sense of money, though financial stability is often core to that). Having read his book years ago the general advise (automate monthly savings (so it happens consistently) into tax-advantaged accounts at a low-cost provider like Vanguard and buy index funds and forget about it) is old hat to me, it's good reminders and it's fun to follow along as people sort their financial house to help them reach their goals. You can't help but root for them.
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