I got a text from my brother, we lost our Uncle Kel. We knew it was coming, but it's always too soon. You're never ready. I was hoping that I'd be able to see him one more time. That he could meet our son. Life had other plans.

I didn't see Kelly often when I was a child. But when we did, it was always a good time. One time we were standing around his house in California making guacamole and snacking on avocados. He taught me the trick of drizzling just a touch of creamy salad dressing on the avocado and eating it with a spoon. Eating an avocado directly with a spoon had never crossed my mind. I do this sometimes now, and I always think of him when I do.

He was very mechanically inclined and took pride in his work. If something was supposed to move but didn't, be it a vehicle, a machine, or a factory, he could diagnose and fix whatever was wrong with it. When he fixed something, he'd fix it right, leaving it better than  it was before.

One summer day in college, I joined Kelly out in the oil fields east of Houston. We left at 5:30am for the 90 minute drive out. We stopped by his usual convenience store for morning coffee. It was a good start to the day.

The entire day, I  just tagged along, after all I'm a suburban boy who's good with computers, not much help out in the oil fields. We're pouring sweat in the Texas heat when Kelly gave me one bit of advice that I still reflect-on. He said, "Stay in school, you don't want to be working out in this heat everyday. Finishing school will let you work in comfort".

It was simple advice. I've long since finished school, but that one day with Uncle Kelly gave me a greater sense of empathy for people working outdoors. Almost every time I see someone really working hard outside, I think of him and his advice.

Kelly was always curious. Before moving to Japan, he asked me to send him photos of Japan. Not postcard style photos, just things that you wouldn't normally see, things that let a person know "hey, you're in Japan".

Being a good nephew, I obliged. I'd send him random photos of the mundane: a coin laundry machine sitting outside an apartment building, traffic signs giving you the real-time traffic delays, cigarette vending machines. For good measure I also sent photos of random wtf Japan too, like cars tricked out with LEDs all over them.

As time wore on, I sent fewer photos of Japan and more photos of Leo, usually on big milestones (he's standing! he's riding a bike!) or on Father's Day.

I'll miss these little back-and-forths. I'll miss seeing something Japan and thinking "Oh, Kelly needs to see this!" and snapping a photo for him. While I can't send him a photo any longer, I will continue looking for things he might enjoy and snapping photos of them.

Thank you for everything Uncle Kel.

I drafted this at my local Honda dealership, getting my car serviced. For someone with a #BanCars plastered on the back of their bike, owning a car might seem a bit hypocritical. But it’s not.

When people see the sticker, they assume I think we should ban all cars. But that’s not exactly what I want. Let me explain.

Outside of our homes is the public. The public is owned by all of us, from newborns to centenarians, people of all fitness and physical abilities. Cars take the public and privatize it.

Toddlers can’t walk around the public least they get run over...by a car. Riding your bike becomes difficult because you’re worried, not about the weather, but about getting hit by a 2-ton pickup truck, something that is only going to get worse with electric vehicles as they are heavier and quieter.

I don’t want to ban all cars. No, I want to reclaim the public for people as much as possible. Reduce the number of lanes dedicated for cars and increase the lanes dedicated for other modes of transport, like bikes. Make dedicated lanes for public transit. Remove free car storage from the sides of our roads. Reallocate the roads of our cities to be human centered, not car centered.

It’s not a ban. But it will feel like a ban to some people in the same way that some white people feel oppressed when there's racial equality.

This is what I mean when I say #BanCars, it just doesn't fit on a bumper sticker.

Don’t like filling up at 5 bucks a gallon?

Fuck the Oligarchs, Get off Gas! ✊

Stressed by all your time in a metal box?

Fuck the Oligarchs, Get off Gas! ✊

Want to stop the countless wars perpetrated  by petrostates?

Fuck the Oligarchs, Get off Gas! ✊

Want real energy independence and security?

Fuck the Oligarchs, Get off Gas! ✊

Want a healthier and more vibrant local community?

Fuck the Oligarchs, Get off Gas! ✊

One more time for those in the back!

Fuck the Oligarchs, Get off Gas! ✊

I may be starting (or resuming?)  a new tradition with another year in review post ( 2020 ).

2021 was a good year.  This post is a highlight of all of the good things that happened this year.

Tanzawa
This year started with a sprint of programming and blogging. I first showed Tanzawa to the world on January 3rd. Over the course of the next couple months, I built  it up enough to support various indieweb protocols and got it to the point where I could import my Wordpress blog data. A few months after that I worked up the courage to open source it. And since then I've been iterating on it when I have the chance to add fun features like trips and plugins.

Health
After fretting about which license to release Tanzawa under, I started fretting more about getting vaccinated. I fretted enough about this that I managed to annoy my wife, but that fretting paid off as I got myself and my family vaccinated early. Thankfully we haven't gotten sick (with covid or anything else), knock on wood.

I've never been able to keep running regularly, but this year I've managed to make it more regular. I've done this by not being as strict to myself. I don't have a set schedule, which is useful to beat yourself up with when you miss a run. Instead I just to run 2 to 3 times a week. A "missed" run this week doesn't matter if I plan to continue running for years ago.

Kindergarten
Leo started kindergarten this year. Before it started, we could tell that he was ready to start venturing off a bit. And since he's been going it's also released a lot of stress at the house. The terrible twos during a pandemic weren't fun (toddlers, amirite?). But he's adjusted to it well and we've got a good rhythm.

I've been able to take days off work and join him on field trips be an active participant in his pre-school life, which has been a lot of fun. I enjoy being able to spend time with him and see how Japanese pre-school life is.

Writing
I got an article published in Web+DB Press about getting started with GraphQL and Django. This is notable, not just as it's in an actual magazine, but that it's in Japanese. This was my second time authoring something in print in Japanese. Without the support of my old company, I doubt I'll be writing anything in print anytime soon.

Climate Change
I changed jobs and joined Octopus Energy. While I expected it to be a good change (as I wouldn't changed jobs otherwise), having a job that lets me use my Python/Django skills and lets me help in the fight against climate change in a real way has been a big positive influence in my day-to-day life.

One aspect of this change has been a new social group, a worldwide network of employees that care about climate change and fighting it. The other, larger aspect, is that I no longer feel this dread about climate change because I am helping to fight it, both in Japan and abroad everyday. Directly in Japan because my work will help increase the adoption of renewables. Indirectly because the work in Japan enables work and investment outside of Japan to further speed the renewable transition.

Joy of Cycling
I've never been a fan of driving. I resisted getting my drivers' license until I was 18 (in the Texas suburbs) and only then I got it because I was forced (no public transit and everything is miles apart). Fun fact: I never completed drivers' education. I did 1 class (of 3) with a teacher in California, which was enough to get my learners' permit. Before completing, I moved to Texas with my learners' permit and used that to convert it into a license (with the 10 minute driving test).

Growing up in southern California I used to ride my bike everywhere. This year was the year that I remembered that. First with a cross-bike. And again with an e-bike mama-chari (Panasonic) I used to putter around town and take Leo to and from Kindergarten. Not only does each ride save emissions I may have emitted from a car. But each ride, no matter the weather, I've got a smile on my face.

A birthday is just another day, but it’s a good opportunity to stop, reflect on the past year, and plan for the next year.

Excluding the covid doldrums we’re all familiar with, 35 was a good year for me, both professionally and personally.

Work 

Looking forward to 36, I'm not quite sure what to expect.

Work-wise, since I'll be joining a new company in a few days I can't really list any specific goals. There's too many unknowns. But what I do hope is that I integrate to the team quickly, can share what I know, learn what I don't, and have a smooth work life while having an impact on climate change.

I have no idea how many of these I'll be able to accomplish this year, but maybe writing them down like I have here will give me a fighting chance to remember and make progress these goals this year.