Ups and Downs
It’s looking more and more likely that I will be unemployed from April 2022. Fortunately we are in an okay financial situation so this will not be a huge problem. Big difference from the last time I lost my job!
This is why I spend so much time here trying to encourage people to sort their finances out: having a financial cushion really is like a superpower. Most of life’s arrows and slings of outrageous fortune just kind of bounce off.
Encouragingly we’re seeing a lot of people looking for coaching recently. We’re currently booked up until the end of the month and taking reservations from February. It also seems like we’ll be putting the price up from April, so if you’ve been thinking of booking a session might be good to get in touch earlier rather than later.
The forum was also pretty lively this week. Here are the most recently active topics:
Finally, I am playing chess again! When I was ten I was pretty good, but sadly now that I am 43 I am kind of terrible. I’m on Chess.com if anyone fancies a game (my username is sendaiben13).
This week’s links
- This would be great: a post-scarcity future? https://japantoday.com/…/focus-basic-income-proposal-by…?
- Israel does not mess around (already vaccinated 20% of the population): https://www.linkedin.com/…/vaccine-roll-out-israels…/
- The lazy option might also be the best: https://monevator.com/sectors-themes-megatrends/
- Internet everywhere? https://sneak.berlin/20200129/starlink/
- This guy actually seems kind of cool: https://mainichi.jp/…/arti…/20210111/p2a/00m/0dm/016000c
- My experience is that building wealth slowly is slow… slow… slow… bloody hell! https://awealthofcommonsense.com/…/its-ok-to-build…/
- Yep, having no Bitcoin is definitely better than having hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin that you can’t use because you lost the password…
https://www.bloomberg.com/…/don-t-forget-your-bitcoins - This makes a lot of sense. Focus on the journey, not the destination: https://www.madfientist.com/mastery-over-goals/
- Good. But let’s make some penalties for Japanese people that do this too: “In addition, foreign residents who breach the 14-day quarantine rule will have their resident status revoked and be subject to deportation, Nishimura said at a separate press conference.” https://english.kyodonews.net/…/15a18e4678e2-urgent…
- How can this guy write SO well? This first story is excellent: https://www.bloomberg.com/…/fraud-is-no-fun-without…
- I have friends that are into wine, but thankfully I never went there (I like drinking it from time to time, but don’t particularly care about it): https://assetbuilder.com/…/are-there-two-reasons-most…
- This really makes you think, eh? https://youtu.be/OWw1r44LN7c
What do you think? Anything good in there? I found #4 eye-opening.
This week’s books
- Disclipline Equals Freedom, by Jocko Willink. This is pretty much like his videos or podcasts: inspiring and aspirational.
- The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. Seemed appropriate this week.
- Heat, by Bill Buford. I loved Dirt, his book about cooking in France, so this one about cooking in Italy was a bit of a no-brainer.
- Why Don’t We Learn From History, by B. H. Liddell Hart. Felt like reading something a bit more intellectual 😉
Re: 9 “For Japanese and resident foreigners who are allowed to enter, Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister in charge of the country’s coronavirus response, said it will require them to sign a pledge upon arrival to stay in quarantine for 14 days, and violating it would result in penalties, such as disclosing the names of violators.”
That old classic, The Scarlett Letter seems to be back in style.
Heat is a wonderful book. Dirt is in the pile of “to be read” and I hope it’s as good.
Much like during the last state of “emergency” (could someone buy Suga a dictionary?), where the public shaming of pachinko parlours ignoring the government’s very polite request to close made it much easier for punters to find a shop that was open.
Sincerely sorry to hear about your position of employment changing from April 2022.
Excuse me for asking, but is that due to the 5-year rule? Have you written about it by any chance?
I ask as it is a major issue for many and the economy at large. Yet another factor that goes against progress here and improving the standard of living among Japanese nationals and foreign residents.
It is kind of due to the five year rule. Our uni went with the sneaky ’10-year rule’ option instead (put it in our contracts from 2014), so we had 5+3 years terminal contracts, leaving us two years short of being able to request permanent employment.
It’s not confirmed though, they may well offer us another contract or permanent employment, but I’m not counting on it!
I hope it works out for you.
Is this a common dilemma among Uni teachers throughout Japan?
What will happen to your English project for JH & SH schools? I briefly inquired actually but COVID hit and had to leave things. I hope it continues as it looked like a great curriculum and package.
Is there a post here about both?
Anecdotally, the 5-year (or 10-year) rule seems to have resulted in more employers choosing to cap renewals at four years. It certainly seems a bit counterproductive given that it was introduced to encourage companies to hire more permanent staff.
The Fluency Course is still being developed 🙂
More details on my teaching blog: sendaiben.org
There is another section of the Labour Law that can be invoked by employees who have not had their contract renewed even before the 5-year (or 10-year) mark.
Every case is different, so I will say no more other than it may be worth consulting a lawyer.