The Monday Read

Going into hospital edition

Well, I’m going into hospital on Thursday (operation is on Friday). First time in hospital, first time in hospital in Japan, first time under general anaesthetic, first operation. Lots of new experiences 🙂

I’m not sure how long I will be in there, but I’m not planning to do any work so I am not sure when the next Monday Read will come out. Apologies. I reckon you’ll be hearing from me in a couple of weeks or so, but no guarantees I’m afraid.

I’m mostly worried about the food, but I guess it might be a chance to lose some weight. As my wife delights in telling me, I certainly need to!

Fukui JALT Talk

I did a talk for Fukui JALT yesterday. Went really well, and I enjoyed talking to the people that joined the session. I did a short talk and a long Q and A session, and hopefully we’ll be posting the video on the site soon(ish).

3-11

Last week was the ten year anniversary of the 3-11 earthquake. New readers may be interested in a handful of blog posts I wrote shortly after the quake.

Forum

The forum is looking good this week:

Supporter Memberships

We’ve had another couple of people sign up for supporter memberships. If you enjoy what we do here, please consider chipping in to help with our hosting costs 🙂

Reading

I’m planning to reread all my Iain M. Banks books while I’m in hospital (well, as many as possible at least). This one is my favourite.

This week’s links

  1. Looks like we’re in a bubble. Ignore it and carry on with the plan! https://humbledollar.com/2021/03/coping-with-crazy/
  2. I hope this doesn’t end up being more useless kakenhi grants of the type my colleagues and I are encouraged to apply for whether we need them or not 🙄 https://www.ft.com/…/bd51a6b8-e084-42fe-8b9a-4dd9361ac33b
  3. Great post-tsunami memorial project: https://mainichi.jp/…/arti…/20210307/p2g/00m/0na/028000c
  4. I’ll believe this when I see it, but it is very much needed: https://asia.nikkei.com/…/Japan-to-allow-foreign…
  5. Interesting: boring and effective vs exciting. https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/investing-the-greatest-show-on-earth/
  6. Living in the sky during an earthquake: https://catforehead.com/2021/03/11/big-one-2/
  7. Just for context. Worse than Covid, every year. https://marginalrevolution.com/…/ordinary-air-pollution…
  8. I like Jason, but this is borderline scammy. 46 years at 10% turns $100 a month into $1m, but 10% is not a realistic return to expect.https://youtu.be/iMGMR7axxZA
  9. Another great video (courtesy of Craig’s Ridgeline email newsletter). Guy walks to 90km to work with no equipment: https://youtu.be/R-Zyud8xh2c
  10. Always enjoy Scott Galloway’s writing: https://www.economist.com/…/scott-galloway-on-recasting…
  11. This looks great but needs to be 24-7. Would be nice if the government set up something similar for emergencies after hours: https://oh-doctor.com/en/rsv-en/
  12. Old RetireJapan post, but still relevant: https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/choose-wealth/
  13. Interesting questions: https://awealthofcommonsense.com/…/some-things-i-dont…/
  14. Interesting. I find I’m slightly less productive working from home: https://voxeu.org/…/productivity-working-home-evidence…
  15. Starting to see??? https://www.morningstar.com/podcasts/the-long-view/100
  16. Ooof. What if we’d spent $400m on something more important than an Avengers movie?https://seths.blog/2021/03/in-search-of-amusement/

What do you think? Anything good in there? I enjoyed #6 and #15 this time.

Well, see you next time!

12 Responses

  1. All the best with the operation Ben. Hope it goes smoothly and you’ll be back soon!

    #8 Yeah, I noticed your comment on that video. I like Jason, too. I feel that he’s pivoted a little recently and is now targeting a more “optimistic” audience. Feels a little less sensible and humble and a little more cavalier. Guess the GameStop madness has spilled over.

  2. I hope everything goes well and wish you a speedy recovery! I look forward to watching your video. 🙂

  3. I wish you all the best! I’ve had my first ever operation and hospital stay last year (aaah, the 40’s…). Food was much better than what I was expecting, it was Japanese teishoku style with 3 menus available. Infinitely much better than what i saw in Europe when visiting relatives.
    Don’t forget your ‘gendogaku’ paper thingy to pay less and get reimbursed later( Not sure how your office handles this)!
    Looking forward to reading you again after your recovery!

    1. Thanks Leon! I didn’t actually know how the gendogaku thing worked (why is it not automatically applied???) but went in and got it from my university office last week.

      1. To tell you the truth, I still don’t quite fully understand it. I thought it was applied automatically, so when I was handed a hefty bill (it was quite the surgery) I was happy not to have had to pay more… and then ended up even more pleasantly surprised when I got close to 80% back 3 months after surgery added to my paycheck.
        And back to the food topic, I had requested vegetarian meals (which were good), to which they happily obliged. I thought to myself ‘how bad can you fail veggies, omelettes and rice’… Though I ended up regretting not going for seafood as it looked quite tasty too!

  4. Two years ago I had to call an ambulance and go to the hospital. I had a hernia in my lower back that was getting worse and worse. I could barely stand up straight and pain killers were not working any more.

    So, I was in the hospital for two weeks and had minor surgery to remove the hernia. For me the negative things were being surrounded by old people snoring and farting all the time so I could barely sleep through the night. If you are a light sleeper, you may have the same issue. I did lose weight but gained it all back pretty quick.

    It could have been a lot worse. They let me leave and go back to my house every now and then so I could shower and catch up on some sleep. I don’t think they liked me leaving but they can’t stop you (I just had to fill out a simple form).

    I hope everything goes well for you.

  5. I thought number 9 was superb. I’ve watched a few of his videos and genuinely think that his channel and outlook on life has the potential to change many peoples lives for the better. The 1km walk with his daughter and the one where he runs the old train line we’re wonderful.

  6. I had to stay in the hospital at the end of last year for surgery on a broken arm and I was very glad to have my own pillow, a lightweight blanket for daytime use (the hospital is warm, and the blanket they have is very heavy); and earplugs and eyemask to drown out night noise/lights. Also downloaded Netflix shows in advance because I wasn’t sure how the internet was going to be (turned out to be fine). Good luck with your stay!

  7. Please let me add my voice to those wishing you a smooth operation and quick recovery! For what it’s worth, my experience working with physicians at university hospitals and medical schools here has been very positive and I hope you get the excellent care I have seen.

    1. Thanks! My doctor (surgeon) has been great so far, so hopefully that will continue.

      Should get a couple of blog posts out of it if nothing else 😉