Vaccination fun week
Vaccination reservations for the over-65s in Sendai started last Monday, so my wife is getting very stressed trying to book appointments for her parents (in their 80s). So far no luck.
Rather than the central government or local governments organising bookings, seems like it has been delegated all the way down to the clinic level. So there are something like 400 clinics in Sendai, all of which are still operating normally as clinics, that will be taking bookings then doing the vaccinations next month.
The only way to book is to call the clinics by phone, and each one seems to have its own rules (what time to call, who can book -current patients only seems to be common) and basically they are all fully booked now anyway.
There is no way to book online, although it seems that may be available from May 31st. There is also one big vaccination centre run by the city, but you need to call a hotline to book, and so far it has been impossible to get through.
Japan has vaccines, but incredibly the government seems to have spent the last year… not getting ready to administer them? Hopefully this will all speed up once the systems get nailed down, but why oh why is this all not ready in advance? There should be a simple central booking website run by the national government that books you a slot at a local site via QR code. That there isn’t seems like criminal irresponsibility. They could have put the money and effort from the Go To campaigns into sorting this out, then we could have gotten most of the vaccination done already between March and now…
Hopefully my in-laws will get an appointment (and their vaccinations) at some point soon.
In memoriam
Happy birthday to my brother Tim next Saturday. Miss you bro.
The forum
Lots going on at the forum this week.
This week’s books
I reread Fight Club this week. Great book, I flew through it this time in just a couple of hours. The film is amazing too. Up there with Seven, the Matrix, and Reservoir Dogs for sheer visceral impact when I first saw them back in the day.
Finished reading Eat to Live too. Very impressed. This might turn out to be one of those books that change your life, like Your Money or Your Life all those years ago. I started implementing some of the principles (basically eat a lot more vegetables and fruits, and less or no meat, simple carbs, sugar, etc.). Pretty effortless so far, and I’m feeling good. We’ll see if I can stick to it, and what kind of results I see in a month or two. Went looking for criticism of it online, and the biggest one seems to be that it is too tough for most people to stick to 😉
This week’s links
- I wonder: 12 of My Biggest Post-Pandemic Questions
- Love Gawande’s writing: Why doctors hate their computers
- Here’s hoping. I drive a 20-year old kei car, and I’d love a cheap electric version of it: Electric vehicles are becoming more affordable and could cost less than gas-powered vehicles in just a few years
- Saw this this week. As ever, if you are considering signing up for the kind of product firms like this sell, please drop by the RetireJapan forum for a second opinion
Argentum Wealth Management: Putting your money to work - Cautionary words. Fortunately I am just a bit too old to have been affected too badly by social media: Letter #34: On wanting
- Eeek. I always find I feel fuzzy the next day, even with just one drink: Any amount of alcohol consumption harmful to the brain, finds study
- Enjoyed reading this. I also try to think like this: When all moments have equal value
- This is a great blog: Kill your darlings
- When you put it like that… We are living in a science fiction novel
- Uh-oh. Bad news for people retiring soon? Is the retirement income party over?
- This is great. A break from our usual cynical, bleak content: Roger Moore
- Now I want to go to all of these: Five of Anthony Bourdain’s favourite food destinations
- Some food for thought in here: Are you childish about money?
- Preaching to the choir, eh? Purchase future cash flow to get wealthy…stop buying more stuff
- Fifteen years ago I started thinking about money: On the benefits of curiosity
- This was an interesting read. Tempted to get the book to see what he writes about Japan: The Accidental Superpower
What do you think? Anything good in there? #2, #7, and #11 for me I think.
So when do they do vaccinations in Kyushu? I have not heard a thing. Should I have or is it too soon?
As far as I know it’s all been delegated to the local level.
In Sendai they sent paper vouchers to over-65s. They get vaccinated from next month. No dates for anyone else yet.
On vax: As a scientist, I am a natural skeptic until I’ve done my research. I do not intend to become a willing science experiment participant. I subscribe to the Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, Science Direct, and a host of others for years. Those with pre-existing underlying conditions should think twice.
On the book, Eat to live: This is just one of many good guides that has helped many to embrace a Whole Foods, plant based diet to improve natural immunity to disease. Growing old is not for wimps. It essentially means avoiding all prepared foods that include eggs, dairy, meat products AND anything prepared with oil. It is not easy, but to avoid encouraging cancer growth, heart disease, and aches and pains in the second half of life, give up restaurants and prepare your own food. Only soba restaurants (minus the tempura) serve oil free meals. If one wants to become moderately healthy, do this in moderation. If one wants to feel vigorous, commit to the plan 100%. It is a lot like the magic of compounding interest. The more we put into it, the more we get out!
As a natural skeptic myself, I am bemused by random people on the internet who implore others to question the accepted wisdom of the global scientific and medical communities. Especially those citing journal subscriptions as proof of credentials.
It’s an individual choice to get vaccinated, but personally I would be much more worried about Covid (and long Covid) than vaccine side effects at this point.
Since is seems to be the topic here, my appointment for the first shot is on the 29th–this coming saturday. After–if I’m able–I’ll let you all know about my prospective funeral arrangements… 😉
Congratulations!
Lots of good reading this week–thanks. As for #16, I think it was about two years ago here (three?) that there was a Bain analysis of the coming ten or twenty years, and this ‘accidental superpower’ seem analogous. A recent NYT article touches some similar things regarding population: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/global-population-shrinking.html
The Bain report: https://www.bain.com/insights/labor-2030-the-collision-of-demographics-automation-and-inequality
And doesn’t COVID just accelerate job replacement? Our local 7/11s now have self checkout. I scan, bag and pay while the clerk watches me. The combini in the new train station has zero staff. Only cameras.
Entry level jobs are good. I learned a lot working at a record store (like how quick I spend my earnings at my place of work!) and I’m curious what the new entry level work will be.
I really enjoy this site to look at populations as you can go back and forth in time.https://www.populationpyramid.net/china/2021/
I can’t comprehend how China will lose 400M by the end of the century based on current forecasts. 400M!
There are other good charts. Prevalence overweight is interesting to watch over time as well. Seems to be some risk moving from developing county to developed country.