Living life at the wrong speed
For much of last week I felt kind of dislocated, like I was living life at the wrong speed.
It wasn’t pleasant.
Almost felt kind of depressed, which is not a state I enjoy.
A lot of it was jet lag. Some of it was coming back to work, and having to cover for someone. The heat and humidity definitely didn’t help.
Mostly though, it was the old familiar factors. Too much time online, not enough exercise, not enough time alone (important for me).
So on Wednesday I did a lot of walking, went to the gym for the first time in a while, and tried to stay offline a bit more.
Made a huge difference.
Any time I am not feeling good, I usually find that drinking more water, walking or cycling, getting off the computer/smartphone, and getting to the gym/pool/jiu-jitsu tend to help.
What are your effective interventions when you’re feeling down?
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This week’s books
Still reading the Locke Lamora trilogy by Scott Lynch. Slightly violent fantasy, similar to Joe Abercrombie’s stuff. The first one is the best, but two and three are readable too.
This week’s links
- Dogen made this video, so I don’t have to. Worth a watch (YouTube): Japan’s Ticking Time Bomb
- I hope I show the same grace when my time comes: On the Clock
- Damn, hope it doesn’t end up like Seiyu after Walmart bought them: Japan 7-Eleven parent to mull takeover offer from Canada convenience giant
- I’m sure they’d get out of it somehow: Wealth tax on super-rich could raise £1.5tn globally, campaigners say
- Interesting. Lots of detail here: The state of the LDP’s leadership race
- I can sympathise (I was an ALT when I came to Japan) but doing that for fifteen years is probably not the best career move: English teachers in Japan left in near poverty by paltry pay
- English teacher not on this list, sadly: Shift in the Composition of Japan’s Top 10 Most Lucrative Places to Work
- Very inspiring -I love the thought process: ‘We basically live in the jungle’: how one couple cooled their home naturally
- Moves afoot to raise iDeCo contribution limits? 金融庁、イデコ拡充を要望へ 税制改正、老後の資産形成後押し
- Seems pretty obvious, why is this not shaping policy? The overshoot myth: you can’t keep burning fossil fuels and expect scientists of the future to get us back to 1.5°C
- It’s not just the universities though, is it? Japan’s low birthrate sparks talks of university consolidation
- I’m largely an optimist, but I often think about worst case scenarios: Optimism as a Default Setting
- Looks like non-Japanese residents will be in the majority within the next hundred years or so… Non-Japanese Residents in Japan Top 3 Million for First Time
- An interesting (long-ish) read: ‘Never summon a power you can’t control’: Yuval Noah Harari on how AI could threaten democracy and divide the world
- A pretty balanced overview. We had a huge fight involving most of the family to get my mother in law to give up her license… How Japan is handling more ageing drivers
- We are completely spoiled: Somebody Has Already Figured It Out for You
- If it seems too good to be true, it likely is: Avoiding Bad Guys
What do you think? Anything interesting in there?
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A very interesting selection this week. As a bonus, was able to click on all the links that appealed and actually read the stories. Thank you.
My pleasure! Glad to hear it was interesting ^-^
Man being an ALT is a rough gig these days. I don’t know how they even manage to find people willing to work at those salaries.
Japanese soft power. People would do almost anything to move here.
I work as an ALT and have for over 10 years now. The key is to go direct hire. I know bagging ALTs is the fashionable thing to do but if you are living out of the big cities these jobs are sometimes the only ones that pay resonable wages. Also for me it gives me more time with my family, better working times, no suit, no crammed commuting, longer holidays… the positives far outweigh the negatives. I own a home and am bringing up a family and can still afford to save 100,000yen a month while going out drinking and traveling too.
The guy in the article really needs to go in to other BOEs and search out Direct Hire jobs. Or move. And it depends how much he is getting under 200,000yen a month but he should be able to afford more than he says he can if he used his money wisely. At the same time though dispatch companies really aren’t good for anyone and I feel his pain there.