The Monday Read: The Malady

Well, it was always bound to happen. Officially caught Covid last week.

Fortunately relatively mild cases all round (most of the family got it, starting with the grandkids). For me it was sore throat one day, feeling tired and groggy the next, then fever and chills, then a bad headache.

Seems to be getting better now.

Still, it wasn’t fun. Not sure I approve of the government just giving up on it at this point. I would have liked to see a national effort to improve ventilation in public spaces (especially schools and nursing homes) and better messaging.

That would seem to be a win-win.

Still, we’ll see how things go. A small reminder to me that the pandemic is not over yet, much as we would like it to be.

RetireJapan TV

We did our third episode of RetireJapan TV last week, and I dare say it was our best one yet 🙂

We had our first guest, LaShawn Toyoda, who was on talking about her English teaching career in Japan, learning to code in just three months, and her transition to a new career as a software developer. Also personal finance and the best thing you can spend your money on.

We even had our own ‘interview is interrupted by small child’ moment, a la Robert Kelly. Priceless. I would wager LaShawn arranged that on purpose to boost our viewing numbers.

It is also available in podcast form, on Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, and more. If your favorite podcast platform does not have RetireJapan TV, do let me know so I can get it added 😉

Japan Real Estate Summit

Ziv Nakajima-Magen (long-term friend of RetireJapan) is involved in a real estate event in Tokyo. Might be interesting if you are looking for a home, thinking about renovating, wanting to invest, or looking at akiya or airbnb.

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. Last week we published a video on saving for emergency funds in Japan and catching Covid in 2023 in Japan.

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (25,616 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

Read The Amsterdam Good Murder Guide, by Karl Webster. It’s an entertaining book, but not particularly memorable. The concept is more interesting than the execution.

Would recommend if you are after something light. Maybe 3/5?

This week’s links

1. This is pretty grim, and I can picture how it happens: just one thing at a time until you don’t know how to even start on fixing it. Trapped in trash: Japan’s hidden hoarding epidemic
2. For me the most compelling argument against is the possibility of a false conviction: Nobody wants to talk about the death penalty
3. I love the way he thinks about this stuff (podcast): Mr. Money Mustache on Life After FI: The Truth About Retiring Early in Your 30s
4. Can’t see any argument against improving ventilation in buildings. We put mechanical heat exchange ventilation in my in-laws’ place and it is wonderful: We are all playing Covid roulette. Without clean air, the next infection could permanently disable you
5. I’m still working on this: what kind of work do I want to do? What kind of life do I want to live? The Great Contemplation
6. It’s not just Japan: More Babies
7. Simple is often best: Do you have a ‘Humpty Dumpty portfolio’? It may be costing you thousands
8. Really enjoyed this post about food addiction. I’m in the same boat, but haven’t fully dealt with it yet: Am I too Greedy or too Lazy?
9. This is it, basically. I’ve been playing with ChapGPT3 too (remember that 4 is going to be released soon) and it’s really helpful as a productivity tool: The coming ubiquity
10. Stuff like this is why people in Japan distrust investing: TKO・木本「おいしい話ない」　投資トラブル説明会見　「反省と後悔」アルバイトも 今夏解決見込み
11. Glad to see this dinosaur getting out of the way: Toyota CEO taps younger successor amid industry paradigm shift

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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