Weekly Praise Thread – 29 August 2025

9 comments

1. It seems one of the resident grass lizards is getting used to me.  No hesitation at all when I offered a caterpillar to him (I suppose it’s a him as it’s the biggest of the three) and he doesn’t run away when I’m near.  And there’s a baby one running around, too.

   I’ve been trying to have healthier snacks so I make muesli bars every week.  Honey, peanut butter, oats, and dried fruit – amazing!

2. Metal Gear Solid Delta is downloaded.

3. Took like 8 months but finally filled a crucial backfill position on my team. We pay very well for corporate back office but finding an experienced bilingual applicant in this economy is insanely difficult.

   With the job market being so bad, it’s hard to find jobs yes but it’s also hard to find good applicants because everyone is just hunkering down and holding onto their current job for dear life lol.

4. Bought a マンション last winter, and the unit had previously been occupied by a family with kids who had put stickers on the front door (against the building rules, but sure). They’d stayed there for a long while, so the sun had faded the paint around the stickers, such that even when the stickers were removed, the outlines were still there, with “HAPPY HALLOWEEN” and “MERRY CHRISTMAS” all year round. Couldn’t paint over it because that’s against the rules as well.

   But the whole building is getting brand new doors this week, so my unit will finally look normal!

5. The Tokyo Fire Department saved our house. The house next door was ABLAZE! They got here in a less than minute after they were phoned.

   They actually were apologizing for stomping on our garden while putting out the fire. I’m like, fuck the garden, your lives are more important.

   All my Japanese exited my head during all this and they were extremely patient and helpful.

   I managed to exit with our passports and two unhappy cats, but my wallet was on the third floor so oh well. My neighbor gave me a sports drink during the hour I was outside in this 33 degree heat, which was very kind. I love this neighborhood and the people who live here.

   This is the third time in 5 years we’ve had to rely on emergency services in this country, and they’ve gone above and beyond each time.

6. When I woke up this morning (I was planning to sleep in but earthquake-kun decided to ruin this a bit before 5am), it was 20.4 here. Granted, it was 93% humidity, but silver linings. We’re now at 30 @ 67% but mowing was slightly less unpleasant this morning.

   Finished the Coursera intro Korean class. We’re going to be visiting next year and I didn’t want to be a total putz when we got there.

   Got an SDR so I can listen a little bit to various radio bands. It’s kinda neat.

7. My watermelon plant fruited earlier this summer and an animal got to it. I thought we were out of the game but surprisingly a new fruit is growing currently so we are so back!

8. Once again I was scheduled for two classes at the same time, so I mentioned it in passing to the head teacher since I was talking to him about the schedule. He decides to try to work the schedule around so I can teach both, very nice of him, and shows me the results. I thank him and point out “hey, this would be a whole lot easier to avoid if you just add me here at the bottom of the schedule” and he had a total lightbulb moment. He apologized again for scheduling two English classes at the same time and was so chuffed at the amazing solution of just adding me to the schedule he went to show another teacher. Why no one thought of this in my previous four years teaching there is beyond me and I have no excuse for not asking directly earlier, but hey looks like I will finally be on the schedule!

9. I’m glad the weather forecasts continue to get the temperature a few degrees wrong. It was predicted 36°/37° but it topped at 34° for a few hours. The morning was reasonably pleasant.

   This means I can go out and about a bit except for when it’s peaking after lunch.

Comments are closed.