BloomBloom -the Journey to a Second Career-

Today, I sent my retirement documents to my company’s accounting department. They relate to my retirement allowance and taxes. Although I still have about two months left before I retire, I sent them well in advance. The only step left is to return my employee ID card to the company after my retirement date.

I went to Akihabara with my best friend to buy an electric tester for repairing some PC. We met up at thirty to twelve. First, we had ramen for lunch. It was really delicious, with many kinds of herbs and spices. After that, I found the electric tester and bought it. It was a great day to meet my friend and have a good chat with him. 

Diamond Tournament, so I received a special status badge. I’m excited about it and feel relieved because I had been checking the app constantly for a week. I was getting tired of it. Now, I’m free from the pressure. 

Today, we had a barbecue at my wife’s family home. It’s a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a BBQ. I was in charge of the grilling. We had all sorts of ingredients, such as beef tongue, kalbi, shrimp, corn, and mushrooms. I especially recommend the beef tongue — it’s really juicy and thick. We had a wonderful time.

I had a chicken wrap for lunch. I went to the KFC that opened two or three weeks ago at the nearest tube station. The chicken wrap and small fries cost 390 yen with a mobile coupon. It was really cheap, wasn’t it?

Today, my wife is having dinner with her colleagues, so it’s just the three of us – my daughter, my son, and me – spending the evening together. However, my wife has kindly left us a dinner she cooked. We really appreciate it. Also, we’re having mapo tofu for dinner.

In today’s news, I saw an article saying that four pandas in Wakayama Prefecture are going to be sent back to China in June. After that, there will only be two pandas left in Japan, which are at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. I imagine that China wants Japan to return them because, from an economic point of view, it’s no longer worthwhile to rent them.

I bought advance tickets for Minecraft: The Movie at a nearby cinema. A few days ago, the children’s tickets were sold out online, but adult tickets were still available. So, I went to the cinema in person to buy them. I realised that sometimes things unavailable online can still be found in a physical shop. My daughter, son and I are really looking forward to seeing the film, as we often play Minecraft together. A Minecraft movie

I registered with Upwork, which is a crowdsourcing platform. At first, I filled in my profile, uploaded my portfolio, and so on. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to earn some money after I retire. Specifically, I’m planning to work during my days off in my host country, Africa. Additionally, I believe that working with English-speaking people will improve my English skills.

It was 27 degrees Celsius today, so I felt quite hot. Our oil heater was still in the living room. I packed it away in its box. It wasn’t easy to carry it down to the first floor — our living room is on the second floor — because it’s quite heavy. I was worried that my wife might have to carry it without my help. She’ll have to move heavy things on her own when I live abroad.

Today, I built an app that provides me with flashcards. I can use it on Google Chrome on my iPhone. I wrote the code with the help of ChatGPT.  I just explained the functionality I wanted, and it generated the code for me. It also guided me on how to use GitHub, Google Cloud, and so on. To be honest, I had no prior experience in coding or web development, but I still managed to build it. I believe this app will help improve my English learning.

Today I finished the series of “How to” by BBC learning English. There are fifty-two sessions in this program. I have been hearing a session per day until today, every day. At first I only heard the audio. Secondly I heard the audio with reading the transcript. Finally I checked the words or idioms which I am not sure that mean and recorded them.  I am going to try again from the first session tomorrow. BBC learning English

Lately I started running for my health. I run about three kilometers every day. At first I got hurt my knees soon but nowadays I didn’t worry about it.  I’m going to have a health check two or three months after. I hope my blood test results will be better than before.

Today I read that book, “How can we stop  conflicts ?” I agree with that statement below. “  Differences in ethnicity, religion, and ideology are not the fundamental ‘causes’ of conflict, but rather the ‘means’ by which conflicts are exploited.” I think that  Catastrophic tragedies occur when actors seeking to achieve their own aims exploit these means and draw in people belonging to those groups. I believe there’s nothing that should be gained at the expense of another’s happiness. How can we stop  conflicts ?

Today I visited the tax office to find out how to file my tax return before leaving Japan. I didn’t have an appointment, but the staff helped me contact a tax officer, and I was able to get the information I needed. So I realised that I’d have no choice but to ask my wife to file my tax return next February.

Today is my final working day. I will be off work for about two months until my retirement. During this time, I plan to do the following: Study English every day. Learn how to repair PCs. Study web coding. Prepare for retirement. Prepare for the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV). The photo above is last lunch having with my boss.

Today, I set up a Duolingo account for my son. He’s interested in the competition within the ranking system, so he puts in his best effort. He’s also a fan of the nudge function and often nudges other family members. It’s great fun using Duolingo with my family. Duolingo

Today my daughter made original Pokémon card packs.  These are the pictures above. The package titles were really nice. And the quality of package was excellent. Finally my son was excited to open them.

Today, the mesh Wi-Fi system I bought online three days ago arrived at my home. It has improved both the speed and strength of our internet connection. Previously, our internet was provided via a mobile router placed on the rooftop, where the signal was strongest. However, the Wi-Fi coverage in the living room on the second floor was somewhat limited. This upgrade has made things much more comfortable. In particular, my children are happy to watch YouTube without any buffering . LINKSYS  Atlas 6 MX2002-JP

I had udon for lunch. It cost 550 yen — a small bowl of udon with vegetable kakiage. To be honest, I would have preferred to eat Pakomen, which is ramen topped with fried pork. But that ramen actually costs 1,300 yen. These days, eating out is quite expensive. However, Marugame Udon is reasonably priced. It really helps us to save money.

I invested in two assets, the S&P 500 and gold. The charts above show their performance. The pop-up indicates the day I bought them. Gold has increased in value, but the S&P 500 has declined significantly. Overall, I’ve actually lost money on my investments, and the amounts are not small. This was caused by Trump’s tariffs. I hope my investments will bring me returns someday.

Today I went to the city council office to learn about the procedures for retiring and moving abroad. It took longer than I expected. At the municipal section, I enquired about changing the head of household. At the childcare section, I asked about allowances and medical certificates. At the tax section, I asked about income tax. At the education section, I enquired about procedures for primary school. It took over two hours. I wondered if there is someone who can assist with all of the sections.

I bought the wireless earphones at Daiso, which is a 100-yen shop - though they actually cost 1,000 yen.  My experience using them was mostly great. The good points were sufficient battery life, light weight, and clear sound. However, the touch controls were so sensitive that they sometimes triggered incorrect actions. The wireless earphones

I have earned a qualification in mental health management. Last year, I failed the exam because I was just one correct answer short of the passing mark, but I finally passed it this year.Through this experience, I may have developed a strength in being considerate towards others.I wonder if I can apply this skill in the next stage, as an instructor.

I learn English every day. Specifically, I practise speaking with ChatGPT. It gives me questions like those in the IELTS speaking test, checks my mistakes, and suggests better words or grammar. If you use the speaking mode, you can speak freely without looking at the text. My prompt is below: Please give me English conversation prompt questions. You will ask a question in English, I will respond in English, and then you will give me feedback on my response before moving on to the next question. Please proceed one question at a time. Your feedback should include: 1. A corrected version of my response in natural English. 2. An explanation in Japanese of what was corrected and why. 3. Another natural alternative response using British English. The theme should be: “You are an IELTS Speaking examiner, and I am a test taker.”

Rikuro’s cheesecake is absolutely delicious and affordable. My wife bought it for us in Osaka which she visited yesterday for work. The cake is wonderful fluffy and not overly sweet. You should buy one when you visit Osaka. Rikuro’s cheese cake

Early this morning, I prepared packed lunches for my children. Over the past three years, the cost of living has risen significantly. Therefore, I put considerable thought into meal preparation by looking for items on sale and diversifying our dishes. Today I prepared lunches because my wife is on a work trip until tonight. I appreciated her responsibility for our household chores again.

Reading this book made me think about food and income. Tilapia and avocados are being eaten more and more around the world. So, producing them in the country where I will volunteer could be a helpful industry. This could have a good effect by increasing the variety of products and income in the country. Understanding Society Through the World’s Dining Tables

Today, our new coffee grinder arrived at home. A few days ago, our previous grinder broke, so we were really worried about not being able to drink coffee. Therefore, I bought a new one. I am looking forward to drinking coffee tomorrow morning. The left previous : oceanrich UQ-ORG2CBK The right new :  De'Longhi KG79J

I took the train by purchasing a ticket because I had left my smartwatch, which features a train pass, at home. Today, I informed my colleagues of my impending retirement and expressed my appreciation for their past kindness. They responded, “Hang in there and go for your decision!” This made me feel truly cherished.