We cleaned and prepped our old house over the last 2 months preparing for guests who had got free air tickets. Turns out those were “standby” ones and they couldn’t come. 🥲

A windowsill in a “genkan” entrance features a hand made "Welcome" sign with origami decorations and a small diffuser placed beside it.

Heading to the US, first time since before COVID. Will see family and a client. Somehow the flight to SFO tonight didn’t get cancelled, but Haneda is empty. ✈️

“Bookie” is a good series, funny and dark with a great cast.

PSA: as more than 120 people (many elderly, per AP news) died of heatstroke in Tokyo in July 2024, record heat and heat warnings continue. Learn the signs (high temp, lack of sweat, slurred speech, confusion, headache, nausea, dizziness etc) and first aid for heatstroke, and take precautions! 🥵

FirstAidPro's infographic about heatstroke symptoms and first aid.

Is anyone using breathing techniques like the Wim Hof method or 4-7-8 or box breathing? I’m thinking of trying it for a while and wanted to ask anyone’s experiences. 🧘🏼

Maru the Shiba doesn’t recently run around like a crazed mongrel after his walk, but today he ran around like a crazed mongrel after his walk. Of course we encouraged it; always good for a laugh. 🐾💨

Some snaps from a night strolling and eating in Shinjuku Tokyo, a few years back. 📷

A display case is filled with various vintage cameras, each labeled with price tags.A restaurant worker stands near a counter, wearing a white uniform and a colorful scarf around her neck.A dimly lit street scene at night features an illuminated sign reading "TRATTORIA" alongside silhouettes of people walking.People are walking through a well-lit hallway under a sign that reads "NEWoman Food Hall".

Maru the Shiba looking cool on a hot summer day 😎

A dog wearing sunglasses and a yellow scarf with green stars stands in front of a door.A dog wearing sunglasses and a yellow scarf with stars licks its nose while standing in front of a building entrance.A dog wearing sunglasses and a colorful scarf stands indoors near a door.

If you use a Yubikey for MFA for your Apple Id: it failed for me during the install of a new Mac (rejected the correct PIN), so I opted to setup later. When I did so, MacOS raised an error about the Yubikey being a keyboard, so I resolved that first, then was able to setup Apple Id. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Jogged about 13km from Totsuka to Kamakura in the Xero H-Trail sandals on Saturday early AM, then used the shower facilities at OSJ Shonan Club House before meeting A for lunch. Convenient, and they had a full range of Altra shoes! 🚿

Kamakura OSJ Sports clubhouse sign, white letters on orange backgroundKamakura beach looking from OSJ Shonan Clubhouse area, under a perfect blue sky

Had my hugo build scripts all break at once, because of some deprecations. Fortunately an easy fix. ⚙

I’ve been wearing “barefoot” shoes for jogging for a few years now, and decided to try these Xero H-Trail running sandals. Wore them this AM on a 3km jog on various surfaces, and they worked well even in the rain. The key was to not grip the toe post too much and to stay relaxed. 🏃

My US driver’s license is expired so I am getting an International Drivers License to be able to rent a car when I visit. It should be easier than this, but, I just want to say that the process at the police station in Totsuka was super simple, friendly even. 👮

JIS finally released the Japanese language version of ISO 27002, called “JIS Q 27002:2024”. This is the guideline to ISO 27001’s annex A, a good practice guideline for implementing infosec controls. Now we don’t have to rely on beta translations. 🚀

Screenshot of the JIS Q 27002:2024 cover page.

Plant Plunderage

Encountered a plant thief the other day while out jogging, which left me standing shaking my head. 🤦🏼‍♂️ We heard about this phenomenon on a variety show at some point, and had heard someone in the neighborhood say their plants had been stolen, but this was my first real brush with arboreal brigandry. I was out jogging, plodding along as usual on a hot morning, and could hear a faster runner come up behind me.

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Have you heard of the important BSI Standard PAS 5222:2024, developed to give guidelines for safeguarding children during out-of-school activities? My hope is that ISO and JIS pick it up. 🛝

Maru’s favorite spot, looking handsome after his trim. 🐕

A happy male Shiba dog lies on the grass in a wide open field under a clear blue sky.

Lucky Brews for this lucky dad! 🥰

Several can beverages featuring "Lucky Dog", "Lucky Cat", and "Lucky Chicken" designs are displayed, with informational cards and a snack container in the background, all set on a blue-checkered tablecloth.

Daughter 2 brought delicious cannelè sweets in various flavors from Shinagawa station. It’s a celebration! 🥳

A selection of assorted French cannelé sweets, including green matcha, chocolate, citrus and almond-flavored ones, is presented in a round box on a table.

Another abandoned building in my area, this time a “danchi” public housing apartment building. You can put them up, but it costs money to tear them down, so they sit and rot! (This is why we sold off the apartment my FIL built.)

A dilapidated multi-story "danchi" public apartment building displays signs of heavy staining and neglect, with boarded-up windows and overgrown vegetation. In Yokohama Japan, under grey skies.