Reading is the ultimate solution

I don't have anything special to write this morning as usual.

I come to strongly think that reading extensively is the best way to improve my English ability and I want to recommend it for everyone who wants to improve their English.

Japanese are known to be not good at English, so was I. But about three years of training of English made me a relatively decent English user. At least my input skill of English is highly improved. I was thoroughly reading NHK's English text aloud till extremely tired. And recently I'm reading books written in English every day. My daily quota of reading is roughly over 10,000 words, and which will be 15,000 words probably. And I found myself getting better at reading and listening even now. It's also listening.

And I'm becoming mentally sharp thanks to reading a lot. If you are suffering from mental health issues, read anyway.

I changed my wake-up time

I have nothing to write as usual.

I changed my wake-up time again. In summer, I always wake up at five o'clock, and recently at six o'clock because waking up in dark is a little depressing. But yesterday, I found that reading pace was great if I woke up early and read a little early morning. So I decided to wake up at the same time as I did in summer.

It was about a week ago when my new iPad pro arrived. I'm getting familiar with it, and it's-too-big problem is solving. But it's still difficult to type Roma-ji (an input method of Japanese) on a screen keyboard with Nintendo typing because of my short thumb. I hope that the on-screen keyboard would separate and near to both corners of the screen.

AI sees me as no Japanese

Google AI seems to look at me as a foreigner in Japan who can speak Japanese well.

After writing this blog entry, I check whether the blog could display well and what kind of AD is on my blog. Of course, the AD is different from everyone's one, but it's important because it indicates how Google AI sees me.

Recently I sometimes found the AD is not for Japanese. A few days before, one of that was "a Japanese experience", maybe it wanted to appeal to foreign travelers who love Japan. And sometimes I found it the AD for Japanese language learners, Japanese language texts. I'm Japanese who speaks Japanese as a native language.

I guess that Google AI is thinking that I'm a foreigner who lives in Japan and that I'm simply good at Japanese as a foreign language. Do I have to positively think that my English is becoming too good to distinguish?

Gokudan is nice

I went to Uniqlo and bought Gokudan underwear.

I don't know how to express the Gokudan in foreign shops in English, but Gokudan means "ultimately warm". Now Uniqlo also has Cho-Gokudan, that means "super ultimately warm". (I found this is my mistake. Extremely is better than ultimately.)

I'm walking every early morning and it's a little tough to walk in the cold weather. So I had some treatment for me, that was Uniqlo's fleece wear. That was nice, so furthermore, I bought warm undergarments, Gokudan turtleneck long T-shirts and Gokudan suteteco (Can I say it's loose tights to wear as underpants?).

I tried them and found it's very good to spend time outside in winter. I sometimes reluctant to walk in the cold weather, but I can resist that with Gokudan.

Virtually free magazine articles

I have any news to write this morning as usual.

I was reading The Economist. At least I canceled the subscription, and I'm reading an old issue I got when I had a subscription. I'm reading non-subscription version of Harvard Business Review too. I found that many interesting articles in English are available on the internet, so I don't need to subscribe to a particular magazine to read English for now.

I also read HighTimes this morning. A kind of "Cannabis is good for anxiety" article is interesting for me. I'll search for other magazines to read. If I liked them, I'll subscribe.

Ammo is over

I don't have any news to write this morning.

I'll probably buy another stock of Tokyo Nissan Computer System. I don't have special meaning to hold that. Simply it's cheap. At first, I checked Nissan Motors, the search word was "Nissan", and I bumped into the TNCS. I'm also considering to hold Nissan Motors because the dividend is relatively high now.

So I'll buy two stocks, Nishimatsuya, and Tokyo Nissan Computer System. After that, Nissan motors. And ammo will be over.

Going further

I don't have anything to write as usual.

I found that The Essential Drucker is the way more difficult than the reading portions of the 1st grade of EIKEN test (an English exam in Japan). I judged that from my reading drill book of the EIKEN test. So if you are able to read The Essential Drucker, by some chance, you can pass the exam easily.

If I could clear the reading portions, I need to improve my writing ability for the test. But I don't know the best way to do that. I'm writing this blog every morning and I'm able to write more smoothly than before. But I need to write an academic style of that, so I need to get additional knowledge from a book or something. I could pass the test of a blog writing in English, though.

I thought that after getting 900 points on TOEIC test, I couldn't get the further skill of English anymore, at least very difficult to get it. But my English ability is getting much better after the test. I can probably will more.

Another stock

I don't have anything to write this morning as usual.

I'll buy another stock, Nishimatsuya. I don't see this is the perfect deal, but I can check their popularity from a nearby shop. In addition, the stock price is at the bottom, probably. That means a higher chance to get revenue.

I'm reading The Essential Drucker, and I find it's a little difficult for me. But I don't have wrong symptoms like strange feeling in my head, so I'll continue to read. I'm reading 30 pages a day, and I'll finish reading after 2 weeks or so.

Finished Willpower, started Drucker

I finished reading Willpower. I started reading The Essential Drucker.

I finished reading Willpower the day before yesterday. This book is very readworthy and I find this thought directly related to my daily life. I reduced my calory intake recently and I became reluctant to use my brain after reading a book yesterday. Reduced calory influenced my willpower. That was the saying which the book had said. I recommend it.

And I started reading The Essential Drucker. This book is a little difficult to understand the contents. Management things are far from my understanding. In addition, this book's expression is so complex that it's hard to read. But I need to read difficult books sometimes to improve my English ability. And, by some chance, I could get the new insight which helps me live with society.

iPad Pro 2018

iPad Pro 2018 arrived. Apple pencil is good.

As I predict, iPad Pro 11 inch is a little big and heavy for my daily use. I was using iPad mini4 for about 2 or 3 years. But Apple pencil is good because I can add my thought to my Nikkei 225 charts. Thinking with my hand is effective to improve my thought.

It was chilly this morning. I wear one more shirt for walking exercise.

iPad Pro is coming

iPad Pro 2018 which I ordered will arrive today.

Actually, I come to think that I don't deserve to get the device. But I already ordered it so I'll accept it anyway. In addition, my concern about iPad Pro 11 inch is that by some chance it may be too big compared with iPad mini4. But I already ordered it.

A friend who isn't yesterday's one needs to get a specific TOEIC score for his company. TOEIC is the English exam especially for those who are not good at English like Japanese. For people in one's 40s, it's very hard to start learning a foreign language. I'll do what I can do for him through Line app.

about my old friend

I don't have anything to write this morning.

I met my old friend's father during walking exercise. I didn't notice who he is for a while. He said that the friend returned from Thailand and now he is living in Kyoto where his company's HQ is. And he is going on a business trip to India to consult something complicated. And He's considering to return to our town or around here now that he has his own family.

It's no fun at all.

I went to Odawara

I went to Odawara to read a book outside where I don't usually visit.

At first, I went to a coffee shop which I usually stop by when I went to the hospital. I read about 20 pages there with iced coffee. And I ate a salmon bowl at the other place whose employees is handing out the flyers in front of the restaurant.

After that, I headed to the old library in Odawara Castle and I found this in the parking.

Maybe this is the town office's car in Hakone but I'm not sure about that. I read about 20 pages at the library. I finished daily quota of the book.

I stopped by a bookstore and bought another book named the Courage of Hopelessness. The store is selling English books but those were almost novels. At that time I found they are selling non-fiction books and I felt that's for me. So I bought it to support them anyway.

Otoshidama

I don't have anything to write this morning as usual.

I need to prepare some cash for new year otoshidama for my nephew. It needs around 3,000 yen for one nephew. Otoshidama is something like "yeah, I'm feeling good I'm drunk of otoso (the sake of the new year in Japan), I'll give you some money, kids, buy something."

But my family traditionally never buys anything and save money. It's not a fan for me. I want to see what he buys, though it's good for a monetary education for young kids. Keeping cash in your pocket is a basic strategy of living well.

On the other hand, Uncle Toshio ordered an iPad Pro 2018 impulsively.

Healthy body is valuable?

I don't have anything to write this morning actually.

As I wrote, I take an annual health check yesterday. And I found that I'm taller than last year, 5 millimeters more. It's slite thing to talk about, but I heard somewhere that those who are in one's 40s begin to shrink their body (I'm not sure that's correct). So keeping my body length is a very valuable thing.

But, on the other hand, the healthy body is something boring and it has no meaning if I'm suffering from mental illness. Having a perfect body and mind is very difficult. Especially being mentally healthy is a long journey to Gandhara (I wanted to say that that has huge difficulty).

Anyway, I need to live my daily life healthily. It leads me to mental healthiness, maybe.

Annual health check

It was an annual health check today. I've already finished it.

My pulse and urine were good, and I need to revisit the clinic next week for the result of a blood test and an antibody check of rubella. I think that the antibody check is my social responsibility for future newborn babies, but I was reluctant to do that.

Recently I have something to do every day. So it was difficult to control my daily routine. But it was all finished maybe. I'll concentrate to do my daily things.

finished Life 3.0

I finished reading Life 3.0. It was a little difficult for me.

I know about computer related things from my experience as "a system engineer", so I was able to understand the first part of the book. But after the part of the Universe things, I was far from understanding. I need more familiar with the broad range of knowledge, or I can't read highly intellectual issues.

I woke up at midnight, and I started reading a book named Willpower. I come to understand a kind of self-help books like this so I can read this. After finishing the book, I have a book named Willpower Doesn't Work so I'll read the one, probably. I read Willpower for about an hour and got to sleep again.

It was a little chilly for me this morning. But it's warm in the south Kanto region in the daytime during winter. Kanto (including Tokyo and Yokohama) is easy to live.

I have nothing to write

I bought two shares, but one will be a lost deal.

I additionally bought Sekisui Kagaku and Yon Doshi yesterday. But Nikkei Future is tumbling so Yon Doshi will be loss-cut. It's fine for me.

I don't have anything to write this morning.

Netflix movies are becoming good materials to learn English for me. I can listen to the sound of English of that (that's too tough for many Japanese), and I'm having difficulty to listen to the meaning. In my experience, I will be able to listen to the meaning someday if I watch those movies a certain period of time. I also need to read books in English a lot, of course.

tsurezure diary

I don't have anything to write this morning.

It was rainy this early morning and I didn't walk outside. But now it stopped rain, so I'll walk sometime today.

I'll buy another share this morning. My aim is buying "small amount of", " shares of a cash-rich company", "which has not bad earnings", "at the bottom". That's all. When I was able to get solid revenue was when holding anyway in a long-term or when I bought at the bottom in a mid-term. And short-term or swing didn't give me decent revenue actually.

I'm feeling tired of reading aloud training. I thought that I need to pronounce English sentences but after reducing that training I felt no wither of speaking ability. So I come to think that I stop reading aloud. I'll continue the training with NHK English text till March, but I'm not sure after April.

Japan is the worst place

I think that Japan is the worst place for engineers.

I sometimes remember when I got ill at the workplace when I was in my 20s. I think why people there never helped me. I think that that was the result of the worst management and that management's irresponsibility caused that. That's why I decided never to return to the workforce, especially for system integrators.

Now that I'm 44, I will never be able to return the workplace even if I wanted. I never forgive the historically worst management in Japan, and I'll revenge them by something, saying "Japan is the worst place for engineers" on the internet, for example.

Studying deep learning

I'm studying deep learning things.

I'm reading a book named Deep Learning From Scratch which is written in Japanese and I'm writing some python codes along with it. I understood about perceptron yesterday, the primitive form of neural network(?). I already know information mathematics and the logical circuit, so I didn't tumble at the starting point. I'll continue to learn the book if I weren't caught a boredom or excessive difficulty.

I applied the TOEIC LR (Listening and Reading) test in January. I'll also apply the TOEIC SW (Speaking and Writing) test in February. Maybe I won't get a disappointing score on LR, but it will be fine if I keep A-rank score (over 860 points).

Buying stocks

I'll buy a Kagome share.

I've bought the share about 15 years ago and I get the revenue. But I don't remember when that was. I'm thinking this time a long-term investment, but I'll sell shortly when the price wouldn't take off. I guess that this year and next year is good timing to buy stocks for long-term investment.

I almost understand short-term or swing trading but these have no different from having a daily job. So I'll switch to investing in long-term. Kagome isn't necessarily good for getting ten baggers, but I want to back to beginner's mind once I had.

LR and SW

I don't have anything to write as usual.
Nothing is coming in my mind.

I wrote that I can't take both of TOEIC test, LR and SW. But I'm becoming confident at LR more than when I got 900 points. So I'm thinking to take LR in January and SW in February. I can probably clear the monetary problem of that.

Honestly, there is no difference to get 900 points or higher in Japanese society, I guess. But it's better for me that I can get more decent score than ever, and I'm feeling that some stimuli by exam are good for my English ability. So I'll take the TOEIC LR test.

AI related skills as a hobby

I ordered some books of deep learning.

I'm reading Life 3.0 now. The book made me curious about AI, and I thought I need to manipulate AI tools. I found Sony's AI tool with GUI and ordered the beginner's book of it at Amazon. Therefore, I guess O'Reilly's book of deep learning written in Japanese is great for me, and I ordered it too.

I don't intend to be competent for my future jobs, but for simply my hobby. Of course, if I could get the AI skills, as a result, I'll be competent to work for AI-related jobs. But I want to focus on living well in my daily life, not in corporate Japan.

whether to work and TOEIC test

I have nothing to write this morning.

I met a social worker (a case worker?) to talk about my job seeking or not. The conclusion is that I can't work the job in a company and that I need to say wrong things about me to the doctor more than before. The doctor is overestimating my whole skill to work.

By the way, I'm becoming a good reader of English, so I come to think of taking TOEIC LR test in January, on the other hand, I'm considering taking TOEIC SW test in the month. LR = Listening and Reading, SW = Speaking and Writing. I won't be able to take both of them, so I need to choose which to take. I will probably get a decent score on SW because I'm writing this blog almost every morning. SW will also be fine.

Mecha Samurai Empire

I don't have anything to write as usual.

I finished reading Mecha Samurai Empire. This book has less poisonous things than the previous book, United States of Japan. You will like the story if you like a Japanese light novel named Full Metal Panic. MSE has many anime-like features like school life and the battle of gigantic mechs.

MSE's English expression is not difficult for those who have over 400 points of the reading score on TOEIC. Sometimes I found the words around from 9000- to 12000-word-level, but that'll never disturb reading the story.

The setting of the story is that imaginary Japan, which won the WWII, occupied the West Coast of USA. If you can't accept the settings like that, I don't recommend the book. But I enjoyed the anime-like story which Japanese have never made.

Tsurezure diary

I have nothing to write this morning.

I'll work as a disabled, on the other hand, I'm seeking a way to work at home as a translator, I can use English and Japanese. I don't have many things to talk about that. I'll meet a social worker at the prefecture office. After that, I'll decide how to do.

I was usually drinking iced coffee at Seven-Eleven when I take a walk every morning. But recently too cold weather made me drink hot coffee eventually. I also considering change the time to walk because the rising sun is becoming too late. Walking in the dark is very depressing. But two old lady who I see at Seven-Eleven will miss me. And I need to think about the morning reading there.

I need to work?

It's a cold morning today.

I'm feeling the pressure to work as a disabled. My doctor is implying that I'm a little smarter than other patients and that I can do something great without their help.  Getting 900 points on TOEIC and Having gone to Singapore alone are making him confident about me, which makes me worried.

Actually, I'm lacking a decent social experience, compared with other 40s. So I guess that I will not be able to do beneficial things to earn money. And a social worker is saying to work as a disabled and to get helps officially.

Psychologically, I'm stuck in the status quo. I'm reluctant to do feel like "I'm recovered" things.