Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Kitchen Car

　　The sales in the kitchen car is getting popular in Japan. Under the pandemic of coronavirus, getting together in the bad-ventilated space became strictly restricted. Consequently, taking food out became preferable. The following pictures show a kitchen car and a flame in it. It is of a famous grilled chicken chain. I'll take their food for today's lunch.

My Bed 2

　　This entry is continued from the previous entry. I occupy one room in my house as my private room, but when I sleep, I move to another room, which is designed in a Japanese traditional style. My futon is laid out in this room. Fundamentally the futon must be folded and put into the closet every morning and it is laid out every evening. This make the room enabled to be used for other purposes than the bedroom. In my case, however, I leave it as it is. My wife hates this condition. She awfully loves cleanliness. My daughters are for her and completely against me. They seemed to keep me off from the Japanese style room no matter what.
　　I came to buy a bed in the long run and the bed is set to be placed in my private room. My wife and I visited a furniture shop, which has overwhelmingly lots of beds. I didn't decide which to buy, and proposed to get back and come again later, but my wife didn't allow me to retreat. When the salesperson knew the reason why I unwillingly had to buy a bed, she looked so happy with my story. Anyway I bought one and it will be delivered on 26th. I'll show you my bed later.

 

No Stock

　　I've sometimes written about a wine importer based in Osaka. A sales person of the company, whose main purpose is to find a new market in my hometown, drops in at my house about twice a year while he is in my hometown to sell wines to me. I'm a good customer for him over recent years. However, he wasn't able to come to my house this spring due to the restriction from the pandemic. Consequently, my wine stock ran out. As you may agree with me, you can't know the taste of wines by its labels or prices. That's why I make it a rule to get wines from him after tasting.
　　There's no other way and I got some bottles of wine at a nearby department store. The following picture shows one of them, which is produced in Kofu in Japan. It was not bad, but not the best for me. Finally I ordered the same wines online as I bought last time from my salesman.

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2020/11/wine-tasting-.html

 

Fun Driving

　　Today was a day-off and I went out for a drive to a restaurant located in the mountainous area. It was about an hour drive from my house. My car has no engines and is driven by electricity, which means the inside is very quiet. You can even hear the birds' sound during driving. Additionally, the car-driving assisted by its autopilot function was unspeakably comfortable.

My Bed 1

　　I've never used my own bed whole in my life. Are you surprised? When I stay at a hotel, I use it naturally, but I've never owned one myself. That doesn't mean I hate a bed and I'd rather like it than otherwise. The reason is very simple. A futon, Japanese traditional bedding, is usually laid out directly on the tatami mats. If I explain this condition with the western items, the surface of the bed and the floor will be at the same level. This make it possible to put my things around me when I'm on my futon. For example, books which I'm reading and my table lamp stand on my right side and a tissue box, a small waste basket, and a memo pad and something to write with on the left, and sometimes, drinks at the top to avoid spilling by my rolling over.
　　Imagine the scene. My wife says, "You are sleeping in the center of the garbage." My daughters also say that ironically. However, this situation is very handy to me. I can reach them anytime when I need to. You might think that I leave them as they are for a long time, but no. I move all those things around me onto the futon every Monday morning before work for my robotic cleaner. It automatically works at 18:00 hours every Monday just before my coming back. Don't you think it's wonderful?

(Vocabulary)
bedding (集合的に) 寝具; (動物が寝るための) 寝床, 敷きわら

Tokyo Olympics

　　Do you know about what you call the lost 1940 Tokyo Olympics? This year falls on the 2600th year from the foundation of Japan. Japan seemed to have been in the midst of joy, but in vain. The reason why this Olympics was withdrawn was the conflict against China. China launched their first-ever atomic bomb experiment on the opening day of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Then the Wuhan virus this time. I have no words to express the cruelty of the Chinese Communist Party, thinking of what they are doing to the Tibetans, Mongolians, Uighur people, and other minority groups.
　　I hope the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be held this year even in the condition of the restricted version. I'm dreaming that people of the future will assess it like it was the start of the rebirth of the new world.

 

50000 km

　　The odometer of my car marked 50000km today after a year and 6 months' drive. The total amount of electricity consumed is 8027kWh, which is calculated to 161Wh per kilometer. The electricity fee is 30 yen/ kWh in my hometown. That is to say, the driving cost is 5 yen per kilometer. At today's rate of gasoline, it is three times lower than that of gasoline. I'm satisfied with this data.

EV Charging Service Card

　　I've sometimes written about my car, Tesla Model 3 so far. This car is driven by electricity not gasoline. Public high speed chargers are found everywhere, but I usually charge my car at home and don't use them frequently. When I have to use those public chargers, I've paid the fare for visitors. It's higher than the fares for members, but to get the membership I have to pay the basis rate every month.
　　I dropped in at a Nissan dealer near my house. Nissan is the car manufacturer which had rolled out the world's first electric car for ordinary use. It's a pioneer company of electric cars. I asked them about a membership of its charging club a few years ago. One of the conditions to become a member at that time was to be the owner of a car from Nissan. I didn't own any. I was ruled out at the first article of the membership agreement.
　　To my surprise, the 1st article was lifted and the membership was open to anyone. Additionally the basis rate was reasonable. I joined the membership of the Nissan Charging Club without a second thought. It's too stingy, but the charging fee was supposed to be exempt in the first month of the membership and it was early May when I joined the club. I didn't use the charger at home and charged my car at this dealer in almost all of May FOR FREE.

Navy Day

　　Today is Japan's Navy Day, which was abolished in 1945 by the order from GHQ, the Occupation Force to Japan. However, this memorial day should be celebrated even now along with the Army Day of March 10th. These two memorial days are deeply inscribed in Japanese of integrity and became an occasion that those people get together and have a feast in my hometown.
　　To my regret, the meeting was cancelled this year just like last year due to the Wuhan virus pandemic. It seems that the pandemic is being stamped out in my hometown, but some variants are still sometimes reported across Japan. The situation is still open to conjecture.

(Vocabulary)
feast [C] 祝宴, 宴会
stamp sth out ＜社会の害悪など＞を撲滅［根絶］する
conjecture [U] 推測, 憶測
be open to doubt 議論の余地がある
The fate of the bill is still open to conjecture.　この法案の運命はまだ予断を許さない

Inoculation

　　There are several kinds of COVID-19 vaccines on the market. First off, one of them, Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was delivered to Japan and they decided to give shots to health care personnel on a priority basis. I'm a doctor, but I've already retired from the clinical stage and work as an occupation doctor. That means I don't examine patients any more, so I refrained from being inoculated and passed my dose to another person. Recently, however, the government noticed the shortness of medical personnel who inject the vaccine and I was asked to join the inoculation team, and so I took a shot before the shift.
　　I felt no pain on injection. Perfectly no pain. The needle wouldn't hit the pain point simply, would it? However, the muscle pain started that night and I wasn't able to turn over in bed. I was beaten by that. I already knew about the adverse reactions, but didn't expect them to be that heavy. It continues to torture me today, even the next day. I have to receive the same shot three weeks later. Thinking of it, my stomach starts churning.

(Vocabulary)
on a priority basis 優先的に

Virtual Happy Hour

　　Just after my bath, I found a popular TV program on air. You are sure to wonder if the program is a fun one, but actually this program is popular in Japan. In the program, a poet just drinks and eats in small, friendly and neighborhood-based Japanese-style bars, chatting with other customers and employees. To tell the truth, my wife and I have come across him during a trip and I feel familiar with him since then. I came to want to drink with him and took out a Japanese sake bottle which was presented from my son-in-law.

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2015/09/encounter-peach-aviation-and-canadian-rouge.html

Lift Restriction

　　My hometown of Matsuyama City has been under strong restrictions on daily activity against the coronavirus pandemic. The health care system was strained to handle a rapid hike in coronavirus cases. Big commercial facilities had been closed for two weeks and the restaurants and bars in which alcoholic drinks were served were closed during the days of restriction. People who run those places would have gone through inconceivable difficulties. However, the cooperation of citizens seems to be very effective and the number of newly infected people has been decreasing. Finally, the authorities lifted the restrictions in my hometown yesterday. The shortening of the work hours is still imposed on restaurants, bars, or some places in which they serve alcoholic drinks, but I think that the present condition of my hometown is on the right track to normal.

(Vocabulary)
inconceivable 想像を絶する, 考えも及ばない

My Present Situation

　　I've worked as a general surgeon for nearly 40 years. After retirement, I changed my jobs and now I work for a manufacturing company. I'm an occupational doctor, and I'm in charge of taking care of employees. I pay attention for employees not to get injured or ill. I'm in the Safety and Hygiene(SH) Department of the company. The SH Department works closely with the HR department. The most difficult part of my tasks is to reinstate long-absent employees especially with mental disorders. I have to arrange their workplaces for them, discussing with their doctors and coworkers. My job is challenging yet very rewarding.

(Vocabulary)
reinstate 〈人〉 を復職［復帰］させる

 

Hide-and-Seek

　　Japan, which used to be on the forefront of vaccine development only 30 years ago, seemingly would have lost the power. Currently, Japan is far behind other developed countries in the way of developing the vaccine against the coronavirus. Four to five companies are striving to develop the vaccine and one of them is said to roll out a vaccine at the end of this year. The pandemic in Japan was milder than that of other countries, so the delivery of the vaccine was apparently delayed. Consequently, the vaccination isn't going well even now in Japan.
　　First off, the vaccination started with medical personnel, then the next was elderly people. As I'm a doctor, I was sounded out about the vaccination myself, but I'm an occupational doctor now and I don't inoculate, so I refused politely to accept the vaccination and passed the vaccine for me to another who actually copes with patients.
　　After the delivery started, the government noticed that they are short of doctors who inoculate people against coronavirus. I was disgusted to know the government's inattention. The action of the government was too late. They started to look for nurses who have the license yet no job. Additionally they started to ask dentists to inoculate. It's just like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.
　　I don't know if the government was aware of the existence of occupational doctors, but the occupational doctors were excluded from the vaccination. However, the government finally seemed to notice that there are lots of doctors in the industrial sectors, and I was asked if I can help them. I felt as if I was caught by it during hide-and-seek.

(Vocabulary)
in/at the forefront (of something) （＜…＞の）最前線で, 最先端で
sound out «…について»A〈人〉にどう考えているか打診する«about, on»
My boss sounded me out about moving to Hokkaido. 上司が北海道への転勤の打診をしてきた.
bolt [自] 〈人・動物が〉 急に駆け出す［逃げ出す］

Golden Week

　　About consecutive 7 days - the number of the days depends on each year - from the end of April to the start of May are called "Golden Week". Lots of people will get free from their work and enjoy their own time across Japan. My family usually used to make a trip for some days so far, but things have changed this year. Yes, it's due to the epidemic of coronavirus. Taking my occupation into consideration, I'm never permitted to get infected. My wife finished daily shopping expeditions in a short time. It was to the mail box at the entrance that I went out of my house for the longest during the Golden Week.
　　I had assumed that I would be bored out of my mind during confinement into my house, but the time was not enough for my mundane work. I cleaned my room up thoroughly, and found old DVDs, pictures, and much rubbish which at least others would think so, but are precious for me with various memories. I checked each of those and I often stop to see them and wonder if I should throw them away or not. Anyway, my room recovered its tidiness after a long interval.

 

Brandy

　　One day in the golden week - Japan's consecutive holidays - while waiting for the prep of a bath, I took out a brandy from the rack. This brandy is a souvenir from Armenia. This country is not familiar to ordinary Japanese, but I'm interested in its history. When I was a high school student, I knew about Noah's ark. My high school was established by a Christian body. The place which the ark drifted to was said to be the hillside of Mt. Ararat. No matter if it's a fact or not, the Old Testament tells so, anyway. Mt. Ararat originally seems to have belonged to Armenia, but currently it's located in Turkish territory. I learned about the history associated with Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Let us assume that Mt. Fuji is occupied by some other country, and you'll realize the agony of Armenians. I wonder when the unrest of the Caucasian region will come to an end. I hope the area may become peaceful.
　　Now, the bath got filled with hot water. Shall I get in?

Excavation

　　I have my hair cut once a month at a specific barber's. I was surprised to see around the barber's today. The scene around was unbelievably changed. Lots of houses were removed as part of the redevelopment of the JR Matsuyama Station. I found some people there who didn't look ordinary construction workers doing something. Their work looked very delicate. Looking closely, they were excavating the soil. They were too focused to speak to. I'm looking forward to seeing the archaeological findings.

 

Return Ride From A Business Trip

　　I was asked to cover the Okayama Branch from my company since April and I worked in the Okayama Branch today. I visited there by car last time, but I used a JR train this time. The reason why I chose the train is just for relaxation. It takes more than two hours from Okayama to my home by train. What did I do in the train?
　　On the return ride, I enjoyed a movie on Netflix with my small PC as you can see in the following pictures below. Time flied while I was in the movie world and the train arrived in Matsuyama City in a moment.

Tough Restriction

　　My hometown of Matsuyama City goes under strict restrictions against the coronavirus pandemic on Apr. 25th. The restriction is supposed to be the toughest ever. Restaurants and bars are prohibited from serving alcoholic drinks all day and they must be closed at 20:00. They are receiving some support from the government, but they are only the minimum necessities. Big commercial and amusements facilities are required to shut down. The authorities request us commoners to refrain from shopping expeditions except for food, clothing, and other necessities. This restriction is planned to continue until May 11th. The vacation season, which we call the "Golden Week", is included in this period. The travel agencies, hotels, and lots of shops would suffer heavy losses.
　　Vaccinations are finally on track in Japan, too. Due to the smaller number of infected people than other countries, the delivery of the vaccine was delayed in Japan, but it has just started. The domestic vaccine will appear until the end of this year. I'd like to go on overseas trips this summer, but hopes seem to be slim. I hope that the world will come back to what it used to be as soon as possible.

(Vocabulary)
suffer heavy [high, great] losses in the business 　商売で大損害をこうむる

 

Folding Keyboard

　　I'm carrying a small PC of "OneMix3 Pro" with me, which is driven on the platform of Windows. I can use this just like my desktop PCs. This commonality is very helpful and I connect all my PCs via cloud services. Consequently, I built the very handy system. No matter which PC I use, I can start using them in the same condition. I can read the files on the PC-A which I saved into PC-B. This convenience is never understood by people who have never used it. However, my small PC has a single defect, which is inevitable to minimize the PC.
　　The other day, I found a folding keyboard with a reasonable price on the net. I found myself clicking the order button in the next moment. The picture shows the keyboard. I put my OneMix on my note PC, and I set the folding keyboard before them. Compare their sizes. The keyboard is laid out open. If it's folded, its size turns into a half. How splendid, don't you think so?