COVID-19

  • The Inspirers

    Actions by many people give Kangaeroo to give life a go, and they almost certainly don’t know it, and Kangaeroo doesn’t even know nearly any of them. One of the benefits of the dark period of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the gift of being able to go for a bike ride, usually along the Tama River in the western suburbs of Tokyo, and nearly every morning. These rides are a crucial part of Kangaeroo’s life because they provide routine. Kangaeroo has been able to learn that routine is essential for his wellbeing and the pandemic threatened that when his office was shut down and the workers sent home in…

  • Heading Toward New Horizons

    We’re off to a new home, thanks to the miraculous passage of a housing loan, and I’m getting a new job as the company looks for ways to deal with the pandemic. We’re moving back over the hill from Kawasaki into Tama and into a delightful place now undergoing renovations. Work is another matter. It smells a bit fishy. We were told the shift a day before it initially happened before a short postponement, and the company is saying it’s a transfer for administrative purposes and we will continue to use the same company name and contacts despite belonging to a completely different entity. Today, I found they have terminated…

  • Winds Of Change Are Blowing

    Mrs. Kangaeroo and I are pretty close to finding a new place to live; a move driven by the unreliability of company support in the wake of a disastrous fall in the status of the company. Mrs. Kangaeroo has been looking for a new place for a while now and we have narrowed it down to a few places. We’re looking for a place close to a shopping center, and with a garden area so I’ll have somewhere to work on bike repairs. I’m also starting to test the market to see if there’s any demand for what I have to offer.

  • Better To Be Quiet About It, But It Wasn’t All Bad

    This has been a terrible year for the world, but from a personal viewpoint, it has actually been a bit OK, spending less money, riding like a madman and having a quiet life of basic solitude undisturbed by the need to accommodate others. It would be nice to have the stability we had before the pandemic, and fear has become a deeper part of my life than before. I am very grateful for Japan’s serious approach to the pandemic and the support my company has showed for us, even though we are also footing a lot of the bill and I’ve had a nominal pay cut in the form of…

  • Too Far Ahead Of Ourselves

    We tried to make a concerted return to normality at the start of the month, but within a couple of days, it was clear that things are not the same and it’s still not safe to be out and about, and it was back to isolation. I’d enjoyed the rides in and out of central Tokyo for the first time in months, and the race back home before work started, but it wasn’t to be for long. Thanks to Belladonna for making that possible.

  • Credit To The Cryptobros

    It’s becoming clearer that our bosses are very unhappy with the situation as they continue to pay us with no discernible output on our part, and Japan spared of much of the carnage affecting the rest of the workld. But I give credit to the cryptobros for acting quickly and saving our lives, even if the constant monitoring of us doing nothing and assigned nothing is onerous. Thanks for keeping me alive.