Doug-at-Large

Memories of 9/11 – Twenty Years Later

I’m sitting here thinking back on twenty years ago today. I’m sure I’m not the only person to feel strange that twenty years have passed. On the other hand, there will be adults today who weren’t even born then. That feels just as strange. I was at home, at my house in Hounanchou, where I lived before moving to Shinkoiwa in 2007. It was evening, and I was tired and getting ready to go to sleep.…

Tokyo 2020 Olympics – A Volunteer’s Diary

The Olympics and Paralympics have now ended. In the midst of escalating coronavirus infections, Tokyo decided to carry on after the main Olympics and, by all accounts, the very important Paralympics were a big success. It’s been a controversial, emotional, confusing, fascinating, memorable and, I think, worthwhile experience. I’m glad to see that the infection rates are now dropping after…

This is a test post – testing YouTube embedding in email notifications. You should not receive this email. If you do, my apologies! Recommended by Lisa

Sittin’ at the Dock of the Bay…

I was listening to that Otis Redding song last night on my iPhone. Pao was sleeping on the floor next to me. Pao is 1 year 9 months old now and “getting better” except for leaping after motorcycles, which I can’t control yet. I have my office all Pao-proofed so he can hang out with me in here now during the day, which seems to relax him. At the end of the song when Redding is whistling the last…

This is a test post. You should not receive this email notification. Apologies if you did. Recommended by Lisa…

Milestone! Down 140 lb! New weight 144 lb.

As mentioned before, I’m not really trying to lose any more weight. On the other hand, I don’t want to gain weight either, of course. I’m trying to “coast to a safe landing” and maintain. My weight continues to very very slowly go down though. Like really slowly. Even though I’m also incrementally adding calories. I think part of the reason might be that I simply have lots more energy lately! I…

Final volunteer days at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

My last volunteer day at the Oi Hockey Stadium was on Wednesday. The whole volunteer team seem to bond and we were feeling weepy when it was over. Because there were no spectators, there wasn’t a lot to do, but somehow we felt like we were busy all day rotating between shifts and visiting different locations at the site. They even had us in spectator shifts to cheer on the women’s hockey teams.…

Please come to Boston for the springtime, someday…

I changed my Boston trip reservation again – for the 8th time! With my new schedule it will be three years since my last trip to the U.S., assuming all goes well. American Airlines contacted me a couple of days ago saying that my scheduled October 22, 2021 flight from Narita to Boston on JAL (a mileage partner) was canceled and they rebooked me for the 23rd. That would have made for just 6 days…

What is special about this package of toilet paper?

Hint: it has nothing to do with the fact that it’s green. You guessed it! Remember at the start of the pandemic early last year when fake rumors about toilet paper shortages started spreading? That resulted in there being actual toilet paper shortages. Stores ran out of stock. When they came in stock you were limited to one per person. And then they became even stricter and limited to one per…

United in Emotion – with members of my Olympic volunteer group

Even though there was almost nobody there to help, our volunteer group seemed to enjoy today. We all get along together very well. I helped some people get around, and was asked to take a few pictures for some visitors. Here is our group at the end of the day. While it’s not the exact same people every day, there is a large overlap, so a core of us have gotten to know each other. Here another…

Tokyo 2020 Olympics – some scenes from volunteer days

Just some scenes from volunteering at the Oi hockey Stadium for the Olympics. Trying on my uniform. One of the tables in the Olympic Family lounge. Outside the Olympic Family lounge above the north pitch. This volunteer was telling us how to say welcome in Chinese to potential visitors of the Olympic family Here I am minding the entrance to the Olympic family lounge, main floor in front of…

What does being vaccinated really mean?

As a fully vaccinated person, to be honest I no longer understand what that means. Why are there loosening of mask restrictions in the United States? It doesn’t seem the vaccination prevents you from getting Covid. And the definition of a mild case is not clear. This article is worth reading. https://apple.news/A1MoWQFWIQFSo69fpZEOF9g

Twitter on my mind

Do you use Twitter? I’ve had a Twitter account for eons (@douglerner), but have rarely used the app itself. I have my personal and company blog posts automatically shared to Twitter and that’s about it.With all the weird things going on with my Facebook account I thought I would play with it some more.The pluses: People do react to my posts. I get likes, comments, and a few added followers. So…

Olympics, and Facebook restored (sort of)

Other volunteers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics I’ve spoken with have not yet heard what is to become of us since spectators in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures have been banned. I just finished my venue training at the Oi Hockey Stadium and was scheduled to attend July 24-28 and August 3-4. But rumors have it that we should expect some sort of cancelation notice, or suggestion of reassignment of…

Facebook & Messenger accounts disabled again

This happened earlier in the year. Then, like now, there was no explanation. My Facebook and Messenger accounts are disabled. I sent in the requested ID – again. Now I’m waiting. What’s the expression? Once burned twice foolish. It’s been twice now. I will not use Facebook Messenger again, except to reply to tell people how to reach me elsewhere (assuming I’m let back in). I was in the middle…

Olympic Venue Training at the Oki Hockey Stadium

On Saturday I went to the Oi Hockey Stadium for venue training. As far as I could tell most of what we do consists of standing in different places saying, “this way,” or in the case of earthquake or other disaster waving our hands and saying, “this way.” We’re also supposed to report if we see banned things like knives, selfie sticks, or drones. They love using acronyms like EVS for “event…

Olympic relay will run past my house

The police were out en masse in front of my neighborhood supermarket this morning passing out these flyers. The Olympic relay will be running right past my house on July 19! There are all sorts of cautions about traffic and other things.