Ocean and babies. What do I really miss?

So, my baby (the youngest) posted a short video clip of a beach with the Pacific Ocean waves.

That brought back some memories from almost thirty years ago. I had a real newborn baby back then, my oldest.

I used to take him to Palisades Park in Santa Monica and pushed the stroller up and down along the beach. Another favorite place we frequented was the original Getty Museum; now called the Getty Villa. At night, I played "Pachelbel Canon D Major Ocean Sounds" on cassette tape to help us sleep.

Do I miss the ocean? Yes. I grew up near one. It intensifies, because one just can not hop on a plane and go now. I should be grateful, and I am, that I can just go to a nice swimming pool and swim. But, it's not the same.

Do I miss my children? Definitely and sometimes terribly. None live nearby. (My daughter lives the closest. Still, five hours drive away.) Okay, I am the one who has been telling them to go and explore the world on their own. And, that's what they are doing. So, I am honestly happy for them. I am also grateful that they grew up to be wonderful adults and that we have great relationships. We text, video chats, and all that. But again, it's not the same. I miss hugging them.

I know I am okay. I have things to do and am doing them as usual. I just miss real and good human connections, face to face kinds. Like billions of others, I'm sure. Until this pandemic becomes more manageable, I need to stick to virtual means. Not the same, but better than no contact.

Renzo was a cutie. He was also very alert. This is him at only a couple weeks old. Yes, he was born with that much hair. A nurse in the delivery room told me, "Oh, you are having a cat baby!"

One day, I was sitting on a bench at Palisades Park with Renzo. He was probably three or four months old. A well dressed old gentleman sat next to me. He was watching Renzo for a while, then, asked me if I would consider selling him for a million dollars. I was taken aback and laughed off. Well, he was so cute and had infectious giggles. He was a people magnet. 

He is nearly thirty now. Grown. Up. Okay, I feel much better now. 😌

A prominent Japanese joined Tesla board

Tesla's shareholder proxy vote had a Japanese name listed.

For a split second, I thought he must be an executive from Panasonic. I am glad I did not dismiss it as such and googled him instead.

Tesla Welcomes Hiromichi Mizuno (水野弘道) as New Independent Director to its Board... 

Hiro’s entire career has been in finance and investment... Most recently, Hiro served as Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, which is the largest pension fund in the world with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management.  

During his time there, Hiro emphasized the importance of environmental considerations in portfolio management and became a global thought leader in sustainable and responsible investment. He also challenged many established market practices, including short-selling, to promote long-term value creation by corporations. .... 

We are excited that Hiro has joined our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

(excerpt from)  https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/f455a322-7032-4a6f-a314-df1afc21397f

He is the only prominent Japanese who works with Tesla (well, other than Panasonic) I've come across in a decade I've been following Tesla. 

He is also articulate. He sounds like he talks about what he believes, which, unfortunately, is rare in governments or corporations in Japan.

Here is a short talk he gave at Cambridge in January this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AIlgTwqo2M  (Short talk)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNHhYytoJQE   (Q&A)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC-Z4Q8wdj0   (Q&A)

It's possible someone like him is not that unusual in current Japan. I may just don't know as I have not been following anything of or about Japan for three decades. If that's the case, please excuse my ignorance. 

Anyhow, I am glad that someone from Japan, who has an influence, joined Tesla to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. A piece of good news in a rather dark time.

#Tesla  #sustainableenergy  #HiromichiMizuno

P.S.

If you want to know what Tesla's mission is all about, in detail with background info and stories, read this. It's the best and easiest to understand among all I've come across. And, it's fun to read.

https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-will-change-your-life.html

If you want to read the above in Japanese, I have translated it into Japanese and summarised, with the author's permission. It's 19 parts published in this blog in 2015. Hope you enjoy it. 

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

seventeen more... 

Lawrence Wright Predicted This Would Happen - Krys Boyd interviewed Lawrence Wright

No, I did not get fearful or panicky. On the contrary, I felt calm and somewhat relieved after listening to this interview.

The guest was Lawrence Wright. If you google him now, you probably see words like “terrifying” or “creepy”. Why? Because he submitted a novel last fall about a pandemic and aftermath of what happened to the world. And this spring, so far, what he portrayed has happened.

I felt more in peace, maybe because I sensed he was telling the truth. The truth he managed to derive from his dedicated research. Man, he has been talking with those pandemic researchers way before anybody else paid any attention or respect they have deserved. I firmly believe we can face and do whatever necessary if we feel people are telling the truth. 

You are welcome to draw your own opinion. But, this interview helped to stabilize my mind better than anything I’ve read or listened to so far.

https://beta.prx.org/stories/319105?fbclid=IwAR1D8wRZaoeu5cMVyG1DwMoKheOR0P8-Y2V6Rr1iOABlzvruua48LPEv-ko

Andrew Lloyd Webber musical masterpieces for free (48 hours)

I just L-O-V-E musicals. Yes, I love all kinds of performances. But, musicals...they make my heart leap.

I am so grateful Andrew Lloyd Webber is letting us enjoy his masterpieces for free. This is the next best thing to attending the live version. And, there are no live ones now anyway.

Only for 48 hours for each piece, so don’t miss. (24 hours for my friends in UK!)

Last week, the first piece was “Jesus Christ SuperStar”. I have watched it in person a long time ago. I did not dislike the show, but it did not speak to me much back then. This time, even on screen - maybe because their performances and productions were jaw dropping good, and maybe because I have learned so much about the depth of human minds and behaviors since - it shook me.

I now have something I can look forward to each weekend. Hope you can enjoy it as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nINQjT7Zr9w

Treating myself - taking a breath

Feeling a bit blue, I decided to treat myself with a nice breakfast.

My initial realization this COVID-19 was a real threat came when I heard Austin’s SXSW was canceled in early March, so it’s been well over a month. Quarantine and social isolation fatigue are setting in, I’d bet.

I know this shall pass. I know we will be okay. I know I will be okay as long as I stay healthy and do not become a statistic.

I’ve overcome plenty of hell in the last 30+ years. So, this is nothing.

I just need to be mindful, careful, and wise. I just need to keep working on what I need to take care of now, prepare for the better future, and treat myself from time to time to feel blessed I am able to breathe on this beautiful earth.

My refrigerator was in trouble. So, what to do?

My refrigerator was in trouble. So, what to do?

“shelter in place” + “avoid people coming into my house” = “DIY 
repair”

If it was in normal time, I would have bought a new one. My fridge is 21 years old. It had a major repair 10 years ago. Water supply to it was cut and capped two years ago - so, no chilled water, no ice at the door. Its freezer has suffered ice-dam a few times before, and a new ice sheet was building up at the bottom. Renzo offered to fix it, but the freezer was full of food at that time.

If I was to buy a new one, people need to deliver it, set it up in my kitchen and remove the existing one. I did not want to take that kind of risk just yet. So, as my freezer mostly emptied out I decided to tackle it.

Thanks to YouTube, figuring out the problem (frozen drain) wasn’t difficult. The toughest part was trying to get to the back of the fridge to clean and make sure the drain was clear. My fridge is surrounded by three walls, snug, and fronted by a large kitchen island. Even with my petite frame, it was tight. I felt like being that Asian acrobat guy in Ocean’s Eleven.

Well, anyway, it is fixed. Well, at least it seems working now. There is this hack I saw, placing a copper wire from the heating element to the drain hole in the freezer, which I wanted to try to prevent future freezing. I looked around my garage and there was no copper wire. And again, I did not want to risk going to HomeDepot just to get a few inches of wire. So, I removed the plastic covering from electrical wire, twisted it together, and used it.

Hope this works. Time will tell. Or someone with this kind of knowledge can tell me what I did was stupid and I should have used something else. But, sometimes, you just have to do with what you have at hand. Trying to learn a tiny bit from those NASA engineers in the Apollo 13 movie. 😁